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TECHNOLOGY A23
Saturday 29 April 2017
Facebook gearing up to fight political propaganda
BARBARA ORTUTAY In this April 18, 2017 file photo, conference workers speak in front of a demo booth at Facebook’s ing information, but also at
AP Technology Writer annual F8 developer conference in San Jose, Calif. the sources of such infor-
NEW YORK (AP) — Face- mation. That is, to attempt
book is acknowledging Associated Press to identify both the pro-
that governments or other ducers of this material and
malicious non-state actors cial scams, to include more a strategic purpose. Such targets.” those who spread it using
are using its social network subtle and insidious forms operations can include the The company did not social networks and other
to influence political senti- of misuse, including at- dissemination of false news name the actors or the means.
ment in ways that could af- tempts to manipulate civ- and disinformation and the victims, but it said its data Facebook’s paper ad-
fect national elections. ic discourse and deceive use of fake-account net- “does not contradict” a dresses the amplifiers of
It’s a long way from CEO people,” the report states. works aimed at manipulat- January report by the U.S. such content — the fake
Mark Zuckerberg’s asser- It was written by research- ing public opinion through Director of National Intel- accounts that “like” and
tion back in November ers Jen Weedon and Wil- a variety of means. ligence that Russia tried to share false news stories,
that it was “pretty crazy” liam Nuland and Facebook Using the 2016 U.S. presi- meddle with the U.S. elec- for example. The com-
to think that false news on exec Alex Stamos and dential election as an ex- tion. pany has also announced
Facebook influenced the titled “Information Opera- ample, Facebook said it MORE TO DO steps to support legitimate
U.S. presidential election. tions and Facebook.” uncovered “several situa- Jonathan Albright, a pro- journalism and news lit-
It’s also a major sign that ELECTION MEDDLING tions” where malicious ac- fessor who studies data eracy. But the paper does
the world’s biggest social The team defined “informa- tors used social media to journalism at Elon University not delve into ideas about
network is continuing to tion operations” as any ac- “share information stolen in North Carolina, urged attacking false news and
grapple with its outsized tions taken by governments from other sources, such as journalists and others back propaganda at the source,
role in how the world com- or other actors to “distort email accounts, with the in February to look not just including by banning such
municates, for better or for domestic or foreign politi- intent of harming the repu- at the role of Facebook in content from the site.
worse. cal sentiment” to achieve tation of specific political spreading false or mislead- Currently, Facebook us-
In a paper posted online ers who want to share an
on Thursday, Facebook se- article that has been de-
curity researchers and its bunked by outside fact-
chief security officer said checkers, for example, are
the company will monitor able to do so after they get
the efforts of those who try a warning from Facebook.
to hurt “civic discourse” on Facebook has long held
its service, whether that’s that it does not want to be
governments or other the arbiter of truth — that
groups. It is also looking it wants its users to decide
to identify fake accounts, for themselves (within limits
and says it will notify peo- of its terms of service) what
ple if their accounts have they want to read and
been targeted by such cy- post.
berattackers. But balancing a desire not
“(We) have had to expand to censor with a desire to
our security focus from tra- weed out state-sponsored
ditional abusive behavior, propaganda has been a
such as account hacking, challenging exercise for
malware, spam and finan- the company.q
AP-NORC poll: Most teens have taken social media break
BARBARA ORTUTAY In this Monday, June 4, 2012, file photo, a girl looks at Face- multiple reasons for their step back from social me-
AP Technology Writer book on her computer in Palo Alto, Calif. breaks. Nearly two-thirds dia, consider disconnect-
NEW YORK (AP) — The of teens who took a break ing from email — or your
common stereotype has Associated Press cited at least one voluntary phone — for a couple of
teens glued to their phones reason. Amanda Lenhart, weeks.
24-7. But nearly 60 percent selves. cally a week or longer, and the lead researcher and Among the teens who took
of teens in the U.S. have The survey, released Thurs- that boys are more likely to an expert on young people voluntary breaks, 38 per-
actually taken a break day, found that teens’ so- take longer breaks. and technology use, said cent did so because so-
from social media — the cial media breaks are typi- Teens were allowed to cite she was surprised by this, cial media was getting in
bulk of them voluntarily, a as it counters the broader the way of work or school.
new survey found . narrative that teens are Nearly a quarter said they
The poll, from The Associat- “handcuffed” to their so- were tired of “the conflict
ed Press-NORC Center for cial media profiles. and drama” and 20 per-
Public Affairs Research, sur- Today’s teenagers might cent said they were tired
veyed teens aged 13 to 17 not recall a time before so- of having to keep up with
and found that most value cial media. MySpace was what’s going on.
the feeling of connection founded in 2003. Had it sur- Nearly half of teens who
with friends and family that vived, it would be 14 years took a break did so involun-
social media provides. A old today. Facebook is a tarily. This included 38 per-
much smaller number as- year younger. Instagram cent who said their parents
sociate it with negative launched in 2010. For an took away their phone or
emotions, such as being adult to understand what computer and 17 percent
overwhelmed or needing it might be like for some- who said their phone was
to always show their best one who grew up with it to lost, broken or stolen. q
