James Farrell
Latest from James Farrell
Hacker meddled with pro-Trump social media platform GETTR on its launch day
A Twitteresque social media platform, GETTR, was hacked on Sunday shortly after it was launched, with its founder, Jason Miller, saying the invasion was brief and harmless. Miller, who was a senior adviser to former U.S. President Donald Trump, said the issue has now been fixed. “The problem was detected and sealed in a matter ...
FTC vote to revoke antitrust policy could have big impact on big tech
The Federal Trade Commission today voted to revoke a 2015 policy statement that limited regulators from challenging companies for anticompetitive practices. The Democratic-majority commission voted 3-2 in favor of scrapping the “Statement of Enforcement Principles,” which limited what the agency could do. For the most part, it prevented regulators from challenging companies with regard to ...
Instagram spreads wings with plans to add paying subscribers and focus on video
Facebook Inc.-owned Instagram said today it’s planning to add a paid subscription model to the platform so fans can see exclusive content from those they follow. Similar to what Twitter Inc. recently announced in its own “Super Follow” option, Instagram will give creators the option to add “Exclusive Stories” to some of their content. To ...
Teamsters announces national push to unionize Amazon
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters said it passed a resolution today to focus on unionizing Amazon across the U.S. In April this year, workers at Amazon’s fulfillment center in Bessemer, Alabama, chose not to unionize in what was called a historic union election. If that had gone the other way, it would have been the ...
Bird is bringing a fleet of e-bikes to the streets
Electric scooter and moped hire startup Bird Rides Inc. announced today that it’s releasing a fleet of e-bikes, something that has been in the pipeline for some time. “Shared scooters helped lay a critical foundation for a transportation future that’s both electric and multimodal,” Travis VanderZanden, founder and chief executive of Bird, said in a ...
Facebook’s Audio Rooms and podcasts are now live
Facebook Inc.’s challenge to the audio social network app Clubhouse is off the ground, as the company announced today that its “Live Audio Rooms” is now rolling out in the U.S. In a blog post, Facebook explained public figures, as well as select Groups, will be the first to be given the opportunity to host ...
Facing ongoing lawsuits, Snap says it’s removing its controversial speed filter
After a series of lawsuits were brought against Snap Inc., the company has now decided to get rid of its in-app “speed filter” feature. The filter was simple enough. It showed how fast a person was going in miles and kilometers per hour. The danger with that is that users may take a video of ...
Facebook launches slew of moderation tools, including AI-powered ‘Conflict Alerts’
Facebook Inc. said today it’s bringing a number of new tools to the platform that will help administrators keep things civil in Groups. The platform right now has close to 2.85 billion monthly users, with more than 1.8 billion of them participating in Groups. That can be a headache for the 70 million-plus people who ...
White House names big tech critic Lina Khan as chair of FTC
Lina Khan, an antitrust researcher and longtime critic of big tech’s market dominance, was sworn in today as the new chair of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. President Biden’s choice comes a day after the Senate voted 69-28 in favor of having Khan (pictured) serve as a commissioner on the FTC. The choice sends a ...
YouTube changes policy for masthead ads, including no politics allowed
Google LLC-owned YouTube said today that political ads including election ads will longer be allowed in its prime masthead spot. The company will also make gambling, prescription drugs, and alcohol ads verboten in the masthead position, telling media that this will improve the experience for users. In view of its efforts quelling public criticism, it’s ...