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They were just children when Adolf Hitler's rule came to an end, but they will never forget the horrors the Nazis inflicted on their families.
(Photo: members of "Grannies Against the Right". Credit: Christopher Glanzl)
When Azerbaijani journalist Arzu Geybulla started to receive abusive messages online, she quickly became suspicious. She had received offensive messages before. But this time was different. She was being flooded with them. So she decided to dig further.
Ingebjørg spends hours every day on Instagram, but she’s not posting selfies. She’s trying to save lives.
(Photo Caption: Ingebjørg in her home city of Bergen, Norway / Photo credit: BBC)
Andrine was 17 years old when she killed herself in March 2017.
For two years her mother left Andrine’s phone untouched in a cardboard box by her front door.
But when a journalist from the Norwegian broadcaster NRK approached her Andrine’s mother plucked up the courage to take a look.
The information from Andrine’s phone uncovered a secretive international network of young women and girls who share pictures of self-harm, thoughts about killing themselves and even their suicidal attempts.
Many of those in the network have eating disorders, depression or other mental health problems. They don’t trust healthcare workers or doctors, and they communicate using private Instagram accounts.
The investigation by NRK has identified at least 15 young women and girls in the network who have taken their own lives in the last three years.
So what responsibility does social media – and Instagram in particular - bear for the deaths?
If you are affected by the issues in this programme you can find information about support organisations on the Befrienders Worldwide website. https://www.befrienders.org/
Presenter: Catrin Nye
(Photo: A close-up of Andrine pinned on a noticeboard. Credit: BBC)
The Brazilian Butt Lift or as it’s more commonly known, the BBL, is one of the most dangerous cosmetic procedures in the world but that hasn’t stopped it becoming one of the most requested.
Posts on this type of cosmetic surgery are all over social media which show before and after photos to portray this popular body type.
It’s influenced one woman to think about having a BBL. But before she makes a decision, she speaks to social media influencers, her close friends and medical professionals who help guide her through her choice.
Are the deadly risks involved in this type of cosmetic surgery worth taking for a big bottom?
Originally broadcast 10/5/19
Presenter: Anisa Subedar
Reporter: Lola Mosanya
Picture: Credit: BBC
"Go home!"
That's what some tourists are being told when they visit the Athens district of Exarchia.
It’s been described as an "anarchist enclave", a place where riot police regularly clash with local activists. But it’s also a rapidly gentrifying area where Instagramable coffee shops are adorned with colourful, anti-establishment graffiti.
Its central location and cheap property prices mean that Exarchia has in recent years attracted increasing numbers of tourists. This in turn has stoked resentment among some activists, who say the pressures of tourism have driven rents up and pushed long-established residents out of their homes.
Radical left-wing groups have called for direct action to stop this trend. They hang banners telling tourists they are "targets", vandalise flats rented out via Airbnb, and post videos of their comrades shouting at visitors to leave.
But others in the neighbourhood argue tourism is giving Greece the means to recover from a devastating economic crisis and years of financial austerity.
BBC Trending travels to the beating heart of Exarchia to meet residents, activists and tourists. What happens when Instagram hipsters clash with local activists?
Presenter: Mike Wendling
(Photo Caption: Activists stencil a slogan reading "Flats for immigrants not for Airbnb" on a wall in central Athens / Photo Credit: Getty Images)
A revolution is underway in Cuba. The country’s communist leaders, who normally retain tight control of the media, have encouraged Cubans to become more connected online.
Internet access used to be the preserve of a privileged (and relatively rich) few. But prices have come down, public wifi spots are popular, and less than a year ago 3G data access became available on Cuban phones.
Along with a huge uptake in the internet has come a flood of Cubans signing up to social media accounts. Even President Miguel Diaz-Canel is on Twitter.
And unlike staid and traditional state-run media, Cuban social media is relatively open, freewheeling, full of jokes, criticism of the government and, of course, memes.
Prices are still high and the government keeps a close eye on dissidents or “counter-revolutionaries”. But online, Cubans are exploring new ways to communicate that would have been unheard of just a few years ago.
The BBC’s Cuba correspondent Will Grant and BBC Trending reporter Reha Kansara have been meeting the Cubans at the forefront of their country’s digital revolution.
They meet political podcasters, a lesbian activist, a pro-government blogger, a gamer-turned-protester, a dissident journalist and one of Cuba’s biggest YouTube stars.
How are Cubans making their voices heard in a way they never have before – and how might social media transform the country?
Presenters: Will Grant and Reha Kansara
Photo: A young Cuban standing by the waterfront in Havana accesses the internet on his phone.
Algorithms have shaped the internet as we know it. Complex automated instructions drive search engines and social media platforms, and offer us each a tailored, individualised online experience.
Techno-optimists have long looked at artificial intelligence in awe, hoping that machines and algorithms would help humans find solutions for complex problems and remove human bias.
But some are more sceptical and argue algorithms not only have human prejudices built into them – but that they are making those biases worse.
Robert Elliott Smith is an expert in artificial intelligence and author of the new book Rage Inside the Machine: The Prejudice of Algorithms, and How to Stop the Internet Making Bigots of Us All.
He argues that algorithms are prejudiced by their very nature and that, in their search for simple solutions to human questions, they have created divisions among us.
He also argues algorithms have amplified our biases and turned many of us into bigots.
But are the machines really to blame? Or are they just mirroring who we really are?
Presenter: Anisa Subedar
(Photo Caption: Illustration of a woman shouting obscenities / Photo Credit: Getty Images)
Recently an app called Zao zoomed up the charts in China. It uses artificial intelligence to allow people to upload themselves into famous movies. One viral clip showed a young Chinese man being transformed into Leonardo DiCaprio in the film Titanic.
Although for most people it was harmless fun, the rise of Zao prompted more worrying headlines about “deepfake” technology. The concerns are not that it could be used to make fake movie clips, but instead to make fake news – for instance, viral videos of politicians appearing to utter things they never actually said.
While the technology behind deepfakes has been in development for a while, it’s only in the last few years that it has become good enough to trick people on a wide scale, using the power of social media.
Some experts say that in that in a year it may be tough to tell which videos on our timelines are real and which ones are fake.
Presenter: Mike Wendling
(Photo caption: A digitised face / Photo credit: Getty Images)
The Medical Medium has millions of followers on social media. He claims he can help cure your chronic illness with home remedies like celery juice.
But he doesn’t have any medical qualifications. Instead, he claims he gets his medical information from communicating with spirits.
Thousands of people online say he’s helped them. But could his claims be stopping patients seeking the medical help they need. And is the rise of unqualified influencers creating distrust in real doctors?
We explore the booming celery juice trend and meet the doctor who is trying to start a counter-movement to get qualified medical professionals to use social media more effectively.
Presenter: Jonathan Griffin
(Photo Caption: Screenshot of the Medical Medium Instagram account / Photo Credit: Instagram)
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