It’s been a busy week in Facebook-must-answer-to-someone land. I really do feel like the conversation has been elevated by whistleblower Frances Haugen’s testimony before the Senate on Tuesday. I feel strongly that Facebook should be forced to offer an algorithm-free version of its product, as I argued earlier this week. [Keep reading]
Facebook was again hauled before Congress this week, this time to answer for a set of stories published in the Wall Steet Journal saying the company has internal research showing its tools hurt kids — Instagram exacerbates body image issues for teen girls, for example — but it hasn’t really [Keep reading]
I believe there are good people inside Facebook — plenty of them — who know the company’s tech tools are causing great harm, and wish to do something about it. But right now, the firm has mounting evidence that its software does damage to a great many people — teen [Keep reading]
Will a new Texas law require social media companies like Facebook and Twitter to host vaccine disinformation, or even hate speech? The law also makes it a crime to “de-boost” comments and other posts, forbidding firms from taking away algorithmic amplification that helps extreme posts go viral. But are Facebook [Keep reading]
Facebook profits from advertisements it knows, or should know, are fraudulent, a federal lawsuit filed in California alleges. The social media giant makes it easy for criminals to target consumers who are not only likely to click on certain kinds of ads, but also likely to follow through with purchases, [Keep reading]
How do you catch Internet con artists? Well, you con them. Alan, who lives near Washington D.C., had traveled to Dubai and to Ghana thinking he was helping a princess gain access to her multi-million dollar inheritance. Before his fever was broken, Alan — not his real name — sent [Keep reading]
Jeremy Vincent was startled out of his sleep in the middle of the night with the ring of his smartphone. Its screen read, “Mom’s Cell.” But when he answered, he didn’t hear his mom’s voice. Instead, he heard this: “I’m going to let you talk to your mom, your mom’s [Keep reading]
I like a good challenge as a storyteller. And let me tell you, making “third-party code” sound sexy is a challenge. But that recent Apple ad showing an army of people following a cell phone user around, cataloging his every move — well, that’s real. It’s hard to believe, but [Keep reading]
INTRODUCTION Computer criminals armed with ransomware were able to hold U.S. drivers hostage earlier this month. The Colonial Pipeline attack had such dramatic real-world results that the simmering ransomware crisis has boiled over. It’s impossible to ignore now. But what does that really mean? Ransomware criminals are raking in the [Keep reading]
The rise of ransomware gangs parallels the rise of cryptocurrency, and that’s not a coincidence. In today’s “Debugger in 10,” I talk with Duke’s David Hoffman, who says it’s time to regulate crypto so it can’t be easily used by crime gangs — even if that means crushing the very [Keep reading]
Bob Sullivan