Activists Couldn’t Get Facebook to Tackle Its Discrimination Problem—Until the Russia Scandal Hit
Mother Jones illustration On April 10, 2018, Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg did something he had managed to avoid in his 14 years at the helm of the tech giant he had built: He testified before Congress. His company had been battered in the preceding months, first by revelations that Russia had used the…
Here’s Why Andrew Yang’s Alt-Right Supporters Think He’s the 2020 Candidate for White Nationalists
Mother Jones illustration; Drew Angerer/Getty Last Month, Andrew Yang’s 2020 Presidential bid careened from out of nearly nowhere onto the 2020 Democratic debate stage in a matter of days. Until March 4, the hashtag #YangGang had mostly been quietly floating around Twitter, only occasionally garnering a peak of just hundreds of daily mentions. But on…
The Cops Want to Know What’s Happening on 8chan
8chan’s logo Looking for news you can trust?Subscribe to our free newsletters. American law enforcement agencies apparently want to know more about what’s happening on 8chan. According to the site’s March 2o19 “Transparency Report,” released Friday, the image board had “received and complied with” 12 requests from the U.S. government and or U.S law enforcement…
The Trump Administration Apparently Considers Grindr a National Security Threat. What Is Going On?
Jonathan Brady / AP Looking for news you can trust?Subscribe to our free newsletters. The United States government has opposed the foreign ownership of a social media company for what appears to be the very first time. Late last week, Reuters reported that the Trump administration was pushing Beijing Kunlun Tech Co. Ltd to sell Grindr—the…
Facebook Just Announced Plans to Ban White Nationalists and Separatists
Facebook finally banned white nationalism from its platform, though “white power” and similar statements will remain.Anadolu Agency / Getty Looking for news you can trust?Subscribe to our free newsletters. More than a year and a half after the platform was used to organize a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, Facebook announced on Wednesday that it…
How a Gay Teen, an Internet Nazi, and a Late-Night Rendezvous Turned to Tragedy
Looking for news you can trust?Subscribe to our free newsletters. From his cage in the far back of a courtroom in Newport Beach, California, Sam Woodward looked around. He appeared to stand on his tiptoes for a moment, peering through the bars at the gallery where his parents and a couple of family friends sat.…