Twitter appears to be pulling out all the stops when it comes to fighting misinformation on its social media platform. This week the social network added warnings for users liking posts labeled for misinformation. This adds another mental block between incorrect and otherwise misleading information and the people that'd otherwise be mislead.
In the heat of the recent US elections, it almost seemed that the current Trump administration was too busy to remember the deadline it set for TikTok to divest or shut down its operations in the US. After months of uncertainty, TikTok has finally gotten a reprieve as the US Commerce Department announced it won't enforce the earlier order in light of a recent federal court ruling. The fight, however, isn't over yet and TikTok's fate in the US still hinges on what will happen in the country in the coming weeks.
Only days ahead of the upcoming presidential election, Twitter has previewed a couple of new alerts it will show users at the tops of their feeds, both intended to combat misinformation and help keep voters informed. The reason, Twitter notes, is the unprecedented nature of this election, which has seen many people voting early by mail out of concerns about exposure to the coronavirus pandemic.
The US government is preparing to make its case in courts over Google's alleged anti-competitive practices, particularly on the Internet. While it may already have its arguments prepared, the Justice Department may still be considering what steps it will require Google to take, presuming it wins its case. One of those may be to split up the company, which is already just a subsidiary of the bigger Alphabet, which includes selling off the most-used web browser in the market, Chrome.
Yelp will flag businesses that have seen reports of racist behavior, the company has said today, with a new alert being added to their listings. The notification will be linked to profiles which see a sudden increase in reviews that aren't based on "first-hand consumer experience," which has often been connected to reports of racist activity or discrimination.
It's open season on Big Tech as the US political machinery kicks into high gear weeks ahead of the country's biggest elections yet. After nearly a year and a half of inquiries, the Democrat-led House Judiciary subcommittee released a 450-page conclusion on how four Big Tech companies indeed enjoy monopoly power and suggested sweeping changes that would change these companies forever. Unsurprisingly, these companies have denied any wrongdoing and both Apple and Google have already voiced their disapproval of the conclusions reached by Congress.
Local and international media have been focused on covering the US government's moves against popular social media TikTok but what's happening outside of the spotlight could have even bigger economic repercussions globally. Although not exactly the blacklisting that was earlier feared, the US Commerce Department has just placed restrictions on the export of American products to SMIC, China's largest semiconductor company, which affects not only the already embattled Huawei but potentially even US companies like Qualcomm as well.
YouTube has announced some new additions and changes made to its platform ahead of Election Day, ones that are intended to help users get authoritative information and to prevent meddling with the outcome. Among other things, YouTube has roped in Google's 'How To Vote' feature, which will appear as a prompt when users search for information related to how to vote on YouTube. In addition, and among other things, YouTube is also showing information related to politicians directly on its platform.
The US government has hundreds of companies on its so-called Entity List and a good number of them come from China. One of the highest-profile names on that list in recent years has been, of course, Huawei. But if you thought the US was done with China's biggest phone and network manufacturer, it seems to be moving to squeeze out any remaining life from Huawei. Its rumored next move, however, could provoke China to finally retaliate and throw the global economy further into chaos.
The Biden-Harris campaign is taking its work to the gaming world, specifically to hit title Animal Crossing: New Horizons, according to a new report. The Joe Biden and Kamala Harris duo have officially launched yard signs in the game, giving players a way to show their support for the campaign within their digital worlds. The new option arrives as the pandemic forces politicians to change the way they drum up support.
It is often said how social media has become the new way news spreads, sometimes even more quickly, but few actually consider the money involved there. From clicks to page views to ads, companies like Facebook and Google have perhaps taken the lion's share of advertising profits, even when the content surfaced on their platforms come from other sources like news outlets. A new law in Australia is being proposed to shift the balance of power to those news outlets and Facebook is pretty much threatening to remove Australian's ability to share news on the network should that come to pass.
Huawei might be changing its story from defiance to one of defeat by this time next year if things don't start looking up for it. Whereas last year it stood proud and proclaimed it could still conquer the smartphone market despite US export bans, it is now silently and chaotically trying to get supplies it needs before time runs out in mid-September. But even then, Huawei could see its smartphone empire burn by 2021 unless things take a turn for the better.