James Farrell
Latest from James Farrell
Arizona becomes first state to support driver’s licenses and state ID inside Apple Wallet
Owners of an iPhone in the state of Arizona will now be able to upload their driver’s license and state ID to the Apple Wallet, it was announced today, and it will soon become available in other U.S. states. “Starting today, Arizonans can add their driver’s license or state ID to Wallet and tap their ...
Russian court bans Meta, calling Facebook and Instagram ‘extremist’
A Russian court today ruled that Meta Platforms Inc.’s Facebook and Instagram apps are both “extremist” and should be banned in Russia. Russia had already blocked the platforms earlier in the month. Prosecutors then said they were seeking to designate Meta as an “extremist organization” following a surprise move by Meta to allow hate speech ...
Australian consumer watchdog files lawsuit against Meta over shady crypto ads
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission announced today that it has filed a lawsuit against Meta Platforms Inc. for a number of dubious cryptocurrency ads that appeared on the Facebook platform, some of which that led to Australians losing large amounts of money. The suit claims that Meta deceived and misled its users by “publishing ...
Meta takes down deep fake video of Ukrainian president telling his people to surrender
Meta Platforms Inc. today said it has removed a deep fake video that had been circulating on the web that shows Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy telling people to lay down their arms and go back to their families. The video first appeared on the Ukrainian news website for TV24, a service that says it was ...
Meta says it’s no longer fair game to call for Putin’s assassination on Facebook or Instagram
After Meta Platforms Inc. surprised a few people last week by saying it would allow calls for violence against Russian leader Vladimir Putin, the company today said it has reversed this decision. Last week, Meta announced that it was issuing a “spirit-of-the-policy” notice that would mean people in certain countries would be allowed to call ...
Russia opens criminal case against Meta after it allows language calling for violence against Russian troops
Updated: Russia today opened a criminal case against Meta Platforms Inc. after the owner of Facebook and Instagram Thursday said it will allow calls for violence on the Facebook and Instagram platforms if it’s related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russian prosecutors are seeking to designate Meta as an “extremist organization” and said it’s ...
Sony and Amazon join other tech firms in shutting down operations in Russia
Sony Corp. today joined the parade of other large tech companies in pausing some of its businesses in Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. The arm of the company that takes care of the Playstation business, Sony Interactive Entertainment, said today that it’s halting all hardware shipments to the country and will for now not ...
Amazon launches Amp, a Clubhouse competitor that turns people into DJs
After a long period of testing, Amazon.com Inc. announced today that it’s launching its social audio app Amp. The company said for now it will only be available to a limited number of people in the U.S. as a beta version for Apple Inc.’s iOS such as iPhones. The app, which is comparable to the ...
To fight misinformation, Twitter expands crowdsourced fact-checking tool Birdwatch
Twitter Inc. said today that some of its users will start seeing notes under their posts telling them that they’ve been flagged by members of the public for sharing dubious information. The program started last year as part of a program called “Birdwatch,” although during the trial stage it was made available only to 10,000 ...
Amazon announces it’s closing 68 brick-and-mortar stores in US and UK
Amazon.com Inc. said today that it’s streamlining its physical stores, closing 68 Amazon Books, 4-Star and Pop Up stores in the U.S. and the U.K. That will lead to a large number of employees being left without a job, although Amazon said it will try to find work for those people somewhere in its other ...