James Farrell
Latest from James Farrell
Facebook Inc. announced today that it’s making some changes to its algorithm so that original reporting as well as stories with transparent authorship will be prioritized in the News Feed. During the #StopHateforProfit campaign, more than 200 brands have paused ads on …
Reddit takes down largest pro-Trump subreddit in hate speech crackdown
Reddit Inc. today announced that it has banned the largest pro-Trump community on its platform after revamping its hate speech policies. The company said that “The Donald” subreddit will have to go, as well as 2,000 other communities. Another banned community is …
Wrongful arrest leads to controversy over racially biased face recognition technology
Tensions are high again regarding the use of facial recognition technology in law enforcement after a black man was wrongfully arrested in January this year, according to a report today in the New York Times. Today, the American Civil Liberties Union of …
Segway’s iconic self-balancing scooter will no longer be produced
Segway Inc. will not make any more of its iconic self-balancing scooters. The “Segway Personal Transporter” has on the market since 2001, and while touted by some to be the future of alternative transportation, the vehicle was also widely mocked. Production at its factory …
Big tech slams Trump’s suspension of guest worker visas
President Trump today signed off on an executive order to suspend a number of nonimmigrant visas temporarily, a move that leading tech firms have slammed. The order, titled, “Proclamation Suspending Entry of Aliens Who Present a Risk to the U.S. Labor Market …
After initial rebuff, UK turns to Google and Apple for COVID-19 contact tracing software
The U.K. government has decided to ditch its own COVID-19 contact tracing app and instead look to Apple Inc. and Google LLC for help. According to the BBC today, the technology developed in the U.K. was not as “privacy focused” as what has been …
Twitter to start letting people send ‘voice tweets’
Twitter Inc. today said that it will start rolling out a new feature that allows people to send audio tweets, which will only be available at first to a select few people using iOS phones. “Sometimes 280 characters aren’t enough and some …
Apple, YouTube, PayPal pledge millions to racial justice programs
Apple Inc. said Thursday that it will commit $100 million to a “Racial Equity and Justice Initiative,” while at the same time other tech behemoths said they would do their bit to embrace racial equality. Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said the …
IBM cloud outage brings down customer websites worldwide
Global customers of IBM Cloud reported that their websites went down today, causing some amount of confusion. The company’s own cloud status page also went down, although in a tweet the company said it was investigating what had happened. “We are aware …
Facebook outsourcing moderation is hurting the public, states new report
A new report from the New York University Stern Center for Business and Human Rights accuses Facebook Inc. and other social media giants of skimping on moderation by outsourcing it to other companies. The 32-page study, released Monday, says moderation is an essential …