James Farrell
Latest from James Farrell
YouTube content moderators complain of mental health problems
People contracted to comb through YouTube content and clean the platform up have complained of long hours and dwindling mental health, according to an investigation by The Verge published Monday. One of those contractors explained to The Verge that at a site based in Austin, Texas, moderators might be hired to weed out content that ...
Google’s real-time language translator comes to Assistant on Android and iOS
Google LLC’s real-time interpreter is now available on Android and iOS phones in 44 languages, the company announced Thursday. A handy app for travelers, the feature was previously only available for Google’s Home smart speakers. When traveling abroad a person can now say, “Hey Google, be my Portuguese translator” or “Hey Google, help me speak ...
Facebook fires contractor for taking bribes to reactivate banned ads
A Facebook Inc. contractor has been fired for taking thousands of dollars in bribes from a shady marketing firm that had already been banned from the platform, according to a BuzzFeed report Tuesday. It was discovered that the employee, based in a Facebook office located in Austin, Texas, had taken $5,000 in bribes to reinstate ...
LGBTQ groups accuse Facebook of allowing HIV misinformation to spread
Leaders in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer advocacy sent a signed letter to Facebook Inc. today, stating that “inaccurate advertisements” are targeting people on the Facebook app and the Instagram app. A total of 52 health groups as well as LGBTQ groups sent the letter, which was addressed to Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg. ...
Uber releases its first US safety report
Uber Technologies Inc. released its first-ever U.S. safety report Thursday, detailing how many murders, sexual assaults and fatal crashes happened during its rides through 2018. Although the numbers look grim on their face, Uber pointed out in a blog post that through its app there were 1.3 billion rides last year, which worked out at ...
TikTok’s parent company taken to court for collecting data on children
TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance Inc., is being sued for collecting and disclosing data of children under the age of 13, according to court documents lodged Tuesday. Those children were users of the Musical.ly app, which was bought by ByteDance in 2017 and later turned into the immensely popular video streaming app, TikTok. According to the complaint, ...
Fired workers accuse Google of unfair labor practices
Four engineers recently filed by Google said Tuesday they’re planning to file a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, saying the company is trying to quash internal activism. The employees (three pictured) were let go just before the Thanksgiving holiday. All of them had been involved in some way with protests relating to certain ...
Facebook creates a chatbot to help employees deal with criticism
Facebook Inc. created a bot called “Liam” to help employees better deflect criticism, the New York Times reported Monday. According to that report, the bot was introduced for the holiday period when staff might return home and have to answer difficult questions coming from friends and family. The social network has been embroiled in multiple issues ...
Apple bows to pressure and shows Crimea as part of Russia in its Maps app
Apple Inc. has made some changes to its Maps and Weather apps and made Crimea part of Russian territory. Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula back in 2014, which was roundly criticized by much of the international community. The U.S., along with the EU, doesn’t recognize the annexation. The changes Apple just made won’t affect anyone ...
TikTok owner ByteDance distances itself from China to appease US investigators
ByteDance Inc. is planning to move operations for its massively popular TikTok app away from other parts of its business to appease those in the U.S. government who think the app could be a threat to national security, according to a report by Reuters today. People familiar with the matter told Reuters that the Chinese ...