James Farrell
Latest from James Farrell
FTC makes canceling subscriptions less of a pain with ‘click to cancel’ rule
The Federal Trade Commission today announced its new “click to cancel” rule, which will make it as easy to cancel a subscription as it was to sign up. Getting out of subscriptions is notoriously annoying, usually taking much more effort than it took to join. From media subscriptions to gym memberships to cable TV services, ...
US and UK join forces in ‘historic agreement’ to tackle child safety online
The U.S. and U.K. governments today announced they’re creating a joint children’s online safety working group in an effort to find “common solutions” to the issue of child safety online. “As more children across the U.S. and around the globe have access to online platforms for online learning and social media, there is also increased ...
Russian rampage against US tech continues with ban of Discord
Russia’s communications regulator has banned the instant messaging platform Discord for violations of Russian law, adding to a growing list of American tech firms whose services are now restricted in Russia. “The access to Discord is being restricted in connection of violation of requirements of Russian laws, compliance with which is required to prevent the ...
Coalition of US attorneys general goes after TikTok for ‘wreaking havoc’ on children’s mental health
A bipartisan group of more than a dozen state attorneys general filed lawsuits today against the Chinese social media app TikTok, claiming it’s causing a multitude of problems where children’s mental health is concerned. The suits, each filed individually but led by the attorneys general of New York and California, accuse the platform of violating ...
Texas AG sues TikTok over breach of new child safety law
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton today filed a lawsuit against the social media giant TikTok for allegedly sharing the personal data of young people, a violation of the state’s new child safety law. That law, the Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment Act, or SCOPE, is part of a wider push by U.S. politicians to ...
Free speech row erupts over X suspending journalist who published JD Vance dossier
After X Corp. suspended journalist Ken Klippenstein’s account today when he published a Trump campaign document hacked by Iran, various media outlets have asserted that X isn’t the free speech platform it claims to be. The document in question, a 271-page opposition research file on former president Donald Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance (pictured), ...
X releases first transparency report since Elon Musk took over the platform
X Corp. released its first transparency report today under its owner Elon Musk, detailing the platform’s arguably surprising moderation strategies. The last time such a report was issued was back in 2021, when X was Twitter Inc., and being a user of the website wasn’t quite so much a politically polarizing issue. Since Musk’s acquisition ...
Sam Altman says superintelligence is on the way, and the future is bright
OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman published a blog post today stating that the world will have superintelligence in “a few thousand days” and what he sees ahead is not the techno-dystopia some critics see but “massive prosperity.” Altman’s post was only a few hundred words long, but he managed to pack it with enough assertions ...
X has found a way to come back to life in Brazil
Elon Musk’s X Corp. is back up in Brazil after the government blocked the app under orders from the country’s Supreme Court. Earlier this month, Brazil’s 28 million or so X users found themselves without a platform after the government ordered the National Telecommunications Agency to block access to the app. X owner Elon Musk ...
Big changes to Instagram: Will teens be saved?
Meta Platforms Inc.-owned Instagram today announced some profound changes to how the platform works for young people in an effort to address the growing concern that social media is damaging the minds of children. The company said it is ushering in “built-in protections” for young folks, giving parents more control over how their kids use ...
