Mulan How the Hong Kong protests created the #BoycottMulan campaignVox - Allegra FrankDisney’s upcoming live-action version of its animated 1998 film Mulan is still months away from its March 2020 release. And as has often been the case with the studio’s live-action remakes, the project
WeWork What does it even mean to be a tech company in 2019?Recode - Rani MollaThe coworking company WeWork’s newly unveiled public filings raise a question: What does it even mean to be a tech company these days? WeWork, which leases office space to people and businesses, is valued
Tech Industry The algorithms that detect hate speech online are biased against black peopleRecode - Shirin GhaffaryPlatforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter are banking on developing artificial intelligence technology to help stop the spread hateful speech on their networks. The idea is that complex algorithms
Tech Industry The algorithms that detect hate speech online are biased against black peopleRecode - Shirin GhaffaryPlatforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter are banking on developing artificial intelligence technology to help stop the spread of hateful speech on their networks. The idea is that complex algorithms
Tech Industry Google employees are demanding an end to the company’s work with agencies like CBP and ICEVox - Shirin GhaffaryIn a new petition circulating on Medium, Google employees are demanding that their employer pledge not to work with US government agencies such as US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and US Customs
WeWork How WeWork is trying to justify its tech company valuationRecode - Rani MollaWeWork, which is officially known as the We Company, released paperwork to go public Wednesday. In it, the coworking company tried hard to defend its whopping $47 billion valuation, which is multiples
CEOs After the El Paso and Gilroy shootings, tech leaders are saying platforms must stop amplifying hate speechRecode - Shirin GhaffaryA collective of prominent tech leaders that calls itself Build Tech We Trust signed a letter Tuesday demanding that the tech industry stop the spread of hate and terrorism on digital platforms. “We are
Viacom CBS and Viacom are merging... but they’re still not big enough to compete with Netflix, Apple, or DisneyRecode - Peter KafkaOn Tuesday, the media companies CBS and Viacom finally announced that they are merging. It’s the move their owner Shari Redstone has been trying to make for years. The deal combines a big cable programmer
Amazon Buying Ring surveillance cameras saves Amazon money on stolen packagesRecode - Rani MollaAmazon found the one part of your online shopping journey it doesn’t control — what happens between placing a package on your doorstep and you taking the package inside — and decided to buy the video security
Jeff Bezos Jeff Bezos is quietly letting his charities do something radical — whatever they wantRecode - Theodore SchleiferWhen starting Amazon more than two decades ago, Jeff Bezos decided to build a reputation as an aggressive micromanager. When starting the Day One Families Fund, his new billion-dollar charity, Bezos decided
U.S. Politics Trump’s executive order on social media bias is a distractionRecode - Shirin GhaffaryUpdate: According to a CNN report on Friday, a planned executive order would attempt to limit existing legal protections for social media companies under an important piece of existing federal legislation,
Mitch McConnell The drama over Mitch McConnell’s Twitter account, explainedVox - Emily StewartIt doesn’t make a ton of sense that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s team would tweet out a video of people making threats to him — or, really, that Twitter would decide that’s the moment to crack
Facial Recognition How facial recognition became the most feared technology in the USRecode - Shirin GhaffaryAcross the US, local politicians and national lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have started introducing rules that bar law enforcement agencies from using facial recognition technology to surveil citizens.
UberEATS Uber lost an eye-popping $5 billion in a single quarterVox - Theodore SchleiferUber lost more money this spring than it did in any previous quarter, revealing on Thursday a dramatic $5.2 billion deficit in the months before and after its disappointing initial public offering. Losses
HBO Max Facebook is starting to sell streaming video subscriptions — but not from HBO or ShowtimeRecode - Peter KafkaJust about everyone is trying to sell you streaming video. Now add Facebook to that list. Starting Thursday, the social network will let some users buy subscriptions to a limited set of offerings from
Amazon Why Amazon pays warehouse employees to tweet about their jobsRecode - Rani MollaAmid a flurry of negative coverage on the internet last month denouncing Amazon’s treatment of its warehouse workers, the company shared a different kind of article on its Twitter account: an essay from
Google Search Trump says Google is biased against conservatives. Here’s how search actually works.Recode - Rani MollaThis week, President Donald Trump shared a Fox News clip featuring Kevin Cernekee, a former Google engineer who claims he was fired for being conservative, saying that when Trump was elected in 2016, executives
Addiction Is Big Tech addictive? A debate with Nir Eyal.Vox - Ezra Klein“How do successful companies create products people can’t put down?” That’s the opening line of the description for Nir Eyal’s best-selling 2014 book Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products. Hooked
Elizabeth Warren America has a terrible digital divide. Elizabeth Warren has a plan for that too.Recode - Shirin GhaffaryIf you live in rural America today, you’re much less likely to have high speed internet than if you live in an urban part of the country. Presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren — who seems to have a plan
U.S. Senate The wrong US response to Russia and China may trigger a “new Cold War,” warns Stanford University’s Larry DiamondRecode - Eric JohnsonIn his latest book Ill Winds, Stanford University professor Larry Diamond identifies three major threats to democracy: “Russian rage, Chinese ambition, and American complacency.” Of Russia, he says that
Tech Industry Trump wants social media to detect mass shooters before they commit crimesRecode - Rani MollaAfter mass shootings in both Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas, this weekend, President Donald Trump called on government organizations as well as social media companies to “develop tools that can detect
Long-form Journalism 8chan, a nexus of radicalization, explainedRecode - Emily StewartOn August 4, a 21-year-old man opened fire at an El Paso, Texas, Walmart, killing 22 people and injuring at least two dozen others. The incident appears to have an eerie similarity with shootings at a
Lauren Underwood Rep. Lauren Underwood says supporting impeachment would “look like a power grab” to her swing districtRecode - Eric JohnsonSo far, 118 Democrats in the House of Representatives have called for an impeachment inquiry into President Trump, although Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has cautioned against it. On the latest episode
Tech Industry Here’s how Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and 8chan handle white supremacist contentRecode - Shirin GhaffaryIn less than 24 hours on Saturday and Sunday, two mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, have left at least 29 people dead. The back-to-back massacres are raising questions about the role
U.S. Politics White nationalism, Congress, and Trump are to blame for mass shootings, say 2020 Democratic candidatesVox - Tara GolshanDemocratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke’s hometown was struck with tragedy this weekend, after a mass shooting inside an El Paso, Texas, Walmart left 20 people dead and at least 26 wounded Saturday.
Google Political tension at Google is only getting worseRecode - Shirin GhaffaryGoogle has had a challenging year. The company is already beleaguered by external scrutiny and criticism from politicians and the public over how it moderates content on its platforms. It’s facing an probe.
Play buttonU.S. Politics #KamalaHarrisDestroyed debate signals how much we still don’t understand about social media manipulationRecode - Emily StewartThere’s still a lot we don’t understand about misinformation, social media manipulation, and online election interference after the 2016 election. In 2019, that’s becoming increasingly apparent. Case point:
U.S. Politics “The $300 textbook is dead,” says the CEO of textbook maker PearsonRecode - Eric Johnson“There’s a famous phrase: The first step in solving a problem is recognizing you’ve got one,” says Pearson CEO John Fallon. And for education company Pearson, the problem is also one of its key products:
Josh Hawley Josh Hawley’s bill to limit your Twitter time to 30 minutes a day, explainedRecode - Emily StewartSen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) is at it again in his war on Big Tech. His latest target: The fundamental underpinnings of how social media works. On Tuesday, the Missouri Republican unveiled the Social Media
