Oct 24, 2021
Facebook whistleblower meets safe content campaigner
Molly, 14, died after viewing graphic content on Instagram, which is owned by Facebook.
Oct 23, 2021
Will Apple be the last US tech giant left in China?
The BBC reported last week that two popular religious apps had been removed from Apple's App Store. So if Apple is going to sell products in China, keeping the App Store operational in that country is deemed essential. "Apple has been removing apps and essentially censoring the App Store in one way or another for years," Mr Webster says. "You know Apple is really one of the market leaders in China... I don't see Apple pulling out of China over any of these issues any time soon," she says....
Oct 21, 2021
Netflix employees protest 'transphobic' Dave Chappelle comedy show
About 100 people have protested outside Netflix's headquarters over the airing of a comedy special by Dave Chappelle, which they say was transphobic. Netflix has been mired in controversy over The Closer, in which stand-up comedy star Chappelle says "Gender is a fact" and that LGBT people are "Too sensitive". Netflix staff called for the rally, though it is unclear how many of those employees were among the protesters outside the offices. Netflix's Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos...
Oct 21, 2021
Trump to launch new social media platform TRUTH Social
Former US President Donald Trump has announced plans to launch a new social media network, called TRUTH Social. Social media firms were under pressure throughout Mr Trump's presidency to ban him, with his posts criticised as insulting, inflammatory or peddling outright falsehoods. Responding to the riots, Mr Trump called those at the Capitol "Patriots" and showed no sign of accepting the result of the election, prompting Twitter and Facebook to rule that it was too risky to allow him to...
Oct 21, 2021
Amazon sees fresh push to unionise in New York
More than 2,000 Amazon warehouse workers in New York City hope to hold a vote to unionise, in the latest labour push at the firm. It's the second organising effort at the online shopping giant this year, and comes amid a pick-up in union activity across the US.The workers, from four Amazon sites in Staten Island, want higher wages, safer working conditions and longer breaks. "Workers are demanding Amazon to stop their union-busting practices and allow workers to use their rights to organise...
Oct 20, 2021
Squid Game helps Netflix subscriptions bounce back
Netflix subscriptions picked up in the third quarter of 2021 as non-English language shows continued to be the streaming platform's best performers. The star's latest Netflix special has had a backlash over transgender jokes, but the streaming giant has declined to pull it. The strong performance for Netflix follows a sluggish start to 2021, when the surging demand for streaming early on the pandemic petered out. It's being driven in part by a strong suite of shows, including hits like Sex...
Oct 20, 2021
Paris Hilton pushes for US youth care abuse reform
Paris Hilton spoke about her alleged abuse as a teenager on Wednesday as part of a push to change laws governing youth care facilities. Speaking at the US Capitol on Wednesday, Hilton detailed how she still struggles to sleep due to post traumatic stress disorder stemming from her time at boarding facilities as a teenager. "Every day in America, children in congregate care settings are being physically, emotionally and sexually abused. Children are even dying at the hands of those responsible...
Oct 20, 2021
Paris Hilton: I couldn't sleep for 20 years from memories of youth care abuse
Paris Hilton alleges she was strangled, slapped and watched in the shower while in a youth care facility.
Oct 18, 2021
Facebook to hire 10,000 in EU to work on metaverse
Facebook is planning to hire 10,000 people in the European Union to develop a so-called metaverse. "The metaverse has the potential to help unlock access to new creative, social, and economic opportunities. And Europeans will be shaping it right from the start," Facebook said in a blog post. Investing in the EU offered many advantages, including access to a large consumer market, first-class universities and high-quality talent, Facebook said. Facebook has made building the metaverse one of...
Oct 17, 2021
Apparently, it's the next big thing. What is the metaverse?
In recent years Fortnite expanded its product, hosting concerts, brand events, and more inside its own digital world. Unity, a 3D development platform, is investing in "Digital twins" - digital copies of the real world - and the graphics company Nvidia is building its "Omniverse", which it describes as a platform for connecting 3D virtual worlds. Mr Sweeney recently told the Washington Post that he envisions a world where a car manufacturer trying to advertise a new model is "Going to drop...
Oct 15, 2021
Nike Jordan boss reveals he murdered an 18-year-old in 1965
Larry Miller, chairman of the popular Jordan Brand, confessed to the 1965 murder in an interview with Sports Illustrated published on Wednesday. Mr Miller said he had joined the Cedar Avenue gang in West Philadelphia at age 13, quickly changing from "a straight-A student" and drinking everyday. Mr Miller described the decision to come clean about his past - which he has long hidden from his children, friends and closest business associates - as "Really difficult". Mr Miller has been at Nike...
Oct 14, 2021
Microsoft shutting down LinkedIn in China
Microsoft is shutting down its social network, LinkedIn, in China, saying having to comply with the Chinese state has become increasingly challenging. LinkedIn senior vice-president Mohak Shroff blogged: "We're facing a significantly more challenging operating environment and greater compliance requirements in China." LinkedIn had been the only major Western social-media platform operating in China. Mr Bruno, who has written a book documenting China's treatment of Tibetan refugees, told...
Oct 13, 2021
CEO Secrets: 'No need to convince the haters you're worthy'
Michele Roberts, executive director of the National Basketball Players Association, shares her CEO Secrets.
Oct 13, 2021
Apple shares drop on iPhone 13 production fears
Apple's shares dropped on Tuesday following reports it could slash its iPhone 13 production targets due to the ongoing global computer chip shortage. The electronic giant had expected to make 90 million iPhones in the last quarter of 2021, reported Bloomberg. In September, Apple launched four new iPhone 13 models: iPhone 13, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max. In July, Apple chief executive Tim Cook warned investors that the semiconductor shortage could affect sales of the...
Oct 13, 2021
Squid Game knocks Bridgerton off Netflix top spot
The Korean drama is Netflix's biggest debut hit, with 111 million users in its first 28 days.
Oct 12, 2021
Why does the internet keep breaking?
Facebook blamed a routine maintenance job for the disruption - its engineers had issued a command that unintentionally disconnected Facebook data centres from the wider internet. Facebook is now used to sign-in to a range of different services and devices, such as smart televisions. November 2020: A technical problem with one of Amazon Web Service's facility in Virginia, USA, impacted thousands of third-party online services for several hours, mostly in North America. Internet scientist...
Oct 9, 2021
DP: Netflix's South Korean show exposing the military's dark side
A military recruit is casually slapped in the face, while another is brutally beaten by a higher-rank soldier just because he feels like doing it. "The soldiers can now feel more secure since they can always resort to calling for external help," said Cho Kyu-suk, a coordinator at the Military Human Rights Center, a civic group that advocates for soldiers' rights. While such incidents may have been swept under the rug in the past, public outcry eventually led to the military pledging to raise...
Oct 8, 2021
Facebook and Instagram: The science of social media addicton
Facebook has come under fire for the impact its apps can have on teens and their mental health.
Oct 8, 2021
Facebook to act on illegal sale of Amazon rainforest
In February, the BBC Our World documentary Selling the Amazon revealed that plots of rainforest as large as 1,000 football pitches were being listed on Facebook's classified ads service. In response to the BBC's investigation, Brazil's Supreme Federal Court ordered an inquiry into the sale of protected areas of the Amazon via Facebook. Facebook told the BBC it did not intend to require sellers to post the precise location of advertised land. Environmental activists in Brazil are calling the...
Oct 8, 2021
Facebook apologises as services including Instagram hit again
Facebook says there are problems with its services again, days after a major outage hit WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook for some six hours. The current problems seem to be affecting the photo and video-sharing platform Instagram in particular. The firm said in a tweet: "We know some of you may be having some issues using Instagram right now. We're so sorry and are working as quickly as possible to fix." Some affected users immediately took to Twitter and other social media platforms to...
Oct 7, 2021
Squid Game: Netflix to edit out key phone number from gory series
The gory South Korean drama sees cash-strapped contestants invited to ring the number to take part in life-and-death children's games for money. The woman said the number actually came through to her phone - and she had been inundated with requests to play. Netflix has not commented on the compensation claims, but it has urged fans of the show to refrain from calling the number. "Together with the production company, we are working to resolve this matter, including editing scenes with phone...
Oct 6, 2021
Facebook 'prioritises safety above profit'
The company rejects claims, made by an ex-employee to US Congress, that its products harm children.
Oct 6, 2021
Fat Bear Week: 480 Otis crowned chunkiest boy in Alaska
Polls have closed in Alaska's Katmai National Park and Preserve, and the fattest bear of the year is... 480 Otis, a three-time champion of chonk. A dozen of the largest brown bears on Earth faced off during Fat Bear Week, an annual battle of bulk that rewards their pre-winter-hibernation gains. On Fat Bear Tuesday, the final round of the weeklong contest, the plump pro soundly defeated 151 Walker by over 6,000 votes. Image source, NPS. The bears of Katmai are skinny over the summer, but ahead...
Oct 5, 2021
Windows 11 launches with redesigned start menu
Windows 11, the latest version of Microsoft's computer operating system, launches worldwide on Tuesday as a free upgrade for Windows 10 users. There are new, improved options for arranging windows and "snapping" them into grids. One new feature which raised eyebrows in the technology world was that Windows 11 would run Android smartphone apps through the Amazon app store. "If your device does not meet these requirements, you may not be able to install Windows 11 on your device and might want...
Oct 5, 2021
Facebook down: Zuckerberg apologises for six-hour outage
Facebook's founder Mark Zuckerberg has apologised for the "Disruption" caused after its social media services went down for almost six hours - impacting more than 3.5bn users worldwide. The billionaire said sorry after an internal technical issue took Facebook, Messenger, Whatsapp and Instagram offline at about 16:00 GMT on Monday. Others reportedly found they could not access services which required a Facebook login. Some reports suggest that Facebook headquarters was in "Meltdown". On...
Oct 5, 2021
Facebook down: Six hours without WhatsApp
"My dad is being treated for Covid in intensive care in Malaysia, and I rely on WhatsApp to communicate with family overseas," Anna Masing, a writer and academic based in London, told the BBC.For others the outage - affecting Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram - was less serious, with many taking to Twitter to complain about losing access to their usual communication tools and having to make phone calls. The country with the largest number of Facebook users - more than 340 million - is India,...
Oct 5, 2021
What happened to Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram?
Facebook has apologised after it stopped working for users around the world for several hours on Monday. In a nutshell, Facebook's systems stopped talking to the wider internet. Big firms like Facebook have their own larger networks - known as autonomous systems. A flurry of reports began around 16:45 BST on Monday that Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp were not working. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, rather embarrassingly, had to turn to rival network Twitter to apologise.
Oct 5, 2021
Facebook and Instagram outage: How did it affect influencers?
Influencers react to Monday's social media outage.
Oct 5, 2021
Facebook harms children and weakens democracy: ex-employee
A former Facebook employee has told US lawmakers that the company's sites and apps "Harm children, stoke division and weaken our democracy". "The company's leadership knows how to make Facebook and Instagram safer, but won't make the necessary changes because they have put their astronomical profits before people," she said. For context, the company reported it had 1.88 billion daily active users on average in March 2021."Yesterday we saw Facebook taken off the internet," she said. "The...
Oct 5, 2021
'The buck stops with Mark' - whistleblower blasts Facebook's aversion
Frances Haugen said Facebook researched youth addiction, yet did not act, in order to save profits.