Facebook Graffiti Proves Worthy

Says volume of feedback would be impossible to monitor

(NEWSER) - The British government has tried to harness the power of the Internet, but for Gordon Brown, the Web’s been prickly: a video of him picking his nose, for example, has been viewed far more often than recent policy address. Now the prime minister’s team has disabled comments on its YouTube portal, saying that moderating them would be a mammoth task, the Times of London reports. More»

Olympics protected by stringent branding laws

(NEWSER) - The Olympics are headed to London this summer, but visitors and athletes alike better beware of what they post online, reports Mashable . London has passed legislation ahead of the games to penalize people who violate the games' official branding. Legally speaking, this would include:

• Athletes posting media of themselves with products that are not Olympics sponsors
• Fans uploading their own photos or video of the games
• Businesses attracting customers with official Olympics nomenclature, like "2012 Games"

Firms accused of failing to remove blasphemous content

(NEWSER) - Facebook and Google are on trial in India for failing to yank objectionable content from their websites quickly enough. A criminal complaint alleges that sites including Facebook and Google's YouTube didn't remove content mocking religious figures, despite Indian laws against "blasphemous" and "ethnically objectionable" material online. The trial begins today, and execs from the Internet firms could face jail time if convicted. More»

Tommy Jordan, daughter Hannah Marie appear on 'Today'

(NEWSER) - Life has "changed a lot" since Tommy Jordan shot up his daughter's laptop and gained immediate infamy, and the dad says his family has been under "a lot of scrutiny" for the past month. But despite the fact that, "in hindsight," it may have been better for him to rebuke his daughter in private, he says he can't change the past: "I did what I did, and I stood behind what I did. I still do," he told Matt Lauer this morning on Today . Daughter Hannah Marie says she knows her original Facebook rant against her parents, which sparked the unconventional form of discipline, was wrong. As for the punishment, "I think he overreacted a little bit, but I understand," she said. More»

Tommy Jordan punished daughter for criticizing parents on Facebook

(NEWSER) - YouTube's star of the day, for better or worse: A North Carolina dad named Tommy Jordan who posted a video of himself repeatedly shooting his daughter's laptop after she criticized her parents in a Facebook post, notes Mashable . “That right there is your laptop,” he says. “This right here is my .45." It seems his 15-year-old daughter complained about how many chores she had to do without pay, among other things. She apparently didn't think her parents would see the post because of her privacy settings. Didn't work. More»