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Tech NewsSocial MediaFacebook Promises to Let Users Share News in Australia Again After Negotiations With Government
Facebook will allow users in Australia to read and share news on the social media platform again following negotiations with the Australian government, according to Australia’s treasurer Josh Frydenberg and representatives from Facebook. Who blinked first? That’s a matter of interpretation, it would seem. Facebook previously blocked all news sharing on the site for the … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsTikTok Users Are Burning Snowballs in Viral Videos to ‘Prove’ the Snow is Fake
Have you seen those viral videos on TikTok and Twitter where users are burning snow to “prove” that it’s actually fake? Needless to say, the snow is real. The viral videos actually show a perfectly normal reaction to placing the flame of a lighter or match against a snowball. But that hasn’t stopped these videos … Continued
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Tech NewsUber Drivers Entitled to Paid Vacation and Minimum Wage According to UK Supreme Court
Uber drivers in the UK should be classified as workers and entitled to both paid vacation time and the minimum wage, according to a ruling Friday by Britain’s Supreme Court. But Uber’s London office is already disputing the scope and relevance of the ruling for its British drivers, insisting that its own rules have changed … Continued
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Tech NewsSocial MediaFacebook ‘Endangered Public Safety’ by Blocking News During Pandemic According to Australia
Facebook has endangered public safety by blocking news on the platform in Australia during the covid-19 pandemic, according to Australia’s Treasurer Josh Frydenberg a high-ranking official in the country’s ruling Liberal Party. Frydenberg appeared on the local TV program “Today,” on Friday morning, Australia time, and insisted the government was not going to tolerate Facebook’s … Continued
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EartherBitcoin Miners Allegedly Steal $2 Million of Electricity in Malaysia: Report
Bitcoin miners in Malaysia have stolen over $2 million worth of electricity since the end of 2020, according to police in the state of Johor Bahru and a new report from the Malay Mail. Police reportedly seized 1,746 bitcoin mining machines this week and have arrested seven men who authorities have claimed are part of … Continued
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Tech NewsFacebook Accidentally Blocks Its Own Page in Australia Following News Ban
Facebook blocked dozens of charity groups, nonprofit organizations, and even random big box retailers in Australia late Wednesday (early Thursday, local time), a move that appears to be collateral damage from Facebook’s ban on news in the country. Facebook even briefly blocked its own page in Australia, according to multiple reports and confirmation from a … Continued
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EartherEarth ScienceTexas Mayor Announces Resignation After Unhinged Facebook Rant About Power Outages Goes Viral
Tim Boyd, the mayor of Colorado City, Texas, announced his resignation on Tuesday following a viral Facebook post where he whined about residents who wanted help during the extreme weather that has caused widespread power outages and dangerously cold conditions for millions of people throughout the state. Boyd accused some Texans who didn’t have power … Continued
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Tech NewsCultureThis Anti-Burglar Device From 1923 Was Inspired by Horrific Gas Warfare of World War I
Imagine you’re a bank teller with a gun pointed at your head. What do you do? If you’re smart, you’ll just give the robber all the money he asks for. But if you’re an inventor from 1923 you’ve got a much better idea. You hit a button, causing an explosion that can be heard for … Continued
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Tech NewsTikTok Slammed in Europe Over ‘Hidden Advertising’ to Kids
The European consumer advocacy group BEUC filed a complaint against TikTok on Tuesday, including allegations the Chinese-based social media platform isn’t been transparent about why it needs to collect some data on users. The complaint also claims TikTok is deploying “hidden advertising” aimed at children, according to the group’s press release. While most of the … Continued
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Tech NewsSocial MediaFacebook to Restrict Content From Myanmar’s Military Government Following Coup
Facebook has pledged to restrict the widespread distribution of content from Myanmar’s military regime following a successful coup that toppled the democratically elected government on Feb. 1. The pledge comes from a new blog post at Facebook’s website that seems to implicitly acknowledge the potential for authoritarians to use the social media platform in horrendous … Continued
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Tech NewsMicrosoft Wants U.S. to Adopt Internet Rules From Australia That Google Hates
Microsoft would like the U.S. government to adopt media rules that would force big tech companies to share profits with newspapers when they link to news content, according to a new blog post by Microsoft president Brad Smith. And the entire concept is controversial, to say the least. The profit-sharing idea, which has been proposed … Continued
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Tech NewsInstagram Bans Anti-Vaxxer Robert Kennedy Jr. for Spreading Covid-19 Misinformation
Instagram has banned notorious anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for spreading misinformation about covid-19 and the safety of vaccines. Strangely, Kennedy is still doing the exact same schtick on Instagram’s parent platform Facebook, a place where he hasn’t been banned. At least not yet. Kennedy, the son of former Attorney General Bobby Kennedy and nephew … Continued
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Tech NewsSocial MediaTwitter Blocks Hundreds of Accounts Tied to Protests by Farmers in India
Twitter has blocked the accounts of at least 500 people and groups involved in the current protests by farmers in India at the request of the Indian government, according to a new report from Bloomberg News. Some of the accounts have even been permanently deleted. The Indian government, led by nationalist figure Prime Minister Narendra … Continued
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Tech NewsInternetIn the 1970s, Email Was Special
What was the internet like in the 1970s? It was an incredibly small community of university researchers, government employees, military contractors, and more than a few spies. But those people all built and tinkered with the earliest technologies to create something that would transform the lives of everyone reading this message today. One of the … Continued
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Tech NewsPoliticsCNN Offers Free Live TV Stream of Trump’s Second Impeachment Trial
CNN is dropping its paywall on live video so that anyone with an internet connection can watch the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump this week in the U.S. Senate. Make that the second impeachment trial, if we want to be precise. The impeachment trial in the Senate officially begins at 1:00 p.m. ET … Continued
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Tech NewsTesla Discloses $1.5 Billion Purchase of Bitcoin in Latest SEC Filing
Tesla has purchased $1.5 billion in bitcoin, according to its latest SEC filing on Monday. The electric car company made the purchase sometime since January 2021, though the filing doesn’t say what price the company locked into. From the SEC filing: In January 2021, we updated our investment policy to provide us with more flexibility … Continued
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Tech NewsYouTuber Shot and Killed Filming ‘Prank’ Robbery Video With Butcher Knives
Timothy Wilks, a 20-year-old YouTuber, was shot and killed in Nashville on Friday night while trying to film a robbery “prank” video. Wilks and at least one friend reportedly approached a group of people in the parking lot of Urban Air, a trampoline business, while holding butcher knives, according to the Nashville Tennessean newspaper. One … Continued
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Tech NewsNevada Wants to Let Tech Companies Form Their Own Governments
Steve Sisolak, the Democratic governor of Nevada, wants to incentivize technology companies to move to his state, and he’s got some wild ideas about how to make that happen. The latest draft proposal, obtained by the Review-Journal, doesn’t just hand out the typical tax breaks that you’d expect from a governor. The proposal includes provisions … Continued
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Tech NewsSocial MediaMyanmar’s New Government Blocks Facebook After Military Coup
Myanmar’s new government has ordered internet providers in the country to block Facebook in an attempt to quell dissent following a successful military coup earlier this week, according to internet-monitoring service NetBlocks and internet company Telenor Myanmar. Roughly half of Myanmar’s population of 55 million people use Facebook, according to Burmese news site Irrawaddy, and … Continued
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Tech NewsElon Musk Returns to Twitter After 46-Hour Hiatus, Causes Dogecoin Price to Soar
Elon Musk made a triumphant return to Twitter overnight, following his announcement early Tuesday that he’d be leaving the social media platform for “a while.” How long did Musk last? Just over 46 hours. It must’ve been torture, as any fellow social media addict who’s ever tried to quit the service can attest. We all … Continued
By Matt Novak
Matt Novak
Matt Novak is a reporter at Gizmodo covering news and opinion, with a little history thrown in for good measure. Novak started at Gizmodo in 2013 and has been writing about past visions of the future at Paleofuture.com since 2007. Novak is fascinated with the history of technology and got his start writing professionally for Smithsonian magazine. Emails telling him to "stick to tech" can be sent to [email protected].
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