James Farrell
Latest from James Farrell
TikTok becomes next social media company to introduce new child safety features
ByteDance Ltd.-owned TikTok today announced some changes regarding safety for teens, following other social media companies that have recently done the same. This comes as new regulations from the U.K. under the “Age Appropriate Design Code” will come into effect next month. It’s likely other countries will soon follow suit, while in the U.S. politicians ...
US senators target Google and Apple app store dominance with new bill
A bill introduced to the Senate today could disrupt the dominance that Google LLC and Apple Inc. have in the app store domain. The bipartisan “Open Apps Market Bill” aims to “promote competition and reduce gatekeeper power in the app economy, increase choice, improve quality, and reduce costs for consumers.” The bill was sponsored by ...
Google will add a slew of new child protection features for search and YouTube
Google LLC today announced some new features for its search engine and also for YouTube in an attempt to make children’s online experience safer. In a blog post today, the company said it will now give users under the age of 18 the ability to request any images of themselves be hidden from search results. ...
Apple tries to clear the air over its CSAM photo-scanning child protection technology
After a torrent of criticism hit Apple Inc. last week, the company today defended its new CSAM system to scan devices for illegal child sexual abuse materials. When the company announced a few days ago that it will introduce scanning technology to flag such images saved in iCloud in the U.S., the move wasn’t exactly ...
Privacy advocates raise concern over Apple scanning iPhones for child abuse images
Apple Inc. will now scan iPhones and iCloud in the U.S. for illegal images of children, a move that has worried privacy advocates. According to the Financial Times, which first reported the news today, a technology called neuralMatch will be introduced. It will scan devices and when it flags images of what it detects as ...
After staff walkout, Activision President and HR boss step down
Following protests last week over sexual harassment claims, today Activision Blizzard Inc.’s President left the company, followed by the head of human resources. The walkout last week came after the game publishing giant was sued by the state of California for allowing a culture of sexual harassment to permeate the company. Prior to that, a ...
Twitter teams up with the AP and Reuters to address misinformation
Twitter Inc. announced today that it has begun a new partnership with the Associated Press and Reuters in a collaborative effort to tackle the spread of misinformation. The company explained in a blog post that up until now its curation team has been responsible for adding to topics that are “noteworthy, controversial, sensitive, or may contain ...
Activision employees stage walkout amid claims of discrimination, sexual harassment
Employees at Activision Blizzard Inc.’s main campus in Irvine, California, staged a walkout today in protest over accusations of pervasive sexism and harassment in the company. The protest comes a week after the game publishing giant – creator of the titles “Call of Duty” and “World of Warcraft” – was sued by the state of ...
In push to protect kids, Facebook says it will now reduce ads for teens on all its platforms
Facebook Inc. announced today that it’s in the process of restricting advertisers from targeting people under the age of 18. In the coming weeks, the company will ensure that advertisers won’t be able to base ads for people under 18 on their interests or their activity on other apps. These restrictions will be enforced on ...
China cracks down on food delivery platforms with new workers’ rights
China today issued new rules that will offer various protections to its food delivery workers, a move that’s part of a wider regulatory crackdown on the tech industry in the country. China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said today the wider crackdown is designed to deal with ongoing problems in the industry, ranging from ...