EU can suspend new data transfer pact with U.S. if worried about privacy: Official

By Julia Fioretti BRUSSELS (Reuters) – A new data transfer pact between the European Union and Washington will give the EU the right to pull the plug on the deal if it fears the United States is not safeguarding privacy enough, the EU Justice Commissioner said on Thursday. A previous transatlantic data transfer framework, Safe Harbour, was struck down on Oct. 6 by the European Union's top court because of worries about mass U.S.

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Facebook’s Zuckerberg speaks out in support of Muslims

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Facebook Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday said he supported Muslims in his community and around the world. Muslims in the United States and abroad have been criticized in the wake of attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California. “As a Jew, my parents taught me that we must stand up against attacks on all communities

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Social media companies step up battle against militant propaganda

By Joseph Menn SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Facebook, Google and Twitter are stepping up efforts to combat online propaganda and recruiting by Islamic militants, but the Internet companies are doing it quietly to avoid the perception that they are helping the authorities police the Web. On Friday, Facebook Inc said it took down a profile that the company believed belonged to San Bernardino shooter Tashfeen Malik, who with her husband is accused of killing 14 people in a mass shooting that the FBI is investigating as an “act of terrorism.” Just a day earlier, the French prime minister and European Commission officials met separately with Facebook, Google, Twitter Inc and other companies to demand faster action on what the commission called “online terrorism incitement and hate speech.” The Internet companies described their policies as straightforward: they ban certain types of content in accordance with their own terms of service, and require court orders to remove or block anything beyond that.

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Praise for Islamic State posted during shooting to suspect’s Facebook page

(Reuters) – Comments praising the Islamic State were posted during the California shooting to a Facebook page established by the woman accused of helping to kill 14 people, a Facebook Inc spokesman said on Friday. The Facebook profile, established under an alias by Tashfeen Malik, was removed by the company on Thursday for violating its community standards, which prohibit praise or promotion of “acts of terror,” said the spokesman, who asked not to be named.

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Facebook’s Zuckerberg: No tax benefit from philanthropic initiative

SAN FRANCISCO/BENGALURU (Reuters) – Facebook Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said on Thursday he and his wife would receive no tax benefit from setting up their new philanthropic endeavor as a limited liability company and hinted at the types of efforts it would support. In a post on his Facebook page, he wrote that “just like everyone else, we will pay capital gains taxes when our shares are sold by the LLC.” While reiterating that the entity, called the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, would focus on areas like education and disease, he indicated the efforts would be similar to philanthropy he and his wife, Priscilla Chan, had already supported.

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Facebook makes paid time off for baby leave a global benefit

Less than a week after Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said he would take two months of paternity leave, the social media company announced it is extending its parental leave policy to full-time employees outside the United States. Employees may take leave at any point up to a year after the birth of their child, Lori Matloff Goler, the company's head of human resources, said in a Facebook post late Wednesday. Facebook currently offers only U.S.-based workers up to four months of paid leave

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Jury weighs murder charges for Florida ‘Facebook killer’

A Florida jury began weighing on Tuesday whether a man who killed his wife and posted a photo of her blood-spattered, lifeless body on Facebook committed first-degree murder. Attorneys for Derek Medina, 33, argued that he was acting in self-defense when he fired eight shots at Jennifer Alfonso, 27, in the kitchen of their Miami-area residence

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FBI has lead in probe of 1.2 billion stolen Web credentials: documents

By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) – A hacker who once advertised having access to user account information for websites like Facebook and Twitter has been linked through a Russian email address to the theft of a record 1.2 billion Internet credentials, the FBI said in court documents. The papers, made public last week by a federal court in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, provide a window into the Federal Bureau of Investigation's probe of what would amount to the largest collection of stolen user names and passwords. The court papers were filed in support of a search warrant the FBI sought in December 2014 and that was executed a month later related to email records.

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DraftKings hires Exiger to review financial controls, compliance

Daily fantasy sports company DraftKings said on Tuesday it hired regulatory risk and compliance firm Exiger to conduct a review of its financial, operational, compliance and risk controls, as the company and its top competitor, FanDuel, have come under fire from state and federal regulators.

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