Tech
If You Have Venmo, Do This Now: Make Friends Private
Pete Buttigieg, Antony Blinken, and other Biden Cabinet officials were recently exposing their personal information on the payments app. Here's how you can make your account safer.
Katie Notopoulos
BuzzFeed News Has Won Its First Pulitzer Prize
BuzzFeed News won for its innovative series exposing China’s mass detention of Muslims and was named a finalist for its colossal FinCEN Files investigation into the global banking industry.
David Mack
Ring Now Has 350 Fire Departments In Its Neighborhood Surveillance Program
The home surveillance camera company owned by Amazon has also partnered with more than 1,800 police departments.
Caroline Haskins
Instagram Is Asking Influencers To Love It Again With New Moneymaking Features
By announcing new tools to help people make money, Instagram seemingly wants to woo back some of its disgruntled influencers.
Stephanie McNeal
Telegram And Amazon Are Hosting Fake Vaccine Card Merchants
Fake vaccine card merchants are rampant on Telegram. Meanwhile, fake vaccine card listings continue to fall between the cracks on Amazon, despite a ban on them.
Caroline Haskins
Apple Did Business With A Wind Energy Company That Has Close Ties To Xinjiang
The company, Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology, once sought “labor exports” in the region. Forced labor is a major part of China’s campaign against Muslims in Xinjiang.
Megha Rajagopalan
A Lot Of The Internet Went Down This Morning
Amazon, Reddit, and many news websites went missing for at least an hour.
Pranav Dixit
Meet The Guys Selling Memes As NFTs — For A Price
Connor Flanigan and Greg Cervenak are brokering an auction for Numa Numa, Honey Badger Don't Care, and Two Pretty Best Friends.
Katie Notopoulos
Why Is Everyone So Mad At Gabbie Hanna?
The YouTuber has been at the center of a number of scandals, big and small. Unlike her contemporaries, Hanna offering an apology isn’t getting her back in the good graces of her audience.
Scaachi Koul
Facebook Will Ban Trump For The Next Two Years
“Two years for a coup, not bad,” one Facebook employee wrote sarcastically in an internal post.
Jane Lytvynenko
The Pandemic Has Left Us With A Lingering Trauma About Money
Expanded inequality, an inexplicable stock market, and a whole bunch of weird habits — this is how the pandemic will change our financial lives forever.
Scott Lucas
Venmo Will Now Let You Hide Your Friend List Because We Found Biden’s Account
Venmo confirmed it is adding a feature that would let people set their friend list to private or visible only to their friends.
Ryan Mac
Facebook Is Resuming Political Contributions — But Not To Lawmakers Who Voted Against Certifying The US Election
"As a result of our review, the FBPAC Board has decided to resume contributions, but not to any members of Congress who voted against certifying the 2020 election following the events at the Capitol on January 6."
Ryan Mac
Amid Israeli–Palestinian Violence, Facebook Employees Are Accusing Their Company Of Bias Against Arabs And Muslims
As Facebook contends with internal allegations of censorship, unequal enforcement, and pro-Israel bias, employees are worried it is once again bungling a politically charged issue with potential for violence.
Ryan Mac
Here’s How People Tried To Buy Happiness During The Pandemic
“While money can’t buy true and lasting happiness, it most certainly can still create moments of joy and it can ease a lot of suffering.”
Julia Reinstein
WhatsApp Is Suing The Indian Government To Protect People’s Privacy
The company is fighting back against new rules that go into effect today in India.
Pranav Dixit
The Israeli–Palestinian Conflict Has Further Stoked Anti-Muslim Bias All The Way In India
The world's largest democracy has become a source of hate and lies about the violence in the Middle East.
Pranav Dixit
A Picturesque Cabin In The Woods Was Listed On Airbnb. The Catch? No COVID-Vaccinated Guests Allowed.
Airbnb told BuzzFeed News the listing for the cabin in Montana violated its COVID misinformation policies.
David Mack
Online Hate Becomes Real-World Violence In Israel–Palestine
“Business is booming for online inspired lynchings, unfortunately, all over the world,” said one researcher in Israel.
Jane Lytvynenko
Police In Delhi Have Descended On Twitter’s Headquarters In The Country
An elite crime squad searched Twitter’s New Delhi offices after the company labeled tweets from members of the ruling party “manipulated media.”
Pranav Dixit
The White House Is Partnering With Dating Apps To Get Horny People Vaccinated
Dust off your dating apps. It's time to swipe.
Clarissa-Jan Lim
People Are Ready To Log Off Social Media For Good
We’re so used to putting our entire lives online, but what if we just…didn’t?
Shannon Keating
Venmo Exposes All The Old Profile Photos You Thought Were Gone
Old photos on Venmo, which is owned by PayPal, are easily exposed on its website. There’s no way to delete them or make a profile private.
Katie Notopoulos
The New iMac Is The Whole Enchilada
TL;DR: If you’re looking for a modern desktop and you’ve got the cash on hand, the new iMac is the one to get.
John Paczkowski
Some Postmates Delivery Drivers Won’t Be Allowed To Work For Uber Following Its Acquisition
As Uber acquires competitors and consolidates the food delivery market, drivers are losing income and options.
Caroline O'Donovan
How “Shrek” Changed Animated Movies Forever
It somehow hit the sweet spot for kids, teens, and adults — becoming a meme machine in the process.
Elamin Abdelmahmoud
We Found Joe Biden’s Secret Venmo. Here’s Why That’s A Privacy Nightmare For Everyone.
The peer-to-peer payments app leaves everyone from ordinary people to the most powerful person in the world exposed.
Ryan Mac
The Rise Of The Appuccino: How TikTok Is Changing Starbucks
Viral (and complicated!) custom drinks are the future of Starbucks, where iced drinks now outsell hot coffee.
Katie Notopoulos
Instagram Censored Posts About One Of Islam’s Holiest Mosques, Drawing Employee Ire
The photo-sharing app mistakenly removed content about the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the site of clashes between Israeli police forces and Palestinian worshippers, after associating the site with terrorism.
Ryan Mac
Apple Has Hired Cisco's Stella Low As Its Head Of PR
The former Cisco exec will fill a role that’s been vacant for nearly two years.
John Paczkowski
