Embedded Files
Facebook, Google and Twitter CEOs grilled by US Congress over spread of disinformation
All three executives have declined to take responsibility for spreading misinformation that resulted in the Capitol riots earlier this year
Dev Kundaliya
26 March 2021
The CEOs of tech giants Facebook, Google and Twitter faced some tough questions in the US Congress on Thursday as they appeared in a virtual hearing held by the Energy and Commerce Committee and two Senate subcommittees over the proliferation of disinformation on their social media platforms.
The hearing was announced in February, over a month after the riot in which Trump supporters stormed the Capitol Building while lawmakers were attempting to tally votes for the US presidential election.
The virtual hearings on Thursday continued for more than five hours.
The session began with the chair Mike Doyle asking all three executives whether they felt they bore responsibility for spreading misinformation that resulting in the Capitol riots earlier this year.
All of them declined to answer the question with a simple "yes" or "no".
Zuckerberg pinned the blame completely on former US President Donald Trump and a "political and media environment" in the country that has been driving "Americans apart".
Zuckerberg said Facebook took all required steps "to secure the integrity of the election" but then Trump gave a speech on 6th January - "calling on people to fight".
He also said that "Congress should consider making platforms' intermediary liability protection for certain types of unlawful content conditional on companies' ability to meet best practice to combat the spread of this content".
Google's CEO Sundar Pichai claimed that YouTube had removed thousands of videos that violated its rules in the lead-up to the violence.
"We had clear policies and we were vigorously enforcing this area," he said,
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey told lawmakers that his company worked hard to take down posts and also took various steps to ensure that misinformation was not amplified.
"We didn't have any upfront indication this would happen, so we had to react to it quite quickly," Dorsey said.
Rep. Mike Doyle, chair of the House subcommittee on Communications and Technology, told the CEOs that his staff could easily spot lots of anti-vaccine content on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
"You can take this content down. You can reduce the vision. You can fix this. But you choose not to," Doyle said.
"You have the means. But time after time you are picking engagement and profit over the health and safety of users."
The lawmakers also voiced concerns about the negative impact that social media platforms could have on children.
Republican Florida Congressman Gus Bilirakis asked Zuckerberg whether Facebook was developing a new Instagram app for children younger than 13.
"I find that very concerning, targeting this particular age bracket, 13 and under, given the free services, how exactly will you be making money?" Bilirakis asked.
"Are you trying to monetise our children, too, and get them addicted early?"
Zuckerberg confirmed that they are "early in our thinking" in how an app for kids would work.
"There is clearly a large number of people under the age of 13 who would want to use a service like Instagram," Zuckerberg said.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai was asked whether Google has researched the effects of YouTube and other Google products on the mental health of children.
Pichai said that Google consults many experts, including mental health organisations, on the issue, and works with partners to create good content for kids, for example, video about cartoons, Sesame Street and science.
Pichai said that this was an important issue, and that he too worries about the screen time of his children.
Commenting on virtual hearing of the CEOs of leading social media firms, Emma Ruby-Sachs, executive director of advocacy organisation SumOfUs said: "The January 6th insurrectionists are being charged and arrested while these three men, who fed them the money, followers, and tools to make the whole thing happen, get away with a softball grilling from Congress. Break up Big Tech or just sit back and wait for the next armed rebellion.
"Lawmakers and the media tend to focus on Facebook and Twitter, while Google gets away with being a massive contributor to the disinformation machine. These websites have huge reach on Facebook, but are able to sustain themselves thanks to Google ads. Until Google changes its policies on the monetisation of disinformation, the company is equally responsible for the violence on January 6."
Cris Pikes, CEO and founder of Image Analyzer, which is a member of the Online Safety Tech Industry Association (OSTIA), said, "It is perfectly feasible to apply AI technology today which can automatically check billions of posts before they are permitted onto a digital platform where they could harm other users."
"When Mark Zuckerberg says it is not 'feasible' to remove harmful posts, is he saying it is not technically feasible to moderate content posted by Facebook's users? Or is he saying that it is not commercially viable for Facebook to put those technical measures in place to protect users?"
"With regard to Mr Zuckerberg's second observation that large platform operators should not be held liable if a particular piece of content evades its detection, where does that leave the users? That's like a water treatment firm saying that it shouldn't be held responsible if a particular piece of content evades its detection and thousands of people get sick. The response in both cases is to improve your filters. The technology is there, there are no excuses. This is precisely why legislators in the UK, Europe and US are stepping in to make it compulsory for platform operators to exercise more control over user-generated content and combat online harms."
https://www.computing.co.uk/news/4029097/facebook-google-twitter-ceos-grilled-us-congress-spread-disinformation
Senate 25 March 2021: Starts at 5 mins 27 secs
DISINFORMATION
PUBLISHED ON
THE REGULATED NEWS SERVICE OF THE LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE
IN NAME OF TRIAD GROUP PLC
BY MINORITIES CONTROLLING PUBLIC NOTIFICATIONS
1 MARCH 2019
NOT REMOVED OR CORRECTED
AT LEAST UNTIL 27 MARCH 2021
Relevant Facts:
There are no live proceedings in which the Triad Group Plc share register is the issue in the proceedings;
The issue subsists in 6530-2005 (Companies Court); EAT (6.3.06) (including 2012 Folio 336, limitation claim, 5.3.12)); HQ06XO1803 (Herbert Smith); PwC (2010 Folio 885); A&O (OLV30091), Chancery. It cannot appear again randomly;
Absolute number of shares held by MM are unchanged at 4,507,951. AMF knows this since he was party to blocking her trading from September 2009 to date, and blocking Equiniti returning a stolen share certificate reported to Equiniti as stolen on 7 November 2014, handed in on 7 April 2017. Whilst MM cannot trade, no one else can. Register is paralysed. AMF has confused a share certificate (certificate of registration with no intrinsic value to anyone) with shares;
AMF proved he knows how many shares MM holds because he published the figure in the 2016 accounts and in voting in 2015, as well as against his remuneration report for 2016 reported June 2017;
Percentage holding depends on accurate recording of number of shares in issue. This figure is unchanged from 2005. MM's 4,507,951 shares is 29.76%.
There is no plan for those interested in AMF's "remuneration" by way of "options" in a phantom scheme (not adopted by members), to be compensated, by purchasing real shares and TRD buying back the phantoms at nominal amount. AMF has experience from 2002 (TRD) and the offer he refused in Headway Consultancy Ltd in 2011. This refusal stopped Headway for ten years solidly, on top of the period from 2004, to no benefit to himself and economic devastation to others. No TRD option holder checked that AMF had authority.
The RNS published in the name of Triad Group Plc on 1 March 2019 is wrong at least because
(1) MM is stated to hold a number of shares which is not 4,507,951;
(2) the percentage figure depends on the number of shares in issue and that is not stated (although the figure for 2005 is public);
(3) there was/is/is planned no court evidence and cross examination on the TRD register;
(4) the refusal to communicate has been consistent January 2005- March 2021 (see also TJE witness evidence requesting no further communications, May 2005).
AMF's RNSs recording SMS and NEB walking out on him in 2019 do not give their true reasons as required under the Listing Rules. AMF did not notify the departure of Chris Hardie from Arden Partners in 2018 nor apologised to those duped into buying phantom shares from Hardie dealing from his unrecorded mobile phone.
AMF has blind eye knowledge that the BAILII post is disinformation and that nil returns are required (or corrections) from each of those named when John Lloyd, clerk, sent Olivia Smith embargo'ed information which ended on BAILII. (It is an offence to traffick, receive (if not accredited), disseminate, publish).
Triad Group Plc's unblemished name in authentication and verification as well as authorisation protocols has been tarnished to the point where it may not be recoverable. Certainly procrastination for over two years requires explanation.
MM - 27 March 2021 19:40
Triad Group Plc (TRD)
Add to Alerts list
Friday 01 March, 2019
Triad Group Plc
Statement re Recent High Court Hearing
RNS Number : 6497R
Triad Group Plc
01 March 2019
Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) No. 213800MDNBFVEQEN1G84
Triad Group Plc
Statement re Recent High Court Hearing
I refer to my announcement dated 3 January 2019.
At a High Court hearing on 12 February 2019 the Company sought, and successfully obtained, default judgment in
respect of the claim referred to
in my announcement (High Court of Justice, Queen's Bench Division, Media and Communications List,
Claim Number QB-2018-000581:
Triad Group Plc, Nicholas Burrows, Alistair Fulton v Mira Makar).
The Company was also awarded, in full, its associated legal costs in bringing the matter before the Court.
The Court's written judgment was handed down yesterday and can be viewed at http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/QB/2019/423.html.
Mira Makar is the registered holder of 3,951,452 shares in the Company (24.74%) which makes her the second
largest shareholder by a substantial margin.
We trust she will lend her full support to the current successful efforts to take the Company forward.
The Company remains as always open to a constructive dialogue with Ms Makar in order to describe and
explain current developments and progress.
Dr J C Rigg
Executive Chairman, Triad Group Plc
1 March 2019
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority
to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information
may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
END
STRLLFFEVFILIIA
December 2016
(1) Issue by Equiniti Of Its Fraud Alert, Which AMF Decided To Over-ride
and Refresh His Decision Not To Communicate With TRD Members;
(2) Record of MM seeking to protect TRD and its members/family, and invoke Equiniti's fraud alert to which she was entitled (and TRD contractually bound) but to no avail.
Her efforts were futile, with predictable and predicted consequences.
AMF "I consider that matter closed". January 2017
10 January 2017:
Alistair Fulton, member Triad Group Plc, classifies MM's 4,507,951 shares as "the" shares registered in MM's name" in his own mind, and persuades himself that, if he changes her address on the TRD register and adds another name in the address box ("FRP"), then, somehow, MM is off the register and her 2016 proxy voting card can be destroyed: she can be treated as no longer existing, whilst not actually dead.
AMF succeeded in triggering Equiniti's fraud alert system, then blocked it working. He shifted the insured event from Equiniti to himself and TRD, including members.
TRD members' register has been paralysed from December 2016 to March 2021. Where one member is paralysed, the whole register is paralysed. The TRD membership was automatically disenfranchised.
Had AMF not blocked comms, including the decade March 2011-2021, he would not have fallen into his own heffalump trap.
In February 2020, AMF sought, and obtained, a kick-back from the FRP AIM float 6.3.20, left overs from funds embezzled from Felicity Guinness (evidence Savills).
On 10 Jan 2017, at 20:27, Alistair Fulton wrote:
Mira,
I acknowledge receipt of your recent voice mail messages and would respond as follows:
--You were declared bankrupt by Court Order on 6 December 2013 and you remain an undischarged bankrupt.
--On 6 December 2013 your assets, including your shares in Triad Group Plc, were transferred by operation of law to your trustee in bankruptcy ( Paul Atkinson of FRP Advisory LLP ).
--Equiniti have, quite properly, updated the Share Register to note the interest of Paul Atkinson of Advisory LLP in the shares registered in your name.
Finally, in at least one of your voice mail messages you referred to me putting the phone down on you. I did this ( and will do so again if required ) because you did not accept the points I made on the telephone and the conversation had clearly become unproductive.
To avoid any recurrence of this, please submit any future questions by email
and I will respond by email—although I have dealt with the questions you raised in relation to the shares registered in your name and so I consider that matter closed.
Alistair Fulton
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse