Around the World
Facebook sues company for selling ‘fake likes and followers’ to people
Online social media and networking service, Facebook, is suing a company and three individuals in Zealand for allegedly selling fake likes, views, and followers to users of its photo-sharing platform, Instagram.
Online social media and networking service, Facebook, is suing a company and three individuals in Zealand for allegedly selling fake likes, views, and followers to users of its photo-sharing platform, Instagram.
The company has gone ahead to suspend accounts associated with the defendants whom were earlier warned about the violations their actions constituted against Facebook‘s terms of use.
Protecting their platform
In a statement, Facebook said it took action by suing the company in a US Federal Court, in order to show that such fraudulent services won’t be tolerated.
“By filing the lawsuit, we are sending a message that this kind of fraudulent activity is not tolerated on our services and we will act to protect the integrity of our platform.”
The statement by Facebook continued by saying that the company have also profited greatly from the service of selling those fake engagements to many Instagram users.
Why are users buying fake followers and engagements
Large numbers of social media following has the capacity to attract lucrative sponsorship deals for owners of such accounts. In other words, owners of accounts with large followers, who are also called Social Media Influencers, have the capacity to leverage their so called popularity for money-making; by selling products on behalf on themselves or third parties and getting paid for it.
The company has tried hard to prevent fake engagements
In 2018, Instagram increased its effort to stop users from getting artificial followers and engagement, even as Facebook dealt with the aftermath of a number of scandals; including the Cambridge Analytica Data-sharing saga.
They also went as far as removing pages, groups, and accounts showing “inauthentic behaviour’’ in many countries across the world, including the Philippines, Russia, and Iran.
What must have prompted to that?
This decision was made after the company was accused of playing a role in influencing the 2016’s US presidential Election and the Brexit Referendum.
Around the World
Chad’s President Deby dies of injuries suffered on the frontlines, as son takes over
The President had visited the frontlines to share his election victory with the soldiers before the unfortunate incident.
Around the World
Elon Musk loses an estimated $6bn after a Tesla car accident killed two people
Elon Musk’s net worth dipped by $6 billion following a tragic Tesla car accident that killed two people.
The second richest man in the world, Elon Musk, witnessed his wealth shed an estimated $6bn after a Tesla car was involved in an accident that led to the death of two people.
Tesla stocks dropped by 3.8% after the news of the crash went mainstream. The resultant effect on Elon Musk’s wealth was a $5.71bn loss in a single day.
READ: Google threatens to remove its search engine from Australia due to media code
The Accident
Two men lost their lives on Saturday night in Houston when their 2019 Tesla model car slammed into a tree. Police authorities on sight claimed the car might have been on autopilot due to the sitting position of the corpses.
They also struggled to put out the fire from the Tesla car and even called Tesla for help. The death of the two men has sparked a heated argument between Tesla and its critics. Autopilot or not?
Although police officers’ assertion that the car may have been on autopilot remains unconfirmed, it has raised serious uncertainty about the safety of Tesla’s autopilot feature and Tesla’s critics are not backing down on this.
READ: Dealers explain why ‘Tokunbo’ Cars are expensive
Elon Musk reacts
Elon Musk has reacted to the news, insisting that the autopilot feature in the crashed vehicle was not enabled. According to him, the Wall Street Journal’s coverage of the accident was not professional.
READ: Meet the 39 years old Chinese billionaire electric car maker
What you should know
Elon Musk is now worth $183bn following the recent drop. He closed the gap on Amazon’s Jeff Bezos to $4bn early last week. The gap has widened to $14bn today.
