#CANADA: New Online Media Law Prompts Meta To Block News Sharing By Canadians

[world politics news]

Meta said it will follow through with a threat to block Canadians from sharing news on its platforms, after the federal government passed a law requiring digital firms to pay domestic media organizations for their content.

“We have repeatedly shared that in order to comply with Bill C-18, passed today in Parliament, content from news outlets, including news publishers and broadcasters, will no longer be available to people accessing our platforms in Canada,” the parent company of Facebook said in a statement Thursday.

The law, known as the Online News Act, is one part of a broad and contentious effort by the Canadian government to regulate the digital sphere and circumscribe the power of tech giants. Another law passed this year compelling streaming platforms such as Netflix to promote Canadian content to users in Canada also drew criticism.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

UK: Liberal Democrat's Murderous Rants On Facebook Uncovered

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A Liberal Democrat candidate in the upcoming local elections made shocking statements in a number of Facebook posts promoting violence and a desire to “kill” before she was involved with the party.

Nikita Primrose Sykes, who is the party’s candidate in the North Yorkshire seat of Skelton West, said “I really really want to kill something” among numerous other violent social media statuses, posted a decade ago.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#SOUTHKOREA: Agency Fines Google, Facebook $72 Million For Privacy Violations

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South Korea’s Personal Information and Protection Commission said it fined Google $50 million and Facebook $22 million for illegally tracking their users’ online behavior without their consent.

The combined $72 million fine was the largest penalty ever levied in South Korea for privacy violations, according to the agency.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#HONGKONG: Social Media Giants threaten To Leave City Over New Data Laws

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Facebook Inc., Twitter Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google have privately warned the Hong Kong government that they could stop offering their services in the city if authorities proceed with planned changes to data-protection laws that could make them liable for the malicious sharing of individuals’ information online.

A letter sent by an industry group that includes the internet firms said companies are concerned that the planned rules to address doxing could put their staff at risk of criminal investigations or prosecutions.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#AUSTRALIA: Facebook Removes Controversial MP's Page For "Misinformation" About Covid-19

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Facebook has removed independent Member of Parliament Craig Kelly’s Facebook page for repeatedly breaching the social media company’s "misinformation" policy.

The member for Hughes, who quit the Liberal party in February in part because he wanted to keep posting about alternative treatments for Covid-19 such as hydroxychloroquine, had amassed a following on the site of more than 86,000 followers.

Kelly said he was “absolutely outraged” by Facebook’s conduct, labelling it “censorship” and “interference in Australian democracy."

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#AUSTRALIA: Facebook Bans Aussies From Sharing News Content

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In an extraordinary step, Facebook has banned Australian users and publishers from sharing or viewing news articles on its platform.

The move comes as hostilities grew over the Australian government’s media bargaining code, through which it was trying to force tech giants to pay Australian media outlets for using news content in a bid to sustain the future of journalism.

The world-first laws, however, prompted a hostile reception from both Google and Facebook. 

World Politics News has reported that Google had earlier threatened to block all searches in Australia on its platform if the law passed.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#SOLOMONISLANDS: Cabinet Votes To Ban Facebook

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The Cabinet of the Solomon Islands has agreed to ban Facebook, citing a need for stricter cybercrime legislation and regulation.

The Communications Minister, Peter Shanel Agovaka, confirmed the decision to the Solomon Times newspaper, saying public misuse of the platform was the main concern.

He said country was lacking legislation on internet usage and cybercrime which was particularly worrying when it came to what children were accessing and being exposed to.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#IRELAND: Facebook Pulls Party's Ads For Failing To Carry "Paid For" Disclaimer

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Facebook has removed ads by the Renua  Ireland Party after they were found to have breached the social media site's policies on political advertising.

Facebook reportedly told party officials the ads failed to have a "paid for by" disclaimer. The party's treasurer said the omission was unintentional.

The social media giant is under pressure from the political left to ban political advertising on the platform, as Twitter has already done. Renua Ireland is a populist political party contesting this month's election. Facebook said content was not a factor in his decision to pull the ads.

The ads, which were running on the platform until Wednesday night, detailed immigration and crime policies and a promise to “restore the green passport” as “a symbol of our independent policy direction within the EU." European Union passport covers are blue.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#TRINIDAD: Member Of Parliament Threatens Defamation Suit Against Facebook Posts Attacking Family Members

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A member of Trinidad and Tobago's parliament, Dr Surujrattan Rambachan, has threatened legal action against those responsible for two posts on social media attacking his family. In a statement, Rambachan said the posts were "malicious rumors" that bear no truth. He said the statements posted on two public Facebook pages were highly libelous and inflammatory. "Those posts are engaging the attention of my attorneys who have been instructed to use all means available to trace the source of the posts,” he said. Rambachan, who represents Tabaquite, a town in central Trinidad, said he would act to protect his family's reputation. He was responding to posts stating one of Rambachan's relatives is being investigated for a sex-related crime. according to local media.

[FULL STORY HERE]

#GERMANY: Syrian Refugee Suing Over Use Of Famous Merkel Selfie By "Fake News" On Facebook

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Syrian refugee Anas Modamani took one of Germany's most emblematic selfies in Sept. 2015, with him alongside Chancellor Angela Merkel. But his photo has been posted with language suggesting he was part of the Brussels and Berlin Christmas attacks, and posted on Facebook with these false stories. Now, in a case that will have long-ranging implication for social media, Modamani is taking Facebook to court, demanding that they ban the photo permanently from the site.

[FULL STORY HERE]

#DENMARK: Facebook Temporarily Bans Danish MP Over Two Nude Photos

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Danish MP Uffe Elbæk was temporarily banned from Facebook for violating the social media giant's nudity policy. Elbæk, the leader of The Alternative, said on Monday that he was banned for posting two photos that contained nudity. One was from Copenhagen's Culture Night while the other was a famous photo from 1969 that shows Danish artist Lene Adler Petersen walking nude through the Copenhagen Stock Exchange carrying a cross.

#EU: Preliminary Ruling May Force Facebook To Choose Between NSA Data Sharing And Doing Business In Europe

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You can’t have it both ways. That was the stark message delivered to Facebook, the European Commission yesterday by Yves Bot, advocate general of the European Court of Justice. To Facebook and other US companies collecting user data within the EU, the ruling was clear: you can either operate in Europe or you can collaborate with NSA surveillance, not both.