Content warning: This story contains descriptions of violent acts against people and animals, accounts of sexual harassment and post-traumatic stress disorder, and other potentially disturbing content.Keith Utley loved to help.First, he served in the Coast Guard, where he rose to the rank of lieutenant commander. He married, had a family, and devoted himself utterly to his two little girls. After he got out of the military, he worked as a moderator for Facebook, where he purged the social network of the worst stuff that its users post on a daily basis: the hate speech, the murders, the...…Content warning: This story contains descriptions of violent acts against people and animals, accounts of sexual harassment and post-traumatic stress disorder, and other potentially disturbing content.Keith Utley loved to help.First, he served in the Coast Guard, where he rose to the rank of lieutenant commander. He married, had a family, and devoted himself utterly to his two little girls. After he got out of the military, he worked as a moderator for Facebook, where he purged the social network of the worst stuff that its users post on a daily basis: the hate speech, the murders, the...WW…

ALL HANDS ON DECKIn two hours of leaked audio, Mark Zuckerberg rallies Facebook employees against critics, competitors, and the US government.July should have been a relief for Facebook. The company ,after having essentially .It settled a case with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which alleged that it had misled investors about the risks of user data being mishandled, for .And Facebook , beating investor expectations and sending its stock priceup.But inside the company, the mood remained anxious. Several 2020 presidential candidates, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), had called...…ALL HANDS ON DECKIn two hours of leaked audio, Mark Zuckerberg rallies Facebook employees against critics, competitors, and the US government.July should have been a relief for Facebook. The company ,after having essentially .It settled a case with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which alleged that it had misled investors about the risks of user data being mishandled, for .And Facebook , beating investor expectations and sending its stock priceup.But inside the company, the mood remained anxious. Several 2020 presidential candidates, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), had called...WW…

The Verge logo. Facebook has reportedly reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over repeated privacy violations, . According to the Journal, the FTC voted this week to approve a $5 billion settlement, which has now moved to the Justice Department’s civil division for review. It is unclear how long the review will take.A Facebook spokesman declined to comment or confirm the report. The and later confirmed the details in the Journal’s report.The Journal reported that the FTC voted along party lines, with three Republican commissioners voting in favor of the settlement and two...…The Verge logo. Facebook has reportedly reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over repeated privacy violations, . According to the Journal, the FTC voted this week to approve a $5 billion settlement, which has now moved to the Justice Department’s civil division for review. It is unclear how long the review will take.A Facebook spokesman declined to comment or confirm the report. The and later confirmed the details in the Journal’s report.The Journal reported that the FTC voted along party lines, with three Republican commissioners voting in favor of the settlement and two...WW…

Filed under:The president has built a daily online reality show, but the presumptive Democratic nominee is still broadcasting from the garageThe Interface is a daily column and newsletter about the intersection of social media and democracy. Subscribe .The biggest story of today is the creeping sense that , with the average number of new cases rising slightly throughout the month to around 29,500 per day. Large swathes of the country are preparing to re-open for business even as all signs point to the likelihood that, for all of our collective efforts to send the novel coronavirus into...…Filed under:The president has built a daily online reality show, but the presumptive Democratic nominee is still broadcasting from the garageThe Interface is a daily column and newsletter about the intersection of social media and democracy. Subscribe .The biggest story of today is the creeping sense that , with the average number of new cases rising slightly throughout the month to around 29,500 per day. Large swathes of the country are preparing to re-open for business even as all signs point to the likelihood that, for all of our collective efforts to send the novel coronavirus into...WW…

SubscribeSign inShare this postMusk flips Twitter the birdwww.platformer.newsCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailApr 28Share this postMusk flips Twitter the birdwww.platformer.newsCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailupOn Wednesday, he tweeted a meme to his more than 86 million followers with the face of Twitter’s top lawyer, Vijaya Gadde, that appeared to suggest the company’s decisions are affected by a “left wing bias.” The tweet came hours after he criticized a 2020 policy decision Gadde made, and was in response to an earlier tweet from a political podcast host calling her the company’s “top...…SubscribeSign inShare this postMusk flips Twitter the birdwww.platformer.newsCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailApr 28Share this postMusk flips Twitter the birdwww.platformer.newsCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailupOn Wednesday, he tweeted a meme to his more than 86 million followers with the face of Twitter’s top lawyer, Vijaya Gadde, that appeared to suggest the company’s decisions are affected by a “left wing bias.” The tweet came hours after he criticized a 2020 policy decision Gadde made, and was in response to an earlier tweet from a political podcast host calling her the company’s “top...WW…

SubscribeSign inShare this postInside Twitter's emotional Friday all-handswww.platformer.newsCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailApr 29Share this postInside Twitter's emotional Friday all-handswww.platformer.newsCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailLate Thursday night, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announced the company would hold an all-hands meeting to address employee questions related to Elon Musk’s planned acquisition of the company. Employees I spoke with were somewhat surprised; it seemed clear that executives know little more about Musk’s plans than he has disclosed in public, and Twitter has been...…SubscribeSign inShare this postInside Twitter's emotional Friday all-handswww.platformer.newsCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailApr 29Share this postInside Twitter's emotional Friday all-handswww.platformer.newsCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailLate Thursday night, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announced the company would hold an all-hands meeting to address employee questions related to Elon Musk’s planned acquisition of the company. Employees I spoke with were somewhat surprised; it seemed clear that executives know little more about Musk’s plans than he has disclosed in public, and Twitter has been...WW…

SubscribeSign inShare this postSheryl Sandberg calls it quitswww.platformer.newsCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailJun 2Share this postSheryl Sandberg calls it quitswww.platformer.newsCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailSandberg’s announcement came on the first day of June, though it might just as easily have come on any other day this year. Or in the past seven years, really. Sandberg held many roles at Facebook over the years, and helped guide it through several tumultuous periods. In conversations with people who worked closely with her, though, there were really only two distinct eras in Sandberg’s...…SubscribeSign inShare this postSheryl Sandberg calls it quitswww.platformer.newsCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailJun 2Share this postSheryl Sandberg calls it quitswww.platformer.newsCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailSandberg’s announcement came on the first day of June, though it might just as easily have come on any other day this year. Or in the past seven years, really. Sandberg held many roles at Facebook over the years, and helped guide it through several tumultuous periods. In conversations with people who worked closely with her, though, there were really only two distinct eras in Sandberg’s...WW…

SubscribeSign inShare this postThe lesson Facebook won't learnwww.platformer.newsCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailMar 31Share this postThe lesson Facebook won't learnwww.platformer.newsCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailToday, let’s talk about the lunacy of Facebook running a secret campaign against TikTok focused on the dangers of social networks to children. the Washington PostI called up Meta today in an effort to understand how any of this had come about. The basic idea, it seems, had been two-fold: one, after years of relentless negative press coverage of Facebook, the company hoped to pressure...…SubscribeSign inShare this postThe lesson Facebook won't learnwww.platformer.newsCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailMar 31Share this postThe lesson Facebook won't learnwww.platformer.newsCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailToday, let’s talk about the lunacy of Facebook running a secret campaign against TikTok focused on the dangers of social networks to children. the Washington PostI called up Meta today in an effort to understand how any of this had come about. The basic idea, it seems, had been two-fold: one, after years of relentless negative press coverage of Facebook, the company hoped to pressure...WW…

SubscribeSign inShare this postThree things web3 should fix in 2022www.platformer.newsCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailJan 28Share this postThree things web3 should fix in 2022www.platformer.newsCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailFew of Olson’s criticisms are entirely new, and on my Twitter timeline this week, I saw many crypto enthusiasts dismiss them out of hand. Few people working in the space will be surprised to learn that crypto3 is awash in grifts; that current blockchains are energy inefficient and expensive; or that digital wallets are difficult to use and fraught with danger. Many web3...…SubscribeSign inShare this postThree things web3 should fix in 2022www.platformer.newsCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailJan 28Share this postThree things web3 should fix in 2022www.platformer.newsCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailFew of Olson’s criticisms are entirely new, and on my Twitter timeline this week, I saw many crypto enthusiasts dismiss them out of hand. Few people working in the space will be surprised to learn that crypto3 is awash in grifts; that current blockchains are energy inefficient and expensive; or that digital wallets are difficult to use and fraught with danger. Many web3...WW…

SubscribeSign inShare this postElon Musk buys Twitterwww.platformer.newsCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailApr 26Share this postElon Musk buys Twitterwww.platformer.newsCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailI.In the moments before Elon Musk bought Twitter, the company Slack channels were lit up with nervous anticipation. It had been days since Twitter leadership had shared anything with them, and after a weekend’s worth of reports that a sale was imminent, employees were looking for answers.excitedAfter the announcement, sentiment in the public Slack channels remained largely concerned and negative,...…SubscribeSign inShare this postElon Musk buys Twitterwww.platformer.newsCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailApr 26Share this postElon Musk buys Twitterwww.platformer.newsCopy linkTwitterFacebookEmailI.In the moments before Elon Musk bought Twitter, the company Slack channels were lit up with nervous anticipation. It had been days since Twitter leadership had shared anything with them, and after a weekend’s worth of reports that a sale was imminent, employees were looking for answers.excitedAfter the announcement, sentiment in the public Slack channels remained largely concerned and negative,...WW…