This month
March 2023
Meta unveils framework for combatting online deception campaigns
Meta remains under pressure to do more to combat misinformation, particularly campaigns aimed at swaying election outcomes.
# tech layoffs
Mark Zuckerberg confirms a further 10,000 jobs are to be cut globally at Meta
The move comes around four months after Meta cut 11,000 jobs.
# rick roll
Meta Ireland boss Rick Kelley to step down after less than a year in his role
The Boston native said his decision to leave the company after 14 years was not an easy one.
Last month
February 2023
# Job Cuts
Meta is reportedly planning to cut thousands of jobs
Mark Zuckerberg in November confirmed more than 11,000 staff, or 13% of the company’s workforce, were to be let go.
# Meta
Facebook and Instagram to introduce paid verification
The monthly subscription will cost the equivalent of €11.20, but it is unclear when the feature could be introduced in Ireland.
# Meta
Donald Trump's Facebook and Instagram pages restored
There hasn’t been any activity on the former president’s Facebook or Instagram accounts since their reinstatement today.
# factcheck
Debunked: No, 'immigrants’ are not suspects in a Finglas assault case
Gardaí say there’s “a significant volume of misinformation and disinformation” about the ongoing investigation.
This year
2023
# Meta
Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta fined €390m by Data Protection Commissioner
The DPC said it has fined Meta Ireland €210 million, for its Facebook service, and €180 million for breaches in relation to its Instagram service.
Last year
2022
# Facebook
Facebook Marketplace breaches EU antitrust laws, says Commission
The Commission said it takes issue with Meta tying Facebook Marketplace to the Facebook social networking service.
# Facebook
Data watchdog fines Meta €265 million over GDPR breaches
An inquiry by the DPC that was ongoing since April 2021 found infringements of two GDPR articles.
# Meta Misstep
'I got this wrong': Meta's layoffs and what they mean for Ireland
Mark Zuckerberg said things ‘did not play out’ as expected, but Meta has committed to long-term plans in Ireland.
# Job Losses
Facebook owner Meta to lay off 13% of its workforce, resulting in 11,000 job losses
Up to 400 people based here could lose their jobs as part of the global cuts.
# Facebook
Meta settles case in Facebook's Cambridge Analytica scandal
The case alleged that Facebook allowed the personal information of millions of users to be fed to Cambridge Analytica.
# Meta
Facebook's parent company to launch 'metaverse academy' in France
The school’s goal in its first year will be to train for free around 100 students as specialist immersive technology developers and support and assistance technicians.
# Facebook
Mark Zuckerberg staying at helm of Meta for many years 'makes sense', says Nick Clegg
Succession at the tech giant has been in the headlines recently – but Zuckerberg has shown no sign of giving up the reins.
# Facebook
Sheryl Sandberg, key executive at Facebook's Meta, to step down
Sandberg said she is stepping down as chief operating officer, but would remain on the board of Facebook’s parent company Meta.
# Meta
Facebook and Instagram to reveal more on how ads target users
The announcement follows years of criticism that the social media platforms withhold too much information.
# Social Media
Facebook and Twitter offering supports for TDs and Senators who experience online abuse
The platforms provided briefings to politicians earlier this year and promised enhanced facilities for reporting harassment.
# the good fight
Are the social media platforms doing enough - or anything - to deal with misinformation?
Facebook, Twitter and YouTube all say that they’re trying to make their platforms better. What exactly are they doing?
# imposters
Facebook gave user information to hackers who posed as law enforcement
The hackers falsified “emergency data requests” to obtain the information.
# tiktok
Facebook's Meta funded attack campaign against TikTok, report says
The campaign reportedly includes placing letters in major US news outlets and promoting negative stories about TikTok.
# meta sanctions
Russian court bans Facebook and Instagram as 'extremist'
The court ruled that WhatsApp would not be prohibited because it is not used to post public statements.
# Meta
Data watchdog issues €17 million fine against Facebook
The fine follows a DPC inquiry into 12 data breach notifications received between June and December 2018.
# Social Media
UK's Russian Embassy tweet about bombed Ukrainian hospital removed by Twitter
The tweet suggested the hospital attacked in the port city of Mariupol was ‘long non-operational’.
# GoodInformation
Quiz: How much do you know about the new digital age?
Test your knowledge of the new digital age with out latest Good Information Project quiz.
# Meta
Miriam O'Callaghan receives unreserved apology from Facebook over false and misleading ads
The RTÉ presenter says she is happy and relieved that the stressful matter had been resolved after five years.
# Frances Haugen
Facebook whistleblower tells TDs that harm from metaverse 'could be worse'
Facebook employee-turned-whistleblower Frances Haugen has made a number of blistering claims about the social network.
# Meta
Tánaiste told senior Facebook executives that Ireland 'committed to low tax' before OECD deal
Varadkar virtually met representatives of Facebook on 30 September.
# good information
Is the metaverse the internet of the future? Or 'an old idea that's never worked'?
“The world will see the metaverse for what it is: mostly lame,” says one critic.
# Lawsuit
Meta agrees $90 million settlement in decade-old Facebook privacy suit
The suit alleged the social network violated privacy guidelines by tracking users online even after they logged off the site.
# Misinformation
Facebook runs dozens of ads targeting Irish users with anti-vaccine and Covid-sceptic content
Several ads were removed by the social media firm this week.
A search of Facebook’s ad library this week found 40 ads sharing pandemic-related misinformation or Covid-sceptic slogans, Stephen McDermott writes.
Advertisers included a company selling t-shirts, video bloggers promoting and a firm offering a 'vaccine detox' retreat in the south of Spain.
A Government TD described the level of misinformation in the ads as "absolutely startling".
# Research
‘Trove of racial hatred’ exposed by investigation into online platforms
The director of the Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right said its findings “makes it seem that platforms just don’t care enough” to address online abuse.
All time
# Banned
Meta targets 'cyber mercenaries' using Facebook to spy
The company began alerting some 50,000 people likely targeted by the firms accused of spying on activists, dissidents and journalists.
# covid misinformation
Facebook removes page of controversial Covid campaigner Dolores Cahill over misinformation
Cahill has made a number of false or misleading claims about the coronavirus over the course of the pandemic.
# factcheck
FactCheck: Did Twitter, Walmart and CNBC's CEOs resign on same day as Ghislaine Maxwell's trial?
The highly publicised trial has attracted false internet-based claims before so let’s take a look at the latest allegations.
# Essay mills
Facebook removes illegal ads for bespoke college essays which targeted Irish students
The use of such services has been prohibited under Irish law since 2019.
Eight active ads for bespoke essays were identified by The Journal earlier this week.
Ads also offered students to supply other forms of college coursework, Stephen McDermott writes.
Government TD calls for Facebook to stop hosting ads for college 'essay mills'.
# Body Image
Schull teens travel to Dublin to tell Facebook to 'face up' to impact of algorithms
The students are calling on Minister Catherine Martin to hold an urgent inquiry into the conduct of Facebook.
# Court
WhatsApp Ireland allowed to challenge €225m GDPR fine in High Court
WhatsApp claims the fine constitutes the imposition of a criminal sanction
# Meta
Facebook ends facial recognition over privacy fears
The announcement came as the tech giant battles one of its worst crises ever.
# Frances Haugen
Oireachtas to invite Facebook whistleblower to appear before committee
Francis Haugen has made a number of blistering claims since going public earlier this month.
