Social Media

Discrimination in the US against Americans of Arab heritage is “getting worse” not better, experts say, as the country prepares to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Samer Khalaf, president of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), and Abed Ayoub, the organization’s legal counsel, said that while …

English soccer’s boycott of social media is spreading after FIFA and UEFA said they will join the players, clubs and organizations in a four-day protest against online abuse. The boycott will also be joined by English cricket and rugby clubs, and the British Lawn Tennis Association, highlighting concerns that Twitter …

Iran’s top diplomat expressed regret Wednesday that a recording leaked out of him making frank comments about the limits of his power in the Islamic Republic, while the country’s president describing the incident as a means to derail ongoing talks with world powers over Tehran’s tattered nuclear deal. Posting to …

Iran’s foreign minister said he was forced to sacrifice diplomacy in favor of operations by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to a leaked audio recording. The three-hour interview with Mohammad Javad Zarif, which was obtained by the London-based Iran International television channel, reveals the extent of the IRGC’s control over …

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is set to give a televised interview to Rotana Khaleejiah on Monday. He will appear as a guest on the Liwan Al Mudaifer Show, presented by Saudi host Abdullah Al-Mudaifer who has interviewed several high-profile guests before. Rotana Khaleejiah is part of the Riyadh-based …

Al Arabiya TV is being accused by the Iranian news agency IRNA of distorting the “truth” behind the Iranian missile ideology, the Saudi-owned network said Saturday. The network said the IRNA had accused Al Arabiya of focusing its news reports on “the regional threats posed by Iranian missiles.” IRNA said …

In an online universe awash with websites publishing free but inaccurate information, and social media sites offering megaphones to unfiltered opinion, it is no surprise that trusted news media around the globe are facing one of their toughest choices to date — whether to erect a paywall. Gulf News, the …

Iran-backed Houthis have thrown abducted Yemeni model and actress Entesar Al-Hammadi into solitary confinement as punishment for her protest against the initial incarceration and prison conditions, the model’s lawyer said on Thursday. Khaled Mohammed Al-Kamal told Arab News that a prosecutor from the rebel-controlled West Sanaa court on Wednesday questioned …

Facebook says it has disrupted a long-running cyberespionage campaign run by Palestinian intelligence which features spies posing as journalists and the deployment of a booby-trapped app for submitting human rights stories. In a report published Wednesday, Facebook (FB.O) accused what it said was the cyber wing of the Palestinian Preventive Security Service …

A Florida nurse was arrested this week for threatening to kill Vice President Kamala Harris, according to a criminal complaint filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Niviane Petit Phelps, a 39-year-old mother from Miami, is accused of recording and sending several videos to her …

Leading Turkish actor Genco Erkal, 83, announced on Saturday that he is facing an investigation for exercising his freedom of expression. Erkal, an outspoken government critic, is being investigated for “insulting the Turkish president” and will give his testimony on Monday. His social media postings on Twitter since 2016 are …

DUBAI: If asked, most people would likely admit that they would have struggled to survive the mental toll of isolation brought about by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic without access to social media, online shopping, and video conferencing to make up for the loss of human contact. And yet, these …

Google broke Australian law by misleading users about personal location data collected through Android mobile devices, a judge found Friday. The Federal Court decision was a partial win for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the nation’s fair trade watchdog, which has been prosecuting Google for broader alleged breaches of …

Tunisian police on Tuesday clashed with journalists at the state news agency demonstrating against a new chief executive whose appointment they see as an attempt to undermine editorial independence. Dozens of protesting journalists had gathered in front of Tunis Afrique Presse’s (TAP) headquarters to try to stop Kamel Ben Younes …

Donald Trump’s top diplomat Mike Pompeo has been hired to appear on Fox News as a “contributor,” the conservative cable news channel said Thursday. “I intend to give viewers a candid, no-nonsense look at geopolitics, international relations and the America First policies that helped chart the course for unprecedented American …

Facebook is showing different job ads to women and men in a way that might run afoul of anti-discrimination laws, according to a new study. University of Southern California researchers who examined the ad-delivery algorithms of Facebook and LinkedIn found that Facebook’s were skewed by gender beyond what can be …

Details from more than 500 million Facebook users have been found available on a website for hackers.The information appears to be several years old, but it is another example of the vast amount of information collected by Facebook and other social media sites, and the limits to how secure that …

It is no surprise that English is the language of the internet, with 60 percent of the top 10 million websites using it. Arabic, on the other hand, ranks 12th, with only 1.1 percent of the top 10 million websites using the language despite the fact that it is spoken …

The US-based security company Proofpoint said a group of Iranian hackers targeted American and Israeli senior medical professionals, the company’s report said. The TA453 group, also called Charming Kitten and Phosphorus, launched a credential phishing campaign targeting senior medical professionals specializing in genetic, neurology, and oncology research. Phishing is considered …

Twitter said it permanently suspended Donald Trump’s account after the January 6 Capitol riot because there was a risk of further incitement of violence, following months of tweets disputing Joe Biden’s presidential election victory. False and misleading claims about American politics have since plummeted, a trend Twitter and Facebook — …

One week ago, Twitter’s staff worldwide were awarded a day off in celebration of the social networking platform’s 15th anniversary. However, while they enjoyed the spoils of the company’s success, the same can’t be said for the many who have suffered from the barrage of negativity and harmful content the …

Facebook Inc. said on Monday it took down 1.3 billion fake accounts between October and December last year. The company also removed more than 12 million pieces of content about COVID-19 and vaccines that global health experts flagged as misinformation, it said in a blog post. Source: Arab News

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is notorious for using his Twitter accounts to incite hate, violence and disinformation. Yet his many accounts in multiple languages still exist on the platform. These accounts, in languages including Persian, English, and Spanish, regularly post content that would – and should – violate …

Former President Donald Trump will set up his own social media platform and will return to posting online in two to three months, said his adviser and spokesman, Jason Miller, in a new interview. For years, Trump favored Twitter and had amassed nearly 90 million followers before the social media …

A federal grand jury charged four leaders of the far-right Proud Boys with conspiring to block Congress from certifying U.S. President Joe Biden’s election on the day of a deadly assault on the Capitol, according to court papers unsealed on Friday. The indictment alleges that Ethan Nordean of Washington, Joseph …

British columnist Julie Burchill has apologized to activist and journalist Ash Sarkar — and agreed to pay her “substantial damages” — for offensive social media posts in December. Following the settlement of a libel and harassment case, Burchill said on Twitter and Facebook that her social media activity had “included …

By Emad El-Din Aysha, PhD     The very concept of objective truth is fading out of the world. — George Orwell       An American friend, a very lovely lady friend to be specific, encouraged me to watch Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019)[1] recently. I’d avoided any of …

Staff members have criticized the BBC for ignoring its own diversity regulations just a month after the sacking of board member Kamal Ahmed, The Independent reported on Saturday. The BBC culled its news board while following through with an £80 million ($111 million) savings proposal. Several key positions, including editorial …

Pakistan on Thursday blocked the popular social media app TikTok after a court order over a complaint that it ran indecent content, a spokesman for the country’s telecoms regulator said. “The court has asked PTA to block access to TikTok,” Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA) spokesman Khurram Mehran told Reuters, adding …

Fast-food chain Burger King found itself on the griddle and getting burnt over an offensive tongue-in-cheek tweet on International Women’s Day that backfired massively on the burger brand. “Women belong in the kitchen,” the now-deleted tweet by Burger King UK read on Monday. While the thread was meant to reference …

Lebanese Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh announced on Friday that he will be taking legal action against Bloomberg after it published an article claiming that the US is considering sanctioning him, a move the US State Department denies. “We have seen reports about possible sanctions of Riad Salameh. They are …

Alphabet Inc’s Google will not build or use alternate tools to track web browsing traffic once it begins phasing out existing technology from its Chrome browser next year, it said in a blog post on Wednesday, in a move that will reshape how online advertising works. Google first announced it …

Darth Vader, Bruce Lee and Elie Ferzli – only a couple of the many of crossover meme’s Lebanese social media users created following the Lebanese MP and deputy speaker’s meltdowns on television earlier this week. Ferzli found himself going viral and becoming the meme of the moment after losing his …

Facebook said it has banned all remaining accounts linked to the Myanmar military on Thursday, citing the junta’s use of deadly force against anti-coup demonstrators. The move, which takes effect immediately, applies to the military and entities controlled by the armed forces on both Facebook and Instagram. It also bans …

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan warned of an attempted military coup against him on Thursday after the army demanded he and his government resign. Pashinyan has faced protests and calls to quit after what critics said was the disastrous handling of a six-week conflict between Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian forces …

Al Jazeera’s announcement of the launch of a new US conservative platform catering to center-right Americans on Tuesday raised caused a stir across social media where users questioned the outlet’s motive. “Al Jazeera is starting a news platform for conservative Americans who feel alienated. IN WHAT UNIVERSE ARE CONSERVATIVES IN …

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison vowed on Friday to press ahead with laws to force Facebook Inc to pay news outlets for content, saying he had received support from world leaders after the social media giant blacked out all media. Facebook stripped the pages of domestic and foreign news outlets …

Social media is inundated with offensive content, including hate, anger, personal attacks and, of course, exaggerated and false claims. Much of it is driven by angry political hyperbole and partisan attacks. It can be nauseating. But every once in a while you come across a social media account that is …

Australians woke to empty news feeds on their Facebook Inc pages on Thursday after the social media giant blocked all media content in a surprise and dramatic escalation of a dispute with the government over paying for content. The move was swiftly criticised by news producers, politicians and human rights …

Death threats. Racist abuse. Sexist slurs. And social media accounts allowed to stay active even after spreading bile. English football has reached breaking point with players, coaches, referees and officials aghast at the ongoing proliferation of hate aimed at them on Instagram and Twitter. A week that began with the …

A White House press aide who repeatedly threatened a reporter working on a story about his romantic life resigned on Saturday. Vanity Fair reported Friday that the aide, TJ Ducklo, told a reporter for Politico “I will destroy you” and made other crude remarks when asked to comment on a …

BBC Arabic has remained tight-lipped over the details of a recent report accusing it of having an overtly anti-Israeli bias. An investigation by the Jewish Chronicle titled, “Shame of BBC Arabic as systematic bias revealed,” highlighted the Arabic-language news channel’s consistent use of anti-Semitic and “Hamas-inspired language.” A BBC spokesperson …

Australia will introduce landmark legislation to force Alphabet’s Google and Facebook to pay publishers and broadcasters for content next week, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said on Friday. Australia is on course to become the first country to require Facebook and Google to pay for news content, legislation that is being closely …

Facebook Inc. said on Wednesday it would temporarily reduce political content appearing on New Feeds for some users in Canada, Brazil and Indonesia this week and in the United States within the coming weeks. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said in January that he wanted to “turn down the temperature” …