James Farrell
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Twitter purges 7,000+ accounts related to QAnon conspiracy theories
Twitter Inc. announced today that it is cracking down on QAnon, a far-right conspiracy theory movement, saying the content has the potential to do harm. The company said it has banned more than 7,000 accounts related to the group, but overall, that will affect around 150,000 accounts. Web addresses associated with the movement will be ...
Bitcoin scammers hack Twitter accounts of Obama, Biden, Musk, Bezos, Gates and more
The Twitter accounts of some of the world’s most recognizable people were hacked today by cryptocurrency scammers. The accounts were about as high profile as it gets, consisting of people and entities mostly related to politics, tech and entertainment. The victims included: Apple Inc., Wendy’s Co., Uber Technologies Inc., Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Jeff Bezos, ...
Elon Musk responds to German court’s decision to ban Tesla’s use of certain terms in ads
Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk fired back at a German court today after it was ruled that the company should be barred from using certain terms in advertising. The court ruled that Tesla has used misleading advertising statements in regard to what its autonomous vehicles can do. Germany’s Wettbewerbszentrale, an industry-sponsored organization that deals ...
Apple advises many US retail workers to stay at home until year-end
Apple Inc. said Monday that many of its retail staff in the U.S. should stay at home as COVID-19 cases spike, according to a report by Bloomberg. The company closed many of its retail stores in the U.S. and across the world during the last few months out of an “abundance of caution.” Retail staff were told ...
Facebook heavily criticized after civil rights audit
Facebook Inc. today released a 100-page report on its efforts to embrace civil liberties, and the news wasn’t good. In a blog post, the company said that the audit started about two years ago, adding that no other social media company had ever done the same. Facebook said it had “no idea” that the report ...
Google, Facebook and Twitter pause data requests from Hong Kong police
Google LLC, Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. all said today that they will pause cooperation with Hong Kong police regarding requests for user data. This follows the introduction of a new security law last week by the Chinese government that has been criticized the world over. Under that law, police in Hong Kong will be ...
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t think ad boycott will change anything
Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg isn’t overly concerned about the advertising boycott and doesn’t believe anything is going to change in the long run, according to a report published by The Information today. More than 500 companies so far have said they will suspend advertising on Facebook, including Verizon Communications Inc., Coca-Cola Co., Levi Strauss & Co., ...
Facebook makes changes to News Feed amid advertiser boycott
Facebook Inc. announced today that it’s making some changes to its algorithm so that original reporting as well as stories with transparent authorship will be prioritized in the News Feed. During the #StopHateforProfit campaign, more than 200 brands have paused ads on Facebook and asked that the company make changes to its content policy. Some of ...
Reddit takes down largest pro-Trump subreddit in hate speech crackdown
Reddit Inc. today announced that it has banned the largest pro-Trump community on its platform after revamping its hate speech policies. The company said that “The Donald” subreddit will have to go, as well as 2,000 other communities. Another banned community is leftist “Chapo Trap House,” which Reddit also said violates its policies. The vast ...
Wrongful arrest leads to controversy over racially biased face recognition technology
Tensions are high again regarding the use of facial recognition technology in law enforcement after a black man was wrongfully arrested in January this year, according to a report today in the New York Times. Today, the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan filed a complaint against the Detroit Police Department. The lawsuit explains how ...