Microsoft was investigating a disruption in its Bing search engine in China on Thursday, with social media users fearing it could be the latest foreign website to be blocked by censors. Attempts to open cn.bing.com has resulted in an error message for users since Wednesday. "We're aware of reports that Bing may be inaccessible to some customers in China and are investigating," a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement. China's Communist authorities operate an online censorship apparatus known as the "Great Firewall", which blocks a slew of websites including Facebook, Twitter and several foreign media outlets. But it was not clear whether or not Bing joined the long list of prohibited websites, or if its China service was experiencing technical difficulties. China's cyberspace administration could not immediately be reached for comment. China's Great Firewall can be circumvented by using a virtual private network (VPN), which can hide a user's IP address. While its rival Google shut … [Read more...] about Microsoft’s Bing search engine goes offline in China
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No need to install: Microsoft has controversial fake news filter NewsGuard built into mobile browser
Corporate and neocon-backed startup NewsGuard is one step closer to its vision of bringing its “unreliable” news rater to every screen after Microsoft makes it an integral part of its Edge mobile browser. Rather than having to download an app as before, Edge users on Android and Apple devices can now just click one button to enable its “green-red rating signal if a website is trying to get it right or instead has a hidden agenda or knowingly publishes falsehoods or propaganda.” Among the green-rated websites: Voice of America, CNN, Buzzfeed, the Guardian, New York Times and the Washington Post, as well as left-leaning upstarts such as Vice News and Refinery 29. Ones that are given the red warning label of “failing to maintain basic standards of accuracy and accountability”: RT and Sputnik (obviously enough) and the right-wing Daily Mail, Breitbart and the Drudge Report, in addition to hundreds of other non-mainstream news websites such as … [Read more...] about No need to install: Microsoft has controversial fake news filter NewsGuard built into mobile browser
Microsoft fake news tool warns users not to trust Mail Online
0 Have your say An online tool designed to combat fake news, used by Microsoft’s Edge web browser, is warning users not to trust the Mail Online website. NewsGuard, a tool that says it uses a team of experienced journalists to analyse and rate news websites, shows an alert that reads “this website generally fails to maintain basic standards of accuracy and accounbility” when users navigate to the Mail Online.The site is one of the world’s biggest news platforms.READ MORE: Scottish patient stabbed GP after being told to use NHS 24Microsoft initially started offering NewsGuard as an optional extension for its Edge browser – the successor to Internet Explorer – last year.But the technology giant has now built NewsGuard directly into the mobile versions of Edge that run on iOS and Android, although the feature is off by default and users must opt in to use it.In a statement, a Mail Online spokesman said: “We have only very … [Read more...] about Microsoft fake news tool warns users not to trust Mail Online
Microsoft browser’s fake news tool warns users not to trust Mail Online
News by Press Association 23/01/2019, 2:47 pm Send us a story Sign up to our Daily newsletter An online tool designed to combat fake news, used by Microsoft’s Edge web browser, is warning users not to trust the Mail Online website. NewsGuard, a tool which says it uses a team of experienced journalists to analyse and rate news websites, shows an alert which reads “This website generally fails to maintain basic standards of accuracy and accountability” when users navigate to the Mail Online. The site is one of the world’s biggest news platforms. Microsoft initially began offering NewsGuard as an optional extension for its Edge browser – the successor to Internet Explorer – last year. But the technology giant has now built NewsGuard directly into the mobile versions of Edge that run on iOS and Android, although the feature is off by default and users must opt in to use it. In a statement, a Mail Online spokesman said: … [Read more...] about Microsoft browser’s fake news tool warns users not to trust Mail Online
Opinion: Big tech is to blame for Seattle’s homelessness crisis and Microsoft’s philanthropy can’t solve it
One thing Microsoft deserves credit for over the announcement of $500m to help address the shortage of affordable housing, is the admission of the role of big tech in worsening the problem. When it made this region its headquarters in 1979, it had just 30 employees. Today, that number is close to 40,000 – all of them helping to push up the cost of buying or renting homes. “Since 2011, jobs in the region have grown 21 per cent, while growth in housing construction has lagged at 13 per cent. This gap in available housing has caused housing prices to surge 96 per cent in the past eight years,” wrote company president Brad Smith, and chief financial officer Amy Hood. It also deserves credit for admitting the money it was announcing as part of its corporate social responsibility plan (the vast bulk of it in the forms of loans and just $25m in a donation) is only a small part of the solution. There is a long way to go. Join Independent Minds For exclusive … [Read more...] about Opinion: Big tech is to blame for Seattle’s homelessness crisis and Microsoft’s philanthropy can’t solve it