social media platforms - The African Mirror

Feb

28

2024

Are social media platforms ready for record elections in 2024?

FROM deepfake videos of Indonesia's presidential contenders to online hate speech directed at India's Muslims, social media misinformation has been rising ahead of a bumper election year, and experts say tech platforms are not ready for the challenge. Voters in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and India go to the polls this year as more than 50 nations hold elections, including the United States where former president Donald Trump is looking to make a comeback. Despite the high stakes and evidence from previous polls of how fake online content can influence voters, digital rights experts say social media platforms are ill-prepared for the inevitable rise…

May

19

2021

By The African Mirror

Social media restrictions lifted in Ethiopia

NEWS

SERVICE to social media platforms Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram has been restored in Ethiopia after they were restricted earlier on Monday, internet blockage observatory NetBlocks said. "Service to impacted online platforms in Ethiopia has been restored as of Monday mid-morning," NetBlocks said. "We continue to monitor." Earlier on Monday, the London-based watchdog had said in a tweet that network data had showed that Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram had been restricted in Ethiopia. Its director Alp Toker told Reuters that NetBlocks observed the restrictions at six locations across Ethiopia. The head of Ethiopia's Information Network Service Agency, Shumete Gizaw, did not…

Jan

27

2021

By The African Mirror

Hungary says to target tech giants over alleged manipulation of social media platforms

WORLD

MARTON DUNAI HUNGARY'S nationalist government said on Tuesday it would place restrictions on social media giants to prevent "deliberate, ideological" misuse of digital platforms by liberal critics ahead of elections in 2022. Justice Minister Judit Varga drew parallels with the shutdown of ex-U.S. President Donald Trump's main social media accounts by Twitter and Facebook after his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, saying tech giants were also trying to limit the "free speech" of Hungarian state leaders. With Joe Biden's election as U.S. president, "the American tech gurus have also come unleashed, and (ex-president) Barack Obama himself has…

Oct

07

2020

By The African Mirror

Social media abuse drives girls off Facebook, Instagram, Twitter – poll

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

EMMA BATHA ONLINE abuse is driving girls to quit social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, with nearly 60% experiencing harassment, a global study showed on Sunday. One in five girls and young women has abandoned or cut down on using a social media platform after being targeted, with some saying harassment started when they were as young as eight, the survey by girls' rights group Plan International showed. "Girls are being silenced by a toxic level of harassment," said the organisation's chief executive, Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen. Attacks were most common on Facebook, where 39% of girls polled said they…