News of social media

Attack on Cristina Fernández de Kirchner triggers misinformation and mistrust

08-09-2022 14:22 As news agencies began transmitting the image of a man pulling the trigger of a pistol aimed at the face of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, social networks were exploding with messages casting doubts about the attack.

Brazil Elections

Brazil's Bolsonaro gets in spat with heckler

19-08-2022 15:49 Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro got into an altercation Thursday with a social media personality who questioned and insulted him, grabbing the man by the shirt and arm after he called the leader a "bum."

Cuban Migration

Cuban couple's exile reflects disillusioned generation

16-05-2022 17:27 Raúl Prado and Aidana Hernández have now joined thousands of other young well-educated people in fleeing the island nation, where an economic crisis has helped erode hope.

SOCIAL MEDIA SALE

Elon Musk’s Twitter Labyrinth

30-04-2022 01:17 Musk claims his intention is to guard Twitter’s role as “the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated” by protecting free speech. To do that he decided to buy the company for some US$44 billion and take it private.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

SOCIAL MEDIA TAKEOVER

Free speech or hate speech? Fears for Musk's Twitter

29-04-2022 08:56 Elon Musk, the world's richest man, has sealed a deal to buy Twitter for US$44 billion, potentially delivering him personal control of one of the most influential social media platforms on the planet.

PROFILE

Elon Musk: smasher of elites or self-serving pragmatist?

29-04-2022 08:49 Critics say his passion for unfettered conversation has often appeared less profound when his own interests have been at stake.

SOCIAL NETWORKS

Twitter takeover was brash and fast, with Musk calling the shots

29-04-2022 08:44 It was one of the most frenzied and unpredictable takeover bids ever, with Elon Musk sealing a deal to acquire Twitter within weeks of anyone even knowing he was an investor.

BREAKING NEWS

Twitter confirms sale of company to Elon Musk for US$44 billion

25-04-2022 16:16 Docial networking platform Twitter announces it is selling the platform to billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk in a deal valued at US$44 billion.

ANALYSIS

A bite of the digital apple

23-04-2022 00:01 The problem with Google and Faebook sucking the air out of the digital advertising market is that it has seriously deteriorated the quality of journalism worldwide.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

POLITICS

Opposition slams government’s plan to tackle ‘hate’ on social media

01-04-2022 18:37 Strategic Affairs Secretary Gustavo Beliz outlines a project to put an end to “social hatred" on social media platforms, promoting swift pushback from opposition.

TECH & SOCIETY

The battle to keep Russia's Internet free

18-03-2022 11:28 Western powers have seized the possessions of Russian oligarchs and sanctioned banks, but moves to limit access to the Internet are highly divisive.

BLOOMBERG – ANALYSIS

Putin’s propaganda machine undercut by social media blackout

04-03-2022 22:28 Social media companies are better prepared to crack down on Russian propaganda, moving more quickly at the request of multiple governments and the EU.

CARTOONIST DENOUNCES 'THREATS'

Opposition demands Aníbal Fernández's resignation after cartoonist clash

13-10-2021 11:25 Aníbal Fernández under fire after clashing with Cristian Dzwonik, a.k.a. Nik; Security minister downplays the message he sent to well-known satirical cartoonist identifying daughters' school.

TECH GIANTS

Facebook wins US antitrust dismissal, surges to US$1-trillion value

28-06-2021 19:23 A judge of the of the US District Court dismissed cases filed in December by the Federal Trade Commission and more than 40 states, which could have impeded Facebook's acquisition of Instagram and WhatsApp.

SOCIAL MEDIA CENSORSHIP?

'An insult' — Trump responds to two-year Facebook ban

04-06-2021 14:59 Facebook says it has banned former US President Donald Trump for two years, saying he deserved the maximum punishment possible for violating platform rules over a deadly attack by his supporters on the US Capitol.

NATION v TECH GIANT

Argentina orders Facebook to suspend WhatsApp data sharing

17-05-2021 17:59 Government orders Facebook to suspend its data use policy allowing it to collect information from users of its WhatsApp messaging app.

BIG TECH, MASSIVE PROFITS

Amazon caps blockbuster Big Tech earnings reports

29-04-2021 12:15 A week of blockbuster earnings reports from Big Tech culminated Thursday with Amazon crushing forecasts of how much money it would rake in from pandemic-revved online shopping and growing reliance on internet-hosted services.

BRAZIL UNDER BOLSONARO

Bolsonaro critics face 'intimidation campaign' in Brazil

22-03-2021 14:36 Lawyers and human-rights activists warn Brazil is seeing a surge in legal and extra-legal moves to stifle dissent against President Jair Bolsonaro.

Coronavirus Pandemic

'Bigger than Neymar': Pandemic propels Brazil doctor to fame

12-03-2021 13:47 Dr. Margareth Dalcolmo was an unknown researcher at public health institute Fiocruz when Covid-19 arrived in Brazil in February 2020, but the soft-spoken expert has since made hundreds of media appearances on the health crisis.

ON FACEBOOK´S 17TH BIRTHDAY

Facebook and Zuckerberg – one year from adulthood

06-02-2021 09:08 Facebook reached its first million monthly users the same year it was founded, 2004. It reached 100 million just four years later, went on to top one billion by 2012 and currently boasts 2.8 billion monthly active users, or roughly 36 percent of the global population.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

SOCIAL MEDIA

The fallacy of 'deplatforming' Donald Trump

16-01-2021 08:11 Regardless of whether the decisions made by Mark Zuckerbeg and Jack Dorsey were right or wrong, the Trump ban lays bare the absolute fallacy behind arguments used by the major platforms in the past.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Data journalism

How to hunt down a hate group on the Internet

06-01-2021 05:00 In the second of two articles on hate speech and online communication, technology expert Julio López explores how to become involved in the fight against messages of discrimination and prejudice on social networks.

by Julio López

Hate & social media

Hate groups flourish on social networks in Argentina

05-01-2021 05:00 In the first of a two-part series on hate speech and online communication, technology expert Julio López explores how easy it is for messages of discrimination and prejudice to spread on social networks.

by Julio López, via PERFIL

US ELECTION 2020

Social media firms on alert for misinformation in US election

03-11-2020 22:41 Social media firms remain on high alert against misinformation and manipulation efforts on Election Day in the United States.

AS I SEE IT

The times have certainly changed

24-10-2020 09:40 The egalitarian ethos that is rapidly consolidating itself in many parts of the world has shaped the response to the challenge posed by Covid-19.

by James Neilson