Taylor Swift’s fans make the best online sleuths. What can they teach me about social media?
Many celebrity gossip devotees double as internet detectives, reading whole worlds into a ‘favourite’ or unfollow. There’s a lesson in that for all of us
Russia’s election ad campaign shows Facebook’s biggest problem is Facebook
Facebook’s systems didn’t fail when they let Russians target American voters with divisive political messages. They worked
Facebook gets friendlier with Congress on Russia ads
Zuckerberg now cooperating with Congress after criticism for role in election … and more. Get the day’s politics news in 60 seconds every weekday. By Tom McCarthy
Instagram uses ‘I will rape you’ post as Facebook ad in latest algorithm mishap
When Guardian reporter Olivia Solon was sent a rape threat, she posted a screenshot on Instagram. Then the Facebook-owned company made it an ad
Facebook to give Congress thousands of ads bought by Russians during election
Mark Zuckerberg says providing ads will ‘help government authorities complete the vitally important work of assessing what happened’ in the election
Facebook strategist rejects PM’s claim over extremist material
Counter-terrorism expert says that, contrary to Theresa May’s assertion, technology companies are treating the problem of terrorist content seriously
Die Partei: satirical German party gains ground on social media
Group that pledges to introduce cocaine on prescription has gathered more new Facebook fans than AfD or Merkel’s CDU
Facebook to tighten ad targeting after antisemitic ‘fail’, says Sheryl Sandberg
Chief operating officer announces policy change after social network allowed advertisers to seek out ‘Jew haters’, saying company ‘never intended’ such usage
Facebook admits industry could do more to combat online extremism
Admission comes as British PM and French president propose fining firms that move too slowly to remove extremist content
Facebook bans Rohingya group’s posts as minority faces ‘ethnic cleansing’
As hundreds of thousands flee a brutal campaign by the Myanmar military, the social media company labels an insurgent group a ‘dangerous organization’
Gifs: 30 years of reactions, dancing babies and popcorn
They may have only become part of the everyday internet experience in recent years, but gifs are old school. Here we chart its rise in its 30th year
DC eyes tighter regulations on Facebook and Google as concern grows
Political spending on TV and press is transparent but there are no rules for online ads. With allegations of Russian influence in last year’s election, that may change
Margrethe Vestager: ‘We are doing this because people are angry’
She’s the woman who took on Google and Apple and Starbucks… The European competition commissioner – and inspiration for the Borgen TV series – discusses her fight for fairness against powerful corporate interests
Same-sex marriage survey: Facebook accounts targeted with homophobic slurs
Material ranging from the apocalyptic to global conspiracies being used to try to sway Australians’ votes in postal survey
The Guardian view on universal basic income: tax data giants to pay for it
Editorial: Hillary Clinton should have ‘thrown caution to the wind’ and backed yearly payments to US citizens. These could’ve been dividends from a fund financed by levying duties on tech giants that profit from a collective loss of privacy