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posted by janrinok on Monday May 27 2019, @12:26AM   Printer-friendly
from the the-real-fake-news dept.

BBC:

Facebook is under fire in Africa for undermining democracy, with critics saying the social media giant has allowed its platform to be weaponised for co-ordinated misinformation campaigns. The role of false news has taken centre stage in every single one of the continent's eight national polls this year - and last week Facebook said an Israel political consultancy was behind much of it.

It banned Archimedes Group, which it said was responsible for a network of those masquerading as African nationals, and removed 265 Facebook and Instagram pages and groups involved in "co-ordinated inauthentic behaviour" mainly targeting Nigeria, Senegal, Togo, Angola, Niger and Tunisia.

Nanjira Sambuli, from the World Wide Web Foundation, says it has taken Facebook too long to pay attention to this problem in developing countries. "Democracies are at risk on this continent, and unfortunately, social media platforms are fast becoming the sites of aggravation," she told the BBC.

Some feel the continent's weak regulations on privacy and data protection have meant Africa has been used as a "guinea pig" for privacy violations. "We're a training ground. Once it works in Africa, they replicate that and they use it across Africa other geographies," Cameroonian tech entrepreneur Rebecca Enonchong told the BBC.

Betteridge says "No," but my heart says, "Yes!"


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  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by khallow on Monday May 27 2019, @01:09PM (1 child)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Monday May 27 2019, @01:09PM (#848171) Journal
    To add to my remark, there's been no organization above the size of a small tribe that doesn't have concentration of power and wealth. Someone has to make day-to-day decisions regarding the organization and that someone ends up managing the wealth and power of the organization, be it a large country, significant business, or a good sized stamp collecting club.

    You haven't even bothered to show that current concentrations of wealth and power are bad. It's merely assumed to be so. Such inequality is a convenient problem - it can never go away so one doesn't have to worry that they'll need to find a new problem to justify their schemes.
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  • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Monday May 27 2019, @10:54PM

    by fustakrakich (6150) on Monday May 27 2019, @10:54PM (#848304) Journal

    You haven't even bothered to show that current concentrations of wealth and power are bad. It's merely assumed to be so.

    It totally depends on who you ask, and how much they have to gain or lose. It's a silly premise to even consider. It's a personal question.

    --
    La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..