Technology | The Guardian

It's been a year since we launched the Reclaim Your Brain newsletter, so we reached out to subscribers to see how they're doing

Amid reports of creation of fake racist images, Signify warns problem will get so much worse' over the next yearA rise in online racism driven by fake images is just the start of a coming problem" after the latest release of X's AI software, online abuse experts have warned.Concerns were raised after computer-generated images created using Grok, X's generative artificial intelligence chatbot, flooded the social media site in December last year. Continue reading...

Is tech calling the shots in your life? From making AI work smarter to tracking stolen phones, our expert explains how to get aheadAsking ChatGPT to write your emails is so two years ago. Generative AI tools are now going beyond the basic text-prompt phase. Take Google's NotebookLM, an experimental AI research assistant" that lets you upload not just text but also videos, links and PDFs. It will provide a summary of the content, answer questions about it, and even make a podcast-like AI overview" if you want it to - all while organising your original sources and notes. As AI tools advance, expect more features like this to be baked into everyday software. All the usual caveats of using AI apply: the responsibility for factchecking lies with you. Continue reading...

The demise of NBN's fibre-to-the-node technology is welcome but making the internet more affordable would have a much bigger impact

Can the AI Parky ever beat the real chatshow colossus? As the Virtually Parkinson podcast launches, our writer sits in on a bizarre interview with Monty Don - then ends up in the hot seat himselfAsk anyone who regularly interviews people and they'll tell you that few things are stranger than when the tables turn and you're the one being interviewed. This is especially true when the person interviewing you has been dead for a year and a half. But here we are. Virtually Parkinson is a new podcast in which celebrities are interviewed by an AI model trained to speak and act like the late Michael Parkinson. The announcement of the podcast last year prompted a flurry of vaguely apocalyptic reactions. It was sacrilegious, some said, tantamount to digging up and reanimating a national treasure against his will. It was pointless, others said - of all the transformative ways to use AI, you're blowing it on a podcast? Then there were folks like me, quietly nervous that Robot Parky was coming for our jobs.On that last grumble, at least, I don't need to worry yet. Primarily, this is because running Virtually Parkinson is a gargantuan operation. A normal interview traditionally only needs two participants. This, however, requires a small army. There's the subject and interviewer, plus an engineer, a researcher and a clutch of producers holed up in a control room whose roles include making sure the AI sounds like Parkinson, that it asks the sort of questions he would ask, has an encyclopaedic knowledge of both the subject and Parkinson, doesn't glitch, doesn't repeat itself, doesn't interrupt anyone in the middle of an answer and - most importantly - doesn't overuse the word fascinating". Continue reading...

Plans to make UK world leader in AI sector include opening access to NHS and other public data

The PM and chancellor believe AI will help British workers produce more, raising wages and releasing spare capital

For middle-aged users, it will be even harder to discern the truth' among extremist content, expert saysExperts fear the decision by Meta to drop professional factcheckers from Facebook will exacerbate so-called boomer radicalisation in the UK.Even before what Keir Starmer described as far-right riots" in England last summer, alarm bells were ringing amid fears older people were even more susceptible to misinformation and radicalisation than younger digital natives". Continue reading...

From Zuckerberg's handmade $900k timepiece to gen Z's pursuit of the authentic, smartwatches are being replacedFirst he ditched the grey hoodie. Then he grew out his curls. Now Mark Zuckerberg is shifting the styling focus to his left wrist. Announcing changes on Tuesday to Facebook and Instagram's factchecking programmes , the Meta boss wore a $900k (740k) watch from the Swiss brand Greubel Forsey. Hand-made using white gold, only three are created each year. It joins Zuckerberg's growing horological collection including a $1.2m rose gold timepiece from Patek Philippe and the thinnest watch ever made.But while an accessory with upwards of a six-figure price tag may be something only tech billionaires can afford, Zuckerberg is tapping in to a growing trend: the return of the mechanical wristwatch and old school digital timepiece. The trend is being fuelled by gen Z (those born between 1997 and 2012), many of whom have never worn a wristwatch before, typically using their smartphone to keep track of the time. Continue reading...

I already have too much stuff - and every time I go online I'm being pushed to buy more. Time to channel my inner deinfluencerI am uneasily aware that around this time last year I wrote that my drive to acquire material things had somewhat subsided: I was older and wiser, had everything I needed, was repelled by the sheer volume of stuff in the world, blah blah blah. Unfortunately, the internet seemingly viewed that as fighting talk, an impossible-to-turn-down challenge, and in recent months I have once more found myself wanting stuff. Lots of stuff.It's not surprising perhaps - stuff is everywhere, whispering, or shouting, to us from every screen we stare at. The constant stream of ads on Instagram is exhausting," said my best friend gloomily just last week, and she's right: my eyes are constantly assaulted with offers of miracle goop for my mature skin, wellness gadgetry, expensive knitwear and greenwashed disruptors" of almost everything. I just spent a minute scrolling and was offered, in quick succession, a calfPRO" (no idea, alarming), kombucha, cleanser, an eco frying pan, reminiscent of Phoebe Philo-era Celine" jumpers and, bafflingly, Canadian sea urchins.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

The world's richest man looks to move Canada to the right as the beleaguered prime minister prepares to departThe decision by the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, this week to resign as head of the Liberal party has set in motion a leadership race against the backdrop of a looming general election, which will be held amid political turmoil triggered by Donald Trump's America first" economic nationalism. It has also given Tesla's CEO, Elon Musk, an opportunity to inject himself into yet another country's political turmoil.Since Trudeau's resignation on Monday, Musk has posted repeatedly about Canadian politics on X - the platform formerly known as Twitter he bought in 2022 for $44bn. He has praised clips of Pierre Poilievre, the leader of Canada's Conservative party, while relishing in Trudeau's downfall and engaging with rightwing Canadian influencers. Continue reading...

A damning report shows how local news cuts stymied coverage of the riots in Plymouth. What fills the vacuum? MisinformationOn 4 August 2024, the riots and disturbances that followed the killing of three children in Southport, on Merseyside, spread even further. That day, in the midst of a seething mess of far-right misinformation and rumour-mongering, the violence hit Rotherham - where people tried to set fire to a hotel housing asylum-seekers - as well as Middlesbrough and Bolton. Serving notice of his new interest in UK affairs, Elon Musk posted a picture of violence in Liverpool on X with a characteristically measured caption: Civil war is inevitable." And 24 hours later, the wave of unrest reached the city of Plymouth.It gripped the city centre throughout the evening of 5 August. To quote from the Guardian's report, 150 officers in riot gear and with dogs sought to keep apart far-right rioters and Stand Up to Racism demonstrators". Other people turned out to defend a mosque. Bricks, bottles and fireworks were thrown. Six people were arrested, several police officers were injured, and two members of the public ended up in hospital: one local officer said the events were unprecedented".John Harris is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

The government has promised a crackdown on synthetic image abuse - but campaigners warn it doesn't go far enoughIt began with an anonymous email. I'm genuinely so, so sorry to reach out to you," it read. Beneath the words were three links to an internet forum. Huge trigger warning ... They contain lewd photoshopped images of you."Jodie (not her real name) froze. In the past, the 27-year-old from Cambridgeshire had had problems with people stealing her photos to set up dating profiles and social media accounts. She had reported it to police but been told there was nothing they could do, so pushed it to the back of her mind. Continue reading...

How can we publicly debate policy in the face of the rising - and polarising - influence of the X owner and others whose only aim is to serve themselvesHow should we as a society interact with one another, debate, come to decisions? What impels politicians to focus and act on one thing and not another?The Athenians had the Agora, where (male, slave-owning) citizens gathered to debate and decide the issues of the day. In the early 20th century, John Reith envisioned the BBC, in a most patrician way, as a space where the nation could come together to enhance the (supposedly) British values of democracy, reasonableness and debate. Continue reading...

The city has a long history with tropical medicine and is now home to one of the largest biotech clusters in EuropeTucked away in the village of Leasowe, near Moreton on the Wirral peninsula west of Liverpool, the US pharmaceutical company Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) is building a new 35m glass-clad laboratory building.It is part of a growing life sciences cluster in and around Liverpool, one of the largest in Europe, and a leader in vaccine development and manufacture, as well as infectious disease research projects in the UK. Continue reading...

Legislation to protect children in the digital realm is essential. But if it results in the loss of small cycling and cancer-care forums, something's gone wrongLondon Fixed Gear and Single-Speed (LFGSS) is an admirable online community of fixed-gear and single-speed cyclists in and around London. Sadly, this columnist does not qualify for membership: he doesn't reside in (or near) the metropolis, and he requires a number of gears to tackle even the gentlest of inclines - and therefore admires hardier cyclists who disdain the assistance of Sturmey-Archer or Campagnolo hardware.There is, however, bad news on the horizon. After Sunday 16 March, LFGSS will be no more. Dee Kitchen, the software wizard (and cyclist) who is the core developer of Microcosm, a platform for running non-commercial, non-profit, privacy-sensitive, accessible online forums such as LFGSS, has announced that on that date they will delete the virtual servers hosting LFGSS and other communities, and effectively immediately end the approximately 300 small communities that I run, and the few large communities such as LFGSS".Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 250 words to be considered for publication, email it to us at observer.letters@observer.co.uk Continue reading...

Senior cabinet minister promises not to dilute new measures despite Zuckerberg's attacks on countries censoring' contentBritain's new laws to boost safety and tackle hate speech online are not up for negotiation", a senior government minister has warned, after Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg vowed to join Donald Trump to pressure countries they regard as censoring" content.In an interview with the Observer, Peter Kyle, the technology secretary, said that the recent laws designed to make online platforms safer for children and vulnerable people would never be diluted to help the government woo big tech companies to the UK in its defining pursuit for economic growth. Continue reading...

More voters think tech tycoon's comments on grooming gangs are unhelpful than those who back himMore than half of voters think Elon Musk is having a negative effect on British politics following his criticism of Keir Starmer and Nigel Farage, according to the latest Opinium poll for the Observer.The South African-born billionaire has spent much of the past week using his social media platform X to attack Starmer and the Labour government for their opposition to another national inquiry into grooming gangs. He accused Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister, of being a rape genocide apologist" and falsely claimed Starmer was deeply complicit in the mass rapes in exchange for votes". Despite strong suggestions that Musk is preparing to make a large donation to Reform UK, he also recently tore into Nigel Farage, saying he was not up to the job of leading the party. Continue reading...

From bashing Keir Starmer to promoting the AfD, the X owner is not shy about interveningA limited - at best - understanding of the continent of Europe and its component countries has not prevented the world's richest man from intervening in the domestic politics of several of them, as well asattacking the EU itself.Here we take a brief look at some of the occasions on which X owner Elon Musk has used his position as proprietor of one of the world's largest social media platforms to meddle in the internal affairs of sovereign democratic states outside the US. Continue reading...

From stringent legislation to grassroots action, Australia and Spain lead the way in tackling children's use of mobile phones and tabletsIf the advent of the affordable mobile phone has given parents a new way to stay in touch with their children, it has also prompted countless arguments about screen time, safety and social media.As concerns over phone use grow - and the age at which children get their first mobile continues to fall - countries around the world are weighing up how to tackle the issue in schools and at home. Continue reading...

In 2017, Silicon Valley rebuked Trump's travel ban. Today, it has reversed course and is bending over backwards with displays of deference to TrumpOn 28 January 2017, I rushed to the San Francisco international airport (SFO). Like elsewhere in the US that night, demonstrations were growing against a travel ban Donald Trump had issued against visitors from seven Muslim-majority countries. The night was chillier than normal and I had not brought an adequate jacket. Luckily, the train to the airport was warm, full to the brim with jittery, talkative protesters. The airport itself was a rowdy scene: cabs and Ubers stalled as angry protesters blocked the roads, meters still running; demonstrators in hijabs prayed on their protest signs in baggage claim as others shouted at any arriving flyer coming for their luggage. Trump was the most outrageous man in America then, his election a shock to a wide swath of the world.After a few hours, whispers of a $150bn face floated through the crowd: Sergey Brin, creator and co-founder of Google, was there. At the time, he was the president of Google's parent company Alphabet, which also owns YouTube. The effect was thrilling: one of the richest and most powerful men in the world was registering his discontent with Trump by bodily joining a protest against him. Brin, a native of Moscow who arrived in the US at the age of six, said he came to SFO that night because I'm a refugee". It was a personal rebuke of Trump, the consummate nativist. Continue reading...

Online giant is among several companies ending diversity, equity and inclusion programs before Trump takes officeAmazon.com is winding down diversity programs ahead of Republican Donald Trump's return to the US presidency, amid growing conservative opposition to such initiatives.Some of biggest businesses in the US have been scaling back their diversity initiatives, years after pushing for more inclusive policies in the wake of protests that followed the police killings of George Floyd and other Black Americans in 2020. Continue reading...

Meta, fresh off announcement to end factchecking, follows McDonald's and Walmart in rolling back diversity initiativesFollowing a week in which Mark Zuckerberg announced that Meta was getting rid of factchecking, as of Friday the company is also terminating its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, effective immediately.An internal memo from Meta acknowledged that the legal and policy landscape surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the United States is changing", while pointing to recent supreme court decisions and the charged" view some have of DEI as a concept. Axios and Business Insider first reported the memo. While Meta confirmed to the Guardian the company is ending its DEI practices, the company did not respond to a request for a comment about how the decision aligns with its overarching goals. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. You can read our latest reporting on the case here:

Justices weighed importance of security with freedom of speech in oral arguments that went over nearly an hour

Shawna Kay Williams-Pinnock calls for lessons about harmful content and social media literacy, plus letters from Stuart Harrington and Cyndy EtlerIn the article (As a child psychiatrist, I see what smartphones are doing to kids' mental health - and it's terrifying, 3 January), Dr Emily Sehmer, a UK-based psychiatrist, expressed concerns about the deleterious effects of smartphone use on children. She hopes to keep her children away from such devices and social media until they are 16 years old. She suggests other parents do the same.Her sheltering" approach may be counterproductive. Some children could source alternative devices and secretly engage with social media. After all, the forbidden is often more enticing. Moreover, a 16-year-old may still be woefully unprepared to navigate online spaces responsibly. Continue reading...

With brutishly fast zombies, raw action and most importantly an over-the-shoulder viewpoint, the influence of Capcom's horror game can still be feltIt is an interesting quirk of video game history that one of the greatest ever horror titles debuted on the Nintendo GameCube, a toylike console better known for the cutest titles in the Zelda series and Animal Crossing. But in 2002, Capcom revealed five exclusives to boost the beleaguered platform - and among them was Resident Evil 4, technically the 13th title in the franchise, which on its release three years later would be considered its zenith. It was an exciting new lease of life for the survival horror genre.Not that you'd guess all this from the game's extraordinarily pedestrian setup. Six years after the fall of the Umbrella Corporation smouldering cop Leon Kennedy has been dispatched on a mission to retrieve the US president's kidnapped daughter, who has been spotted in a tiny village in rural Spain. For some reason best known to the Secret Service, he's going in alone. Continue reading...

Sarah Silverman and others file court case claiming CEO approved use of dataset despite warnings

The company's plan to end its factchecking program is about appeasing Trump. That signals the making of a mafia stateThis week Meta announced the elimination of its factchecking program in the US and rollbacks to content moderation policies on hateful conduct". These measures undoubtedly open the floodgates to more hateful, harassing and inciting content on Facebook and Instagram. Immigrants and LGBTQ+ communities are two of the groups most likely to be affected.Last month, after Donald Trump won the election, Zuckerberg visited Trump in Mar-a-Lago and then Meta sent $1m to his inauguration fund. When asked for comment about Meta's policy changes, Trump admitted that Zuckerberg was probably" influenced by his threats to imprison the tech CEO. Continue reading...

Whether you're making comforting curries, casseroles or chilli con carne, we've tested the top slow cookers for serving up winter warmers The best blenders to blitz like a pro, tried and tested, from Ninja to NutribulletAs January beds in and our craving for cosiness increases, you may be minded to dig out the slow cooker. Coming home to a warm, bubbling meal - with very little effort - is a real treat in the cold and dark. Plus, slow cooking can be an economical method of cooking.If you have yet to experience the comfort and joy of a slow cooker, or if your ancient model has finally died a death, it could be time to treat yourself to a season of stews, casseroles, curries and more. I've spent weeks testing slow cookers to compile a shortlist of the most functional, useful and well-designed recommendations to transform your dinner time.Best overall slow cooker:

X owner and far-right politician appear to agree on everything, as Musk faces accusations of meddling in German electionElon Musk has praised the co-leader of Germany's far-right Alternative fur Deutschland party, as he repeated his claim that only the AfD can save Germany" during a controversial live talk on his social media platform X.The virtual encounter between Musk and Alice Weidel on Thursday took place amid growing criticism over the US billionaire's vocal support of far-right, anti-establishment parties across Europe, and accusations he is meddling in the campaign for Germany's 23 February election. Continue reading...

Tech giants follow footsteps of other major companies, including Amazon, Meta, OpenAI and UberGoogle and Microsoft have donated $1m each to Donald Trump's inauguration fund, following in the footsteps of other major companies including Amazon, Meta, OpenAI and Uber.Google is pleased to support the 2025 inauguration, with a livestream on YouTube and a direct link on our homepage. We're also donating to the inaugural committee," Karan Bhatia, Google's global head of government affairs and public policy, confirmed in a statement to the Guardian on Thursday. Continue reading...

Thierry Breton says EU is not trying to censor tech chief's discussion with Alice Weidel of German far-right partyA former EU leader on tech has accused Elon Musk of lying like hell" by claiming the bloc was trying to stop an interview the owner of X had set up with the co-leader of the German far-right party Alternative fur Deutschland.Thierry Breton, who quit as a European commissioner in September, having overseen the passage of ambitious legislation designed to regulate big tech, said Musk had been disingenuous in claiming the EU was trying to censor his discussion with Alice Weidel, which took place on Thursday evening. Continue reading...

Mark Zuckerberg's move to end factchecking in US reflects president-elect's views on social media, says HaugenMark Zuckerberg has heard the message" from Donald Trump on restricting online content and his Meta platforms will intervene less and less" on users during the president-elect's administration, according to the whistleblower Frances Haugen.Haugen, who revealed the Facebook and Instagram owner's struggles with user safety in 2021, said the US president-elect thought the right way to run social media is with no restrictions". Continue reading...

Rasheed Abueideh's game, based on a folk tale about a mother's escape to Lebanon has been rejected almost 300 times, but he hopes it can be completed even in the event of his disappearanceIn the city of Nablus in the West Bank, Rasheed Abueideh owns a nut roastery, where he works to provide for his family. He is also an award-winning game developer. A decade ago, as the 2014 Gaza war raged, he created a harrowing video game called Lilya and the Shadows of War, about a man trying to find safety for his daughter and himself - but as missiles fall around them, it quickly becomes clear that there is no safety. When the game was released in 2016, it was initially rejected by Apple on the grounds of inappropriate content, a decision reversed after a week of outcry.Despite the acclaim and attention that Lilya received, however, Abueideh has not been able to raise funding for his next game through conventional means. The game he envisions, Dreams on a Pillow, is about the 1948 Nakba, told through a folk tale about a mother in the Arab-Israeli war, in which more than half the Palestinian population was displaced. He tells me that his game has been rejected almost 300 times, by publishers and providers of cultural grants, for being too controversial, too much of a risk. Talking about the Palestinian story was always forbidden," he says. Continue reading...

Meta has provided over $100m for certified organizations to conduct factchecks on its platforms since 2016Mark Zuckerberg's decision to end factchecking on Facebook and Instagram in the US already has factchecking journalists bracing for cuts at their organizations, given the size of Meta's funding.The social media giant has provided more than $100m for outside organizations certified by the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) to conduct factchecks on its social networks since 2016, which would result in posts receiving accuracy ratings and having their reach reduced if false. Major outlets like USA Today and Reuters have partnered with the social media company for these factchecks, as have factcheck specific sites like FactCheck.org. In all, 10 outlets are listed by Meta as current partners in the US. Continue reading...

Brazilian officials also ask tech giant to clarify whether it intends to implement changes in country within 30 daysThe decision by the social media giant Meta to end factchecking in the United States is bad for democracy", Brazil's newly appointed communication minister, Sidonio Palmeira, said on Wednesday.Meta's founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, stunned many with his announcement on Tuesday that he was pulling the plug on factchecking at Facebook and Instagram in the US, citing concerns about political bias. Continue reading...

Politicians criticise Mark Zuckerberg's choice to scrap factcheckers, affecting Facebook, Instagram and Threads

Mark Zuckerberg accused fact-checkers in US of making biased decisions Meta scraps factcheckersThe Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced on Tuesday his company, Meta, would be scrapping factcheckers in the US, accusing them of making biased decisions and saying he wanted to enable greater free speech. Meta uses third-party independent factcheckers around the world. Here, one of them who works for the Full Fact organisation in London, explains what they do and reacts to Zuckerberg's dispiriting" allegation.I have been a factchecker at Full Fact in London for a year, investigating suspicious content on Facebook, X and in newspapers. Our bread and butter includes a lot of video disinformation about wars in the Middle East and Ukraine and AI-generated fake video clips of politicians, which are getting harder to disprove. Colleagues work on Covid disinformation, cancer cure hoaxes and there's a lot of climate stuff as we're seeing more hurricanes and wildfires. Continue reading...

Data from the Entertainment and Retail Association shows more and more players leaving physical games behind for digital downloads and subscriptionsAs music sales and streaming revenue reaches a high of 2.4bn - the highest since 2001, not accounting for significant inflation - the UK video game market, which has grown almost continually for decades, has shrunk by 4.4%. The most significant decline was in boxed video game sales, down 35%.Data from Digital Entertainment and Retail Association (ERA) puts the total worth of the UK video game market in 2024 at 4.6bn, double the music market and behind TV and movies at 5bn. Continue reading...

Introducing my kids to games like Link's Awakening has given me a whole new perspective on these old favourites and made me excited for what new video game adventures we'll have together in the futureThanks to some distinctly Scottish weather over the holidays, my family and I ended up celebrating Hogmanay at home rather than at the party we'd planned to attend. My smallest son's wee pal and his parents came over for dinner, and when the smaller members of our group started to spiral out of control around 9pm, we threw them a little midnight countdown party in Animal Crossing.The last time I played Animal Crossing was in the depths of lockdown. Tending my island paradise helped me cope while largely imprisoned in a 2.5 bedroom basement flat with a baby, a toddler and a teenager. (I was far from the only one - the National Videogame Museum compiled an archive of people's Animal Crossing experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic, and it's evident that it was a lifeline for many.) Our guests had brought their family Switch, and we set up the kids with their little avatars so they could join the animals' New Year party. Continue reading...

Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the co-chair of the social media company's oversight board and the former prime minister of Denmark, said 'Meta systems have been too complex', adding there had been 'over-enforcement'. She told BBC Radio 4 that she did not think Nick Clegg left Meta, where he was president of global affairs, because of the change, adding she knew he would agree with her

Tech entrepreneur and family say Ann Altman's claims that abuse started in childhood are utterly untrue'The sister of the OpenAI chief executive, Sam Altman, has filed a lawsuit alleging that he regularly sexually abused her for several years, starting when they were children.The lawsuit filed on 6 January in a US district court in the Eastern District of Missouri alleges that the abuse began when Ann Altman was three and Sam Altman was 12. The filing alleges that the last instance of abuse took place when he was an adult but his sister, known as Annie, was still a child. Continue reading...

Bulk of funds for electric vehicle firm relate to government's plug-in car grant, analysis findsElon Musk's electric vehicle company has received almost 200m in grants from the UK government since 2016, according to analysis.Tesla, which is run by the tech billionaire who has become increasingly vocal about the UK government, has received 191m from Westminster through grants, according to Tussell, which analyses public contract data. Continue reading...

The Meta boss's decision to drastically change Facebook and Instagram's factchecking programme has set the stage for a fact-free four years onlineSocial media has always acted as something of a funhouse mirror to society as a whole. The algorithms and amplifications of an always-online existence have helped accentuate the worst parts of our lives, while tucking in and hiding the best. It's part of why we're so polarised today, with two tribes shouting past one another on social media into a gaping chasm of hopelessness.Which is what makes a declaration by one titan of big tech this week so worrying. Abandon hope all ye who enter: less than two weeks before Donald Trump returns to the White House for a second crack at the US presidency, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Threads, has made major changes to content moderation, and in doing so appears to align itself with the views of the incoming president.Chris Stokel-Walker is the author of TikTok Boom: The Inside Story of the World's Favourite App Continue reading...

The social media giant enters a more partisan political era as its CEO pursues Donald Trump's approvalMeta is shifting to the right, following the prevailing political winds blowing through the United States. A more partisan era now looms for the social media giant and its corporate leaders, though Mark Zuckerberg himself has few personal politics other than ambition.On Tuesday morning, Meta disbanded Facebook and Instagram's third-party factchecking program. The company will also recommend more political content across its social networks. Continue reading...

Mark Zuckerberg's decision regarding Meta platforms condemned as a full bending of the knee' to Donald TrumpMark Zuckerberg's decision to ditch factcheckers on Facebook and prioritise free speech" weeks before Donald Trump returns to power was condemned on Tuesday as a major step back" for public discourse.The Meta founder announced multiple changes to his platforms including Facebook and Instagram in an attempt to dramatically reduce the amount of censorship". Continue reading...

Social media company adds Trump ally to board in latest maneuver to improve ties with president-electMeta has appointed three new members to its board of directors, including Dana White, the president and CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and a familiar figure in the orbit of the incoming president, Donald Trump.The social media company, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, is also adding the auto tycoon John Elkann and the tech investor Charlie Songhurst, Meta's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, said in a Facebook post late on Monday. Continue reading...

Mark Zuckerberg says company will dramatically reduce censorship' across Facebook, Instagram and ThreadsMeta will get rid of factcheckers, dramatically reduce the amount of censorship" and recommend more political content on its platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and Threads, founder Mark Zuckerberg has announced.In a video message, Zuckerberg vowed to prioritise free speech after the return of Donald Trump to the White House and said that, starting in the US, he would get rid of factcheckers and replace them with community notes similar to X". Continue reading...

Centrist and globalist Clegg is being replaced by a conservative champion ahead of Trump's second termHello, and welcome to TechScape. Happy New Year! May dry January leave us all with fewer headaches. Today in TechScape: Meta promotes a Trumpian bulldog, TikTok faces mounting problems that aren't a ban, Meta faces backlash against its approach to AI and Elon Musk meddles abroad. Continue reading...