This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareCalifornia’s privacy law, often called the United States, can finally be enforced starting Wednesday. And despite industry calls for the state to hold off because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, Attorney General Xavier Becerra is forging ahead.“For sure we will start enforcing on July 1,” Becerra said in an interview.The law after a winding and sometimes surprising route through a voter ballot process, the state legislature and a contentious amendment period culminating in a final version last fall. It gives consumers...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareCalifornia’s privacy law, often called the United States, can finally be enforced starting Wednesday. And despite industry calls for the state to hold off because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, Attorney General Xavier Becerra is forging ahead.“For sure we will start enforcing on July 1,” Becerra said in an interview.The law after a winding and sometimes surprising route through a voter ballot process, the state legislature and a contentious amendment period culminating in a final version last fall. It gives consumers...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareMicrosoft said Sunday it will continue talks to buy short-form video app TikTok after its chief executive spoke with President Trump, following a clouding the future of the Chinese-owned app.Microsoft said in a that chief executive Satya Nadella and Trump had spoken and that the company is committed to addressing Trump’s concerns about the social media platform. indicated he was not in favor of a deal and said that he planned to ban TikTok in the United States.The president had also been weighing options over the past few...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareMicrosoft said Sunday it will continue talks to buy short-form video app TikTok after its chief executive spoke with President Trump, following a clouding the future of the Chinese-owned app.Microsoft said in a that chief executive Satya Nadella and Trump had spoken and that the company is committed to addressing Trump’s concerns about the social media platform. indicated he was not in favor of a deal and said that he planned to ban TikTok in the United States.The president had also been weighing options over the past few...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareSAN FRANCISCO — The Bay Area was supposed to be exceptional.It was one of the to fully shut down to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. Nearly everyone wears masks, in stores and on streets. Its progressive residents generally have been inclined to follow the rules, and there’s a high level of trust in public health officials, local governments and the fast-changing science.But now, more than four months after the region put some of the nation’s first shelter-in-place orders in effect, the Bay Area is experiencing a...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareSAN FRANCISCO — The Bay Area was supposed to be exceptional.It was one of the to fully shut down to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. Nearly everyone wears masks, in stores and on streets. Its progressive residents generally have been inclined to follow the rules, and there’s a high level of trust in public health officials, local governments and the fast-changing science.But now, more than four months after the region put some of the nation’s first shelter-in-place orders in effect, the Bay Area is experiencing a...WW…

Tech's titans set the agenda for U.S. employers in early March, sending staff to work from home as the coronavirus started to spread near their West Coast headquarters.And despite pressure from the president and other politicians to begin to reopen society to resuscitate a moribund economy, those same giants - Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon and Twitter - will likely be among the last large employers to reopen their office doors and welcome staff back.Google and Facebook told employees that many workers who can do their jobs remotely should plan to do so until 2021. Amazon said its...…Tech's titans set the agenda for U.S. employers in early March, sending staff to work from home as the coronavirus started to spread near their West Coast headquarters.And despite pressure from the president and other politicians to begin to reopen society to resuscitate a moribund economy, those same giants - Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon and Twitter - will likely be among the last large employers to reopen their office doors and welcome staff back.Google and Facebook told employees that many workers who can do their jobs remotely should plan to do so until 2021. Amazon said its...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareElon Musk threw a surprising bone to Reddit GameStop investors early Monday, grilling Robinhood’s CEO on precisely why the trading app had halted buying for GameStop just as the stock was rising meteorically.“Do you want to hear the real story from Vlad [from] Robinhood about what happened on the Street with GameStop?” Musk asked on Clubhouse, an exclusive audio app that has become popular with an elite set of Silicon Valley-ites.He asked the moderators to turn on audio for Robinhood chief executive Vladimir Tenev, who...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareElon Musk threw a surprising bone to Reddit GameStop investors early Monday, grilling Robinhood’s CEO on precisely why the trading app had halted buying for GameStop just as the stock was rising meteorically.“Do you want to hear the real story from Vlad [from] Robinhood about what happened on the Street with GameStop?” Musk asked on Clubhouse, an exclusive audio app that has become popular with an elite set of Silicon Valley-ites.He asked the moderators to turn on audio for Robinhood chief executive Vladimir Tenev, who...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareAmazon suspended the pro-Trump social network Parler from its Web-hosting service over the weekend, a move that threatens to darken the site indefinitely after its users glorified the recent riot at the U.S. Capitol.The e-commerce and Web-hosting giant said Parler had violated its terms of service given its inadequate content-moderation practices. It implemented its punishment just before midnight Pacific time Monday.The move by Amazon Web Services, or AWS, marks the latest and most crippling blow for the pro-Trump social...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareAmazon suspended the pro-Trump social network Parler from its Web-hosting service over the weekend, a move that threatens to darken the site indefinitely after its users glorified the recent riot at the U.S. Capitol.The e-commerce and Web-hosting giant said Parler had violated its terms of service given its inadequate content-moderation practices. It implemented its punishment just before midnight Pacific time Monday.The move by Amazon Web Services, or AWS, marks the latest and most crippling blow for the pro-Trump social...WW…

Gift ShareDemocrats and Republicans grilled Facebook, Google and Twitter at a highly partisan congressional hearing Wednesday that exposed differing views and deep distrust about the power of Silicon Valley to police the web.Senate lawmakers had invited the three tech giants’ top executives to testify as part of a broad review of decades-old federal laws known as Section 230 that spare social media sites from being held liable for the posts, photos and videos they allow or remove. Many members of Congress increasingly have come to see the rules as outdated, and Facebook chief executive Mark...…Gift ShareDemocrats and Republicans grilled Facebook, Google and Twitter at a highly partisan congressional hearing Wednesday that exposed differing views and deep distrust about the power of Silicon Valley to police the web.Senate lawmakers had invited the three tech giants’ top executives to testify as part of a broad review of decades-old federal laws known as Section 230 that spare social media sites from being held liable for the posts, photos and videos they allow or remove. Many members of Congress increasingly have come to see the rules as outdated, and Facebook chief executive Mark...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift SharePresident Trump issued two executive orders late Thursday against China-based TikTok and messaging app , citing national security concerns in a sweeping order that could prevent the companies from doing most business in the United States.The orders take effect in 45 days and prohibit any U.S. company or person from transacting with ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, or WeChat. While the nature of the banned transactions are not specific, it may mean the companies would not be able to appear on Apple’s App Store...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift SharePresident Trump issued two executive orders late Thursday against China-based TikTok and messaging app , citing national security concerns in a sweeping order that could prevent the companies from doing most business in the United States.The orders take effect in 45 days and prohibit any U.S. company or person from transacting with ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, or WeChat. While the nature of the banned transactions are not specific, it may mean the companies would not be able to appear on Apple’s App Store...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareFacebook said Tuesday that it took down 7 million posts pushing covid-19 misinformation from its main social media site and Instagram between April and June as the company tried to combat the rapid spread of dangerous information about the novel coronavirus.The company also put warning notes on 98 million covid-19 misinformation posts on Facebook during that period — labeling posts that were misleading but not deemed harmful enough to remove.Facebook and fellow big social media sites Twitter and YouTube have been...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareFacebook said Tuesday that it took down 7 million posts pushing covid-19 misinformation from its main social media site and Instagram between April and June as the company tried to combat the rapid spread of dangerous information about the novel coronavirus.The company also put warning notes on 98 million covid-19 misinformation posts on Facebook during that period — labeling posts that were misleading but not deemed harmful enough to remove.Facebook and fellow big social media sites Twitter and YouTube have been...WW…

Listen13 minCommentGift ShareSEATTLE — In 2019, a mid-level employee at Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin had grown fed up with the company, and as he left, he wrote a long memo that he sent to Bezos, chief executive Bob Smith and other senior leaders: “Our current culture is toxic to our success and many can see it spreading throughout the company.” The problems at the spaceflight company were “systemic,” according to the memo, which was obtained by The Washington Post and verified by two former employees familiar with the matter, and “the loss of trust in Blue’s leadership is common.”It was one of...…Listen13 minCommentGift ShareSEATTLE — In 2019, a mid-level employee at Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin had grown fed up with the company, and as he left, he wrote a long memo that he sent to Bezos, chief executive Bob Smith and other senior leaders: “Our current culture is toxic to our success and many can see it spreading throughout the company.” The problems at the spaceflight company were “systemic,” according to the memo, which was obtained by The Washington Post and verified by two former employees familiar with the matter, and “the loss of trust in Blue’s leadership is common.”It was one of...WW…