Facebook employees collected evidence showing the company is giving right-wing pages preferential treatment when it comes to misinformation. And they’re worried about how the company will handle the president’s falsehoods in an election year.After months of debate and disagreement over the handling of inflammatory or misleading posts from Donald Trump, Facebook employees want CEO Mark Zuckerberg to what the company would do if the leader of the free world uses the social network to undermine the results of the 2020 US presidential election.“I do think we’re headed for a problematic scenario...…Facebook employees collected evidence showing the company is giving right-wing pages preferential treatment when it comes to misinformation. And they’re worried about how the company will handle the president’s falsehoods in an election year.After months of debate and disagreement over the handling of inflammatory or misleading posts from Donald Trump, Facebook employees want CEO Mark Zuckerberg to what the company would do if the leader of the free world uses the social network to undermine the results of the 2020 US presidential election.“I do think we’re headed for a problematic scenario...WW…

A Robert E. Lee High School in Virginia was also renamed for civil rights icon John Lewis.Statues of Christopher Columbus have been removed from Chicago parks and a statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee has been taken out of the Virginia state Capitol, as the linked to racism and colonialism continues to gather momentum in the United States.Lee's name was also removed from a school in Fairfax County, Virginia, on Thursday, and for civil rights icon John Lewis, who .Two statues of Columbus were removed from Chicago's Grant Park and Arrigo Park early Friday morning after protesters had...…A Robert E. Lee High School in Virginia was also renamed for civil rights icon John Lewis.Statues of Christopher Columbus have been removed from Chicago parks and a statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee has been taken out of the Virginia state Capitol, as the linked to racism and colonialism continues to gather momentum in the United States.Lee's name was also removed from a school in Fairfax County, Virginia, on Thursday, and for civil rights icon John Lewis, who .Two statues of Columbus were removed from Chicago's Grant Park and Arrigo Park early Friday morning after protesters had...WW…

"I actually couldn’t believe this was happening,” she told BuzzFeed News. Target, which operates the Starbucks location, says it was a mistake.A Muslim teenager has filed a human rights complaint after a barista at a Minnesota Starbucks gave her a cup with “ISIS” written on it instead of her name.On July 1, Aishah and a friend were at a Starbucks inside a Target store in St. Paul. The 19-year-old, who asked that her last name not be used due to safety concerns, said the barista had asked her to repeat her name when taking the order. But when Aishah was handed her drink, it came with “ISIS”...…"I actually couldn’t believe this was happening,” she told BuzzFeed News. Target, which operates the Starbucks location, says it was a mistake.A Muslim teenager has filed a human rights complaint after a barista at a Minnesota Starbucks gave her a cup with “ISIS” written on it instead of her name.On July 1, Aishah and a friend were at a Starbucks inside a Target store in St. Paul. The 19-year-old, who asked that her last name not be used due to safety concerns, said the barista had asked her to repeat her name when taking the order. But when Aishah was handed her drink, it came with “ISIS”...WW…

As they stole stories from real newspapers, these sites baffled scientists, activists, and journalists. Until now.Jay Pinho and his wife, Victoria, rely on Google Alerts to track the public appearances of US Supreme Court justices on their website, . But late last year, the results began to worry them.“A crop of news [website] domains were popping up that I'd never heard of before, and they were often publishing directly plagiarized pieces from real outlets,” he told BuzzFeed News.In addition to being plagiarized, the content flooding his Google Alert results was often at least a year old....…As they stole stories from real newspapers, these sites baffled scientists, activists, and journalists. Until now.Jay Pinho and his wife, Victoria, rely on Google Alerts to track the public appearances of US Supreme Court justices on their website, . But late last year, the results began to worry them.“A crop of news [website] domains were popping up that I'd never heard of before, and they were often publishing directly plagiarized pieces from real outlets,” he told BuzzFeed News.In addition to being plagiarized, the content flooding his Google Alert results was often at least a year old....WW…

Sensor Tower has owned at least 20 apps that track data passing through people’s phones.Sensor Tower, a popular analytics platform for tech developers and investors, has been secretly collecting data from millions of people who have installed popular VPN and ad-blocking apps for Android and iOS, a BuzzFeed News investigation has found. These apps, which don’t disclose their connection to the company or reveal that they feed user data to Sensor Tower’s products, have more than 35 million downloads.Since 2015, has owned at least 20 Android and iOS apps. Four of these — Free and Unlimited VPN,...…Sensor Tower has owned at least 20 apps that track data passing through people’s phones.Sensor Tower, a popular analytics platform for tech developers and investors, has been secretly collecting data from millions of people who have installed popular VPN and ad-blocking apps for Android and iOS, a BuzzFeed News investigation has found. These apps, which don’t disclose their connection to the company or reveal that they feed user data to Sensor Tower’s products, have more than 35 million downloads.Since 2015, has owned at least 20 Android and iOS apps. Four of these — Free and Unlimited VPN,...WW…

Gannett, Bonnier, Edmunds, and Elle were among the publishers receiving the traffic.It was a weed that Google kept trying and failing to kill.The browser extension kept appearing and being removed from the Chrome Web Store. Its most recent stint saw it gain more than 20,000 installs before Google booted it as a follow-up to the company’s of more than 500 malicious extensions."We take policy violations seriously. If we find any extension on the Chrome Web Store that violates our policies, we take action,” a Google spokesperson told BuzzFeed News.The mass removal was Google’s largest action...…Gannett, Bonnier, Edmunds, and Elle were among the publishers receiving the traffic.It was a weed that Google kept trying and failing to kill.The browser extension kept appearing and being removed from the Chrome Web Store. Its most recent stint saw it gain more than 20,000 installs before Google booted it as a follow-up to the company’s of more than 500 malicious extensions."We take policy violations seriously. If we find any extension on the Chrome Web Store that violates our policies, we take action,” a Google spokesperson told BuzzFeed News.The mass removal was Google’s largest action...WW…

“Pinterest just called my mom out for looking up DIY coronavirus face masks.”People seeking an online escape from coronavirus news and misinformation have found it on Pinterest.The social media site’s strict means anyone searching for “coronavirus” or “COVID-19” is sent to a with content from the World Health Organization.“Pins about this topic often violate our , which prohibit harmful medical misinformation,” reads a message at the top of the page. “Because of this, we've limited search results to Pins from internationally-recognized health organizations.”Pinterest's community guidelines...…“Pinterest just called my mom out for looking up DIY coronavirus face masks.”People seeking an online escape from coronavirus news and misinformation have found it on Pinterest.The social media site’s strict means anyone searching for “coronavirus” or “COVID-19” is sent to a with content from the World Health Organization.“Pins about this topic often violate our , which prohibit harmful medical misinformation,” reads a message at the top of the page. “Because of this, we've limited search results to Pins from internationally-recognized health organizations.”Pinterest's community guidelines...WW…

“I think there we will unfortunately see more closures of newspapers, more news deserts as a result of this,” said one publisher.The journalists at BuzzFeed News are proud to bring you trustworthy and relevant reporting about the coronavirus. To help keep this news free, and sign up for our newsletter, .As the reporters, photographers, editors, and designers at the Seattle Times report on a community stricken with the coronavirus, their paper is also battling another serious threat. In just a few weeks, its local advertising business has all but disappeared.A cruel irony of the pandemic,...…“I think there we will unfortunately see more closures of newspapers, more news deserts as a result of this,” said one publisher.The journalists at BuzzFeed News are proud to bring you trustworthy and relevant reporting about the coronavirus. To help keep this news free, and sign up for our newsletter, .As the reporters, photographers, editors, and designers at the Seattle Times report on a community stricken with the coronavirus, their paper is also battling another serious threat. In just a few weeks, its local advertising business has all but disappeared.A cruel irony of the pandemic,...WW…