Month: October 2021

Google Maps to show the lowest carbon route for car journeys

Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai said the initiative could save 1m tonnes of carbon dioxide a year Google Maps is to offer drivers the lowest carbon route for their chosen journey as part of the search company’s new environmentally friendly policies. Motorists will be able to select the route with the lowest carbon emissions once factors …

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Facebook is a harmful presence in our lives. It’s not too late to pull the plug on it | Jathan Sadowski

Undaunted by scandals, the social media giant plans to tighten its grip on our everyday activities. We don’t have to just submit Facebook is in perpetual crisis mode. For years now, the company has confronted waves of critical scrutiny on issues caused or exacerbated by the platform. Recent revelations have lengthened the charge sheet. That …

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Amazon opens first UK bricks-and-mortar non-food store

Outlet at Bluewater shopping centre in Kent is retailer’s first 4-star shop outside US Amazon is bolstering its UK high street presence with the opening of its first non-food physical shop offering its bestselling lines of books, electronics, toys, games and homeware. The outlet, at the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent, is the online retailer’s …

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Facebook whistleblower’s testimony could finally spark action in Congress

Despite years of hearings, the company has long seemed untouchable. But Frances Haugen appears to have inspired rare bipartisanship The testimony of Frances Haugen, a former Facebook employee, is likely to increase pressure on US lawmakers to undertake concrete legislative actions against the formerly untouchable tech company, following years of hearings and circular discussions about …

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Huawei hopes US decision on Meng Wanzhou heralds new era in relations

US justice department suspended fraud charges against chief financial officer of Chinese telecoms giant The Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei hopes that the US justice department’s decision to abandon its efforts to extradite Meng Wanzhou may mark the starting point in a new era in relations between the company, China and the US government. Meng, the …

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Websites hosting porn in UK told to enforce age checks or face fines

Ofcom threatens severe financial penalties for sites such as OnlyFans and video apps including TikTok UK websites and apps that host pornography and adult material – such as OnlyFans and PocketStars – must put in place strict age-verification processes or face severe financial penalties, the communications watchdog has said. Video-sharing platforms (VSPs) established in the …

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Facebook explains error that caused global outage

Engineers’ command accidentally disconnected company’s network from rest of world, blogpost says Facebook has said an error during routine maintenance of its network of data centers caused a cascade of problems that took down its platforms for more than six hours on Monday. In a blogpost published on Tuesday, Santosh Janardhan, vice-president of engineering, said …

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Frances Haugen: Facebook harms children and stokes division – video

Frances Haugen, the former employee who accused Facebook of putting profit over safety, has testified before the US Senate. The whistleblower condemned the extreme secrecy and lack of transparency around Facebook and how its algorithms work. ‘I’m here today because I believe Facebook’s products harm children, stoke division and weaken our democracy,’ she said. ‘The company’s leadership knows how …

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Facebook outage highlights global over-reliance on its services

Shutdown heavily impacts ability to communicate and do business for many of platform’s 2.8 billion users From bereft Brazilians to relaxed Russians and internet-savvy Indians, Facebook’s outage highlighted the dependence much of the world has developed on its social media products, and put the spotlight on its global power. The fallout of Facebook’s unprecedented almost …

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Facebook harms children and is damaging democracy, claims whistleblower

Frances Haugen says in US Congress testimony that Facebook puts ‘astronomical profits before people’ Facebook puts “astronomical profits before people”, harms children and is destabilising democracies, a whistleblower has claimed in testimony to the US Congress. Frances Haugen said Facebook knew it steered young users towards damaging content and that its Instagram app was “like …

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