Media
Media
Elon Musk threatens to walk away from his USD 44 billion bid to buy Twitter as the company repeatedly has refused to provide information regarding the amount of spam bot accounts, says the company's offer of only providing details about the testing methods breaches the merger agreement obligations
BBC alters female rape victim's quote from he/him to they/them to prevent misgendering the transgender attacker, the pronouns reportedly changed on advice from the 14-member central diversity team in accordance with the editorial policy
Infowars files for bankruptcy, presumably to avoid paying damages for commentary on Sandy Hook massacre
Elon Musk buys 9.2% of Twitter and becomes largest shareholder, has critized the platform for lacking free speech and hinted at planning shake-up of social media industry
Germany blocks several of Covid-19 denier Attila Hildmann's Telegram channels from German users and investigates a Bavarian man for hate speech and Holocaust denial on the platform, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser met with Telegram earlier this week and has previously threatened to shut down the platform in the country as researchers have found that that popular power users such as Hildmann and Austrian Identitarian Movement leader Martin Sellner contribute to a spiral of radicalization
Russia closes the Moscow bureau of German broadcaster Deutsche Welle and revokes its employees' accreditations in the country, will also terminate the broadcasting output on its territory and plans to label the company a foreign agent, Russia has earlier criticized a German ban on the state broadcaster Russia Today's German-language programming
Former CNN anchor Leon Harris arrested accused of trying to leave a DUI crash scene in Maryland, faces a total of nine charges including driving while under influence of alcohol, driving while impaired by alcohol, attempting to elude police and failure to control vehicle speed to avoid a collision, Harris previously pleaded guilty to DUI in 2013
Facebook loses a million daily active users during Q4 2021 which is the first ever decline, adds 2 million monthly actives which is the slowest ever quarter-on-quarter growth rate, has close to 3 billion daily active users across Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp
CNN President Jeff Zucker resigns immediately over undisclosed relationship with his key lieutenant Allison Gollust, Gollust remains with the company and says she looks forward to continuing the great work, senior executives Michael Bass, Amy Entelis and Ken Jautz to fill the position as interim heads until the merger with Discovery is complete
BBC director-general Tim Davie warns about job cuts after GBP 285 million missing in the budget due to freezing the licence fee for two years, says they need to rethink their operational structure, the staff reportedly upset and depressed according to insiders
Nigeria lifts ban on Twitter after seven months For its 200 million people, the ban followed a censoring of a President Buhari post where he threatened to handle separatist rebels "in the language they will understand", Twitter reportedly to open an office in Nigeria, appoint a country head and meet its tax obligations according to the deal
Germany’s minister of justice Marco Buschmann calls for concerted EU action against Telegram over spread of extremist content, saying it's in Telegram’s own best interest to have uninterrupted access to the European market, while Telegram’s founder Pavel Durov made it the messenger’s policy not to cooperate with authorities in any country
Covington Catholic student Nicholas Sandmann and NBC settles lawsuit over media giant's wrongful portrayal of the Kentucky student in controversy during interaction with Omaha tribe elder in 2019, Sandmann asked for USD 275 million in damages when filing suit
Jack Dorsey steps down as Twitter CEO effective immediately and will leave the board at the 2022 stockholders' meeting, says he left of his own accord and that he believes it to be severely limiting and a single point of failure for a company to be founder-led, former CTO Parag Agrawal appointed CEO
British newspaper The Independent criticized for claiming that Kyle Rittenhouse shot three black men despite all three attackers being white, Singaporean newspaper The Straits Times and Dutch news site NU.nl also described the rioters as black
Facebook blocks searches related to Kyle Rittenhouse who is currently on trial for shooting three people in self-defense during a 2020 riot in Wisconsin, the company comments that it deems the incident a mass murder and has removed Rittenhouse's Facebook and Instagram accounts
Facebook shuts down its face recognition system that automatically recognizes opt-in users in pictures and videos as well as automatically creates image descriptions for visually-impaired people, promises to delete more than a billion people's individual facial recognition templates, says that facial recognition is a powerful tool but that limiting its use is appropriate due to societal concerns and regulators still being in the process of providing a clear set of rules
Facebook changes its company name to Meta to reflect the vision for working and playing in a virtual world, Mark Zuckerberg comments that it's in the company DNA to build technology to connect people and that he hopes the metaverse will reach a billion people within the next decade
Doctors around the world report rise in cases of tics in young girls due to watching TikTok videos about Tourette syndrome, Texas Children's Hospital reported 60 cases of teen girls being admitted with tics since March 2020 compared to 1 or 2 the previous year, concerned parents are advised to encourage their kids to take a break from social media or block Tourette videos
Internal Twitter research shows bias in algorithm for rightwing politicians and news outlets, largest discrepancy found in Canada, the company says it is unclear as to why the results were produced but that it may now need to change the algorithm
Google quietly updates its image search to promote greater skin-tone diversity for terms related to beauty and family, comments that they are in the early phases of the effort and that they will continue to experiment to provide greater diversity in results
Sky News Australia barred from publishing new material for one week by YouTube over Covid reporting
British news channel GB News vows to be anti-woke and that they will have no no-go areas which has triggered outrage on the left despite claiming to be heaving with diversity, recruits high profile presenters from BBC, ITV and Sky as well as a former Labour MP
Facebook freezes Nicolás Maduro's account for 30 days for repeatedly stating that carvacrol works as a miracle medication against COVID-19, Facebook's spokesman comments that they follow WHO's guidelines saying there currently is no medication to cure the virus
Donald Trump will return to social media in 2-3 months with his own platform which is going to completely redefine the game, has been having high-powered meetings with various teams and numerous companies have approached the former president, according to his advisers Jason Miller
CNN hemorrhages viewers since Donald Trump left office, dropping 49% since Inauguration Day from 3.1 million primetime viewers to 1.6 million and 58% among key demographic of adults age 25-to-54 most important to advertisers
Indian authorities threaten to jail local Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter staff if companies don't abide to government requests to remove information on protests over agricultural bills which have drawn thousands of farmers to rally in the Indian capital
Disney slaps The Muppet Show with offensive content disclaimer, warning viewers the show features stereotypes and mistreatment of people or cultures and that "these stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now", wanting it to "spark conversation to create a more inclusive future together"
Facebook blocks pages from domestic and international news organisations as well as state governments in Australia in escalation of dispute with the government over law to require it to share news revenue with news outlets, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison says Facebook is as arrogant as they were disappointing
Rush Limbaugh loses battle against lung cancer at age 70, was foremost star of talk radio and for three decades one of the most influential individuals in US politics
China bans BBC World News claiming it seriously violated broadcasting regulations, saying BBC’s relentless fabrication of lies of the century in reporting China runs counter to the professional ethics of journalism, comes a week after Chinese state channel was kicked off Britain's TV screens
Parler partially reappears with the help of Russian technology firm DDos-Guard, displaying a message from its chief executive John Matze saying they are working to restore functionality
Gab CEO Andrew Torba recreates President Trump’s Twitter on Gab from a backup before the account is deleted, traffic for Gab was up 753% while adding 600 000 new accounts in a single day
AP: Podcasting loophole through which extremists can escape censorship, Big Tech has taken responsibility for silencing oppositional voices in other formats but still allow unacceptable opinions on their podcast platforms
Facebook blocks President Donald Trump's account for at least two weeks while Twitter locks the Presidents account for 24 hours, with Zuckerberg saying the risks of allowing the President to continue to use their service during this period are simply too great
Twitter deletes Breitbart video of press conference held by America’s Frontline Doctors sharing their views on Covid-19 and the medical community’s treatment of the virus for violating social media's Covid-19 misinformation policy, also removes posts by President Trump and suspends Donald Trump Jr. for sharing video footage
NBC News and MSNBC to capitalize the "B" when referring to black people or their community
John Malkovich blames social media idiocy for the death of comedy with its toxic outrage culture, says what is considered funny one day could well end an entertainer’s career the next, the ire of a generation a few clicks away from being sparked
Social media to be regulated through executive order by Donald Trump, could change interpretation of 1996 law which shields platforms from legal liability for content published by users
Dutch grandmother ordered to delete photos of grandchildren which she uploaded to social media against the wishes of parents, court finds GDPR applies despite exception for personal processing of data since pictures where made available to wider audience
New York Times develops own ad system and phases out third-party data collected on other sites, part of industry trend where publishers move toward more privacy-friendly solutions
Joe Rogan quits YouTube and joins Spotify, has one of world's largest podcasts with 190 million downloads per month, reportedly gets more than 100 million USD for five year exclusive deal
23-year-old Iraqi-born Tishko Ahmed Shabaz charged with murdering Swedish 17-year-old girl Wilma Andersson and keeping her head in his closet, claims innocence
YouTube bans all videos linking covid-19 to 5G networks, decision follows live-streamed interview with David Icke where he says that 5G is linked to today's health crisis and that human life as we know it is over if 5G networks are allowed to spread according to plan, YouTube spokeswoman says all content that disputes WHO and local health authorities is now in violation of its policies
Google removes Infowars' app from the Play store after Alex Jones posted a video where he questions the world governments' Covid-19 approach including quarantines and lockdowns, Jones blasts the ban and says the app is still available on the Infowars website
Netflix and YouTube reduce streaming quality in Europe for 30 days after appeals from EU officials to reduce network strain
Fox News averaged 3.5 million viewers during prime time in February, 35% more than same month previous year, highest rating since channel was founded 24 years ago, top shows by Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham also sets records, Trump's State of the Union address month's most watched telecast with 11.6 million viewers
More than 80% of workers in UK cultural sector say controversial opinions are punished with ostracism, 70% would not criticise a funder and 40% have been pressured by funders not to speak out, according to survey by journal ArtsProfessional
Twitter tests adding brightly colored labels to lies and misinformation posted by politicians and other public figures, corrected data by verified users to be shown directly beneath the tweets and visibility to be reduced, also tries system where users can earn points and badges by acting "like a good neighbor" and providing critical context to help people, the company calls misinformation a critical issue and says they're testing many different ways to address it
Scandinavia's largest airline SAS deletes commercial about nothing being truly Scandinavian, ad claimed windmills were invented in Persia and meatballs in Turkey along with a black man stating that we are not better than our Viking ancestors, heavily criticised online with numerous comments referencing #BoycottSAS and #GetWokeGoBroke
Digital publishers fills void left by dying local press in US, some through hyperlocal news platform Patch which has 1,200 such sites, successful projects focus heavily on local reporting and make money through subscriptions and donations
Donald Trump awards conservative radio legend Rush Limbaugh the Presidential Medal of Freedom during his State of the Union address – says the highest civilian honor is in recognition of his decades of tireless devotion to the country, the millions of people he inspires per day and his incredible charity work
Conservative radio profile Rush Limbaugh reveals advanced lung cancer diagnosis, says he has a great team of doctors assembled and intends on keeping as close to the regular daily schedule as circumstances permit
Mark Zuckerberg says new stand for free speech will "piss off a lot of people" but that people need to know what the company stands for to trust it, that political advertising will not be banned even though profits aren't worth the controversy, and that "the goal for this next decade isn't to be liked, but to be understood"
George Soros: Facebook and Trump has formed alliance to help Trump win elections and protect Facebook against regulation, the corporation is a publisher rather than a platform and should be held accountable for all content on its site
Facebook hires Jennifer Williams to lead curation of video material in upcoming news tab, Williams has previously worked as a producer at Fox News running shows Fox & Friends and The Daily Briefing
Online news outlet Zero Hedge gets Twitter account suspended for abuse and harassment following controversial reporting on corona virus, the site which has previously been banned from Facebook responds that they will not self censor to gain favour with "the powerful"
Rupert Murdoch launches UK radio channel Times Radio with opinion-led talk shows without breaks for advertising, primarily aims to compete with BBS Radio 4
News aggregator Knewz launched by News Corp, combines human and machine curation of content from more than 400 sites and lets users compare how multiple sources cover the same events, aims to help publishers become more independent of social media platforms and to let users avoid filter bubbles
Facebook launches "Off-Facebook Activity" tool that lets you access how the company is tracking your activity and provides option to turn off that tracking, the launch follows longstanding promise from CEO Mark Zuckerberg who during the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal vowed to provide a "clear history" tool
China demands apology from Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten and cartoonist Niels Bo Bojesen after graphic of the Chinese flag showing the coronavirus symbol in place of the five yellow stars was published, writes that "it has crossed the bottom line of civilised society and the ethical boundary of free speech and offends human conscience"
MSNBC anchor Alison Morris flubs by mashing up basketball team names "Knicks" and "Lakers" during live coverage of Kobe Bryant's death, Twitter users accuse her of using the n-word
BBC's Director General Tony Hall says he will leave the company in six months to allow a new person to lead financing negotiations with Boris Johnson's government, the 68-year-old joined the company as a news trainee in 1973 and defended it as the gold standard of impartiality and truth in a fake news era
The Sun launches US edition, tabloid owned by Murdoch family says UK edition has 16 million monthly readers in US, team based in New York City will produce unique content for American readers
Instagram and Facebook remove posts voicing support for Soleimani to comply with US sanctions, Iran's government calls the actions undemocratic and creates portal where removed posts can be submitted
Over 100 CollegeHumor employees laid off when parent company InterActiveCorp cuts its losses, project had been losing money for years, other subsidiaries include Vimeo, Match.com, Tinder and The Daily Beast
Convington Catholic student Nicholas Sandmann wins settlement from CNN in $275 million lawsuit for defamatory assertions about Sandmann's personal convictions, exact settlement figure unknown
Benjamin Netanyahu accidentally refers to Israel as a 'nuclear power' while reading brief on energy policy, quickly corrects himself to say 'energy power'
Google and Apple removes ToTok from app stores after millions of downloads in Middle East, reason thought to be that United Arab Emirates developed the app to spy on its population, security researcher Patrick Wardle says to New York Times that there is a beauty in approach of letting users offer up information instead of hacking them
YouTube updates harassment policy to ban insults based on race, gender and sexual orientation, also prohibits language that "goes too far", creators on platform expect mass censorship of videos and comments
Jimmy Wales launches social network to compete with Facebook, projekt described as reboot of journalism project WikiTribune
Steve Bannon launches radio project from basement of his DC house, War Room: Impeachment to broadcast live every day until senate votes on impeaching Donald Trump, former White House chief strategist thinks president needs more support as threat from Democrats in congress is more serious than most Republicans think
Kik Messenger app with millions of active users shuts down, enabling company to concentrate on its Kin cryptocurrency, staff cutbacks reduce overheads by 85%, giving it a much better chance of winning legal fight with US Securities and Exchange Commission over launch of Kin
Comic Shane Gillis fired from Saturday Night Live four days after his announcement as new cast member, the dismissal occurred following pressure from several entertainment publications and leftist outrage on social media calling for his termination for making jokes about minorities as a white man, Gillis comments "I was alway a Mad TV-guy anyway".
PewDiePie cancels USD 50,000 donation to far-left Anti Defamation League, says he made the mistake of picking a charity he was advised to instead of picking one he is personally passionate about, saw it as an opportunity to put an end to alt-right claims thrown against him
Twitter CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey has own account taken over by hackers, group referring to itself as the Chuckling Squad claims responsibility, account tweeted out remarks using the n-word and anti-Semitic comments referencing the Holocaust
Sky News New Zealand fined equivalent of USD 2,500 by Broadcasting Standards Authority for broadcasting clips of Christchurch massacre, watchdog rules video had potential to cause significant distress to Muslim community as well as family and friends of victims
Facebook collects audio from voice chats on Messenger and pay contractors to listen to and transcribe them, tech giant says it only affect users who have given their consent, but doesn't disclose in its data-use policies it transcribes user audio, Bloomberg reports
India's government contacts international media such as Al Jazeera and BBC over alleged fabricated Kashmir videos, claims only 20 people were present at protest which report says 10,000 took part in, news organisations say videos are geniune and they can provide raw footage if required
Federal judge orders Daily Stormer founder Andrew Anglin to pay Jewish woman Tanya Gersh USD 14 million in damages, Gersh and her family were harassed for years after Anglin posted her name and contact information in article covering her dispute with Richard Spencer's mother
Facebook offers news outlets millions of dollars to license their content for its new News tab, to be launched later this year, no longer interested in driving traffic to traditional news sites
The movie The Hunt portrays liberal elites kidnapping and hunting "deplorables" who express pro-life positions or are deemed racist, hits theaters in September
Network provider Cloudflare terminates 8chan's service, says evidence shows suspected El Paso shooter as well as the Christchurch shooter posted to the website before the attacks, wishes to work with policy makers regarding "lawless platforms" such as 8chan and Daily Stormer
Ines Pohl, Deutsche Welle editor-in-chief: The Frankfurt tragedy where an Eritrean man threw an 8-year-old in front of a train will have serious consequences for an already-tense societal debate, balancing insecurity with maintaining Germany's identity as a prosperous country – important to report truthfully and impartially, and the perpetrator's origin is a part of the full truth