political

Wed
25
Jul
John Lister's picture

Microsoft: Phishing Scam Targets Politicians

Microsoft says hackers have targeted at least three candidates for Congress. Security experts say the group behind the attacks has been linked to Russia's intelligence services. The revelation came at the Aspen Security Forum in a speech from Tom ... Burt, Microsoft's head of Customer Security ... (view more)

Wed
31
Jan
John Lister's picture

Facebook to Promote Local News

Facebook is to give more priority to local news stories when deciding which links to feature prominently. But Mark Zuckerberg's argument that this will reduce divisions and argument has been rejected by some critics. It's the latest in a series of ... changes to the algorithm Facebook uses to decide the order in which a specific user sees content. Originally all content such as posts from friends and shared links was shown in chronological order. Facebook later decided that the average user would not be able to see all of the content in chronological order (due to the volume of posts ... (view more)

Tue
31
Oct
John Lister's picture

Facebook to Reveal Details of Advertisers, Ads Used on Site

Facebook says it will be more transparent about who is running ads on its site. It's also introducing tighter controls on election-related ads. The transparency changes follow questions about the influence of political advertising, particularly when ... it was unclear who had actually bought and placed the ads. However, Facebook says it will apply to changes to ads of all kind. (Source: fb.com ) Changes Set For 2018 Campaigns The changes will mean that any paid ad on Facebook must be linked to a Page, which is the business or organization equivalent to a personal account on the site. When the ... (view more)

Tue
08
Nov
John Lister's picture

Nearly 60% of Social Media Users Frustrated by Politics

One in five people say social media posts have changed their minds on political issues this year. But many of those changes have been to a negative position. The statistic comes from the Pew Research Center, which regularly surveys Internet users on ... their online activities. It found that 20 percent of the social media users it questioned in its latest study said they have changed their minds about a social or political issue because of something they saw on a social media service, while 17 percent said they have changed their minds about a specific candidate. (Source: washingtonpost.com ) In ... (view more)

Thu
25
Aug
John Lister's picture

Facebook Labels Users Conservative or Liberal

Facebook users in the US may be able to find out if the site thinks they are conservative- or liberal-leaning. It's a side-effect of a new tool that makes it easier to influence advertisements which appear on the users' newsfeed. As reported ... recently, Facebook recently added new options which allow users to indicate that they don't want to see advertisements in the news feed related to specific topics. The new changes come as Facebook also prepares to roll out additional measures to prevent ad-blocking software from working on the site. To view the settings, users can visit their ... (view more)

Wed
21
Mar
Dennis Faas's picture

Facebook Users Surprised By Friends' Politics

A new survey suggests social media users frequently engage in political discussions with their friends online, and although they don't always agree on the subject, their differences rarely prompt a break in the relationship. The study, which ... involved interviews with 2,253 adults, comes from the Pew Internet ... (view more)

Wed
15
Oct
Dennis Faas's picture

Obama Campaign Ads Spotted In Video Game

There's been plenty of talk about this being the first truly Internet-powered US Presidential election. But now it seems Barack Obama has found a new technology for getting his message across: video games. Electronic Arts have confirmed that ... screenshots of the Xbox 360 game Burnout Paradise showing Obama campaign billboards are genuine. The firm told reporters "Like most television, radio and print outlets, we accept advertising from credible political candidates. Like political spots on the television networks, these ads do not reflect the political policies of EA or the opinions of its ... (view more)

Thu
29
Nov
Dennis Faas's picture

Syria Slams the Door on Facebook

In a strange reversal from two summers ago, last week young Syrians sought 'refuge' in neighboring Lebanon. The alleged reason for this exodus? Facebook. In a move to further restrict free speech and political activism in the country Bashar Assad's ... government shut down access to the fast-growing social network. (Source: globeandmail.com ) Advocate Dania al-sharif told Reuters last week that, "Facebook helped further civil society in Syria and form civic groups outside government control. This is why it has been banned." (Source: reuters.com ) Officials were apparently concerned that Israel ... (view more)

Thu
20
Sep
Dennis Faas's picture

Country For Sale: Seller Puts Belgium on Ebay!

Online shoppers were in for quite a surprise recently when they scoured eBay looking for the next great treasure. In addition to the website's standard obscure items was a description that read "For Sale: Belgium, a Kingdom in three parts...free ... premium: the king and his court (costs not included)." The ad also offered free delivery, but was quick to point out that the country came second-hand and that the potential buyer would have to inherit over $300 billion in national debt. (Source: usatoday.com ) The ad, which actually insinuated the sale of the Belgian nation, was posted by one ... (view more)

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