Author: Craig Timberg
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Switchbacks beat up LA Galaxy II in 3-1 win
The Switchbacks may not be playing for the Stanley Cup but they can still score an avalanche of goals. Colorado Springs erased an early 1-0 deficit with three goals of their own to beat LA Galaxy II 3-1 Saturday night in Carson, Calif. Things were looking rough in the 14th minute when LA countered the Switchbacks’…
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Alex Jones banned from Facebook? His videos are still there, and so are his followers
Infowars is gone from Facebook after a high-profile showdown over the summer between Silicon Valley and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. But another Facebook page, NewsWars, has taken its place — and Jones’ many fans have followed. In the three months since Facebook removed four of Jones’ pages over allegations of hate speech, the NewsWars page…
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Why false narratives will endure on social media
The migrant caravan in Mexico and the attempted mail bombings of major political figures last week have unleashed torrents of false and misleading reports on social media, testing the limits of costly efforts by Silicon Valley to combat disinformation ahead of the 2018 midterm elections. Despite hiring thousands of employees and investing in teams dedicated…
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Facebook’s former security chief has plan to solve tech’s ‘negative impacts’
For two years, Alex Stamos was the Facebook executive tasked with defending the company’s systems against Russian interference and other critical threats. Now the former chief security officer, who left the social network in August, says Facebook — and the technology industry — needs a systems of checks and balances to help it weigh the…
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Mainstream ads still showing up on misleading sites despite efforts to stop it
Jihadi rapists. Muslim invaders. Faked mass shootings. Pizzagate. Somebody browsing highly partisan websites in recent weeks could have seen articles about all of these subjects — and on the same pages seen cheerful green ads for the Girl Scouts, bearing the slogan “Helping Girls Change the World!” Such juxtapositions, documented by a Washington Post review…
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Facebook wanted ‘visceral’ live video. It’s getting live-streaming killers and suicides.
SAN FRANCISCO — The massive growth of live-streaming everything from Little League games to a giraffe’s birth has developed a sinister edge as murderers, rapists and terrorists have found ways to broadcast video that tech companies such as Facebook are struggling to contain. Among the most shocking incidents yet came on Easter Sunday, when a…
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Tech industry’s opposition to Trump travel ban escalates
SAN FRANCISCO – The tech industry’s opposition to President Trump escalated Thursday as corporate leaders drafted a letter warning of the economic risks of his immigration policies, Uber’s chief executive quit an administration advisory board, and Lyft pulled its ads from Breitbart News, the site founded by the White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon. The…
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After Trump win, Silicon Valley reassesses security
The election of Republican Donald Trump has stunned Silicon Valley, sparking renewed fears about how the federal government’s powerful surveillance machinery could undermine personal privacy – especially in the hands of a man with a history of threatening retaliation against those who challenge him. Yet as some prepare to take new high-tech defensive measures against…
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The FCC just passed sweeping new rules to protect your online privacy
WASHINGTON – Federal officials delivered a landmark ruling in favor of online privacy last week, limiting how Internet providers use and sell customer data, while asserting that customers have a right to control their personal information. Under the Federal Communications Commission’s new rules, consumers may forbid Internet providers from sharing sensitive personal information, such as…