Facebook’s stance on human rights

The news that Facebook would launch a corporate human rights policy and fund human rights defenders facing online threat is welcome, but while it is a step in the right direction, the context of the decision should be examined.

Fact-checking the fact-checkers: Platforms are failing the misinformation test

Social media platforms still aren’t doing enough to tackle the misinformation spread by bots, foreign propagandists and conspiracy peddlers.

Keyboard crusaders

In an attention economy, the loudest voice isn’t always the most impactful. At a time when supporters of various causes are shouting louder than ever, Monash experts are finding new ways of getting important, accurate information to the community using a different tactic.

Web Planet

The internet, once seen as liberating free expression, has increasingly become a tool of authoritarian repression, but new distributed technology could put it back in the hands of the people.

Misogynistic tweets correlate with violence against women

Places where there is a lot of misogynistic tweeting going on are likely to have a lot of domestic violence as well, a study by UNSW has found.

Fighting fake news on Twitter

Prompting people to reflect on the accuracy of news headlines increases the quality of news that they share online, according to international scientists.

Why TikTok isn’t really a social media app

There’s one thing we’re all getting wrong about TikTok: it’s not really a social media app.

Social media detox

Short-lived as it was, Facebook’s removal of Australian news raised interesting questions about our dependence on social media and whether we can do without it.

Disinformation threatens evidence-based policy making

The prime minister says the public service needs to focus on ‘getting the right data, the right evidence, and the right reporting’. More importantly, a reliable evidence base supports a sharper focus on long-term thinking and planning.

How tech giants swallowed the web

When Facebook disabled Australians’ access to news articles on its platform, and blocked sharing of articles from Australian news organizations, the company moved a step closer to killing the World Wide Web.

Facebook could face serious consequences over news ban

Facebook’s botched takedown of content publishers yesterday will likely have serious reputational and commercial consequences for the social media platform, says UNSW Business School’s Rob Nicholls.

Feel like breaking up with Facebook?

Users of Open Forum’s Facebook page will note it has been stripped of content by the American social media giant. By way of celebration, here’s a user friendly guide on ridding Facebook from your life as well.