Articles written by barbara ortutay
Sorted by date Results 51 - 75 of 185
Crusading tech mogul aims to prove CEOs can be activists too
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Salesforce founder Marc Benioff oversees a $130 billion software empire from a 62-story skyscraper that towers above everything else in San Francisco. But he sits uneasily in his lofty perch because of a worsening economic...
Facebook still auto-generating Islamic State, al-Qaida pages
WASHINGTON (AP) — In the face of criticism that Facebook is not doing enough to combat extremist messaging, the company likes to say that its automated systems remove the vast majority of prohibited content glorifying the Islamic State group and...
More to come: FTC fine doesn't spell closure for Facebook
Facebook may be close to putting a Federal Trade Commission investigation behind it. But it faces a variety of other probes in Europe and the U.S., some of which could present it with even bigger headaches. While the $5 billion fine from the FTC,...
Report: FTC approves roughly $5B fine for Facebook
The FTC has voted to approve a fine of about $5 billion for Facebook over privacy violations, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday. The report cited an unnamed person familiar with the matter. Facebook and the FTC declined to comment. The Journal...
Facebook auto-generates videos celebrating extremist images
WASHINGTON (AP) — The animated video begins with a photo of the black flags of jihad. Seconds later, it flashes highlights of a year of social media posts: plaques of anti-Semitic verses, talk of retribution and a photo of two men carrying more...
Facebook bans 'dangerous individuals' cited for hate speech
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — After years of pressure to crack down on hate and bigotry, Facebook has banned Louis Farrakhan, Alex Jones and other extremists, saying they violated its ban on "dangerous individuals." The company also removed right-wing...
'Privacy-focused' Facebook puts the spotlight on groups
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Facebook is launching a major redesign of its app and website built around letting people connect with groups that share their interests — an attempt to shift its focus away from the untrammeled public sharing that has...
Facebook anticipates an FTC privacy fine of up to $5 billion
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Facebook said it expects a fine of up to $5 billion from the Federal Trade Commission, which is investigating whether the social network violated its users' privacy. The company set aside $3 billion in its quarterly earnings...
Facebook extends ban on hate speech to 'white nationalists'
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Facebook is extending its ban on hate speech to prohibit the promotion and support of white nationalism and white separatism. The company previously allowed such material even though it has long banned white supremacists. The...
Facebook left millions of passwords readable by employees
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Facebook left millions of user passwords readable by its employees for years, the company acknowledged Thursday after a security researcher exposed the lapse . By storing passwords in readable plain text, Facebook violated...
Facebook says Apple is restoring a key developer tool
NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook says Apple is restoring its access to a key development tool that the iPhone maker disabled Wednesday. Late Tuesday, TechCrunch reported that Facebook paid teens and other users who agreed to download an app called...
Apple busts Facebook for distributing data-sucking app
NEW YORK (AP) — Apple says Facebook can no longer distribute an app that paid users, including teenagers, to extensively track their phone and web use. In doing so, Apple closed off Facebook's efforts to sidestep Apple's app store and its tighter...
Breaking up (with Facebook) is hard to do: Here's how
NEW YORK (AP) — Every relationship has a breaking point. Even yours with Facebook. There's a way out, though the social network will try to win you back with promises to do better. Maybe even flowers. For some users, though, the past two years of...
Privacy and other matters with Facebook's video-call gadget
NEW YORK (AP) — It's rare that a new gadget these days serves a true need. Rather, it creates a want. You certainly don't need the Facebook Portal, whose primary purpose is to let you make the types of video calls you can already make on...
AP FACT CHECK: Facebook defines 'permission' loosely
Facebook gave companies such as Apple, Amazon and Yahoo extensive access to users' personal data, effectively exempting them from the company's usual privacy rules, according to a New York Times report . Facebook enabled partners to offer services...
Social media and misinformation: It's a game of whack-a-mole
NEW YORK (AP) — It's a high-stakes game of whack-a-mole with no end in sight. Social media companies are fighting an expensive and increasingly complex battle against Russian trolls who are using catchy memes, bots and fake accounts to influence...
Bug may have exposed photos from 7M Facebook users
NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook's privacy controls have broken down yet again, this time through a software flaw affecting nearly 7 million users who had photos exposed to a much wider audience than intended. The bug disclosed Friday gave hundreds of...
With an eye on past problems, Facebook expands local feature
NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook is cautiously expanding a feature that shows people local news and information, including missing-person alerts, road closures, crime reports and school announcements. Called "Today In," the service shows people...
As Facebook faces fire, heat turns up on No. 2 Sandberg
NEW YORK (AP) — For the past decade, Sheryl Sandberg has been the poised, reliable second-in-command to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, helping steer Facebook's rapid growth around the world, while also cultivating her brand in ways that hint at...
Facebook says it's better at detecting rule violations
NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook said it's making progress on detecting hate speech, graphic violence and other violations of its rules, even before users see and report them. Facebook said that during the April-to-September period, it doubled the amount...
Facebook blocks fake accounts but election battle goes on
NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook's recent disclosures on blocking suspicious accounts show that the company's efforts to root out election meddling are working — to a point. What's not known is how much the company isn't catching and whether this...
Facebook admits not doing enough to prevent Myanmar violence
NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook is admitting that it didn't do enough to prevent its services from being used to incite violence and spread hate in Myanmar. The company "can and should do more" to protect human rights and ensure it isn't used to foment...
Facebook blocks 115 accounts ahead of US midterm elections
Facebook said it blocked 115 accounts for suspected "coordinated inauthentic behavior" linked to foreign groups attempting to interfere in Tuesday's U.S. midterm elections. The social media company shut down 30 Facebook accounts and 85 Instagram...
Social media's misinformation battle: No winners, so far
NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook and other social platforms have been fighting online misinformation and hate speech for two years. With the U.S. midterm elections just a few days away, there are signs that they're making some headway, although they're sti...
Purging long-forgotten online accounts: Worth the trouble?
NEW YORK (AP) — The internet is riddled with long-forgotten accounts on social media, dating apps and various shopping sites used once or twice. Sure, you should delete all those unused logins and passwords. And eat your vegetables. And go to the...