SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Microsoft is trying to fight fake news with its Edge mobile browser
Microsoft has started warning users of its Edge mobile browser about untrustworthy news sites. The software giant has partnered with NewsGuard to provide warnings in its Edge browser for iOS and Android, and this functionality has been added this week as an optional setting. NewsGuard was founded by journalists Steven Brill and Gordon Crovitz, and rates sites based on a variety of criteria including their use of deceptive headlines, whether they repeatedly publish false content, and transparency regarding ownership and financing.
Microsoft first started offering an optional NewsGuard browser extension for Edge on the desktop version of Windows 10 last year, but the move to build this directly into the mobile version suggests the company may be looking to make this a core part of Edge in the future. The Guardian reports that Edge mobile is now warning users that the Daily Mail's website, Mail Online, "generally fails to maintain basic standards of accuracy and accountability."
WhatsApp Tries To Curb Misinformation, And Annoying Aunts And Uncles
WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging platforms in the world. With about 1.5 billion users, it's a free way to text and place international voice and video calls.
But recently the platform, which is owned by Facebook, has faced accusations of being used to spread misinformation — with serious consequences. Last year in India, rumors spread mostly on WhatsApp led to mob killings. In the run-up to Brazil's recent elections, misinformation and conspiracy theories also went viral on the messaging app.
WhatsApp is now limiting the number of people users can forward messages to, to five. [...] WhatsApp "carefully evaluated this test and listened to user feedback over a six-month period," a company spokesperson told NPR. "The forward limit significantly reduced forwarded messages around the world. We'll continue to listen to user feedback about their experience, and over time, look for new ways of addressing viral content."
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Wednesday January 23 2019, @11:50PM (6 children)
trying to understand how this works.. random crap pops up in whatsapp or facebook. People click on this stuff, watch the video, read the article, then share/like/comment.
So, the question is, why do they believe the videos or articles? Why do they not question?
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Thursday January 24 2019, @12:54AM
https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-web-browser-fake-news-how-it-works-2019-1 [businessinsider.com]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 5, Insightful) by c0lo on Thursday January 24 2019, @01:41AM (3 children)
Have a look over the locations where this kind of incidents [soylentnews.org] happen and you'll discover communities at the level of subsistence.
You know? The kind of life where you don't have time to check if the news you read are true or fake, because otherwise the wild elephants trample your crop into the ground [abc.net.au] and your family is gonna die of hunger.
The kind of life where if someone say "you're in danger", you "trust first, verify later" otherwise you will be dead.
The kind of life where nobody in the community is telling lies about survival and safety, because if doing so is to waste time, effort and resources the community scarcely has - you pull the "boy that cried wolf" trick too many times and the community is going to label you as the danger.
The kind of life where you can't imagine a prick [wikipedia.org] earns by lying and trolling in a day more than a family in the area will earn their entire (short) life.
The kind of simple life invaded by the "post-truth society life-style" in a simple way: just use that "smart" phone, it's smarter than anything you've seen to date and may be smarter than you.
I sometimes wonder if we, the "western civilization", actually are that civilized as we like to think about us.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0, Offtopic) by khallow on Thursday January 24 2019, @06:27AM (2 children)
You already answered that in the affirmative with the two observations that a) there is little subsidence living in western civilization, and b) mob violence is much less lethal.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 24 2019, @08:34AM (1 child)
We were so at least 50 years ago already. Without pervasive post-truth society.
This just in case you would be tempted to argue that, in exchange for that 'civilization', we must accept trolling and fake news.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday January 24 2019, @02:20PM
Like you just did with that straw man argument? Why would I accept that?
There never was a truth society and hence, no "post"-truth society exists today. It's just more trolling and fake news.
I find it interesting what one thinks a civilization should have. Feeding its citizens apparently just isn't that important, nor mob violence that kills people all the time. Complaining about trolls on the internets, especially when one is the sole troll in the thread, definitely a sign of civilized behavior.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday January 24 2019, @05:26PM
How is Microsoft going to protect me if I don't use:
* Facebook -- no account ever
* Whatsapp -- no account ever
* Microsoft products
Without Microsoft's protection I am left completely vulnerable to all the fake news on Facebook and Whatsapp!
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.