BENGALURU: Facebook has so far suspended around 200 apps in the first stage of its review into apps that had access to large quantities of user data, in a response to a scandal around political consultancy Cambridge Analytica.
The apps were suspended pending a thorough investigation into whether they misused any data, said Ime Archibong, Facebook’s vice president of product partnerships.
Facebook said it has looked into thousands of apps till date as part of an investigation that Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg announced on March 21.
Zuckerberg had said the social network will investigate all apps that had access to large amounts of information before the company curtailed data access in 2014.
“There is a lot more work to be done to find all the apps that may have misused people’s Facebook data – and it will take time,” Archibong said.
“We have large teams of internal and external experts working hard to investigate these apps as quickly as possible.”
Facebook was hit by the privacy scandal in mid-March after media reports that Cambridge Analytica improperly accessed data to build profiles on American voters and influence the 2016 presidential election.
The incident led to backlash from celebrities and resulted in the company losing billions in market value. Zuckerberg apologized for the mistakes his company made and testified before the US lawmakers.
The company, however, regained much of its lost market value after it reported a surprisingly strong 63 percent rise in profit and an increase in users when it announced quarterly results on April 25.
Facebook suspends 200 apps over data misuse investigation
Facebook suspends 200 apps over data misuse investigation
Journalist working for German media arrested in Turkiye
- A Turkish journalist working for the German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) has been arrested on accusations of “spreading false news” and “insulting the president“
ISTANBUL: A Turkish journalist working for the German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) has been arrested on accusations of “spreading false news” and “insulting the president,” the Istanbul prosecutor’s office has said.
Alican Uludag was arrested in Ankara on Thursday, the office said, on charges stemming from posts on a social media account.
Uludag’s lawyer said the journalist was being targeted for articles written for DW about the repatriation of Turkish citizens affiliated with the Daesh group.
“Alican Uludag was taken into custody (...) because of his article entitled ‘Turkiye Prepares to Repatriate Turkish Citizens Affiliated with the Islamic State’,” said attorney Tora Pekin.
Deutsche Welle said late Thursday that the “charges refer to a message published on X about a year and a half ago” in which Uludag “criticized measures taken by the Turkish government that allegedly led to the release of possible Daesh terrorists” and “accused the government of corruption.”
He was “arrested and taken away in front of his family by about thirty police officers. His home was searched and computer equipment was seized,” it said.
He is due to appear before prosecutors in Istanbul on Friday, the prosecutor’s office said.
According to a representative of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Erol Onderoglu, “the arrest of Alican Uludag is part of a process of judicial harassment against serious journalists.”
The media watchdog group denounced “the relentless arbitrary practices that are now targeting a journalist who may have disturbed the authorities because of his investigations.”
DW chief Barbara Massing demanded Uludag’s immediate release.
“That a journalist is treated like a common criminal, taken away by some thirty police officers and immediately transferred to Istanbul, constitutes targeted intimidation and shows the extent to which the government is massively repressing press freedom,” she said in a statement.
