Media Call to Ban Attack Footage and Manifesto
March 15th, 2019 5:18 PM
Social media outlets raced to remove content in the wake of the New Zealand mosque shooting. In the aftermath, media members criticized the tech companies for their inability to restrict the shooter’s footage and manifesto of the New Zealand Mosque shooting. Political commentators and journalists condemned tech companies as somehow being complicit with the rise of terrorism. WIRED magazine…
Hawley Hammers Big Tech: ‘Americans Have Not Signed Up For This’
March 14th, 2019 3:02 PM
Big Tech just ran into a big buzzsaw. Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) scorched a Google executive during a Committee hearing on consumer privacy, complaining about “creepy” revelations of misbehavior. Hawley sparred with Google’s senior privacy counsel Will DeVries over user privacy concerns. Hawley condemned the company, asking if they imagine a user would be surprised if he found that Google was “…
Twitter Criticized for ‘Conversational Health’ Changes
March 13th, 2019 5:13 PM
Twitter is getting ready to make major changes that are already being criticized as new ways to limit speech and benefit what the company CEO calls “healthy conversation.” Twitter unveiled new changes at the SXSW (South by SouthWest) tech conference being experimented within their Twttr app to be implemented into the main Twitter platform. The company hasmet swift criticism from conservatives…
YouTube Accused of Kneecapping Free Speech YouTubers
March 13th, 2019 2:30 PM
While YouTube may publicly deny demoting videos based on their "specific political perspectives,” both right and left wing commentators have noticed a huge drop in recommendations. In February there has been a massive drop in YouTube recommending content for a select group of creators — from 7.8% recommendation rate to a miniscule 0.4%. That’s a whopping 94.87% drop.
CNN Expands Partnership with Twitter
March 12th, 2019 2:52 PM
CNN is expanding it’s partnership with Twitter to better cater to advertisers on the platform. Where previously companies could only buy ad space according to content category, now they can purchase ad space around the most popular CNN videos shared on the platform.
Zero Hedge Claims That Facebook Banned Its Content
March 12th, 2019 1:11 PM
The blog site news blog Zero Hedge complained that Facebook has banned users from sharing its posts. Zero Hedge pseudonym "Tyler Durden" (named for the rebellious anti-hero from Fight Club.) has claimed via his blog that “some readers were prevented by Facebook when attempting to share Zero Hedge articles.” According to "Durden," “every attempt to share or merely mention an article, including in…
Elizabeth Warren Pushes Big Tech Breakup — ‘Too Much Power’
March 11th, 2019 3:47 PM
Democrats have warned they are coming after big tech. Now presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-MA, says she wants to break up the major tech firms. Warren has joined a chorus of political leaders on both sides of politics voicing their concerns about the impact of Big Tech on America’s well being. She published an opinion piece on Medium on March 8 proclaiming that big tech companies…
YouTube to Unleash New ‘Hoax Alert!’ Fact-Checking Feature
March 8th, 2019 1:51 PM
YouTube is launching new initiative to combat what it calls fake news and “misinformation.” A YouTube spokesperson told Buzzfeed that “As part of our ongoing efforts to build a better news experience on YouTube, we are expanding our information panels to bring fact checks from eligible publishers to YouTube.” While this was originally launched to combat serious and malicious misinformation in…
Zuckerberg: Facebook Ready to Switch Toward Privacy, Security
March 7th, 2019 3:20 PM
Facebook has been the public image of social media with 2.5 billion users. Now Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says he wants the company to focus on making things private. While tech commentators have debated his motivations, Zuckerberg vowed a new commitment to private information in a March 6 memo. He proclaimed, “People expect their private communications to be secure and to only be seen by the…
Journalist Tim Pool Eviscerates Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Over Bias
March 6th, 2019 5:30 PM
Twitter CEO controls what people say on his platform. He found out he doesn’t have the same power appearing on the latest episode of the Joe Rogan podcast. It featured Rogan and journalist Tim Pool teaming up against representatives from Twitter in a fiery debate that has since gone viral. Rogan and Pool blasted Dorsey on everything from banning conservatives over “learn to code” to threats…
ADL CEO Works with Big Tech to Create ‘Right’ Not to Be Hated
March 5th, 2019 7:06 PM
ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt spoke recently about how he has worked with Silicon Valley tech elites to crush speech he finds offensive. In a February 26 panel hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations, Greenblatt announced that he has worked with big tech companies like Google, YouTube, and Facebook in order to restrict what people are allowed to say online. He emphasized his goal was to, “…
Gender Gap! Google Researches Wage Inequality, Finds it Underpays Men
March 5th, 2019 2:14 PM
When Google investigated itself for gender wage gaps, it found a result few would have expected: it was underpaying men for doing the same general work as women. Google’s “pay equity analysis” released on Monday March 4 revealed unexpected truths about its gender pay gaps. Lead Analyst for Pay Equity Lauren Barbato began the memo titled “Ensuring we pay fairly and equitably” by proclaiming “…
Blacklists & Biases: Computer Game Company Accused of Discrimination
March 4th, 2019 4:29 PM
A computer game job applicant claims his final interview was made up of nothing but political questions, nothing about actual job skills. A developer for the game program “Dragonpunk” lamented via Twitter on March 3 that most game developers don’t openly discuss the bias of the game industry “because they don't want to get blacklisted.” This unnamed developer tweeted a copy of a rejection letter…
Wired UK Slams Banned Conservative, Suggests ‘Who It Should Ban Next’
March 4th, 2019 1:04 PM
Facebook has banned another right-winger, but Wired UK isn’t impressed, slamming the ban as disingenuous. The magazine apparently wants Facebook to get serious about repressing conservative speech, and even has a suggestion about who to ban next. The tech news publication tweeted about an article, saying: “Facebook has banned Tommy Robinson. Here's who it should ban next.” In the actual article,…
