Facebook has been taken to German courts a handful of times, and one of them has ruled that their ‘friend finder’ feature is illegal. Is Tumblr next?
German Court Calls Social Media Network ‘Intrusive’ and a ‘Nuisance’
The promotion for ‘friend finder’ was deemed intrusive, and Facebook was accused of not informing users about the feature well enough. The German court also upheld the claims made in 2014 and 2012 by two lower Berlin courts. This confirms that Facebook indeed violated German laws on data protection, and engaged in unfair trade practices by using deceptive marketing and advertising methods.
‘Friend finder’ allows Facebook access into user’s contact lists and sends them invitations to join the social media platform. These invitations, naturally, were seen as both intrusive and something of a nuisance. The German court agrees.
Social Media Network Found Guilty of Advertising Harassment
In 2010, Facebook was hit with a lawsuit from the Federation of German Consumer Organizations, which accused the social media platform of the very crime. The German court has found Facebook guilty of this crime, and also noted how Facebook does not inform users properly on the way their data is handled.
German Authorities Expect Similar Rulings if Tumblr or Reddit Ignore Privacy
The Federation of German Consumer Organizations has happily welcomed the verdict, saying that other platforms will face similar consequences if they ignore German privacy laws. Many firms use vague advertising or intrusive messages to attract new users, but they better think twice if they want to be big in the German market. If platforms like Tumblr and Reddit hope to make it, then they have to make sure never to make these mistakes.
Facebook has gotten into a lot of trouble in regards to privacy. Two years ago, company researchers were accused of toying with the emotions of as much as 700,000 users as an experiment. Last year, Facebook was accused of purposefully bugging their Android app to test how many users would try to get back into the platform. This was happening in Australia, Latin America and the European and Asian regions. The experiment is measly in accordance of the National Security Agency’s PRISM surveillance program, which allows companies to access user data and hand it to third parties for research and development.
It may be time to ditch Facebook and switch to Reddit, and here is why:
REASON 1: PRIVACY
Facebook has been known to constantly change their data use policy in the past. They also are constantly changing their privacy settings. Their newest setting allows anyone to look someone up, and this is an issue that will not be experienced using Reddit. You can be completely unknown on it, but have fun trying to do that with Facebook.
REASON 2: GREED
Greed is a powerful enemy that can rip apart relationships and companies. The main reason Facebook is greedy is because they decide what you can see. Reddit, on the other hand, lets users see whatever they please. They are actually owned by Advance Publications and they allow their site to fend for itself.
REASON 3: THE WAY THEY USE INFORMATION
There is something that all Facebook users need to be aware of. This is the fact that they use your account information to advertise. Oh, and, by the way, they will also do this without letting you know. That is correct, without your consent, Facebook will advertise your account information.
REASON 4: BACK TO PRIVACY
There was one strong instance in the past where Reddit put their foot down. A couple of years ago, the company banned the website known as Gawker. They exposed the real identity of a famous hacker who was running some illegal versions of their website. This proved that the company is not afraid to expose you if you deserve it.
REASON 5: REAL PEOPLE
When it comes to deciding if the content is appropriate, Facebook uses automated processes and Reddit uses real people. This makes the process much better with Reddit because computers can not compromise. Usually, the company will only put their foot down if users are blatantly spamming or abusing someone.
Turkish government officials have banned Reddit because ‘Reddit is pornographic in nature’ and violates its internet censorship laws. Turkish law allows banning of websites that permeate piracy or pornographic content.
Reddit is Pornographic: Blocked Under Turkish Internet Censorship Law 5651
Under this law, the Turkish government is allowed to block any websites that contain pirated content, pornography, of any websites that contain criticism or slander against current President Mustafa Ataturk. Turkish officials state that under these grounds, Reddit is pornographic and therefore has no audience in the Turkish mainstream.
The Truth Is: Whether Reddit is Pornographic Or Not Doesn’t Matter
Reddit, like many of its contemporaries, has a wealth of pornographic content, but it is mostly used for humor and as a platform to spread pop culture news and even to host virtual scavenger hunts and spread conspiracy theories. 4CHAN could also be considered pornographic in nature, but this does not merit a ban of this degree.
Turkey Also Blocked YouTube In April 2015
The Turkish government blocked YouTube this year as well, along with a URL shortening service called bitly. Though all blocked sites can be accessed by adjusting users’ DNS settings, the Turkish government has made it clear that websites like Reddit should not be widespread through the country for the raciness of their content.
Despite this ban, it’s very likely that anyone who is an avid Reddit user will continue to use Reddit, and if Reddit is pornographic in nature, this will probably bring curiosity to even people who’ve never heard of Reddit.
On Thursday Reddit said that it will begin to censor posts, and even whole communities, based on takedown requests received from authorities.
Russia Bans Reddit. Sort of.
On August 13 news hit Reddit that Russia had banned its citizens from visiting the website. It wasn’t entirely surprising since the country had already announced that it planned to ban the site. Unfortunately for Redditors, the news released prematurely because only one URL was banned. For the curious, you can find that URL here.
The post that got Russia up in arms was posted on a subreddit called /r/rudrugs, which is a collection of threads relating to drugs in Russia. The post? It was about how to grow mushrooms–not exactly a hot issue given the surrounding circumstances.
Reddit Reaches Out
In light of Russia’s ban, Reddit has decided to take a proactive approach to the situation by censoring /r/rudurgs in Russia, and /r/WatchPeopleDie in Germany.
In an accompanying statement, Reddit says the decision was decided “in order to preserve the existence of Reddit in those regions.” While there has been no word on whether Germany has taken issue with Reddit communities, it seems likely that there was a growing dissonance between Germany and at least one community.
Reddit on Fire
Technically, Reddit doesn’t have any obligation to heed to take down requests since it’s an American company. However, the company doesn’t want to risk the entire site being banned country-wide, so it is willing to compromise with valid requests.
Meanwhile, many Redditors are upset at the news, especially considering the recent events surrounding the company’s former CEO, Ellen Pao. Reddit recently banned some of its more controversial subreddits which ignited a fuse that lead to Pao’s resignation.
These localised bans appear to be products of its new content guidelines. After Pao’s departure, the company said that it will “remove anything that incites harm or violence against an individual or group of people,” but content “that violates a common sense of decency” will remain on the site, but it will only be visible to registered users.
A Reddit spokesperson announced its decision to implement localised bands on /r/ChillingEffects, which can be read in full here.
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English cosmologist, physicist, and Director of Research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge, Stephen William Hawking, is supposed to hold a question and answer session on Reddit. Stephen Hawking, who has ALS, is considered to be one of the most profound and prolific scientists of all time and will be attempting to answer the public’s questions. Hawking will be answering questions posted on Reddit for more than a week.
stephen HAWKING’S AMA WILL BEGIN ON MONDAY JULY 27
Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking will be, as of Monday, answering questions posted on Reddit for more than a week. He will be answering the majority of the questions that come from the community. He also has a few topics in store for his audience as well. Hawking is also reportedly tempted to discuss his fears with artificial intelligence, which he states as, “potentially our greatest mistake in history.”
HAWKING WILL ANSWER MAJORITY OF QUESTIONS ON REDDIT
Recently, Stephen Hawking has made waves with other views on Artificial Intelligence, which is backed a quest to discover aliens resident in other star systems. Hawking has also given his support to the sum of $100 million Breakthrough Initiatives funded by the Russian billionaire Milner.
This will also mark the longest AMA, Ask Me Anything, ever in the entertainment, news, and social networking website. Reddit also is a haven for those who are sharing ideas, know-hows, skills, opinions, viewpoints.
THIS WILL BE THE LONGEST AMA ON REDDIT EVER
This will apparently be the longest question and answer session in the history of the free commenting website, which definitely needs a publicity boost. This question and answer is also a part of Wired and Nokia’s #MakeTechHuman initiatives, which is to start discussions that will inevitably benefit mankind.
A lot of people are wondering why Professor Hawking has been allowed to have such a long ‘Ask Me Anything’ – it is due to the amount of time that it takes for him to answer questions due to his slower communication method. He will be composing his answers using his Intel’s cutting edge assistive computer system.
His Question and Answer session will start on July 27, at 8 AM ET and the posts will appear on Reddit’s science section.
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The self-proclaimed “Front Page of the Internet”, otherwise known as Reddit, has been undergoing significant change in the past several months. Most recently, the once and current CEO of the website, Steve Huffman, announced his plans to cull the website to eliminate the unsavory parts that, “should not be [on Reddit] at all.” Is Reddit’s content at risk of heavy censorship?
Why the content on Reddit is being purged?
Reddit is an internet community made up of millions from around the world. As many people go to this site for news as they do for entertainment. It is made up of various ‘subreddits’ created by users covering every topic one could imagine–and many more. Some of these subreddits are created for and dedicated to topics ranging from what is new in video gaming to questions users have about world history to upcoming local events for small towns.
Being one of the largest websites on the internet with over 36 million constant users and an average of 169 million unique views monthly, there are bound to be some issues with Reddit’s content and users that refuse to submit to what many might call ‘social norms’. Because the website allows users to create their own subreddits for any topic imaginable, some of these subreddits are notably in rather poor taste. Often offending people or even teetering on the verge of legality, that handful of subreddits are the source of all of this controversy.
Huffman, who also co-founded the website back in 2005, says that “the overwhelming majority of content on Reddit comes from wonderful, creative, funny, smart, and silly communities. That is what makes Reddit great. There is also a dark side, communities whose purpose is reprehensible, and we don’t have any obligation to support them. And we also believe that some communities currently on the platform should not be here at all.”
Reddit’s Previous Controversy
The previous CEO of the website, Ellen Pao, resigned within the past week due to a petition to have her removed from the site that reigned in over 213,000 signatures. This call for Pao’s termination was due to the firing of the sites beloved director of Talent, Victoria Taylor. On top of this, Pao had five subreddits deleted because of questionable content and the moderators’ lack of addressing the harassment of individuals. This caused many moderators of the site to go on strike and refuse to moderate content.
The Current Situation
Steve Huffman has stepped up and claimed the position of CEO for the time-being. He states that he hadn’t founded the site back in 2005, “to be a bastion of free speech, but rather as a place where open and honest discussion can happen.” Huffman told of his plans to reduce the ‘dark side’ of Reddit even more in the coming months. New reports are saying that the board of directors of Reddit were pushing Ellen Pao to take more action to censor content on the site, but she was what was standing against them. Unfortunately, Reddit users didn’t know the whole situation and lashed out at the first person who they could blame, getting rid of one of the people who supported them on the very event they were upset about: unfair censorship of Reddit’s content.
Steve Huffman will be holding an AMA (ask me anything) session on the site on Thursday, July 16th where users will be able to voice their opinions, ask questions, and learn more information about the plans to purge Reddit’s content of illicit material.
Could this be the end of one of the largest and most visited websites on the internet? Well, that remains to be seen.
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Reddit has never been a stranger to controversy, whether they did something for the right reasons or not. But a new, puzzling decision by the admins has left the users and Reddit moderators confused, angry, and desperate to send a message. And so they did. After Reddit fired Victoria Taylor, their director of communications, without a clear reason and without any notice to the moderator teams, the IAmA subreddit that she was vital to went private in an attempt to regroup and discuss where to go from there. Other Reddit moderators also made their subreddits private in solidarity, angry that one of Reddit’s most beloved employees and users was let go.
Who Is Victoria?
Victoria Taylor label was Reddit’s Director of Communications. But Reddit users knew her as far more. Going under the username chooter, she essentially became the proxy when celebrities were visiting IAmA, the subreddit where users were allowed to ask questions to people of note. Before Victoria, IAmA had a tendency to be about slightly strange people that Reddit users were fascinated by. But with Victoria working to be a liaison between celebrities and the Reddit moderators, celebrities like Channing Tatum, Jeff Goldblum, Chris Pratt, and even President Barack Obama took questions from Reddit users. Taylor was recently let go without a discernible reason given. The problem there is that Victoria wasn’t just one of the few ways Reddit moderators were able to stay in touch with celebrities that were scheduled to have AMAs – she was the only person. With no notice given and a number of other AMAs on the horizon, Reddit moderators for IAmA angrily turned the subreddit private to gather information and figure out how to proceed.
Solidarity
Victoria’s firing seemed to be the final straw for a large number of Reddit moderators. Other popular and frequently read subreddits including r/pics, r/askreddit, r/hiphopheads, and most regrettably r/circlejerk were also set to private, along with hundreds of other subreddits. However, this is not entirely due to the firing of Victoria; Reddit moderators have gone on record as being aggravated with slow responses to problems if they even get a response, among other things. This protest is not just one for Victoria, but for Reddit moderators to gain a sense of communication with Reddit’s administrators.
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