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Meta to tackle hate speech in Pakistan, UK

Research shows that challenging violent, extremist views with positive counter-speech is one of the most effective ways to combat hate and extremism….reports Asian Lite News

Meta (formerly Facebook) on Wednesday announced to expand its flagship counter-speech initiative to Pakistan and the UK to tackle violent extremism, terrorism and organised hate speech on its platforms.

Meta’s Redirect Initiative, already available in Australia, the US, Germany and Indonesia, is now entering Pakistan and the UK to “disrupt the connection between followers and the violent, extreme content they seek”.

Now, when someone in Pakistan or the UK searches on Facebook using words associated with organised hate or violent extremism, the top search result will be a link to resources and support for how to leave violence and extremism behind.

“We’re partnering with Shaoor Foundation in Pakistan and Exit UK in the UK,” said Meta.

Research shows that challenging violent, extremist views with positive counter-speech is one of the most effective ways to combat hate and extremism.

“Counter-speech is only effective if it comes from credible voices, so we’ve partnered with various NGOs and community groups on multiple counter-speech initiatives around the world including community programs, toolkits and research,” said Dr Nawab Osman, Asia Pacific Head of Counter-Terrorism and Dangerous Organizations at Meta.

Counter-speech involves responding to hateful, extremist narratives with empathy and alternative perspectives, rather than shutting these conversations down.

Shaoor Foundation has been working for many years, designing and implementing peace development programmes in Pakistan.

“Building a society that is inclusive, respectful and peaceful and involves engaging the entire community, enabling people to speak up and providing a safe, accessible space to get support. We are pleased to partner with Meta on the Redirect Initiative to help us scale our efforts and reach more people in need in Pakistan,” said Syed Ali Hameed, Executive Director at Shaoor Foundation

Meta said that it has a team of more than 350 dedicated specialists and sophisticated proactive detection technology to help it find and remove such hateful content quickly.

“Working in partnership with technology companies like Meta will help ensure the safety and well-being of the public and those that might be vulnerable online,” said Nigel Bromage, Founder of Exit UK.

ALSO READ: Meta partners FICCI to support women-led SMBs in India

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Peter Thiel steps down from board of Facebook parent Meta

Thiel, a partner at Founders Fund, has decided not to stand for re-election to the Board of Directors of the company at its 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders…reports Asian Lite News

Venture capitalist and PayPal Co-founder Peter Thiel is stepping down from Meta’s (formerly Facebook) board of directors after two decades.

According to reports, Thiel is retiring in order to focus on November’s US midterm elections. He, however, did not disclose his next move.

“Thiel has served on our board for almost two decades, and we’ve always known that at some point he would devote his time to other interests. I’m grateful he’s served on our boardAfor as long as he has, and I wish him the best in his journey ahead,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Meta Founder and CEO.

Thiel, a partner at Founders Fund, has decided not to stand for re-election to the Board of Directors of the company at its 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

Thiel has been a member of the company’s board of directors since 2005 and will continue to serve as a director until the date of the annual meeting, Meta said in a statement late on Monday.

“It has been a privilege to work with one of the greatAentrepreneurs of our time. Mark Zuckerberg’s intelligence, energy, and conscientiousness are tremendous. His talents will serve Meta well as he leads the company into a new era,” said Thiel.

The New York Times earlier reported that Thiel is retiring to focus on building his political career.

After publicly supporting former President Donald Trump’s campaign in 2016, Thiel has more quietly donated to Republican candidates.

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Meta partners FICCI to support women-led SMBs in India

In addition, Meta’s Commerce Partners Programme will enable businesses to build a digital presence, go direct-to-customer and grow using the power of technology…reports Asian Lite News

Meta, under its #SheMeansBusiness programme, announced its partnership with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry’s (FICCI) ‘Empowering the Greater 50 per cent’ to enable and support 5 lakh women-led small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) across India.

The announcement was made during Meta’s inaugural National Women Entrepreneurship Summit to encourage industry dialogue and steps to support MSMEs across sectors.

“We are hopeful that Meta’s pledge to support 5 lakh women-owned businesses will create a supportive ecosystem for women and inspire them to become contributors to the overall development of the country,” Narayan Rane, Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, said in a statement.

Together with FICCI, Meta will address the barrier to access the right digital tools and resources by offering easy access to tools, programmes and resources by Meta to women entrepreneurs in India.

With this partnership, Meta will extend its support via three initiatives.

The Facebook Business Coach will let women entrepreneurs access self-paced lessons via Meta’s educational chatbot tool on WhatsApp and learn how to establish and maintain a digital presence.

Grow Your Business Hub is a one-stop online destination for micro, small and medium businesses to find relevant information, tools, and resources to further empower these businesses to find tools curated to their growth needs.

In addition, Meta’s Commerce Partners Programme will enable businesses to build a digital presence, go direct-to-customer and grow using the power of technology.

These businesses will have the opportunity to adopt best-in-class solutions across the retail value chain via our partners, with additional onboarding support, training and preferential pricing.

“To help women-led businesses of India, we are partnering with FICCI to enable 5 lakh women at grassroot levels with appropriate digital tools and resources,” said Mohan, Vice-President and Managing Director, Facebook India (Meta).

“This is a part of our commitment to enable 1 crore small businesses over the next 3 years via our Centre for Fuelling India’s New Economy (C-FINE) at our new office in Gurgaon,” Mohan added.

The #SheMeansBusiness programme was launched in 2016 as a space for entrepreneurial women to make valuable connections, share advice and move forward together.

ALSO READ-Facebook changes its name to Meta as it focuses on the virtual world

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Zuckerberg: India’s talent pool playing huge role in shaping future

Saluting the entrepreneurial spirit of India, the Meta CEO said that this is already fuelling a lot of the internet economy in India…reports Asian Lite News.

Placing a strong bet on India’s creator and developer community, Meta Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Wednesday that as the social network begins initial steps to create augmented reality (AR)- driven Metaverse experiences for billions, the country and its vast pool of talent is going to be a huge part of that journey.

Speaking at the company’s ‘Fuel for India’ event, Zuckerberg said that he is really excited about the role that India will play in building the future of Metaverse, which is going to be the successor to the mobile internet.

“That is because India’s talent pool — the engineers, developers and creators and the whole vibrant startup ecosystem — is playing a huge role in shaping the future. India is on track to have the largest app developer base in the world by 2024. It already has one of the largest ‘Spark AR’ developer communities,” Zuckerberg told Vishal Shah, VP, Metaverse during a conversation.

He said that the online gaming sector in India has seen a lot of growth over the past few years and “our investment in gaming in the country keeps growing as we look to how it’s going to take shape in the Metaverse”.

“We’re investing in other growing areas like education and social commerce like in Unacademy and Meesho, which are important use cases as we think about the future that we’re building,” Zuckerberg said.

Saluting the entrepreneurial spirit of India, the Meta CEO said that this is already fuelling a lot of the internet economy in India.

“When we’re thinking about what the next generation is going to look like in terms of, you know, where all these creators and developers are going to come from, who are going to really build the foundation of the Metaverse, I think it’s just obvious that India is going to be a huge part of that,” he stressed.

Zuckerberg said that India is the biggest country in the world that uses Facebook and WhatsApp today.

“Instagram is also growing incredibly quickly in the country,” he added.

India has more than 400 million WhatsApp users.

ALSO READ-Instagram reportedly surpasses 2 bn users

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Business

Meta unveils business hub for Indian SMBs

In addition, Meta also launched ‘Grow Your Business Playbook’ at the event that is geared to inspire and equip early-stage businesses to start their journeys on our apps….reports Asian Lite News

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, on Tuesday announced the launch of a business hub and ‘Grow Your Business’ playbook to empower small and medium businesses (SMBs) in India.

The ‘Grow Your Business Hub’ is a one-stop destination for the micro, small and medium businesses to find relevant information, tools, and resources curated to cater to business goals based on their growth journey.

In addition, Meta also launched ‘Grow Your Business Playbook’ at the event that is geared to inspire and equip early-stage businesses to start their journeys on our apps.

The ‘Playbook’ is Facebook India’s first published book on everything small businesses need to know from starting a business page, creating content on the page, to the first steps they need to take to start advertising, the company said in a statement.

The first edition is aimed at helping businesses set up offline to online journeys and accelerating online sales for small businesses during the Covid-19 era and beyond.

“Small businesses are the engines of growth for India’s economy, and the role of Meta is more important than ever in unlocking growth opportunities for them as many of them move online and use digital to grow,” said Archana Vohra, Director, Small and Medium Businesses, Facebook India.

“From curated and customised business skilling programmes to launching initiatives that enable working capital for small businesses, we have been building for the growth of India’s SMBs with a localised, India-first approach,” she added.

Every month, millions of small businesses — 15 million just on WhatsApp in India — use the Meta apps to start their online journeys and grow their business.

On Instagram, over the past three months, people in India have created more than 1.2 million posts and comments to show their support for small businesses and buying local.

More than half-a-million small businesses on Instagram in India have also listed either a WhatsApp number, or a phone number, or an email in their bio, or are encouraging potential customers to contact them directly via direct messaging. This goes to show that increasingly small businesses are leveraging the Meta apps to go direct-to-consumer, the company informed.

The Meta event focused on the growth agenda of the country’s SMBs and saw participation from emerging and small businesses from distinct verticals in the country.

The participants also shared stories of how they transformed their business using digital technologies and Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

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