Elon Musk takes 9.2% stake in Twitter; shares skyrocket
Twitter shares exploded 26% in premarket trading after the Securities and Exchange Commission filing showed that Musk snapped up more than 73 million shares, valued at $2.89 billion.
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Facebook to shut down face-recognition system, delete data
More than a third of Facebook’s daily active users have opted in to have their faces recognized by the social network’s system. That’s about 640 million people.
Twitter suspends Indiana Rep. Jim Banks’ official account
Twitter’s action Saturday came after Republican Rep. Jim Banks posted tweets last week regarding Dr. Rachel Levine’s becoming the first openly transgender four-star officer in the U.S. uniformed services. Levine is also the nation’s assistant secretary of health.
Facebook to pay more than $14M in U.S. settlement over discrimination against workers
Facebook has agreed to pay penalties over findings that the company’s hiring practices intentionally discriminated against Americans in favor of foreign workers, U.S. officials said Tuesday.
Outage highlights how vital Facebook has become worldwide
The six-hour outage at Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp was a headache for many casual users but far more serious for millions of people worldwide who rely on the sites to run their businesses or communicate with relatives, fellow parents, teachers or neighbors.
Ex-Facebook employee says products harm children, fuel division
A former Facebook data scientist testified to the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection. She is accusing the company of being aware of apparent harm to some teens from Instagram and being dishonest in its public fight against hate and misinformation.
Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram suffer worldwide outage
The impact was major for multitudes of Facebook’s nearly 3 billion users, showing just how much the world has come to rely on it and its properties—to run businesses, connect with online communities, log on to multiple other websites and even order food.
Trump files suit against Facebook, Twitter and YouTube
Former President Donald Trump has filed lawsuits against three of the country’s biggest tech companies, claiming he and other conservatives have been wrongfully censored.
Judge dismisses government antitrust lawsuits against Facebook
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ruled Monday that the lawsuits were “legally insufficient” and didn’t provide enough evidence to prove that Facebook was a monopoly.
House panel pushes legislation targeting Big Tech’s power
The ambitious legislation could curb the market power of tech giants Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple and force them to sever their dominant platforms from their other lines of business.
Biden elevates energetic critic of Big Tech as top regulator
The selection of legal scholar Lina Khan, 32, to head the Federal Trade Commission is seen as signaling a tough stance toward tech giants Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple.
Indy-area tech community still wrestling with diversity, equity, inclusion
Discussion and debate at Friday’s IBJ Tech Power Panel event focused largely on how companies can do a better job recruiting and hiring diverse employees, as well as the ability of diverse entrepreneurs to raise venture and growth capital from a cadre of investors who largely remain white and male.
Bill to aid U.S. publishers vs. Google, Facebook rises again
The measure aims to give publishers better leverage with the tech companies, while only allowing coordination that benefits the news industry as a whole, amid a long-running decline in local news.
The Oakmont restaurant, bar to take vacant tavern space off Mass Ave
Two longtime friends in the restaurant business are teaming to create a concept in the former Krueger’s Tavern space featuring cuisine and décor designed to catch an Instagrammer’s eye.
Milktooth chef Brooks apologizes for controversial online post referring to anti-semitic myth
High-profile local chef Jonathan Brooks, who is Jewish, said the Instagram post that prompted a social media backlash was meant as a joke. But local leaders of the Jewish community say referring to the anti-semitic trope of blood libel is potentially dangerous and never proper.
GOP pushes bills to allow social media ‘censorship’ lawsuits
GOP politicians in roughly two dozen states have introduced bills that would allow for civil lawsuits against platforms for what they call the “censorship” of posts.
Twitter to let users charge followers to see premium posts
The subscriptions will allow Twitter to tap into a broader range of revenue sources in a world where online advertising is dominated by a Facebook-Google duopoly.
Biden backs off on TikTok ban in review of Trump China moves
Separately, the Biden administration has “indefinitely” shelved a proposed U.S. takeover of TikTok, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
Local entrepreneur, partner to appear on Shark Tank
Kweku Larbi of Indianapolis and his business partner, social-media influencer Ross Smith, went on the show to pitch their company Brumachen, a portable coffee-maker that uses biodegradable coffee pods. The episode airs tonight.
Judge says Amazon won’t have to restore Parler web service
Amazon denied its move to pull the plug on Parler had anything to do with political animus. It claimed that Parler had breached its business agreement “by hosting content advocating violence and failing to timely take that content down.”