Technology

Google unveils new troll-fighting tool

Google's new API, which can show whether 'the internet' thinks a comment is toxic, is still a work in progress.

The company has publicly released an artificial intelligence tool, called Perspective, that scans online content and rates how "toxic" it is based on ratings by thousands of people.

Three men arrested over alleged Facebook Live rape

Facebook has made live, user-generated video a top priority, but it has been repeatedly used to broadcast disturbing ...

Three men in Uppsala, Sweden, have been arrested on suspicion of raping a woman and streaming the assault live to a private Facebook group. Authorities are urging people with access to the images showing the assault to make them available to investigators.

Facebook announces its own journalism project

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has previously announced measures to limit misinformation on the network.

Facebook has announced that it's launching its own journalism project, continuing its efforts to change the way media organisations work with the social network. The move could be seen as an extension of its vow earlier this year to crack down on fake news on the site.

Zuckerberg reveals his 2017 personal challenge

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Mark Zuckerberg has revealed his annual personal challenge: he wants to have visited and met people in every US state by the end of 2017, in an effort to better understand the "division" he feels is growing between people that use the social network he founded.

Australian Twitter in 2016: Trump, tragedy and teen heart-throbs

Donald Trump favours Twitter.

Donald Trump, asylum seekers, local music and #auspol were all chief topics of interest among Australian Twitter users in 2016, although as usual they were joined by a wave of memes and a near-incomprehensible amount of love for YouTube celebs turned rock band 5 Seconds of Summer.

Facebook's AI to police live videos

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Facebook is working on automatically flagging offensive material in live video streams, building on a growing effort to use artificial intelligence to monitor content.

Facebook denies fake news impacted election

Mark Zuckerberg says it's unlikely fake news posts on Facebook influenced the US election.

Facebook's chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has again rejected claims the social network affected the US presidential election, saying it is "extremely unlikely" news hoaxes changed the outcome.

Fake news spreads online as US goes to polls

4chan

With US election fever hitting its climax the web is filling with dubious information, from concerted efforts to influence voters to straight-up trolling to old-fashioned clickbait.