Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly admitted that a tool is used to keep track of user behavior online during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday. Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley confronted Zuckerberg where he questioned him about two internal tools, brought to his attention by a Facebook whistleblower. The tools called Tasks and Centra are used to coordinate censorship with Twitter and Google and monitor Facebook user activity across the internet, respectively.

After the questioning of the hearing titled, Breaking the News: Censorship, Suppression, and the 2020 Election on Facebook and Twitter's content moderation practices, Hawley on Twitter wrote, "Zuckerberg admits @Facebook DOES have 'tools' to track its users across the internet, across platforms, across accounts - all without user knowledge. I ask how many times this tool has been used domestically against Americans. Zuck won’t say." He then attached a screenshot of the internal tool.

Zuckerberg, however, did not confirm "whether Facebook ever uses Centra to track and monitor American citizens." Hawley further noted, "Mark Zuckerberg under oath to me today: I don’t know, I can’t recall, I don’t remember, I’ll follow up later, let me get back to you."

"Centra is a tool that Facebook uses to track its users, not just on Facebook but across the entire internet. Centra tracks different profiles that a user visits, their message recipients, their linked accounts, the pages they visit around the web that have Facebook buttons," The Washington Examiner quoted Hawley. "Centra also uses behavioral data to monitor users' accounts, even if those accounts are registered under a different name."
Speaking further on co-ordinated content moderation, Hawley said that Facebook uses internal tool Tasks to manage content moderation.

Hawley cited the whistleblower who told him that Facebook co-ordinates censorship topics with Twitter and Google and lists them on Tasks. Zuckerberg denied saying that there was no coordination with other companies for content moderation. He, however, said that it was pretty normal for Facebook employees to communicate with their peers at other tech companies. "We do coordinate on, and share signals on, security-related topics," Zuckerberg said, citing terrorism, images of child exploitation, and foreign election interference. However, he said that was distinct from content moderation.
Hawley on Twitter wrote: "Ever wonder how a user banned or locked on one platform often gets quickly banned or locked on the others? This is how. Facebook whistleblower tells me FB uses its internal project management system, 'Tasks,' to coordinate censorship with Twitter and Google. Whistleblower says Twitter and Google routinely suggest censorship topics - hashtags, individuals, websites, many of them conservative - and Facebook logs them for follow-up on Tasks. But Zuck REFUSES under oath to turn over a list of Twitter or Google mentions on Tasks."

Source: indiatoday

---

Reviews is conducting a weekly contest. Answer a simple question and get a chance to win exciting gift hampers from Aiken Care Package. Go to our Facebook page for more details or also can check the details on our Instagram page.

---

Also Read:

TIPS FOR FIRST TIME CAR BUYERS | NEW OR USED

BEST BUDGET FITNESS TRACKERS IN NEPAL

HBO CHANNELS CAN BE VIEWED FREE BY DISHHOME USERS IN THE MOBILE APP

ROYAL ENFIELD IS DEVELOPING ELECTRIC MOTORCYCLES TO BE AFFORDABLE MID-WEIGHT BIKE

XIAOMI NEPAL'S DASHAIN OFFER- CELEBRATE DASHAIN WITH MI

TOP 5 PRIMERS IN NEPAL | REVIEWS

HUAWEI BRINGS MOOVIT APP TO APPGALLERY

The Federal Cartel Office, or Bundeskartellamt, last year determined Facebook was exploiting its dominance in social media to force users to share data from other Facebook-owned services like WhatsApp and Instagram, as well as third-party websites through the “Like” and “Share” buttons.

It gave Facebook several months to stop collecting data and combining it with Facebook users’ accounts without their consent.

Facebook appealed that decision, and a Duesseldorf court ruled it did not have to comply with the regulations until the case had been decided.

In its decision Tuesday, the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe overturned that decision, agreeing with the Cartel Office that Facebook’s terms of use leave “private Facebook users with no choice” and said the company had to comply with the regulators.

“There are no serious doubts about Facebook’s dominant position in the German social media network market, or that Facebook is abusing its dominant position with the terms of use prohibited by the Federal Cartel Office,” the court said.

Facebook said the decision would not mean any immediate changes for people or businesses who use its products and services in Germany. It noted the main appeal is still pending.

“Today’s decision relates to the preliminary proceedings on the court’s stay order,” the company said in a statement to The Associated Press. “The main proceedings, before the court of appeals, are ongoing and we will continue to defend our position that there is no antitrust abuse.”

The Walt Disney Co. has “dramatically” slashed its advertising budget on Facebook and Facebook-owned Instagram, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

It’s the latest setback for the social network, which is facing a growing advertising boycott over its policies and actions on hate speech on its platforms. The Journal, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter, said the time frame for Disney’s pullback was not clear.

Disney was Facebook’s biggest U.S. advertiser for the first six months of 2020, according to research firm Pathmatics Inc. Disney joins hundreds of other companies that have paused spending on the service. The report did not say whether Disney is officially joining the ad boycott. Some companies, such as Starbucks, are pulling back social media advertising due to hate speech and other concerns but have not officially joined the “Stop Hate for Profit” campaign.

Representatives for Disney did not immediately respond to a Sunday message seeking comment.

The economic fallout from the pandemic has also cut into companies’ advertising budgets.

Facebook said it does not comment on individual advertisers. The company said in an emailed statement Sunday that it invests “billions of dollars each year to keep our community safe and continuously work with outside experts to review and update our policies.”

“We know we have more work to do, and we’ll continue to work with civil rights groups, (the Global Alliance for Responsible Media coalition), and other experts to develop even more tools, technology, and policies to continue this fight,” Facebook said.

 

Also Read:

DARAZ AND BIGMART COME TOGETHER TO DELIVER DAILY ESSENTIALS DURING CORONAVIRUS LOCKDOWN

SAMSUNG DEVELOPS HAND WASH APP TO KEEP YOU HEALTHY & SAFE

HUAWEI AI CLOUD GLOBAL LAUNCH TO FIGHT CORONAVIRUS

CORONAVIRUS : APPLE AND GOOGLE PARTNER ON CONTACT TRACING TECH VIA APIS, BLUETOOTH

APPLE LAUNCH COVID-19 SELF-SCREENING APP & WEBSITE | HOW TO USE

TDO NEPAL LAUNCH COVID-19 SELF-SCREENING APP & WEBSITE

HOW TO FIX SLOW INTERNET CONNECTION?

JACK MA FOUNDATION PUBLISHES HANDBOOK, SHARES CHINA’S EXPERIENCE IN BATTLING COVID-19

The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday unanimously voted to approve a plan to subpoena chief executives of Twitter, Alphabet’s Google and Facebook for a hearing likely to be held before the election on a prized legal immunity enjoyed by internet companies.
The hearing will discuss reforming Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which offers tech companies protection from liability over content posted by users.

The panel’s top Democrat Maria Cantwell, who opposed the move last week, saying she was against using “the committee’s serious subpoena power for a partisan effort 40 days before an election,” changed her mind and voted to approve the move.

“I actually can’t wait to ask Mr. Zuckerberg further questions,” Cantwell said. “I welcome the debate about 230.”

The committee, chaired by Republican Senator Roger Wicker, had originally asked the executives to come on Oct. 1 on a voluntary basis and was ready to issue subpoenas last week.

On Thursday, he said Section 230’s “sweeping liability protections” are stifling diversity of political discourse on the internet.

“After extending an invite to these executives, I regret that they have again declined to participate and answer questions about issues that are so visible and urgent to the American people,” Wicker said.

Republican President Donald Trump has made holding tech companies accountable for allegedly stifling conservative voices a theme of his administration. As a result, calls for a reform of Section 230 have been intensifying ahead of the elections, but there is little chance of approval by Congress this year.

Last week Trump met with nine Republican state attorneys general to discuss the fate of Section 230 after the Justice Department unveiled a legislative proposal aimed at reforming the law.

The chief executives of Google, Facebook, Apple Inc and Amazon.com Inc recently testified before the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee’s antitrust panel. The panel, which is investigating how the companies’ practices hurt rivals, is expected to release its report as early as next Monday.

Source:reuters

Also Read:

HERO MAESTRO ELECTRIC SCOOTER SPOTTED

APPLE, GOOGLE BAN LOCATION TRACKING IN CORONAVIRUS CONTACT TRACING APPS

USEFUL WASHING MACHINE CARE TIPS FOR SMOOTH PERFORMANCE

AC CLEANING GUIDE: HOW TO CLEAN YOUR AIR CONDITIONER BY YOURSELF

TIPS FOR FIRST TIME CAR BUYERS | NEW OR USED

NEPAL'S FIRST EVER WORD PUZZLE GAME 'SABDA KHOJ'- AVAILABLE IN PLAY STORE

WHAT ARE HYBRID ELECTRIC CARS AND HOW DO THEY WORK?