Facebook Whistleblower Alleges Facebook Ignores Political Manipulation
- A former employee has alleged that Facebook ignored or was slow to act on evidence that fake accounts on its platform have been undermining elections and political affairs around the world.
- The 6,600-word memo, written by a former Facebook data scientist, offers examples of heads of government and political parties using fake accounts or misrepresenting themselves to sway public opinion. The countries are alleged to include Azerbaijan, Honduras, India, Ukraine, Spain, Brazil, Bolivia, and Ecuador
- In the memo, the individual said “In the three years I’ve spent at Facebook, I’ve found multiple blatant attempts by foreign national governments to abuse our platform on vast scales to mislead their own citizenry, and caused international news on multiple occasions”
Oracle to Buy TikTok After Microsoft is Rejected
- US tech firm Oracle has confirmed that TikTok’s owner has formally proposed it become a “trusted technology partner” to the video-sharing app
- Full details of the tie-up have yet to be disclosed, but the aim is to avoid President Trump’s threat to shut down the Chinese-owned service in the US
- Mr Trump has cited national security concerns, suggesting users’ data could be accessed by Beijing, which current owner Bytedance denies
- Oracle is a database specialist with no experience of running a social media app targeted at the general public
- Microsoft had also attempted to buy the platform but revealed it had been rejected on Sunday
UK Facing Explosion of Anxiety Since 2008
- There has been an “explosion” in anxiety in Britain over the past decade, research has shown, with the financial crash, austerity, Brexit, climate change and social media blamed for massive rises in the condition
- The debilitating mental illness has trebled among young adults, affecting 30% of women aged 18 to 24, and has increased across the board among men and women under 55
- The findings emerged in one of the biggest studies of anxiety undertaken in the UK for many years, examining trends in diagnosis and treatment by GPs since 1998 by analysing 6.6 million patients at 795 practices across the UK
- The analysis found that the country has experienced what lead researcher Prof Nick Freemantle called “a massive increase, a profound increase” in anxiety, which began in 2008 when the worldwide crash caused by bad bank loans triggered large-scale unemployment and financial insecurity
Teenager stabbed to Death in Islington
- A teenager has died after being stabbed in north London.
- The Met Police said officers were called at 20:00 BST on Monday after the male was found suffering from stab wounds on North Road, Islington
- The force said he was treated by medics at the scene but was pronounced dead
- A police cordon is in place and an investigation has begun. No arrests have been made in connection with the stabbing and officers are working to identify the victim’s next of kin
