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Facebook Bans Sales of Amazon Conservation Areas on its Apps

An aerial view shows a river and a deforested plot of the Amazon near Porto Velho, Rondonia State, Brazil August 14, 2020. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino
An aerial view shows a river and a deforested plot of the Amazon near Porto Velho, Rondonia State, Brazil August 14, 2020. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino
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Facebook Bans Sales of Amazon Conservation Areas on its Apps

An aerial view shows a river and a deforested plot of the Amazon near Porto Velho, Rondonia State, Brazil August 14, 2020. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino
An aerial view shows a river and a deforested plot of the Amazon near Porto Velho, Rondonia State, Brazil August 14, 2020. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino

Facebook on Friday said it will stop allowing the sale of land in Amazon rainforest conservation areas at marketplaces on the social network or its Instagram and WhatsApp services.

The announcement came as Facebook defends itself against accusations that it has long put profit over societal good, and caused some online to question why it had allowed sales of precious rainforest land in the first place.

"We are updating our commerce policies to explicitly prohibit the buying or selling of land of any type in ecological conservation areas on our commerce products across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp," the online social network said in a post.

"Protected areas are crucial for conserving habitats and ecosystems and are critical to tackling the global nature crisis."

Facebook focused the announcement on the Amazon rainforest, saying it planned to ramp up the effort.

Facebook said it will review listings at its online Marketplace against an authoritative database of protected areas to identify and block listings for sales of land there.

"Wait, this is something that was happening?" read a tweeted reply to Facebook sharing the announcement at its verified Twitter account.

The sale of land in conservation areas happens on other platforms and offline, but Facebook is working to stop it from happening in its family of apps, the company said.

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German Court Says Meta Can Use User Data to Train AI

The court ruled Meta is 'pursuing a legitimate end' by training AI with Facebook and Instagram user data. Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP
The court ruled Meta is 'pursuing a legitimate end' by training AI with Facebook and Instagram user data. Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP
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German Court Says Meta Can Use User Data to Train AI

The court ruled Meta is 'pursuing a legitimate end' by training AI with Facebook and Instagram user data. Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP
The court ruled Meta is 'pursuing a legitimate end' by training AI with Facebook and Instagram user data. Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP

A German court on Friday dismissed an injunction request brought by consumer protection groups to prevent US tech giant Meta from using user data from Facebook and Instagram to train artificial intelligence systems.
The higher regional court in Cologne concluded Meta, which owns both social media platforms, had not violated European Union law.

"Meta is pursuing a legitimate end by using the data to train artificial intelligence systems," the court said in a statement.

Feeding user data into AI training systems was allowed "even without the consent of those affected", it added.

Meta has announced plans to begin training AI models with data from Facebook and Instagram from Tuesday, said AFP.

The court said the balance of interests between the parties was in favor of allowing Meta to process user data to develop AI.

The training of AI systems "cannot be achieved by other equally effective, less intrusive means", the court said.

Among the reasons cited by judges was Facebook's intention to only use publicly available data that could also be found via search.

Meta had also "taken effective measures to significantly mitigate the impact" on users, the court said, including communicating the plans via its mobile apps.

The North Rhine-Westphalia Consumer Advice Center, which brought the case, said it still found the use of user data "highly problematic".

"There are still considerable doubts about the legality," the organization's chief, Wolfgang Schuldzinski, said in a statement.

The Vienna-based privacy campaign group Noyb said last week it had sent a cease-and-desist letter to Meta over the plans to use user data for AI training.

The letter was the first step ahead of a possible injunction request or class-action lawsuit against Meta, the group said.