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BREAKING
Al Mayadeen correspondent to southern Lebanon: Israeli warplanes launched a raid on the Ksar Zaatar neighborhood in western Nabatieh.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Gaza: The tower destroyed by the Israeli occupation in Gaza includes media offices, including Al Mayadeen's bureau.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Gaza: Four fetuses and three premature babies died at Nasser Medical Complex due to malnutrition
Lebanese Ministry of Health: One person was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a car in the town of Burj Qalawieh, south Lebanon.
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Channel 12: Airspace closed at Ramon Airport due to fears of drone infiltration
IOF Spokesperson: Sirens sounded over an aircraft infiltration in the Bir Ora area, and details are being examined
Drone infiltration sirens sound north of the Gulf of Aqaba
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Gaza: The Israeli occupation carried out five extremely violent raids on the western areas of Gaza City
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Gaza: The Israeli occupation carried out major bombings in the Gaza Strip, the most violent since October 7

Facebook Censors Researchers Exploring Its Ad Transparency

  • By Al Mayadeen Net
  • Source: The Verge
  • 4 Aug 2021 20:29
2 Min Read

The social media platform closed down all the researchers accounts after accusing them of unlawfully scraping user data.

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  • Facebook's decision came across as derisive
    Facebook's decision came across as derisive

In a shocking turn of events, Facebook has banned a group of academic researchers who have been investigating spread of misinformation and ad transparency on the platform.

The researchers were part of a project, called NYU Ad Observatory, aimed at exploring the origins and spread of political ads on Facebook.

Their methodology included creating a browser plugin called Ad Observer, which collects automatically data  regarding the political ads users are receiving and the reason behind their specific targeting. The plugin does not collect any personal data nor registers the ID of the users.

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The results shown through studies of Ad Observer’s collected data were then shared with academics and journalists, who were using them to reveal problems with Facebook’s targeted political ads.

Researcher Laura Edelson, a member of the group, said in a statement that "Facebook is silencing us because our work often calls attention to problems on its platform."

This evening, Facebook suspended my Facebook account and the accounts of several people associated with Cybersecurity for Democracy, our team at NYU. This has the effect of cutting off our access to Facebook's Ad Library data, as well as Crowdtangle. 1/4

— Laura Edelson (@LauraEdelson2) August 4, 2021

Facebook closed down the researchers’ accounts under the pretext of the plugin unlawfully collecting user data, despite the fact that Ad Observer clearly obtains the users' consent in order to be installed on their browser.

In response, Edelson stated that “Facebook is using user privacy, a core belief that we have always put first in our work, as a pretext for doing this. If this episode demonstrates anything it is that Facebook should not have veto power over who is allowed to study them."

  • Facebook
  • Privacy
  • User Data

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