The Morrison government is setting up a parliamentary inquiry to put big tech companies “under the microscope” over dangers posed to people’s wellbeing by toxic material on their sites.
Research from Meta and some scientists shows no harm from social media, but other research and whistleblower testimony show otherwise. Seemingly contradictory, both can be right.
Pressure is mounting on Congress to take action on Facebook. Our panel of experts offers their top priorities: user control of data, banking-like oversight and resources to close the digital divide.
Corporate rebranding is fundamental to the spread of metacapitalism which uses increasingly sophisticated technology to shape, exploit and profit from human interaction.
Not knowing how many posts people see on social media overall or where specific types of content get concentrated is keeping researchers in the dark about misinformation.
Facebook’s parent company is now called Meta, as part if its move to embrace the metaverse - the blurring of the online and real worlds via virtual and augmented reality technologies.
Smart glasses like Facebook’s Ray-Ban Stories could be used to record you surreptitiously. If the company adds facial recognition, you could be even more exposed.
Efforts to rein in the social media giant’s power have followed the same script: dialogue, then attempts at self-regulation, then a bitter dispute over legislation, followed by compromise.