Tech
How A Pepe The Frog Pop-Up Store Fractured A Divided Hong Kong
As rumors and lies run thick, Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement is trying to hold on to the meaning of their frog mascot.
Ryan Broderick
Byte, A New Version Of The Beloved App Vine, Just Launched
Do it for the Byte?
Alex Kantrowitz
QAnon Supporters And Anti-Vaxxers Are Spreading A Hoax That Bill Gates Created The Coronavirus
It has no basis in reality, but that hasn’t slowed its spread across Facebook and Twitter.
Ryan Broderick
As Mohammed Bin Salman Allegedly Hacked Jeff Bezos, A Network Of Accounts On Twitter Were Pushing Saudi Propaganda
A UN official said the goal is “intimidating, creating fear, and ultimately controlling or silencing.”
Jane Lytvynenko
Google Suggests "Husband" After Women's Names More Often Than "Wife" For Men
"Husband" or "wedding" was far more likely to come up as a Google auto-suggestion for the names of women journalists, Harvard professors, and Forbes' 30 Under 30 winners than "wife" did for men.
Katie Notopoulos
Clearview AI Says Its Facial Recognition Software Identified A Terrorism Suspect. The Cops Say That's Not True.
Clearview AI has built a database of billions of photos that it says can reveal just about anyone's true identity. But there are troubling questions about its past.
Ryan Mac
As Australia Burned, Climate Change Denialism Got A Boost On Facebook
Facebook's bushfire fact-checking efforts have mostly focused on misleading photos and videos. What about rampant climate denialism?
Hannah Ryan
A Private Equity Firm Is Trying To Buy The.Org Domain. Now, Greenpeace, The ACLU, And Color Of Change Are Protesting.
They say that selling the.org top-level domain to a private equity firm would “irreparably harm global civil society.”
Alex Kantrowitz
The Iranian Woman In The #IraniansDetestSoleimani Viral Video Was Also A Lobbyist For A Militia In Libya
Nowhere in her video or her television appearances did Saghar Erica Kasraie disclose her work for the army engaged in a civil war in the north African country.
Ryan Broderick
There's No Escaping Climate Change Fights On Facebook Anymore, Even If You Just Want To Post Memes
A meme group had to ban posts about Greta Thunberg because they got so acrimonious.
Cameron Wilson
Here’s What Giuliani’s Associate Lev Parnas Was Sharing On WhatsApp As He Investigated The Ukraine Conspiracy Theory
New evidence shows exactly how influenced by the right-wing online echo chamber Giuliani and his associates were — turns out the answer is: a lot.
Ryan Broderick
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos Came To India To Invest A Billion Dollars. Traditional Retailers Shouted At Him To Go Back Home.
Amazon's aggressive discounts in India have angered traditional retailers who say that online shopping is killing their business.
Pranav Dixit
Instagram Is Testing Desktop DMs
FINALLY.
Katie Notopoulos
The UK Election Showed Just How Unreliable Facebook’s Security System For Elections Really Is
Buggy and riddled with errors, Facebook's Ad Library was all but useless during an election — again.
Rory Smith
Apple Said It Is Helping In The Pensacola Shooting Investigation, But It Won't Unlock The Shooter's iPhones
"We reject the characterization that Apple has not provided substantive assistance in the Pensacola investigation," the company said in a statement.
Scott Lucas
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Harshly Criticized The Indian Law That Discriminates Against Muslim Immigrants: “I Think It’s Just Bad”
The native of Hyderabad said: “If anything, I would love to see a Bangladeshi immigrant who comes to India and creates the next unicorn in India.”
Pranav Dixit
Pro-Iran Sources Have Flooded Twitter With Lies — Likely To Prevent A War With The United States
Aiming to exaggerate the country’s counteroffensive and satisfy an unsettled population, online propagandists have been working overtime since the death of Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
Alex Kantrowitz
The Most Popular Facebook Content About Iran Right Now Isn’t Just Pro-Trump — It Was Posted By Him
Wrapping your head around the engagement Trump’s Iran-related Facebook posts are getting is almost impossible.
Ryan Broderick
Facebook Said It Won't Change Its Policies On Allowing Lies In Political Ads
"Ultimately, we don’t think decisions about political ads should be made by private companies," a Facebook executive said.
Pranav Dixit
Facebook Is Running Anti-Vax Ads, Despite Its Ban On Vaccine Misinformation
"Our policy is to ban ads containing vaccine misinformation."
Caroline Haskins
Twitter Will Let You Limit Who Can Reply To Your Tweets. It's Unclear How People Will Use This New Feature To Harass Each Other.
"We will be experimenting with this in early 2020."
Ryan Broderick
A Pro-Iran Instagram Campaign Targeted The Trump Family After Soleimani’s Funeral
Ivanka and Melania Trump were the top targets of coordinated posts that vowed revenge for Qassem Soleimani’s death.
Jane Lytvynenko
People Are Spreading False And Unverified Information About Iran's Missile Attack On US Bases In Iraq. Don't Be Fooled.
Information on social media includes outdated images and unverified casualty counts.
Jane Lytvynenko
#ReleaseTheJJCut: “Star Wars” Misinformation Hell Is The New Future Of Everything
Get ready for a world run by warring online communities completely lost in their own misinformation. Warning: This post contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Ryan Broderick
Trump Is Running Hundreds Of Facebook Ads Praising Himself For The Killing Of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani
Within three days of the drone strike, the Trump campaign was using it to build support for his reelection.
Alex Kantrowitz
A Facebook Executive Said The Platform Is Responsible For Trump’s Election
"So was Facebook responsible for Donald Trump getting elected? I think the answer is yes.”
Ryan Mac
Disinformation For Hire: How A New Breed Of PR Firms Is Selling Lies Online
One firm promised to “use every tool and take every advantage available in order to change reality according to our client's wishes.”
Craig Silverman
Iran's “Revenge” Over Qassem Soleimani Is Likely To Include Cyberattacks
Iran has one of the world’s most active state-sponsored cybersecurity programs. It’s possible that hackers will try to strike critical US infrastructure.
Megha Rajagopalan
Here's A Running List Of False And Unverified Information About The Killing Of Qassem Soleimani
Many accounts are spreading false or unconfirmed information, including the claim that Eric Trump knew of the airstrike in advance.
Jane Lytvynenko
The US Army Has Banned Soldiers From Using TikTok
"It is considered a cyber threat," an Army spokesperson said.
Ryan Broderick
