Trending Stories from vox.com
How Trump is using Facebook to amplify his fight against impeachment. Facebook is making millions off of impeachment ads from Trump, his allies, and his adversaries.
These uses of CO2 could cut emissions — and make trillions of dollars: From concrete to fuels, CO2 from the air can replace CO2 from the ground.
The government keeps its use of facial recognition tech secret. The ACLU is suing. The ACLU is suing the FBI to find out what the government is doing with facial recognition technology.
What WeWork is giving laid-off employees who aren’t named Adam Neumann
One of Peter Thiel’s venture capital firms has devolved into legal chaos
Amazon tried to buy a new Seattle City Council. It doesn’t look like it worked. Amazon’s money may help defeat its biggest political foe, but its chosen candidates are not expected to have a majority on the city council.
Reddit · 1 week ago
The internet is getting less free – Election interference and government surveillance on social media are hurting internet freedoms.
Bernie Sanders escalates the war on tech and calls out Apple’s “hypocrisy” on housing: Gov. Gavin Newsom thinks Apple’s pledge is “serious.” Sanders thinks it’s false “philanthropic altruism.”
Google says it won’t use your Fitbit data to target you with ads. But what else will it do?
It’s been a year since 20,000 Google employees walked off the job. And they’re madder than ever. The search giant’s workers have become more political and critical, and they show no signs of quieting down — despite management’s efforts to rein in the debate.
Edward Snowden says Facebook is just as untrustworthy as the NSA
Jack Dorsey's announcement that Twitter will cut out political ads increases the pressure for Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg to follow suit
A look at Sen. Josh Hawley's war against Big Tech, which could portend the GOP's future approach to Silicon Valley as he draws bipartisan support on some issues
Poor kids spend nearly 2 hours more on screens each day than rich kids – Kids from more affluent families have more access to tech but use it less.
HBO Max to launch in May and cost $15 a month, same as the existing HBO; AT&T plans to bundle free subscriptions for some customers of its other services
How Untitled Goose Game became a real video game
85 percent of WeWork’s white-collar employees don’t think Adam Neumann’s $1.7 billion exit package is fair
Spotify says its CFO Barry McCarthy, who pioneered the direct listing model for IPOs, is leaving in January and will rejoin Spotify's board
Latina, Latino, or LatinX? Here’s how the term came about. – Vox
Facebook to pay some news partners as much as $3M a year for appearing in its news tab, to be available as a test Friday for a couple hundred thousand US users
AOC asks Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg if she can run fake political ads
Apple deleted a Hong Kong protest app. What does it mean for democracy around the world? The company’s decision to bow to the Chinese government will have extensive implications around the world.
Sources: Google's attempt to cancel and reschedule an employee-led talk about unionization at its Zurich office drew attention to it and riled up rank-and-file
Algorithms are grading student essays across the country. Can it really teach kids how to write better? The AI algorithms grading student essays are a black box.
No one expected The Athletic could get people to pay for sports news. Now it has 600,000 subscribers.
Mark Zuckerberg said a lot of nothing in his big speech: Does it matter if you’re being transparent if you aren’t really saying anything?
Sources: Google staff are having a fiery debate on a mailing list about banning a Hong Kong protest game from Play; the issue also came up at an all hands
How to pack a Norwegian sandwich, the world’s most boring lunch
Why the government is investigating Apple, Amazon, Google, and Facebook for antitrust — but not Microsoft. Microsoft is trying to crush Slack and Zoom by essentially giving away Teams for free.
Reddit · 1 month ago
Amazon turned off its Add-On program in recent months, making low-priced items, as little as $0.75, available to Prime customers with free one-day shipping
Techmeme · 1 month ago
Facebook is refusing to take down a Trump ad making false claims about Joe Biden – So are YouTube, Twitter, and most news networks.
The biggest lie technologists tell themselves and others is that there is nothing we can do to stop the natural and inevitable evolution of technology
Sources: Postmates, which planned to go public this year, has recently told advisers that it is delaying its IPO due to market conditions
Activists are pressuring lawmakers to stop Amazon Ring’s police surveillance partnerships: “With no oversight and accountability, Amazon’s technology creates a seamless and easily automated experience for police to request and access footage without a warrant, and then store it indefinitely.”
Reddit · 1 month ago
Facebook’s code of silence has been breached. It’s amazing it stayed intact this long. Mark Zuckerberg’s famously quiet all-staff meetings are now out in the public eye.
Elon Musk broke US labor laws on Twitter: An administrative judge says Tesla tried to sabotage efforts to unionize factory workers in California.
WeWork and Juul show that startup “valuations” can be totally meaningless – “That’s the inside story of Silicon Valley.”
Greta Thunberg: why the right’s usual attacks don’t work on her – Vox
Jeff Bezos says Amazon is writing its own facial recognition laws to pitch to lawmakers – The tech giant’s hope is that federal lawmakers will adopt much of its draft legislation.
Reddit · 2 months ago
Tech workers have been reluctant to unionize, but Google contractors may change that – A group of Google contractors who hold college degrees, get paid as little as $40,000 a year, and don’t receive sick days are voting to unionize on Tuesday.
Farhad Manjoo is mistaken about Obama’s “biggest mistake” – Vox
New data from Kruze Consulting finds 60% of funded startups paid for Slack, while only 12% paid for the Office software bundle that includes Teams
Polling of US adults shows that most, across party lines, support breaking up Big Tech, such as reversing Facebook's Instagram purchase, to improve competition
Techmeme · 2 months ago