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Bad news for people who love misinformation
Two significant stories this morning on this front.
The first: Facebook announced a multi-step plan to crack down on anti-vax misinformation. The company said vaccine hoaxes will appear less frequently across people's News Feeds, public pages and groups, private pages and groups, search predictions, and in recommendation widgets around the site.
The second: YouTube is rolling out a feature that shows fact-checks when people search for sensitive topics. The website will show boxes of text that provide debunks from YouTube’s verified fact-checking partners when people search for topics that are “prone to misinformation,” the company says.
The big picture: We’ve extensively covered how these platforms have come under fierce criticism for not taking action on misinformation. The question is: are they already too far behind to be effective?
WWF says indigenous people want this park. An internal report says some fear forest ranger “repression.”
The World Wildlife Fund for Nature told its European Union funders that indigenous people were “favorable” to a new national park in the Republic of Congo. The EU agreed to send the WWF 1 million euros on the basis that it would seek consent from indigenous people.
But the WWF omitted parts of an internal report from its filing to the EU. That report’s findings discussed how some villagers specifically cited the presence of forest rangers as a reason to oppose the park — but that finding wasn't reported back to the EU.
This is part three of a BuzzFeed News investigation. We’ll keep following the story.
Who run the world? 🙋🌎
It's International Women's Day! So today and throughout the month of March, BuzzFeed News' World Instagram account is celebrating women around the globe who are making some serious waves and impact within their community. Badass women like Ramla Ali — a Somali boxer based in London, and Madeline Stuart – the world’s first professional model with Down Syndrome. Follow @World to see more!
SNAPSHOTS
Paul Manafort will serve at least 38 months in prison, but his legal fight isn’t over yet. Trump's former campaign chair was sentenced on tax and bank fraud charges Thursday. He's due in court next week for a second sentencing in the other case special counsel Robert Mueller brought against him.
The House of Representatives passed a broad anti-hate resolution after Rep. Ilhan Omar’s comments about Israel. It was crafted by Democrats after Omar made comments that members of both parties interpreted as an allusion to “dual loyalty” stereotypes of American Jews. Omar herself supported the resolution.
A 33-year-old Colorado father revealed heartbreaking new details about how he killed his pregnant wife and two daughters. In all honesty, this post may be difficult for some readers to get through.
Heidi Montag was asked about the lack of diversity in The Hills and people are screaming at her response. Montag said, “We don't all look the same. I mean, Audrina has darker hair.” People’s responses to Montag’s comments are great. In fairness, we reap the world we sowed when someone asked Heidi Montag about diversity. This is what you came for.
The Queen posted her first ever Instagram. It really does contain the line “it seems fitting to me that I publish this Instagram post.” No word yet on what her finsta account will be, but I am guessing it will be @corgisarecool26.
Airbnb is buying HotelTonight, the popular last-minute hotel booking app
The move mirrors an industry trend going in the opposition direction — hotel booking websites like Expedia and TripAdvisor have been branching out from hotel bookings to vacation rentals.
Airbnb already allows people to book boutique hotels, resorts, hostels and bed & breakfasts. The company said adding HotelTonight will make it easier to book last minute hotels if its home hosts are booked up.
There’s a greater strategy though: HotelTonight was reportedly profitable in 2018. The acquisition will likely make Airbnb more attractive to investors as the company prepares to go public, a move widely expected to come later this year.
Take the time to sit with these longreads this weekend
Why Is It So Hard For Couples To Talk About Money — And Their Debt? Few conversations are as fraught as money conversations. The way we spend our money is deeply emotional. From our series What We Owe, the latest installment looks at couples having hard money talks. From the piece: “The work is less about changing our emotions around money than it is being able to recognize and interpret what those emotions mean.”
It’s Been 20 Years Since Cruel Intentions And There’s Never Been A Movie Quite Like It. Get 10 millennials in a room to talk about pop culture sexual awakening moments, and Cruel Intentions will come up 9 times. What is it about that movie? Shannon Keating reflects: “Perhaps what was so upsetting to those parents was not merely the idea of (fictional) teenagers indulging in sex and drugs and petty machinations onscreen, but rather the moral ambiguity, or even nihilism.”
I Wish More TV Shows Ran For Just One Season. Look, some shows go on for too long. Other times, even making a second season of something is gamble after one fully-formed season. Alison Willmore sums it beautifully: “sometimes you just need less of a thing you love.”