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Ashok Chandwaney posted the letter, which is heavily critical of Facebook’s approach to hate speech on the platform and accuses the firm of continuing to prioritize profit over social good, on Facebook’s internal message board on Tuesday. The company has found itself at the heart of numerous high-profile controversies over the past several years, including the spread of misinformation online, the election campaign of Donald Trump, and the persecution of minority groups such as the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar....

The meeting was held Tuesday as the social media giant’s leaders met with representatives from Free Press, the NAACP, Color of Change and the Anti-Defamation League, four of the organizations behind the “Stop Hate for Profit” boycott that launched last month. In a news release, Free Press said Facebook had asked for the meeting after nearly 1,000 companies joined their movement and agreed to halt advertising efforts on the platform....

In a rebuttal, Facebook has branded the film a “conspiracy documentary,” and said it does not deliberately allow misinformation and hate speech to “fester” on its platform and works to remove it, “despite what the film says.” “We know our systems aren’t perfect and there are things that we miss. But we are not idly standing by and allowing misinformation or hate speech to spread on Facebook,” the company said....

Following the conclusion of a class action lawsuit that was ongoing for more than five years, the Mark Zuckeberg-led social media giant has now committed to a $650 million settlement fund, with affected users given until November 23 to file a claim. Those can be submit digitally via the dedicated settlement website. Payments will be sent via check or electronically through Zelle, PayPal, or direct deposit. Back in May 2016, a judge ruled three men could proceed with a class action suit filed in 2015 alleging that Facebook violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act by creating user face templates for a photo-tagging feature without warning...

The “I Love America” page had more than 1.1 million followers and made constant references to “our country” and “our military” and cross-posted content from jingoistic pro-Trump pages such as “God Bless Donald and Melania Trump and God Bless America”. However, the investigative website Popular Information revealed that the page was in fact run by a team based in Ukraine, with one person in Kazakhstan, one in France, and only one from the United States....

Zuckerberg was slow to react to the enormous pressure from much of the chattering class to ban accounts of figures and groups it deemed spreaders of “disinformation.” Facebook is still being pilloried for that. Yet once its founder authorized his minions to begin censoring content on what U.S. law still views as the digital equivalent of a bulletin board—rather than a publisher with the right to pick and choose what is posted and responsibility for what is published—the platform began to act with impunity....

The company described the venture in a blog post Sunday as a futuristic virtual world that uses augmented and virtual reality to deliver unique social and economic opportunities to users. The 10,000 workers Facebook plans to hire are meant to help them realize their metaverse goal, Nick Clegg, vice president of global affairs, and Javier Olivan, vice president of central products, wrote in the blog post. “As we begin the journey of bringing the metaverse to life, the need for highly specialized engineers is one of Facebook’s most pressing priorities,” the blog said....

The video was posted to TikTok on Thursday by Trent Shrader (@drtrentshrader), a 31-year-old veterinarian in Omaha, Nebraska. So far, the post has received more than 3 million views and over 426,000 likes, proving that people love watching animal videos. As it turns out, there are a few scientific reasons as to why humans enjoy animal videos so much. “The cute image delivers the brain a minuscule blast of dopamine, working the same chemical reward system activated by drugs like cocaine,” CBC News reported....

Among the statements under scrutiny following the president’s Thursday night remarks were those related to elections officials in key battleground states where races have not yet been called. Trump specifically claimed election procedures in those states “are run, in all cases, by Democrats.” The Claim Suggesting that the recent upturn in swing-state votes favoring Joe Biden were rooted in a Democratic plot to “steal” the presidency, Trump said that Democrats oversee election proceedings in states that continued to tabulate ballots Thursday night....

Focused as he is on ratings, Trump on Thursday tweeted a claim that Fox News’ daytime ratings are collapsing. The Claim “.@FoxNews daytime ratings have completely collapsed. Weekend daytime even WORSE. Very sad to watch this happen, but they forgot what made them successful, what got them there. They forgot the Golden Goose. The biggest difference between the 2016 Election, and 2020, was @FoxNews!” Trump tweeted on November 12, 2020....

The Claim A post on the r/conservative subreddit shared a chart from American Gun Facts, a website advocating for gun rights in the U.S., which was citing a recent Quinnipiac University poll. “60% of Democrats say they wouldn’t fight if America was invaded,” the post published Tuesday stated. Numerous Twitter users also cited the poll, including Donald Trump Jr., who wrote: “Democrats hate America […] No one should be surprised that the majority of Dems wouldn’t fight for their country if invaded....

The approach, known as “dynamic zero COVID,” has kept deaths low but at the cost of its economy, with recently reported discontent spreading across the country Since the start of the soccer World Cup, rumors have began circulating that non mask-wearing spectators and unrestrained fan celebrations have been “blurred” out of Chinese state TV broadcasts of the competition, in an attempt to quell domestic frustrations. The Claim A tweet, posted on November 23, 2022 by the @WallStreetSIlver account, claimed that “Chinese media” has blurred spectators at the FIFA World Cup because “They don’t want Chinese people to know that people in other countries don’t wear masks anymore …”...

Biden’s habit of slipping on words and simple, easily-verifiable facts has earned him a self-acknowledged “gaffe machine” status, seized upon by critics and opponents who question his competency. Just this week, addressing an audience in Michigan, the president made reference to his college football days in Delaware with a biographical detail that some observers have cast doubt over. The Claim During a speech in Bay City, Michigan, made on November 29, 2022, President Joe Biden stated that “my college football coach played at Michigan....

President Joe Biden’s administration extended government intervention powers related to COVID-19 in January, a sign the U.S. still believes the disease remains powerful and dangerous. However, a recent comment made by Republican Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders suggested that the president already believed the worst was over, declaring the pandemic’s end around half a year ago. The Claim A tweet from Huckabee Sanders, posted on January 25, 2023, claimed that Biden had declared the pandemic over in the summer of 2022....

Republicans have long accused “big tech” firms of censoring conservatives, and a report released Tuesday accused Google of giving Democratic Senate campaigns higher placements on its search ranking than GOP campaigns. It alleged the search platform “suppresses” Republican campaigns in key states that could determine which party controls the U.S. Senate. The report gained traction after Donald Trump Jr. shared it on Twitter Tuesday afternoon. “When the Republicans take The House this better be on the top of their list of things to fix....

But the bill did not have an easy ride in the Capitol and many Republicans have criticized the stimulus, arguing it is an expensive splurge on liberal priorities unrelated to COVID. The American Rescue Plan relief package includes funding for a national vaccination plan, as well as offering immediate and direct support to families bearing the brunt of the pandemic. The package also helps governments maintain critical services and avoid layoffs, and provides resources to struggling communities in the wake of the crisis....

It has been said in the past by Japanese supporters that they tidy up after a game as a sign of respect, and the nation’s players do similarly in the locker room, leaving it looking pristine, as FIFA’s official Twitter account testified to. Previously fans have been pictured walking along the rows in the stadium with garbage bags in hand, ensuring that all wrappers and pieces of trash are accounted for....

The Claim Mask mandates have riled some who consider the requirement to be an example of government overreach. They’ve held anti-mask rallies, spoken out on social media and filed lawsuits, arguing that the measure violates their constitutionally protected rights such as the First Amendment, the right to liberty and the right to privacy. The Facts In accordance with the 10th Amendment, power that isn’t given to the federal government in the Constitution falls on the states, including responding to a public health crisis....