A failure around the Kenosha protests exposes the company's flaws |
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Welcome to Decrypted, Digital Trends' new daily newsletter guiding you through the latest news in the world of tech, with insights from our senior writers. |
With Facebook trying to moderate content ahead of election, Kenosha incident exposes problems |
By Will Nicol, Senior Writer
The 2020 election cycle is more contentious than usual, and social media companies are bracing themselves for the storm. Facebook in particular has faced constant criticism since the 2016 election, with critics skewering it for serving as a platform for misinformation and inflammatory political ads, and calling on the company to adopt stricter content moderation policies. As a result, the company is taking extra precautions this time around.
In general, Facebook has recoiled from calls to regulate speech. As CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a speech to Georgetown University students: "In times of social turmoil, our impulse is often to pull back on free expression … I believe we must continue to stand for free expression."
At the same time, Zuckerberg has admitted that misinformation is a problem, and this week he outlined steps Facebook is taking to curtail misinformation ahead of Election Day. Zuckerberg said that Facebook will not allow new political ads in the week before the election (although it will continue to allow ads from before that cutoff), and the company will also remove posts intended to suppress voting.
Despite Facebook's public efforts, the company still struggles to moderate problematic content. In an embarrassing incident this week, Facebook took credit for removing a militia event page ahead of protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin; in reality, Buzzfeed reported, the company's content moderators had decided the page did not violate its rules.The page was removed by an admin for the militia after a gunman shot protestors. |
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Reports say an antitrust suit against Google is coming soon. Maybe too soon |
By Will Nicol, Senior Writer
While the country waits for the House Judiciary Committee to release its recommendations on what to do about Big Tech's monopoly power, the New York Times reports that the Justice Department is moving ahead with its own antitrust maneuver: A lawsuit against Google. According to the report, the Justice Department will file its case this month.
If that seems soon to you, you're not alone. The Times reports that many of the lawyers involved in the investigation want more time to shore up the case, but Attorney General William Barr overruled them and set a strict deadline. Given the increasing public distaste for the power of big tech companies, a case against Google could be a PR victory for the Trump administration. As we saw during the House Judiciary hearing in July, there are multiple antitrust angles from which to attack Google. Companies like Yelp accuse Google of prioritizing its own content in search results, and some say Google's control of both the buying and selling sides of the digital ad market give it a monopoly. |
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Finding a suitable partner on a dating app is tough enough. It may become harder. |
By Meira Gebel, Contributor
Singles have been utilizing the bio section of their dating profiles to prominently display their political and social justice beliefs. Instructions like "swipe left if you voted for Trump" and hashtags like "#BlackLivesMatter" have become commonplace on apps like Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge.
Dating experts attribute the polarizing trend to the coronavirus pandemic, nationwide protests against racism and police brutality, and the upcoming presidential election. Match's Rachel DeAlto told DT's Meira Gebel that a recent survey showed "98% of singles want a partner who wants to talk about politics."
Sure, online dating has always been a place to stake out where you stand. But some users believe including social justice causes alongside your astrological sign to be another form of performative activism -- promoting an issue to say more about yourself as an ally than the cause itself. |
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We tried 'gaming supplements' to get a competitive edge |
By Drew Prindle, Features Editor
As ridiculous as it might sound, gaming supplements are a thing now. They're certainly not super-mainstream, but despite the fact that most people haven't used them, they are available from a wide range of different sellers, and come in just about every form you can imagine — everything from pills and powders to drinks and gummies.
Practically all of them pack a proprietary blend of chemicals, and promise to do things like boost your energy, heighten your focus, and improve your reaction time.
To put these grandiose claims to the test, DT's resident gonzo journalist Thor Benson decided to dive in and try out gamer supplements for himself. Every day, over the course of a week, Benson ingested one of the most popular supplements on the market and then tracked his performance stats with a series of tests. So can gamer supplements really give you an edge in video games? Check out the article to find out. |
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What we're reading this week |
- Seattle Times columnist Naomi Ishisaka writes about her disturbing discovery that Wikipedia claimed she was a murderer.
- An author's defense of looting kicked off a firestorm on social media. The New Yorker's Isaac Chotiner grilled her in a memorable interview.
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What we're watching -- Episodes on Netflix |
By Rob Oster, Copy Chief Matt LeBlanc is best known as the lovable but none-too-bright Joey Tribbiani from Friends. While he was obviously acting, what if the real LeBlanc were the polar opposite of the beloved Joey, a clever and callous self-serving jerk? That's a big part of the premise of Episodes, one of the funniest and most biting satires of the past decade. Criminally underwatched, the show skewers a Hollywood that has changed drastically in the nine years since it premiered as the spike in streaming content has resulted in higher-quality television. Episodes follows Sean (Stephen Mangan) and Beverly (Tamsin Greig) Lincoln, a British couple behind Lyman's Boys, a hit show in their native U.K. about the headmaster at a boarding school. They are seduced into bringing the prestigious show to Hollywood, where it quickly devolves into a sitcom about the coach of a youth hockey team that's called Pucks and stars, to their great dismay, LeBlanc. Such setbacks pile up as Sean and Beverly's Hollywood dreams are constantly dashed to hilarious effect. LeBlanc, who earned four Emmy nominations and one Golden Globe win for the role, has a ball playing a contemptible version of himself -- a spoiled actor always ready with a cutting remark. While LeBlanc is the star attraction, Greig and Mangan are essential parts of the central triangular relationship, as the three play off each other with perfect comedic timing. Other standouts in the stellar cast include John Pankow as the boorish and clueless network president, Kathleen Rose Perkins as his put-upon second-in-command and mistress, and Mircea Monroe as Pucks' leading lady, whose youthful appearance stands in contrast to her true age. All five seasons and 41 episodes of Episodes are available on Netflix.
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