James Farrell
Latest from James Farrell
Facebook Oversight Board wants access to the company’s algorithm
A former Guardian editor who’s on Facebook Inc.’s Oversight Board said today that the board now wants to get a better understanding of the company’s algorithm for which posts run on its News Feed. Talking to the House of Lords communications and digital committee and later quoted by the Guardian, Alan Rusbridger said he and ...
Twitter introduces strikes system to crack down on vaccine misinformation
Twitter Inc. announced today that it’s expanding its efforts to reduce the amount of dubious COVID-19 vaccine-related content appearing on the platform. In a blog post, the company revealed that from now on, when tweets appear that appear to contain false or misleading information about vaccines, labels will appear stating that. Twitter may also provide ...
Twitter considers a makeover with plans to offer a raft of new features
Twitter Inc. may have not changed much over the years, but today the company announced some new features that could give its users quite a different experience. During the its Analyst Day, the company revealed that it will introduce a feature called “Communities” that’s much like Facebook Inc.’s Groups feature. “We’re working to create a ...
YouTube will introduce supervised content for tweens and teens
Google LLC-owned YouTube announced today that it’s rolling out a new feature aimed at youngsters too old for YouTube Kids. For years YouTube met with criticism after it was revealed young children were watching content that was adult in nature. The company has since introduced a dedicated kids’ channel and also created policies to protect ...
Microsoft supports tech firms paying European media for content as Facebook cuts deal with Australia
Updated: Microsoft Corp. announced today that it’s joining a coalition of European media publishers in an effort to ensure they get paid for content shared online. The move comes after Microsoft gave its support for what’s now being called the Australia model, legislation in the country that will force companies such as Google LLC and ...
Pundits weigh in on Facebook’s Australian news outage
Following Facebook Inc.’s decision to block users from viewing or sharing Australian news, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he won’t back down from implementing the new media law, a decision that has drawn criticism as well as plaudits. This morning Australians woke up to find that they were unable to read Facebook pages of ...
YouTube soon will launch Shorts, its version of TikTok, in the US
TikTok is about to get some stiff competition: Google LLC-owned YouTube announced today that it will release “Shorts” in the U.S. in the coming weeks. “Every year, increasing numbers of people come to YouTube to launch their own channel,” the company said in blog post that listed a slew of YouTube updates. “But we know ...
France calls for EU to give countries more power to punish big tech
France is reportedly pushing to expand regulations that would give European Union member states more power to punish large tech companies’ bad behavior. The changes France wants to see concern the Digital Services Act, proposed legislation that was designed to reduce anticompetitive behavior by tech companies and provide more online protections for consumers. If companies are ...
Microsoft thinks the US should embrace Australia’s proposed media code
The U.S and other countries should start making tech companies pay media outlets for the content they use, Microsoft Corp. President Brad Smith (pictured), wrote in a blog post today. In December last year, the Australian government announced it was introducing what it called “world-first” legislation that would force companies such as Google LLC and ...
Facebook will now start reducing the amount of political content in the News Feed
Facebook Inc. announced today that it will go ahead with a previously considered plan to reduce the amount of political content people see on the platform. Talking on the quarterly earnings call late last month, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said that although he doesn’t want to ban politics-related talk on Facebook, he wants to “turn ...