The Justice Department has launched a new initiative to target government contractors and federal grant recipients that fail to report cybersecurity breaches, Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco announced Wednesday.
Whistleblower Frances Haugen on Tuesday provided rare insight into Facebook's operations during her testimony before the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection.
What you need to know: The former Facebook product manager sought to expose the social media giant's knowledge of harmful content circulating on its platform and underscored the company's lack of transparency — sparking outrage from both Democrats and Republicans on the committee.
Facebook’s resiliency is being tested — again — amid a new firestorm.
What's new: Frances Haugen, the whistleblower who shared thousands of pages of internal Facebook documents with regulators, lawmakers and the Wall Street Journal, testified in front of Congress on Tuesday.
A whistleblower's sharp testimony — following hard on the heels of a massive global service outage — has raised hopes among Facebook's many critics on the Hill and in the industry that Congress will place new restraints on the company.
The big picture: The outage showed how dependent on Facebook the world has become. The whistleblower showed how the company's own research documents its harms and outlined ways lawmakers could limit them.
Ifeoma Ozoma, who raised pay discrimination and other issues before leaving Pinterest last year, today launched the Tech Worker Handbook — a new web site aimed at providing resources and information for other potential tech whistleblowers.
Why it matters: It's not easy for workers to understand all the things they have to do and not do when calling attention to problems they see at their companies, particularly when they are obligated to protect their employers' trade secrets.
Google unveiled a suite of sustainability features focused on giving consumers more information so they can choose to cut their greenhouse gas emissions.
Driving the news: The product rollout this morning will immediately be noticeable if you use Google Maps, utilize the company's flight search tools, search for companies to invest in or simply query the search engine about the causes of global warming.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg took to his own platform to reject claims made by a former employee in testimony before Congress on Tuesday.
Why it matters: Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen urged Congress earlier Tuesday to regulate the tech giant, accusing Facebook of putting profit before user well-being.
Nintendo’s mighty crossover game, “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate,” capped off three years of ambitious expansion with the announcement that “Kingdom Hearts” hero Sora will be added to the Switch fighting game’s roster on Oct. 18.
Why it matters: This wasn’t just the addition of a character that had secretly topped Nintendo’s official fan request poll six years ago. It was a stream watched by more than 500,000 people that demonstrated the convergence of some of the industry’s major trends.
The scale of deals in gaming in 2021 is already double the full dollar amount from 2020, according to a new industry report.
Why it matters: 2021 has seen a dizzying amount of mergers, acquisitions and investments as everyone wants in on the sector, and as the big players already inside it are spending a lot to get bigger.
Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen told lawmakers Tuesday she believes the social media giant won't change its ways unless Congress makes it.
Why it matters: Haugen is finding a receptive audience among senators who have pledged to pass laws on online privacy, altering online liability shields and increasing algorithmic transparency.
Facebook's latest string of controversies is beginning to seriously weigh on its stock performance — a clear indication of the tech giant's vulnerability to long-term business headwinds, even if its ads business continues to grow for now.
The big picture: In the past, investors have mostly shrugged at blows to Facebook's reputation, including Capitol Hill hearings and leaks, and instead have focused on ad and user growth as metrics for success.
Like an aging rock star seeking to reach a new audience, Microsoft is betting Windows 11 will help it connect with a new generation.
Why it matters: Microsoft could once count on a huge portion of the computing market automatically choosing Windows because their business demanded it or they needed a specific app that wasn't available elsewhere. Today, many businesses are putting the choice between Mac or Windows in the hands of individual workers.
