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X Has Become Too 'Toxic' for Stephen King

Horror author leaves Elon Musk's social media site for Meta's Threads

(Newser) - The prolific Stephen King is known for his extra-long novels, but the exit message he posted Thursday on X was short and sweet. "I'm leaving Twitter. Tried to stay, but the atmosphere has just become too toxic," the horror author wrote, using the platform's former name,...

Zuckerberg: We Stifled COVID Info at White House's Request

Meta CEO alleges White House turned up heat on his teams to take down certain items on COVID

(Newser) - During the height of the pandemic, Meta scrubbed tens of millions of items on Facebook and Instagram that it said pushed misinformation on COVID-19, vaccinations, and the like, with warnings placed on nearly 200 million more pieces of content. Now, the company's CEO is saying that the Biden administration...

Facial Recognition Costs Meta $1.4B in Texas

Lone Star State had sued over unauthorized use of Texans' biometrics

(Newser) - Meta has agreed to a $1.4 billion settlement with Texas in a privacy lawsuit over claims that the tech giant used biometric data of users without their permission, officials said Tuesday. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said the settlement is the largest secured by a single state, reports the...

Mark Zuckerberg Pulls Off Another Fourth of July Stunt

Meta CEO got all dressed up for his latest video showing his Independence Day antics in Tahoe

(Newser) - Three summers ago, Mark Zuckerberg entertained (and completely annoyed) the masses with a "full-cringe" Fourth of July video that showed him riding an electric hydrofoil surfboard, American flag in hand. This year he's back with similar antics, albeit a slightly fancier version. Per Fox Business , the Meta CEO...

Supreme Court Punts on Social Media Speech Rights

SCOTUS returns cases in Texas and Florida claiming that users were being censored

(Newser) - The Supreme Court on Monday kept a hold on efforts in Texas and Florida to limit how Facebook, TikTok, X, YouTube, and other social media platforms regulate content posted by their users. The justices returned the cases to lower courts in challenges from trade associations for the companies, reports the...

Ad Featuring Young Girl Shown to Sex Offenders on Instagram

Meta disputes 'New York Times' test as a 'manufactured experience'

(Newser) - Instagram's algorithms are putting innocent photos of children in front of men with pedophilic tendencies, the New York Times reports, offering data from its own tests as evidence. The outlet began investigating after a maker of children's jewelry who paid to advertise her products to a mostly female...

Musk's Bottom Line Takes a Hit From His Tesla Woes

Mark Zuckerberg displaces Tesla CEO from No. 3 spot on Bloomberg Billionaires Index

(Newser) - While much of social media was commenting Thursday on a fake "bearded Mark Zuckerberg" picture , the Facebook co-founder notched a more substantial achievement: displacing Elon Musk on Bloomberg's Billionaires Index . Zuckerberg, 39, is now third on that list, with a net worth of about $178 billion, while the...

Meta Hit by Widespread Outage
Meta Hit by Widespread Outage
Mar 5, 2024 11:12 AM CST

Meta Hit by Widespread Outage

Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and Messenger all hit on Tuesday

(Newser) - Users of Meta's Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and Messenger platforms are experiencing login issues in what appears to be a widespread outage. Internet traffic observer Downdetector is reporting vast outages on several Meta platforms Tuesday. The problems are being reported across the world, reports the AP , suggesting that the outage...

Meta Board Backs Decision to Keep Up Altered Biden Video

But oversight panel criticizes company's existing guidelines on manipulated media as 'incoherent'

(Newser) - An oversight board is criticizing Facebook owner Meta's policies regarding manipulated media as "incoherent" and insufficient to address online disinformation in an election year. The quasi-independent board on Monday said its review of an altered video of President Biden that spread on Facebook exposed gaps in the policy,...

Sheryl Sandberg Takes Another Step Away From Meta

Board member won't stand for reelection, but will remain a company adviser

(Newser) - Sheryl Sandberg, who helped transform Facebook from a tech startup into a digital advertising empire, will step down from the board of Meta, Facebook's parent company, per the AP . "With a heart filled with gratitude and a mind filled with memories, I let the Meta board know that...

Metal Detectorists Deliver a Surprise Decades in the Making

Skyla Carmona has back wedding ring she lost in woods 48 years ago thanks to Massachusetts team

(Newser) - Metal detectorists are often ribbed as being nerds, but a group of those nerds helped deliver a wonderful surprise to a Nashville woman who lost her wedding ring almost a half-century ago. Skyla and Phil Carmona, a Special Forces medic, were married in 1973, a little more than six months...

Zuckerberg Just Got Hit With Massive Lawsuit

41 states and DC sue Facebook parent company Meta, accuse it of inflicting harm on kids

(Newser) - States are going after Facebook and Instagram in a big way, unleashing a legal assault that accuses the platforms of deliberately trying to makes kids addicted to the sites. In all, 41 states and the District of Columbia sued parent company Meta on Tuesday, in what amounts to "the...

SCOTUS to Hear Case on GOP-Backed Social Media Laws

Legislation enacted in Texas, Florida aim to prevent social media sites from censoring users

(Newser) - The Supreme Court agreed Friday to decide whether state laws that seek to regulate Facebook, TikTok, X (formerly known as Twitter), and other social media platforms violate the Constitution. The justices will review laws enacted by Republican-dominated legislatures and signed by Republican governors in Florida and Texas. While the details...

Meta Slammed for 'Stupid, Dangerous' Canada News Ban

Move has made it harder for people to share information about wildfire evacuations

(Newser) - Meta has banned Canadians from sharing news content on Facebook and Instagram amid an ongoing dispute with the federal government—and experts say that with wildfire evacuations underway, the timing couldn't be worse. Residents of Yellowknife, capital of the Northwest Territories, have been told to get out by noon...

Moderator of Facebook Content: I 'Stood Up and Screamed'

As employees sue, CEO of Sama laments harmful content, wishes she'd never signed a contract

(Newser) - Online content moderation is a stressful job, but someone's got to do it—though now an East African firm is saying it wishes its workers weren't those someones. Per the Guardian , employees are now bringing lawsuits against both outsourcing company Sama and Meta, Facebook's parent, after they...

Meta Results Beat Analysts' Expectations

Company reports strong results as advertising rebounds

(Newser) - Facebook parent company Meta Platforms posted stronger-than-expected results for the second quarter on Wednesday, buoyed by a rebound in online advertising after a post-pandemic slump. The Menlo Park, California-based company earned $7.79 billion, or $2.98 per share, in the April-June period, the AP reports. That's up 16%...

It's a '5-Alarm Fire' for Tax-Prep Firms
It's a '5-Alarm Fire'
for Tax-Prep Firms
NEW REPORT
Jul 12, 2023 11:40 AM CDT

It's a '5-Alarm Fire' for Tax-Prep Firms

H&R Block, others allegedly shared millions of taxpayers' private info with tech firms

(Newser) - Members of Congress are calling for criminal charges against some of America's largest tax-prep companies for allegedly sharing tens of millions of taxpayers' legally protected data with Google and Meta. As far back as 2011, H&R Block, TaxSlayer, and TaxAct allegedly shared private information entered into its website...

Zuckerberg's 'Twitter Killer,' Threads, Goes Live

Meta boss announces launch with a dig at the competition

(Newser) - Threads, Meta's text-based messaging app that looks a lot like Twitter and is intended to challenge that platform, went live Wednesday. Mark Zuckerberg made the announcment in a post to his Threads account, including a shot at Twitter. He said his intention is for Threads to remain "friendly...

Kenyan Facebook Content Moderators: Job Is 'Torture'

Lawsuit against the social media giant could have global effects

(Newser) - On the verge of tears, Nathan Nkunzimana recalled watching a video of a child being molested and another of a woman being killed. His job as a content moderator for a Facebook contractor required him to look at horrors. Some overwhelmed colleagues would scream or cry, he said. Now, the...

Cops: He Robbed Her, Then Sent Her a Facebook DM

'Look just know imma pay you back,' Damien Boyce allegedly messaged victim hours later

(Newser) - Many of us have received Facebook friend requests we'd rather not accept. But for one Indiana woman, that wariness reached new levels after the man accused of robbing her at gunpoint made her add him on the social network, then later DMed her to ask her to hang out,...

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