Europe is considering to ban under-16s from social media |

 

The European Union is weighing a region-wide social media ban for children under 16. The proposal comes amid growing concerns about the impact of social media on young people. Supporters argue that stronger EU-wide safeguards may be needed to better protect children and teens from online risks.

How DW fact-checks fake news |

Viral fake news on social media, false claims on COVID-19 or disinformation on elections — DW's fact check team debunks, explains and uses in-depth research techniques to separate fact from fiction.

What are the implications of the Gary Lineker-BBC dispute?

 How are broadcasters handling staff sharing opinions online?

The BBC has reversed its suspension of presenter Gary Lineker following a weekend of chaos at the broadcaster.

Lineker was initially suspended after he described the government’s migration plan as “immeasurably cruel” and said the government’s language was “not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s”.

Meet South Korea’s Oldest Influencers

South Korea’s elderly social media influencers are revolutionising views on what it means to grow old in an ageing society.

In South Korea, a new generation of stars is changing the face of online media and entertainment – the elderly.

Older Koreans are finding success on YouTube, TikTok and in the fashion industry in a country with a rapidly ageing population.

A Toxic Feed: Social media and teen mental health

 

In 2021, a whistleblower inside Facebook disclosed a trove of documents showing that the company had studied its own platforms’ toxic effects on teen girls.

The revelations struck a chord with Hillary Hamilton, a mother in Colorado who spent more than a year investigating whether social media may have contributed to her daughter’s death by suicide in 2020.

Likes, selfies and self-promotion - The hidden dangers of social media

 

Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat. In the virtual world, everyone wants to put their best foot forward. But the quest for validation can become an addiction. The dynamics on social networks can cause serious damage, especially for impressionable young people.

How we verify social media posts from the war in Ukraine

 

 

How do you tell if a photo or video posted online is real or fake? Here's a look at how the BBC's Disinformation team check and verify content shared online about the war in Ukraine.

Has Facebook become too powerful?

 Global outage is the company’s latest headache, as whistleblower accuses it of putting profits above safety and privacy.

Facebook is the world’s biggest social media network by far.

It connects three billion people: nearly 40 percent of the global population.

How should social media companies handle the Taliban?

 

Tech giants face challenges over disseminating Taliban content as the group prepares to form a new government in Afghanistan.

The Taliban says it has changed.

It has promised respect for women’s rights, protection for the Afghan people and peaceful international relations.

QAnon: When Social Media Conspiracies Spark Real Violence | Bad Influence

 

How did the movement that began with a sick joke end in a deadly riot at our nation’s Capitol? Here’s how the social media echo chamber brought QAnon to life.

Africa's internet & social media bans: Censorship or public service?

 

From bans on social media sites, to internet blackouts and harassment campaigns against journalists - increasingly governments across Africa are making it harder to speak out.

How can social media users be protected from hackers?

 The personal data of more than half a billion Facebook users has been shared online in a security breach.

It may seem safe enough to post your phone number and date of birth on social media.

But that information could end up being shared all over the web.

The personal details of more than half a billion Facebook users were posted online on a website for hackers.

Tech platforms banned Trump. Now what?

 Former US president Donald Trump has now been kicked off of social media platforms from Facebook and Twitter to Pinterest. His suspension followed a violent insurrection on the Capitol in his name, and came months after Twitter had begun flagging hundreds of his posts for false statements about the election that he lost.

Trump-free Twitter: The debate over deplatforming

 

Numerous social media sites have suspended Trump’s accounts – is this good media ethics or good business sense?

Trump shunned by Republicans and social media after Capitol riot

 

Security has been bolstered around the US Capitol, following serious concern over a breach that led to a mob of Donald Trump supporters storming the building earlier this week.

Sacha Baron Cohen Rips Facebook and Other Social Media Giants

‘If Facebook were around in the 1930s, it would have allowed Hitler to post 30-second ads’ — Listen to Sacha Baron Cohen slam the social media industry for facilitating the spread of hate, lies, and conspiracies through its creation of the ‘greatest propaganda machine in history.’

 

Belarus: Telegramming the uprisings

 

Powered by activists and journalists on Telegram, Belarusian protesters complete a month on the streets.

It has been just over a month since the biggest demonstrations in Belarus's history began to sweep the country, and the protests have persisted despite disproportionate state violence. The engine driving those protests can be found online - on the messaging app, Telegram.

Coronavirus conspiracy theories: Why do people fall for them?

Despite mounting evidence about the coronavirus, conspiracy theories are still on the rise. Well, the COVID-19 pandemic is scary, and people are hungry for answers. Social media is rife with speculation, ranging from the plausible to the ridiculous.

War, Lies and Hashtags: Pakistan's Twitter Battles

Pakistan's most notorious digital commander leads his cyber-army to the front line of a propaganda war.

Farhan Virk is a household name in Pakistan's Twittersphere.

He is one of the country's most controversial political influencers and claims he can make any hashtag trend nationally.

A hyper-nationalist believed by many to be a state-sponsored troll, Virk commands Team Imran Khan, a Twitter army of more than 1,000 volunteers.

When India-Pakistan tensions flare, Virk mounts an online attack.

The Great Facebook Boycott: Will it make any difference?

Big brands are part of an advt boycott against Facebook over racist content and hate speech. Plus, bookshelf backdrops.

The Great Facebook Boycott: Will it make any difference?

The two biggest news stories of 2020 - the coronavirus pandemic and the racial inequality protests - have triggered what the United Nations calls a "tsunami" of hate speech - a surge in xenophobia online. The social media platforms involved now find themselves the focus of an advertising boycott - a campaign called "Stop Hate for Profit" - that is designed to get them to clean up their act, by hitting them where it hurts. The primary target has been Facebook. For years, Mark Zuckerberg and company have resisted demands to take a more active approach - a harder line - to moderating hateful content. Ninety-nine percent of Facebook's revenue - $70bn last year - reportedly comes from advertising. However, given Facebook's size, the boycott is unlikely to seriously damage its bottom line, at least in the short term.