A day before Facebook announced that it had discovered and disabled a propaganda campaign designed to sow dissension among US voters, it exclusively shared some of the suspicious pages with an online forensics team so busy it hasn’t put a nameplate on the door. The Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab is based in a 12-foot-by-12-foot office in the Washington, DC, headquarters of the nearly 60-year-old Council, a think tank devoted to studying serious and at times obscure international issues. Facebook is using the group to enhance its investigations of foreign interference. Last week, the company said it took down 32 suspicious pages…
Author: Loknath Das
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey defended his company’s decision not to ban right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his Infowars show, saying he did not break any rules. Dorsey’s remarks, in a series of tweets late Tuesday, came after other major tech companies removed Jones’ content for violating hate speech policies. “We didn’t suspend Alex Jones or Infowars yesterday,” Dorsey said. “We know that’s hard for many but the reason is simple: he hasn’t violated our rules. We’ll enforce if he does.” Dorsey was responding after Facebook, Apple, YouTube, and Spotify took down material over the past week published by Jones, reflecting more aggressive enforcement of their hate speech policies and raising pressure…
Authorities have shut off Internet access in eastern Ethiopia amid an outbreak of violence there, residents said on Wednesday, a sign of the challenges facing reformist Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in containing ethnic tensions in parts of the country. The residents, one speaking from Oromia region and the other from the city of Harar, said the connection had been down for three days — the first time access has been cut off since parliament lifted a state of emergency in June. Ethiopian government spokesman Ahmed Shide did not immediately respond to a phone call and a text message seeking comment…
Early childhood education in the United States is tangle of options—varying in quality, price, structure, and a range of other dimensions. In part as a result, children start kindergarten having had very different experiences in care and very different opportunities to develop the skills and dispositions that will serve them well during school. Systematic differences across groups by income, race, ethnicity, home language, and geographic location are particularly troubling because inequalities that appear early are often sustained through school and affect prospects throughout life. Convincing research has demonstrated that high-quality early childhood programs can reduce these differences across groups.[1] A few…
Grand Canyon Education (LOPE) easily beat earnings and revenue estimates in its first report since selling off Grand Canyon University, which has reverted to nonprofit status. Estimates: Wall Street expects EPS to tick up 4% to 86 cents, according to Zacks Investment Research. Revenue is seen tumbling 35% to $141 million. Results: EPS of 95 cents on revenue of $236.8 million. End-of-period enrollment increased 9.6% from a year ago, as online enrollment rose 10.1% and ground enrollment grew 3.9% over the prior year. Piper Jaffray was looking for total enrollment growth of at least 8.6%. Outlook: The company sees Q3 EPS of 98 cents,…
The great shakeup that would modernize Quebec’s education system began in a guest room of the Château Frontenac on the evening of June 30, 1960. His Liberals freshly elected to government on a reformist agenda, premier Jean Lesage held a post-electoral meeting at the landmark Quebec City hotel, then had a private meeting with one of his new caucus members, Paul Gérin-Lajoie. Mr. Lesage had previously picked Mr. Gérin-Lajoie as his attorney-general, but now, the new premier had changed his mind and wanted him instead to be minister of youth. Mr. Gérin-Lajoie, a strong-willed, ambitious lawyer who two years before…
Good Thursday morning! Let’s talk education in Oklahoma. No, really, let’s talk. The Oklahoman has launched a new Facebook pagecalled DIG: Education. From The Oklahoman’s Dig Team, the newspaper’s rapid investigative desk, this Facebook group is dedicated to conversations about education in Oklahoma. Moderated by myself, this is a space for deeper discussions on education issues and stories in The Oklahoman. It’s also a place to draw attention to new ideas and ask questions as we try to dig deeper into Oklahoma’s public school system. You can join the group here. Immigration rhetoric taking a toll on students A leader with Oklahoma City Public…
Authorities have shut off Internet access in eastern Ethiopia amid an outbreak of violence there, residents said on Wednesday, a sign of the challenges facing reformist Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in containing ethnic tensions in parts of the country. The residents, one speaking from Oromia region and the other from the city of Harar, said the connection had been down for three days — the first time access has been cut off since parliament lifted a state of emergency in June. Ethiopian government spokesman Ahmed Shide did not immediately respond to a phone call and a text message seeking comment…
Police around the world including in the United States are warning parents of a disturbing, violent internet challenge that could be encouraging children to take their own lives. According to the Daily Mail, the so-called “Momo Challenge” began appearing all over the world in recent weeks and follows the same style every time. The challenge asks the user to add and contact someone called “Momo” on an app such as WhatsApp or Facebook. That user then sends a barrage of frightening images and violent messages encouraging violence or suicide as shown in the photo with this story. The image of a woman…
In a further twist to the story, he is six foot seven to her diminutive five foot one. It sounds like the start of a quirky Hollywood rom com. But 12 years later, Andrew May and his wife Jessica McDonald have a flourishing internet travel marketing company off the High Street in Sidmouth and a baby son, Arlo. Voyage Travel Marketing runs Facebook, Twitter and Instagram campaigns for 27 hotels across the United States, anything from encouraging reporters to review a hotel reopening after hurricane damage to dealing with room service requests for towels. Because it is an internet company…