EU authorities demand changes from Facebook, Google, Twitter

[AshRao]

Dear Dorje Shugden practitioners and friends,

Finally people can no longer get away with attacking others on social media. Now an entire continent is forcing social media giants to take action against those who senselessly attacks others! This is great news for Dorje Shugden practitioners, and even others who are harassed online, as we have been hounded by those who want to demean us and our practice. Now they won't get away with it. Have a read below.

Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-socialmedia-eu-consumersconsumers-idUSKBN16N2YI

EU authorities demand changes from Facebook, Google, Twitter

Social media companies Facebook Inc, Alphabet Inc and Twitter Inc will have to amend their terms of service for European users within a month or face the risk of fines, a European Commission official said on Friday.

U.S. technology companies have faced tight scrutiny in Europe for the way they do business, from privacy to how quickly they remove illegal or threatening content.

The Commission and European consumer protection authorities will "take action to make sure social media companies comply with EU consumer rules," the official said.

The comments confirmed a Reuters report from Thursday.

Germany, the most populous EU state, said this week it planned a new law calling for social networks such as Facebook to remove slanderous or threatening online postings quickly or face fines of up to 50 million euros ($53 million).

The authorities and the Commission sent letters to the companies in December saying that some of their service terms broke EU consumer protection law and that they needed to do more to tackle fraud and scams on their websites.

The companies proposed some ways to resolve the issues and discussed them with the authorities and the Commission on Thursday, a source familiar with the matter said, adding that the meeting was constructive.

According to the letters seen by Reuters, some of those contested terms include requiring users to seek redress in court in California, where the companies are based, instead of their country of residence.

Other issues include not identifying sponsored content clearly, requiring consumers to waive mandatory rights such as the right to cancel a contract, and an excessive power for the companies to determine the suitability of content generated by users, according to the letters.

In the case of Alphabet's Google unit, the concerns were about its social network Google+.

Google and Facebook were not immediately available for comment. A spokesman for Twitter declined to comment.

(Reporting by Julia Fioretti; Editing by Keith Weir)

[AshRao]

Here is a screenshot of the article:

[AshRao]

Here is a screenshot:

[grandmapele]

This is very interesting. Hopefully with this move by the EU, there will be less fraudulent posting and cyber-bullying online. It is in the human nature to disagree but to attack with threats of violence, vulgarity and harassment is beyond accepted human behavior. May there be less  lies and threats spread by detractors of those whose practices or believes are not in line with theirs.

[ShugdenProtector]

Good to know this is happening and the EU is actually clamping down on cyber bullies!

It is one thing to oppose someone, it is another to constantly harass and target and call people damns, spreading lies and lies, having no proof or evidence because there isn't one and defaming others just because their religious choice differs. And when it comes from a group of people who claim they follow the Dalai Lama and that they are his fans/disciples, it is even worst because their awful attacks represent HH the Dalai Lama and say HH the Dalai Lama allows and encourages such prejudice, discrimination on others. So what happened to equality, equanimity, compassion for all sentient beings and religious tolerance? It makes people think negatively of Dalai Lama and that what he says or teaches has no power or is the opposite, which makes HH a hypocrite. So best that they stop humiliating themselves and HH the Dalai Lama or get ready to be prosecuted!

[pemachen]

Social media has exploded over the past decade and interaction with anyone, including strangers is only a few clicks away. Only in the past couple years has the law caught up with technology. I am glad that cyberbullying and online harassment are being addressed more and more as not a lot could be done in the past. Now, social media sites have been given an ultimatum — change their terms of service, or pay a fine, it's obvious these companies don't want to pay a fine.

Here is an excerpt of what's happening now in relations to the above news:

"... At least one sell-side analyst has downgraded Alphabet to a Hold, and StockTwits founder Howard Lindzon told a Benzinga reporter that he sold all his stake in Google due to regulatory concerns.


A History Of Abuse

For Facebook, the government action heightens mounting social pressure to improve site monitoring. The company has fielded recent criticism for unaddressed violations of its — and the greater community’s — social contract, which have occurred in various forms with increasing frequency.

Earlier this month, the BBC reported Facebook’s refusal to remove child porn from its site.

Before that, there was the unbridled live-streaming of suicides and violent crimes. Local police had unsuccessfully appealed for the removal of certain videos from public viewing.

Back in December, Facebook shoppers lost money in at least two separate sales scams, and their cries to corporate went unanswered.

In each of these cases, consumers alerted the company to fraudulent, slanderous and inappropriate content, but site officials declined to react. New government pressure may soon inspire more agreeable results.


Shaking Under Social Pressure

For other social media giants, the regulatory strain compounds an unignorable social pressure with significant financial implications.

As socially conscious companies seek to align their brands with popular opinion, they have begun to withdraw advertising dollars from politically charged or reputation-harming sites. Audi, Harris Teeter and 1,250 others recently pulled advertisements from Breitbart News Network, and Alphabet has lost contracts from myriad corporate and British government clients, whose advertisements preceded and ultimately

Google officials are reviewing advertising policy and are expected to comment on the situation at this week’s Advertising Week Europe conference.

Prior to the fallout, the company was expected to see a 15-percent growth in advertising revenue resulting from an overall pop in digital ad spending by 16 percent. The pullback of nervous clients may now trigger a decline in predicted values.

Some Early Fallout As EU Officials Demand Changes To Social Titans' Codes Of Conduct
https://www.benzinga.com/news/17/03/9192545/some-early-fallout-as-eu-officials-demand-changes-to-social-titans-codes-of-condu

[PrajNa]

This is very interesting. Hopefully with this move by the EU, there will be less fraudulent posting and cyber-bullying online. It is in the human nature to disagree but to attack with threats of violence, vulgarity and harassment is beyond accepted human behavior. May there be less  lies and threats spread by detractors of those whose practices or believes are not in line with theirs.

Don't know about the rest of the world, but in Miami, the Police union president was relieved of duty for cyberbullying. Miami Fraternal Order of Police President Lt. Javier Ortiz has been reassigned, removed from the street and placed on desk duty without his gun.

The disciplinary action stems from a video shot by civilian Claudia Castillo, in which she captured her pursuit of Miami-Dade police officer Daniel Fonticiella. When she finally stopped him, she gave him a classic police lecture. Thousands of people viewed the video.

Ortiz was not happy with Claudio Castillo's social media shaming of Fonticiellaso Ortiz posted her personal information on his social media accounts, as well as several photos of Castillo, including a few of her driving a boat with a beer in hand. There was also one picture with the caption, “Nobody is above the law except me when I’m driving.”



On Tuesday, March 21, Miami’s Civilian Investigative Panel (CIP), which looks into police complaints, found Ortiz guilty, and Ortiz has been relieved of duty and administratively been reassigned with pay pending a court date of a restraining order signed by a judge.

For those who think they can get away with cyberbullying, cybercrime, well, more actions and stricter rules apply now, and this is the direction to go so that cyberspace is a safer place for everyone.


You can read the news on CBS Miami by the way.

[grandmapele]

@PrajNa, thanks for the heads up. It's good to know that actions have been taken when it shows outright cyber-bullying. Now, let's see the other social media apps do likewise. I've heard of cases in Northern UK where cyber-bullying got so bad the kids committed suicide.

Jessica Laney, 16, committed suicide after internet trolls taunted her ...
goo.gl/jlxUE7

Then there are the cases where practitioners of Dorje Shugden have been harassed online day in day out  due to their practice and believes. Hopefully this will stop.

Anti-Dorje Shugden Twitter account suspended!!!
http://www.dorjeshugden.com/forum/index.php?topic=5812.0


May there be less lies and threats spread by detractors of those whose practices or believes are not in line with theirs. May there be unity, harmony and peace for all.

[Pema8]

This is good news! Being at home, anonymous in front of the computer, spreading hate may be easy but it is very harmful. How can it be ok to bully others from safe home via Internet. Well it is not safe anymore and you should be careful what you do like slander about others, lying and being harmful to them because your online identity can be traced back.

This decision is long overdue and the world wide web becomes safer for everyone. It is extremely painful to have others making fun of your pictures, being called names and the like. Very good to finally take action.

[bambi]

Cyberbullying is BAD!! We should never condone such crime! Whether one is a Dorje Shugden practitioner or not, it does not matter coz it is wrong. It is hurtful and rude for the receiving end. How would one feel if it is happening to one of your close family, girlfriend/boyfriend,etc? Going through the mental pain and anger is not a pleasant feeling at all. We should be mindful and be kind to one another no matter what. We should never resort to being a bully. After all, everyone has different opinions, this does not mean that we force other people to agree to ours.

I am very grateful that EU is doing this. And they should be harsher with the punishment for 'smaller' bullies. Perhaps with sufficient evidence,they should ban the account and email so that those bullies can be kept busy with other things and learn to be nicer, instead of spending so much time online citing hatred and negativities!