Tech
Mark Zuckerberg Tried Hard To Get Facebook Into China. Now The Company May Be Backing Away.
“As we build our infrastructure around the world, we've chosen not to build data centers in countries that have a track record of violating human rights like privacy or freedom of expression,” Zuckerberg wrote on Wednesday.
Ryan Mac
After A Year Of Hurt, Mark Zuckerberg Unveils A New Privacy-Focused Social Network
“Frankly we don't currently have a strong reputation for building privacy protective services.”
Ryan Mac
Democrats Hope Their "Save The Internet" Bill Will Restore Net Neutrality Laws, But It Faces An Uphill Battle
The bill would restore Obama-era protections that prohibited internet providers from charging "fast lane" premiums for services like Netflix and Facebook.
Davey Alba
Can You Tell Which Of These Faces Were Made By A Computer?
"Governments used to worry about counterfeiting money; now we have to worry about counterfeiting people."
Jane Lytvynenko
A Former Heavy Metal Musician Who Worked For Obama’s Half-Brother Is Pushing Pedophile News On Facebook
The Washington Pundit is one of several sites pushing false, outdated stories about pedophilia — and being rewarded with viral traffic from Facebook and Twitter.
Craig Silverman
The Comment Moderator Is The Most Important Job In The World Right Now
Online platforms continue to absorb more and more of our society, while the companies in charge neglect the human beings tasked with cleaning up the mess that’s left behind.
Ryan Broderick
Amazon Removed Anti-Vax Documentaries From Prime Video
Anti-vax documentaries have disappeared from search results on the platform, and appear to no longer be available to Prime members for free streaming.
Caroline O'Donovan
These Developers Say It Took Three Years And A Chance Meeting To Get Facebook To Deal With Their Country's Fake News
"It shouldn't be that hard."
Ryan Broderick
Old Navy And The Gap Are Separating
It's the end of an era.
Leticia Miranda
We Don’t Know If The Momo Challenge Is Real, And That’s The Problem
As stories about the Momo Challenge go viral, we may never know the scale of the phenomenon or who was behind it.
Jane Lytvynenko
Student Groups Don’t Want Salesforce And Palantir On Campus
Stanford and UC Berkeley have met with opposition over which tech companies should be allowed to pay for access to campus resources and recruiting opportunities.
Caroline O'Donovan
After The Discovery Of A Pedophile Ring, YouTube Will Disable Comments On Some Videos Featuring Children
A small number of channels can keep comments enabled, but they must actively moderate them.
Ryan Mac
While Two Nuclear Powers Were On The Brink Of War, A Full-Blown Online Misinformation Battle Was Underway
“There’s politics, religion, enemy nations, and a surge of nationalism in this situation. It’s the perfect storm.”
Pranav Dixit
Musical.ly, Also Called TikTok, Will Pay A $5.7 Million Settlement To FTC For Allegedly Taking Kids’ Info
As a result of a settlement reached with FTC, Musical.ly users under 13 will not be able to share videos or maintain a profile on the lip-synching platform starting today.
Nicole Nguyen
A Former Vogue Editor's Instagram-Based News Startup Is Being Backed By The Guardian
Emily Sheffield told potential reporters and editors she had the backing of the Guardian's £42 million venture capital fund.
Mark Di Stefano
A Radioactive Dead Body Contaminated An Arizona Crematorium
Cremating certain cancer patients treated with radiation may release hot particles into air that could be inhaled by crematory workers.
Zahra Hirji
Elon Musk Did Another Bad Tweet And He’s In Trouble With The SEC Again
Never tweet.
Ryan Mac
A Mom Found Almost A Dozen YouTube Kids Videos Showing Suicide, School Shootings, And Abuse
In a statement to BuzzFeed News, YouTube said it is “making constant improvements to [its] systems and recognize there’s more work to do.”
Tanya Chen
United Airlines And Delta Confirm That Their Premium Economy Screens Have Cameras
Following passenger concerns over cameras spotted on Singapore and American Airlines flights, a United spokesperson told BuzzFeed News that its cameras “have never been activated,” while Delta said that its cameras “are not functional.”
Nicole Nguyen
Survey: 51% Of Tech Industry Workers Believe President Trump Has A Point About The Media Creating Fake News
A new study by BuzzFeed News and Lucid surveyed tech workers on their attitudes toward the media. The results show deep skepticism toward the press, and concerns about the role of identity politics in coverage.
Joseph Bernstein
YouTube's Latest Child Exploitation Controversy Has Kick-Started A War Over How To Fix The Platform
The company said this week that YouTubers could lose monetization for not just the content of their videos, but what's posted in their comment sections as well.
Ryan Broderick
YouTube Just Demonetized Anti-Vax Channels
After advertisers complained about programmatic ad placements on anti-vax videos, YouTube removed ads on videos that advocate against vaccination.
Caroline O'Donovan
Microsoft Employees Are Demanding The Company Cancel Its HoloLens Contract With The US Army
“We did not sign up to develop weapons,” says an employee letter to Microsoft executives published Friday.
Caroline O'Donovan
Former Facebook Employees Say The Company’s Recent Prioritization Of Privacy Is All About Optics
Last May, Facebook promised to create a “Clear History” function it said would give users more control over their data. Nine months later it's nowhere to be found and sources say it's a key example of the company's “reactionary” way of dealing with privacy concerns.
Ryan Mac
Which Weird As Hell Tech Founder Are You?
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is probably just wearing an eye patch as some sort of twee affect.
Mat Honan
People Are Worried About Singapore Airlines' Entertainment System Cameras. Turns Out, American Airlines Has Cameras, Too.
American Airlines told BuzzFeed News that the camera hardware “has never been activated.”
Nicole Nguyen
YouTube Continues To Promote Anti-Vax Videos As Facebook Prepares To Fight Medical Misinformation
While Facebook vows to stop recommending anti-vaccination content to users, YouTube is still promoting videos like “You’ll Be Glad You Watched This Before Vaccinating Your Child!”
Caroline O'Donovan
As Concerns Over Facial Recognition Grow, Members Of Congress Are Considering Their Next Move
“This is a perfect issue for our committee to look into,” California Rep. Jimmy Gomez told BuzzFeed News.
Davey Alba
There's A $2,000 Foldable Samsung Phone Now, And People Have Thoughts
Surprise! Samsung's new, incredibly expensive phone transforms from something small enough to hold in your hand into a tablet. Why though?
Nicole Nguyen
Samsung’s New Galaxy S10 Phone Can Wirelessly Charge Other Phones
The new flagship phones have an invisible, underscreen fingerprint sensor and can charge other phones.
Nicole Nguyen
