Technology | The Guardian

The company’s own research reveals that Instagram harms teens, that it can’t control anti-vax misinformation, and that there is a secret double standard for VIPs. In short, the problem with Facebook is FacebookFor years, Facebook has faced torrents of criticism from human rights groups and academic researchers, who raised alarms about the ways that the most pervasive digital social platform in human history distorts our world and promotes destructive behavior ranging from eating disorders to genocide. In response, Mark Zuckerberg and his staff have frequently pronounced commitments to reform.While many of those pledges and predictions seemed to have been sincere, it turns out that not only have the architecture and incentives built into Facebook itself undermined the biggest efforts to fix the service, but that Facebook’s own research staff have informed top leadership of the company’s stunning failures. Continue reading...

The suffering of the photo-sharing app’s users came into focus this week with the leak of Facebook’s internal research

New efforts will let vast amounts of false material slip through the cracks, according to climate advocatesFacebook has announced new efforts to combat climate crisis misinformation on its platform, including by expanding its climate science center to provide more reliable information, investing in organizations that fight misinformation, and launching a video series to highlight young climate advocates on Facebook and Instagram.But critics say the new push, announced on Thursday, falls short and will allow vast amounts of climate misinformation to slip through the cracks. Continue reading...

This experimental game is a network of near-future science-fiction stories, connected by a central mysteryOn first click, Omnipedia feels like the shadow-sister of Wikipedia: empty white space with the occasional image, marked up by slim black text and iconic blue hyperlinks. But we are on a different internet now. This fictional encyclopedia is essentially the narrator of Neurocracy, which is part game, part murder-mystery novella and part postmodern exploration of how we take in stories and information. It is a labyrinth of text – the reader, or player, navigates a 2049 version of our world by clicking hyperlinks. Having done some exploring, I believe it’s best to go in totally blind, though I will say that the central mystery concerns the death of the man who launched Omnipedia in the wake of Wikipedia, a character named Xu Shaoyong.We click through from one fictional entry to the next, learning gradually that this future world is full of threats, from the presence of a civilisation-upending disease to binaural implants that track and enhance our experiences online, all the way down to dating shows that end in shocking loss of life. It feels unnervingly close to the internet as we know it, but with subtle differences that amount to clever environmental storytelling. For example, the GDPR cookie-tracking pop-up that’s now the doorman at the gate of every website includes both familiar text about data and consent, and a note about our “montages” being tracked – our emotional state, as tracked by an algorithm. Continue reading...

When the ‘subscription social network’ OnlyFans announced it would be banning the sexually explicit content that made it a billion-dollar business, sex workers were up in arms – and many observers wondered how the move could make financial sense. Then it had second thoughts. So what does this tech saga tell us about where pornography fits into the future of the internet – and is it just another example of the sex industry treating women as disposable?This episode includes discussion of sex and pornography.OnlyFans bills itself as a wide-ranging ‘subscription social network’ where content creators of any kind can charge their followers to view their output – but in reality its hugely successful business is largely based around sex. That emphasis only grew during the pandemic, with more and more users spending their free time online – and more people wondering about a new source of income. With the company valued at about $1bn (£720m), and celebrities like Cardi B and Bella Thorne signing up, it was hard to see it doing anything other than more of the same. Continue reading...

More than 140 workers sign petition decrying ‘massive moral failing’ following Guardian revelationsGoogle employees and subcontracted workers are demanding that the company pay back wages to temporary workers, following a Guardian report that revealed Google had knowingly and illegally underpaid thousands of temps for years.More than 140 workers have signed a petition addressed to Google executives calling on the company to “immediately pay back all Temps, Vendors and Contractors (TVCs) who have been knowingly underpaid by Google” and to “create an immediate path to permanent employment for temporary workers and end its two-tiered perma-temp system”. Continue reading...

Social media giant is under pressure over revelations it knew Instagram was harming girls’ mental healthFacebook should be punished with substantial fines, potentially running into billions of pounds, if it withholds evidence that its social media platforms harm users, according to the MP leading scrutiny of a new online safety bill.The social network is under political pressure on both sides of the Atlantic following revelations in the Wall Street Journal that Facebook knew its Instagram photo-sharing app was harming the mental health of teenage girls. Leaked internal documents showed that among teenagers who have had suicidal thoughts, 13% of British users and 6% of American users traced the desire to kill themselves to Instagram. Continue reading...

Adverts promoting ‘dangerous, unproven and unethical’ procedure shown millions of times, study findsFacebook has served “abortion reversal” adverts 18.4m times since January 2020, according to a report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), promoting an “unproven, unethical” and “dangerous” procedure.Google shows the adverts on more than four-fifths of searches related to abortion across a number of US cities, according to the CCDH research, targeted at search terms such as “unwanted pregnancy” and “abortion pill”. Continue reading...

Up for discussion in the Guardian tech newsletter: Facebook Reality Labs’ bid to fulfil a science-fiction dream … Apple launch fatigue … and changes to the newsletterIt’s hard to talk about Ray-Ban Stories, because what they represent is significantly more important than what they are.But first, let’s talk about what they are. The branding is … confusing, since Ray-Ban Stories are neither normal Ray-Bans, nor are they stories. Instead, they are a pair of smart-glasses, the first to come from Facebook’s augmented-reality workshop: Continue reading...

A bullish survey of AI, biotech, renewables and more explains how change is leaving us behind, and what to do about itA 2020 survey found that 60% of people felt the pace of change in life was too fast. Faced with steam engines or lifts for the first time, previous generations probably thought so too. But according to the technology analyst and entrepreneur Azeem Azhar we have indeed entered a period of unparalleled and destabilising change: “a wholly new era of human society and economic organisation – what I call the Exponential Age”.Azhar identifies computing and artificial intelligence, renewable electricity and energy storage, biotech and manufacturing (such as 3D printing) as the areas in which innovations are developing at an exponential rate: “new technologies are being invented and scaled at an ever-faster pace, all while decreasing rapidly in price”. Continue reading...

Smoother, more durable and with better cameras, this foldable is the height of technology. But still comes at a priceSamsung’s third-generation folding phone-tablet hybrid is a technological marvel – faster, more refined than its predecessor and will even survive being dropped in the bath. But is the public ready for foldable phones?The Galaxy Z Fold 3 costs £1,599 ($1,799/A$2,499), which is £200 cheaper than last year’s model, although still very expensive. It joins the £949 Galaxy Z Flip 3 and £1,149 Galaxy S21 Ultra at the top of Samsung’s smartphone line. Continue reading...

Three former US intelligence operatives accused of helping UAE spy on enemiesThree former US intelligence operatives, who went to work as mercenary hackers for the United Arab Emirates, are facing federal charges of conspiring to violate hacking laws, according to justice department court documents filed on Tuesday.The three men, Marc Baier, Ryan Adams, and Daniel Gericke, are accused of having been part of a clandestine unit named Project Raven, first reported by Reuters, that helped the United Arab Emirates spy on its enemies. Continue reading...

The devices feature upgraded cameras and the company’s latest A15 chip, which it says is up to 50% faster than the competitionApple’s iPhone 13 will hit shelves later this month, with prices starting at $699 (£679 in the UK), the company announced at a press event on Tuesday.A light update from last year’s iPhone 12, the new devices feature upgraded cameras and the company’s latest A15 chip, which it says is up to 50% faster than the competition. Continue reading...

Social media firm reportedly kept own research secret that suggests app worsens body image issuesFacebook has kept internal research secret for two years that suggests its Instagram app makes body image issues worse for teenage girls, according to a leak from the tech firm.Since at least 2019, staff at the company have been studying the impact of their product on its younger users’ states of mind. Their research has repeatedly found it is harmful for a large proportion, and particularly teenage girls. Continue reading...

Australian Cyber Security Centre report reveals ransomware incidents up 15% as cybercrime losses hit $33bn

Communications union national secretary Shane Murphy tells of grave concerns about the allocation of contracts for the project

This peculiar game offers a peaceful escape to a gentle life as a bus driver – if you can avoid mounting the curb and smashing into pagodas, that isMy first day as a bus driver did not go well. Just three stops into my inaugural route I was already running eight minutes late, having caused considerable delay (and $712 of damage) by crashing into an ornamental pagoda. I also got fined for not indicating properly and for running a red light, and then one of my passengers stood in the bus’s open doorway and wouldn’t move until I got out of my seat and went to talk to him. I then tried to drive off with the accessibility ramp still extended.Bus Simulator 21 is the latest in a series of highly authentic, idiosyncratic simulation games from Austrian developer stillalive Studios. It puts you into a large open city, modelled on the US west coast, and tasks you with setting up a profitable public transport system, while also driving some of the routes yourself. You can choose from a range of difficulty levels depending on how much control you want over every facet of the transit experience – I went for the easiest, “Day Tripper”, because even with all the assists switched on, driving a bus is still like piloting an ocean liner along the Shropshire Union Canal. The turning circle takes a long time to get used to, slow at the start and then wildly fast, sending you careering on to the pavement and people’s driveways and indeed, people. (That’ll cost you $20k in insurance claims.) Other road-users are massively unsympathetic and pedestrians will happily step out on to a crossing right in front of you even when it’s very clear you haven’t managed to get your windscreen wipers working and therefore can’t see anything. Continue reading...

I can’t send, receive, or check emails and customer service has proved uselessDuring August, my Virgin.net email account, which has been my mainstay since the 1990s, suddenly became inaccessible – my username and password were simply not recognised. It is effectively frozen, and I cannot send, receive or access my emails.Long calls to Virgin Media’s remote customer service have proved useless. This is a disaster for me. Continue reading...

Discovery was shared with Apple, which on Monday released a patch to fix the vulnerabilitySecurity researchers at Citizen Lab have discovered an exploit that they believe has been used by government clients of NSO Group, the Israeli spyware company, to silently hack into iPhones and other Apple devices since February 2021.The discovery, which was made as the researchers were examining the mobile phone of a Saudi activist, was shared with Apple, which on Monday released a patch to fix the vulnerability. Continue reading...

Researchers use AI to reveal runs of artistic success are commonly preceded by an experimental phaseWhether it is the director Márta Mészáros or the artist Jackson Pollock, those in creative careers often experience a particular burst of success.Now researchers have used artificial intelligence to reveal such “hot streaks” are commonly preceded by an experimental phase followed by a focus on one particular approach once the winning period has begun. Continue reading...

New rivals to AirPods Pro sound good, are comfortable with noise cancelling and look a little differentNothing is the latest London-based tech startup to try to break the stranglehold that AirPods have on Bluetooth earbuds, and is offering good sound and interesting design at a budget price.The Ear 1 cost £99 ($99) and are the first product of Carl Pei’s new company after he left the popular smartphone brand OnePlus, which he co-founded, to strike out on his own. Continue reading...

The SOS system fails, which takes out the information system, and the car has also started stallingYour article in March described the problems that new Audi, Skoda and VW car buyers had with their SOS warning systems. We now find ourselves in the same situation.In March, we took delivery of a new Audi A1, and almost immediately the problems started. The SOS system keeps failing, which then takes out the information system. The car has also started stalling, and various alarms keep going off. Continue reading...

Amid a shortage of crew, UK producers are investing billions in training and bringing in more diversityGlobal streaming companies’ appetite for British-made shows is reshaping the UK TV and film industry as it aims to keep up with demand by creating 30,000 new jobs and training 10,000 people.As demonstrated by Amazon’s recent decision to switch filming its new Lord of the Rings TV series from New Zealand to the UK, Britain is a magnet for big US studios who want to work in Pinewood as well as Hollywood. Continue reading...

The New Democratic party’s leader is riding high in the polls – and could be the kingmaker in next week’s electionHe’s the most-liked national political leader in Canada, wears sharply tailored suits, has graced the pages of a men’s fashion magazine and is followed by starstruck fans on social media. And he’s not Justin Trudeau.With Canada heading to the polls after a snap election controversially called by Trudeau, Jagmeet Singh, leader of the progressive New Democratic party (NDP), has quickly emerged as the most affable politician in Canada – and a powerful figure who is unlikely to become prime minister. Continue reading...

Suspended union rep calls on social media giant to intervene after exhausted workers complain of extra workloadFacebook’s facilities management firm has demanded the removal of a union activist leading a campaign against “impossible workloads” imposed on exhausted cleaners at the US tech giant’s London offices.Emails seen by the Observer show JLL @ Facebook, which manages the social media firm’s London sites, asked Churchill Group, which employs the cleaners, to remove the workers’ elected union rep, Guillermo Camacho, from Facebook’s offices after he helped organise protests against a doubling of cleaning duties in July. Continue reading...

The long view suggests we’re due a new era, whether it is that of metaverses, blockchain or quantum computingOne of the challenges of writing about technology is how to escape from what the sociologist Michael Mann memorably called “the sociology of the last five minutes”. This is especially difficult when covering the digital tech industry because one is continually deluged with ‘new’ stuff – viral memes, shiny new products or services, Facebook scandals (a weekly staple), security breaches etc. Recent weeks, for example, have brought the industry’s enthusiasm for the idea of a “metaverse” (neatly dissected here by Alex Hern), El Salvador’s flirtation with bitcoin, endless stories about central banks and governments beginning to worry about regulating cryptocurrencies, Apple’s possible rethink of its plans to scan phones and iCloud accounts for child abuse images, umpteen ransomware attacks, antitrust suits against app stores, the Theranos trial and so on, apparently ad infinitum.So how to break out of the fruitless syndrome identified by Prof Mann? One way is to borrow an idea from Ben Thompson, a veteran tech commentator who doesn’t suffer from it, and whose (paid) newsletter should be a mandatory daily email for any serious observer of the tech industry. Way back in 2014, he suggested that we think of the industry in terms of “epochs” – important periods or eras in the history of a field. At that point he saw three epochs in the evolution of our networked world, each defined in terms of its core technology and its “killer app”. Continue reading...

Jamie Henn, the founder of Fossil Fuel Free Media, on how advertising agencies help legitimise the fossil fuel industryJamie Henn, a co-founder of the climate group 350.org, had for a long time noticed a gap in climate advocacy that many had overlooked: while the fossil fuel industry pours money into ad campaigns, much of the climate movement simply doesn’t have the resources to do that work.Inspired to change that, Henn launched Fossil Free Media to give public relations and communications support to grassroots groups taking on the fossil fuel industry and campaigning for climate justice. Continue reading...

Tech firm is ordered to remove restrictions on app developers steering buyers outside platformA US district judge has dealt a blow to Apple’s business model by ruling that it cannot prevent app developers from including links that allow users to buy items outside the Apple App Store. The App Store is highly profitable for the tech firm, with analysts estimating that it makes annual revenues of about $20bn (£14m) and has a profit margin of 75%. Continue reading...

Sergei Ryabkov’s claim of interference in Duma vote believed to be reference to anti-Putin apps on Apple and GoogleThe Russian foreign ministry has summoned the US ambassador, John Sullivan, to complain about alleged interference by “American digital giants” in Russia’s upcoming parliamentary election.According to a ministry statement on Friday, the deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, claimed Russia “possesses irrefutable evidence of the violation of Russian legislation by American digital giants in the context of the preparation and conduct of elections to the state Duma”. Continue reading...

Taking the greatest bits of their source material, these games allow players to enter the worlds they love via epic lightsaber battles and balletic flights of fancyWhile TV shows and movies adapted from games remain, generally, rubbish, there is no such curse the other way round. This seminal James Bond tie-in is the best example, showing that first-person shooters – previously the esoteric concern of hefty PCs – could excel on consoles. Its four-player split screen also taught an entire generation how to swear wholeheartedly at their peers. And to settle it once and for all: Oddjob is too small. Therefore playing as him is definitely – definitely – cheating. Continue reading...

Vast range of new regulations prompt fears of a return to tight social control of pre-reform daysOn the second floor of a nondescript concrete building in north-east Beijing, the Youyou internet cafe is less than half full. Quiet and dark, the cafe’s customers are all adults, sitting in brown sofas in front of screens set up for hours of comfortable online gaming.Minors aren’t allowed in, and a poster on the glass entrance reads: “The whole society together cares about the healthy growth of underage teens.” Under new regulations from the Chinese government, minors are limited to just a few hours of gaming a week, with tech platforms ordered to enforce it. The intervention is just one of a recent rush of directives from Beijing aimed at reshaping society. Continue reading...

Prepare for near-past nostalgia, as Anna Wintour and co hail Y2K, via Juicy tracksuits and Sarah Jessica Parker. Plus: a scripted sci-fi adventure with KeshaIn Vogue: the 2000s

Guardian Australia picture editor Carly Earl explains the dos and don’ts of taking pictures of the moonWhen a full moon rises, many people will pull out their mobile phones to try and take an Instagram-worthy picture, but unfortunately the moon is really challenging to get a great photo of.Two reasons: it is very far away and unless you have a telephoto lens (which makes the moon appear closer than it is) it will always appear as a very small glowing dot in the frame. Continue reading...

Wayfarer-style specs feature pair of cameras for photos and videos, as well as a microphone and speakerFacebook lives in your pocket, on the web, and, if you’ve bought the company’s Portal video-calling device, even in your kitchen. Now, it wants to find a home on your face.The company has created its first “smart glasses”, with a pair of cameras to take photos and videos, a microphone and speaker to listen to podcasts, and a voice assistant to let you do the whole thing hands-free. Continue reading...

End to almost five years of free roaming across Europe will come into effect from 23 May 2022Three is to reintroduce charges for using their phones when travelling abroad, ending almost five years of free mobile phone roaming across Europe for their customers.Three is the latest of Britain’s biggest mobile companies to bring back charges, which will apply in almost 50 European territories as well as two dozen other international destinations, despite previously saying roaming costs would not return after Brexit. Continue reading...

Lawyers for the disgraced CEO on Wednesday alluded to ‘another side’ of her relationship with her former business associateOpening arguments in the highly anticipated trial of Elizabeth Holmes began on Wednesday, as jurors heard prosecutors argue the case before them was about “fraud, about lying and cheating to get money”.Holmes, 37, arrived early at the San Jose courtroom on Wednesday and sat flanked by her attorneys. Media has flocked to the case, with more than 100 people waiting in line outside the courthouse hours before doors opened and nearly a dozen cameras stationed outside. Continue reading...

PlayStation 4/5, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, PC; Deck Nine/Square Enix

The social media platform is testing a series of measures to protect users’ privacy and prevent abuseTwitter is trialling a feature that allows users to shrug off unwanted followers without officially blocking them.It provides a less stark alternative to hitting the “block” button – a move that is often publicised across timelines when the blocked user screenshots the notification and publishes it. Continue reading...

Up for discussion in the Guardian tech newsletter: The risks of using personal data to influence citizens’ behaviour … Apple backtracks … and the history of the App StoreWhat should a public service announcement be in the 21st century? How can a government communicate with its citizens? And when does a state-run ad campaign become public policy in its own right? Continue reading...

Doug Field is fourth senior member of the iPhone maker’s car team to leave since FebruaryApple has lost the executive in charge of its below-the-radar car project to Ford, dealing a further blow to the iPhone maker’s automotive ambitions.Doug Field, Apple’s vice-president of special projects, had also worked on Tesla’s Model 3 vehicle under Elon Musk. Field, who rejoined Apple in 2018 after a previous stint at the business, is the fourth senior member of the company’s car team to leave since February. Continue reading...

Exclusive: National and local governments using targeted ads on search engines and social mediaA new form of “influence government”, which uses sensitive personal data to craft campaigns aimed at altering behaviour has been “supercharged” by the rise of big tech firms, researchers have warned.National and local governments have turned to targeted advertisements on search engines and social media platforms to try to “nudge” the behaviour of the country at large, the academics found. Continue reading...

Police claim plans for end-to-end encryption will stop officers being able to access ‘incisive intelligence’Facebook’s plans to allow encrypted messaging across all its platforms could prevent the detection of up to 20m child abuse images every year, a senior investigating officer has claimed.Rob Jones, the director of threat leadership at the National Crime Agency, said the social media company’s goal of rolling out end-to-end encryption will stop officers from accessing “incisive intelligence” that allows them to rescue abused children. Continue reading...

Company says UK business as a whole paid out £492m in ‘direct taxes’ in 2020 – up from £293m in previous yearAmazon’s key UK business paid just £3.8m more corporation tax last year than in 2019, even as sales increased by £1.89bn.Accounts filed at Companies House this week show that the corporation tax contribution of Amazon UK Services – the group’s warehouse and logistics operation, thought to employ the majority of the group’s UK workforce – was £18.3m in the year to December 2020, up 26% from £14.5m a year before. Continue reading...

By baby No 2, I just wanted a good night’s sleep. But my journey into baby tech taught me something else, writes Sophie BrickmanWhen my daughter Ella was little, I’d often see various tech products on my Facebook feed purporting to calm parents who were anxious about their baby’s sleep. Next to feeding, there’s likely no more anxiety-prone part of the day than a child’s bedtime – the fear they’re not on a schedule, or that once they get on one, it’s the wrong one, or that once they’re actually asleep, they might never wake up.I dismissed them out of hand – we were sharing a room with Ella, and I was aware of her every snort and snuffle, though in retrospect, it seems obvious that we could have had her sleeping through the night a little earlier … if we’d only settled on a sleep training method. Continue reading...

The ambitious new look at SpaceX’s first all-civilian flight, the streaming platform’s first real-time docuseries, takes reality television to spaceThe rise of commercial space travel is here, and for the vast majority who cannot afford its millions-plus price tag, streaming platforms are here to capture it. Starting this week, Netflix will air the first two installments of Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space, its first docuseries to cover an event – SpaceX’s launch of its first all-civilian crew on a three-day trip circling Earth – in “near real time”. Subsequent episodes will document the four astronauts’ preparation for the 15 September launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Episodes three and four will air just two days prior; a feature-length finale film of the mission itself will air in late September.Related: How the billionaire space race could be one giant leap for pollution Continue reading...

Netflix’s new documentary series sells the first all-civilian flight to space as an exercise in philanthropy, but it’s little more than a privilege-fuelled puff piece for the billionaire’s adventuresWhile I’m still able – “allowed” is possibly the verb I want – I would like to register my objection to adverts masquerading as legitimate streaming content on a subscription service for which I pay good money. This is not how that particular model is supposed to work. I realise, of course, that I am Cnut howling at the digital waves. But proving our powerlessness before them is about the only thing left to us.Netflix’s new documentary series, or “documentary series”, Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space, is the offender in this case. It is designed to track the recruitment process, preparation for and then – in as close to real time as possible – the launch of the first all-civilian flight into space, by Elon Musk’s company SpaceX. Continue reading...

Wear OS 3 watch ups ante for Android wearables, now faster and feature-packed with body-fat scannerThe Galaxy Watch 4 is Samsung and Google’s attempt to combine efforts and compete with Apple’s smartwatch – and it gets about 80% of the way there.The Android smartwatch comes in two designs and four sizes, starting at £249 ($250) for the Watch 4 and £349 ($350) – as tested – for the Watch 4 Classic. They succeed the £269 Watch Active 2 and £399 Watch 3 respectively. Continue reading...

As activity tracking goes mainstream, an arsenal of consumer technology is rolling out for sleep. But how much do these interventions help?At 2.16am, I stumble to the bathroom. I catch a glimpse of myself. The light from the red bulb is flattering – I’ve been told to eliminate all blue light on my nocturnal trek – but the sleep-tracker headband, currently emitting the sound of gently lapping waves, kills any woke-up-like-this vibe. I adjust its double straps and feel my way back to bed. Continue reading...

Rapper asked for opinions on a new song, highlighting site’s popularity among people ‘sick of Twitter’When Kanye West was putting the finishing touches to his new album Donda, he was not content to trust only the ears of a few close confidants for feedback.The rapper and producer held a series of listening events in stadiums around the US, taking up residence in the locker room of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, to finish the album with the producer, Mike Dean, after playing it live to an audience of thousands. And then, when that was not enough, Dean turned to another group of Kanye superfans: the collective minds of the Discord community WestServerEver. Continue reading...