Facebook freezer v 1

A guinea pig sanctuary faces being shut down after fans comments gushing over its 'piggies' on Facebook were wrongly interpreted as hate speech towards police. The future of Masons' Cavies is under threat after algorithms flagged up the harmless fan talk as harassment and bullying. Owners Sophie, 31, and Mark Mason, 45, and their members have received a string of warnings that their comments are offensive because they use the terms 'piggies', 'pigs' and 'guinea pigs.' The sanctuary's free Facebook page, which has reached 20 million people, is still in operation. But the centre has had its content and income stopped as the community site where fans donate has been blocked, according to The Sun . The wellbeing of its 89 animals is now in jeopardy as the sanctuary has lost its monthly revenue of up to £4,000. It comes as a concern given the centre's annual cost to care for its critters is £20,000. Sophie, from Lincoln, said: “It’s totally ridiculous because the … [Read more...] about Guinea pig sanctuary could close after Facebook views ‘pig’ chat as police hate

(Reuters photo) The military on Thursday said it was not behind a network of Facebook accounts that the social media giant took down on the grounds they were using deceptive behaviour to influence public debate. Marking the first time it had taken down Thai accounts alleged to be linked to the government, Facebook said on Wednesday it had removed a Thailand-based network that included 77 accounts, 72 pages and 18 groups on Facebook and 18 accounts on Instagram, citing "coordinated inauthentic behaviour". Facebook said in a report the operation was linked to the Thai military's Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) and targeted audiences in Thailand's southern provinces, where conflict has flared on and off for decades as insurgent groups continue a guerrilla war to demand independence. ISOC spokesman Thanathip Sawangsang on Thursday denied the military was involved. "ISOC is not aware of the takedown of the Facebook accounts as reported in the news. Those were … [Read more...] about Military denies involvement in network removed by Facebook

Facebook’s future virtual reality headsets should capture users’ facial expressions for more realistic digital avatars, says CEO Mark Zuckerberg. In a podcast interview for The Information , Zuckerberg expounded on the next decade in virtual and augmented reality, including future Oculus VR devices. “One of the things that I’m really excited about for future versions is getting eye tracking and face tracking in, because if you’re really excited about social presence, you want to make sure that the device has all the sensors to really kind of animate realistic avatars so you can communicate well like that,” Zuckerberg says. Zuckerberg says hardware changes are a major focus for avatar-building. In VR, “the biggest things that we’re very focused on now are, how do you pack basically more sensors to create a better social experience into the device,” he says. “When I think about where you’re at with VR today, you go into the experience — there are some pretty good games and … [Read more...] about Mark Zuckerberg says realistic avatars are Facebook’s next big VR bet

In each of the past seven years, major tech companies have released diversity reports, charting the number of women and people of color they employ. The numbers are reported to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, but companies have dedicated more and more resources to publicly displaying their commitments to diversity. The displays are impressive. The results are not. These companies spend millions on targeted outreach and strategic partnerships, but the results change little from year to year. Between 2014 and 2020, for example, the share of Black and Latinx tech workers at Facebook each increased by less than 2 percentage points. It seemed the same story year after year. Until 2020. The nationwide reckoning on race and racism last year exposed what many tasked with diversity work have privately discussed for years: that Silicon Valley’s own diversity and recruitment structures can hinder the work of opening doors to new people from different backgrounds with new … [Read more...] about Black Tech Employees Rebel Against ‘Diversity Theater’

Did you know Facebook supports updated internet regulations? I know that. Boy, do I know it. I’m guessing everyone else who lives in the Washington, DC, area knows it too. For at least the past five weeks, Facebook has been deluging the region with ads declaring its support for regulation. I originally noticed when my morning ritual of watching basketball highlights on NBA.com started getting disrupted by the same 30-second message from Facebook every single time I wanted to watch a 3-minute video. Just let me see the slam dunks, please! Somehow, despite having seen the ad dozens of times, I still couldn’t quite tell you what regulations Facebook really has in mind. That’s probably because the ads are less about specific policy proposals than about trying to improve Facebook’s battered reputation in the eyes of DC decisionmakers. The regulation ads are part of an all-out blitz on the part of not just Facebook but also Google and Amazon. They, along with American Edge, a … [Read more...] about Big Tech Targets DC With a Digital Charm Offensive