James Farrell
Latest from James Farrell
Ahead of midterms, Facebook introduces new security tools for political candidates
Facebook Inc. today rolled out a pilot program that will offer enhanced security protections for U.S. political candidates and elected officials ahead of the upcoming midterms. By its own admission, Facebook “didn’t do enough” to prevent interference by foreign agents in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, and it’s now determined to ensure such undermining of ...
Mark Zuckerberg outlines his strategy to keep Facebook abuse-free
Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg released what could be called a manifesto Thursday, outlining how the company will fight election interference on the platform as well as keeping misinformation at bay. Zuckerberg talked of “foreign actors” such as Russia-based operators that had paid for political ads during the U.S. presidential election. This time, he contended, ...
EU may levy massive fines on tech giants that don’t take terrorist content down within an hour
The European Commission has proposed a new rule that if passed will mean companies such as Google LLC, Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. could face serious financial penalties if they don’t manage to take down terrorist propaganda within one hour. The plan was announced by commission president Jean-Claude Juncker Wednesday during his state of the ...
FCC needs more time to review T-Mobile and Sprint merger
The Federal Communications Commission said Tuesday it needs more time to review the planned merger of T-Mobile US Inc. and Sprint Corp. The third- and fourth-largest mobile carriers in the U.S agreed in April to merge in a$26 billion deal and were given a 180-day period by the FCC for the merger to be reviewed. ...
EU court to decide Tuesday if ‘right to be forgotten’ online applies worldwide
The European Court of Justice will make a ruling Tuesday that could profoundly impact the public’s right to access information online. Fifteen judges will decide whether people have “the right to be forgotten” regarding what information can be found when searching their name online. The right means that if someone can prove that searchable information is “inaccurate, ...
Jack Ma to step down as chairman of Alibaba next year
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. announced Monday in China that Jack Ma will be replaced as chairman of the company a year from now. On Sept. 10, 2019, current Chief Executive Daniel Zhang will succeed Ma (pictured), although Ma will remain on Alibaba Group’s board of directors until its annual general meeting of shareholders in 2020. Ma ...
Alex Jones and Infowars kicked off Twitter for good
Twitter Inc. permanently banned Alex Jones and his show Infowars Thursday, just a month after a Silicon Valley purge left the pugnacious agent provocateur with few places left to publish online. Shortly after that, Twitter Chief Executive Jack Dorsey explained that his platform was not following suit because Jones had not violated Twitter’s terms of ...
Social media on trial: what Facebook and Twitter execs said to Congress
Facebook Inc.’s Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter Inc.’s Jack Dorsey took their seats on Capitol Hill today for a long grilling over their respective platforms. As expected, the topics covered mostly related to how the platforms can be manipulated by “bad actors” hoping to influence American voters before and during election campaigns and also sow the ...
What Facebook and Twitter will say to Congress this week
In an expanded grilling ceremony for tech giants, Facebook Inc. Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter Inc. Chief Executive Jack Dorsey will testify before Congress starting Wednesday. The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence will question the pair over issues related to the influence bad actors might have concerning meddling with U.S. elections and public policy. ...
British broadcasters want social media mammoths policed by government watchdog
Some of Silicon Valley’s leading tech firms are out of control, says a conglomeration of the U.K.’s top broadcasters, and something needs to be done about it. In a joint letter Sunday to The Telegraph, broadcasters BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky, BT and TalkTalk said content that appears on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube is not regulated ...