Facebook forms team to spot troubles before they arise
San Francisco, June 24: Facebook has hired a team of ex-intelligence officers, researchers and media buyers to find the worst possible things that can be done using the platform and to help the company prevent them.
The group is called "Investigative Operations Team" and is testing the company's advertising systems, pages, Instagram, Messenger and more, BuzzFeed News reported on Saturday.
The team is searching for troubling behaviour, examining keywords and other signals that could be used to promote violence. It is also investigating Facebook's merchant tools, attempting to spot problematic product sales.
"What we have now is a series of people who are truly looking for how could you possibly do something wrong," said Lynda Talgo, the Facebook Business Integrity Director.
"Their entire job is to look forward and figure out what's coming around the corner," she added.
Facebook's creation of this team is the latest sign of an ongoing mindset shift among Silicon Valley's giants who are realising they can't simply assume the best of their users and must prepare for the worst behaviour imaginable.
Google has set up an "Intelligence Desk" at YouTube which is meant to detect controversial content before it mushrooms into crisis.
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US renews sanctions waiver for purchase of Russian oil
Washington (PTI): The United States has extended by a month a waiver from sanctions to allow countries to buy petroleum products from Russia, days after it ruled out renewal of the special measure.
The US Department of Treasury issued an order late Friday extending the waiver from sanctions on Russian oil that is already at sea on or before April 17 through May 16.
Earlier, the US had granted an exemption from sanctions to India for buying Russian oil for a month beginning March 5. A few days later, a similar waiver was extended to several other countries, which ended on April 11.
The general licence issued by the US on Friday does not authorise any transaction involving a person, entity or joint venture located in Iran, North Korea, Cuba, or parts of Ukraine.
On Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington would not be renewing the waiver for Russian oil and another for Iranian oil.
The previous waiver of sanctions had made available 140 million barrels of Russian oil already loaded on ships to global markets as prices soared against the backdrop of the US war with Iran.
"Effective April 17, 2026, General License No. 134A, which was dated March 19, 2026 and expired on April 11, 2026, is replaced and superseded in its entirety by this General License No. 134B," said the order issued by the Department of Treasury.
