October 28, 2017

Facebook to show who buys political ads

Source: BBC News

Political advertisers will have to verify their identity and location and their posts will carry a disclosure saying "paid for by".
....
"When it comes to advertising on Facebook, people should be able to tell who the advertiser is and see the ads they're running, especially for political ads," Rob Goldman, Facebook's vice president of ads, said in a blog post. By clicking on the "paid for by" disclosure, users would be able to see more details about the advertiser, he added.

Facebook said it was expanding the transparency measures to all ads, and that they would all have to be linked to a page. Users would also be able to view the ads any page was running, it added.

Tests for the new tools would start in Canada, with a goal of having them in place in the US ahead of the midterm elections, in November 2018.

Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-41785158

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Facebook has known about this problem for over one year. They need not wait to roll this out. Maybe they are "reaching out" to their funders for approval. /cynicism

The article discusses Congressional investigations and Twitter's gestures toward "not ruining the world".

October 26, 2017

St. Andrew Episcopal Church in Mentor offers sanctuary to woman facing deportation and her two child

Mexicans have immigrated to Lake County in Ohio to work in our landscape nursery farms. Of late, heartless cops have begun calling ICE on anybody they could pick up on a traffic stop. There was one man who they intercepted on his way out of Lake West Hospital where he had been admitted after a crash.

It has become an issue for local law enforcement to deal with. The sheriff is in the middle of all this.
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Laura, who is a mother of two, was recently pulled over by Painesville Police on a routine traffic stop and reported to U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, said the Rev. Lisa O’Rear, who is the rector of St. Andrew Episcopal Church.

“Laura was then told that she would be deported shortly,” she said. “Laura was born in Mexico, but has lived in the U.S. for 15 years. One of her sons was born in the U.S. and the other has lived here since he was 2 years old. Laura has no criminal history and considers Lake County her home.”

After hearing that Laura could be separated from her sons, O’Rear said the church felt called to help one of their neighbors . They opened their doors to Laura and her sons on Oct. 21.

“We weren’t seeking to become a sanctuary church,” O’Rear said. “We just really felt called to help this family. We understand the risks and we are entering this on faith.”

http://www.news-herald.com/general-news/20171024/st-andrew-episcopal-church-in-mentor-offers-sanctuary-to-woman-facing-deportation-and-her-two-children