Facebook | WRAL TechWire - Part 46

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This virtual politician wants to run for office

Posted by | Nov 23, 2017

There’s no handshaking for this politician. Meet SAM, the world’s first virtual politician. The AI-powered New Zealander talks to voters through Facebook Messenger, answering their questions about issues and elections. “My memory is infinite, so I will never forget or ignore what you tell me. Unlike a human politician, I consider everyone’s position, without bias, when making decisions,” SAM said in a message when asked about herself. “I will change over time to reflect the issues that the people of New Zealand care about most.” The virtual politico added: “We might not agree on some things, but where we...

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Did you ‘like’ Russian propaganda? Facebook will clue you in

Posted by | Nov 22, 2017

Facebook says it will show users if they followed or ‘liked’ Russian propaganda accounts on its service or on Instagram. The company said Wednesday it will launch a portal to let people see which accounts of the Internet Research Agency they followed between January 2015 and August 2017. The tool will be available by the end of the year. But it won’t show users if they merely saw — or even “liked” — posts from those pages. Facebook, Google and Twitter testified before Congress this month, acknowledging that agents tied to the Russian government used their platforms to try...

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Facebook steps up fake news fight with ‘Related Articles’

Posted by | Aug 3, 2017

Facebook is continuing its quest to crack down on fake news. The social network on Thursday began rolling out “Related Articles” that provide additional perspectives and information on stories shared on News Feeds. These articles will appear below the link for topics many users are talking about on Facebook. They will also include articles fact-checked by third-party sites such as Snopes and PolitiFact, which employ editors. Related stories intend to help users think twice about whether a story is true. Last year, Facebook was widely criticized for letting fake news stories go viral during the U.S. presidential election. Since...

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