Technology
Technology
-
Rep. Joyce Beatty Presses Mark Zuckerberg Like a Panini Over Facebook's Dismal Civil Rights Record
To hear Congresswoman Joyce Beatty tell it, this wasn’t the first time she took the founder and CEO of Facebook to task for his dismal record on civil rights—but after her tense, blistering exchange with Mark Zuckerberg on Capitol Hill Wednesday, he’d better hope it’s the last time. The Ohio Democrat called Zuckerberg out on…
-
It’s Getting Hot in Here: AOC Grills Mark Zuckerberg About Whether Facebook Will Allow Ads That Lie to Black Voters
New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez—aka the Notorious AOC, aka key member of the House’s progressive “Squad”—set Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg back on his heels Wednesday when she grilled him about the social media giant’s potential to manipulate marginalized communities in next year’s elections. The exchange came during hearings for the House Financial Services Committee, according…
-
Meet One of America’s Cybersecurity Warriors
Since 2016, the words “disinformation” and “cybersecurity” have been thrown around a lot, and many of us still don’t know how to protect ourselves against malicious attacks against our elections systems and our social media accounts. We all know that the Kremlin launched a massive disinformation campaign against U.S. voters and those in European nations,…
-
Online Forum’s Call to Users to ‘Prove You’re Not White’ Unleashes a Flood of White Tears
Creators of the subreddit Black People Twitter hoped for a space where black folk could speak freely about whatever was on their mind. But when they found the space being taken over by folks they suspected were not only not black, but with subversive agendas, they decided to address the issue head-on—by requesting proof of…
-
Google Trolls BET Awards and the Homeless to (Shadily) Get Dark-Skinned Faces for Pixel 4 Technology
Tech behemoth and Big Brother is Watching purveyor Google—through a third party company—dispatched workers to blackety-black events like the 2019 BET Awards in Los Angeles to get darker-skinned faces for a facial recognition database, but often used skeevy and immoral tactics to do so, according to an explosive report by the New York Daily News.…
-
#NetNeutrality: Appeals Court Provides a ‘Net’ Win for States’ Rights, but Upholds the End to Federal Protection
A federal appeals court has affirmed the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to end net neutrality at the national level—but the court has OK’d the ability of state and local governments to set their own rules when it comes to the issue. Tuesday’s ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit…
-
Issa Rae Takes the Plunge Into Tech With Investment in Streaming-Media Data Startup, Streamlytics
Data is big business. Ask Facebook, which has transformed being in your business into a multi-billion dollar enterprise. Looking to cash out on this trend is multi-hyphenate Issa Rae, who Variety reports has become a minority owner in L.A.-based startup Streamlytics, a streaming data, and analytics company founded by tech entrepreneur Angela Benton that aims…
-
Your Disdain for Facebook Messenger Is Warranted. Social Network Comes Clean About Transcribing Your DMs
Everybody hates Facebook Messenger. Since its debut in 2011, it has been accused of being clunky, intrusive and untrustworthy, while its billions of users have kicked and screamed at being bullied into having to use it. But despite its glaring flaws, it also serves as a convenient method to engage with obnoxious relatives or to…
-
App Developer Responds to ‘The Racist Nextdoor’
The company behind a widely used neighborhood networking app has responded to claims of rampant racial profiling and bigotry following The Root’s examination of racism on the increasingly popular genre of neighborhood-based social media. Nextdoor is used to connect residents in over 198,000 neighborhoods in the U.S. alone, according to the company’s website. The app…
-
YouTube to Remove Thousands of Channels, Ban Hate Speech and Supremacist Content in Order to 'Tackle Hate'
For better or worse, the digital age has allowed anyone with an iPhone or a high-speed Internet connection to express their thoughts, opinions or share their abysmal music to millions of people throughout the world. It’s also provided the same opportunity for racists, homophobes and elected officials to assail our peace of mind with their…