Four major tech firms have agreed to remove hate speech from social media and similar services within 24 hours of it being reported. The move, which comes in a European code of conduct, will only apply to content which breaks the law. That limitation means it could be a tricky subject deciding what material comes […]
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Google has proposed 13 new emoji characters to show both women and men in professional roles. It says the aim is “highlighting the diversity of women’s careers and empowering girls everywhere.” A recent update to Unicode, the standardized system for computerized characters including emoji, allowed for an easier way for customizing existing emojis of humans […]
A 10-year-old has tipped off Facebook about a flaw that made it possible to delete any comment on Instagram. The Finnish boy has earned a $10,000 bounty despite not officially being old enough to have an Instagram account. While Facebook hasn’t revealed the full details of the flaw, it has said it was in a […]
The identity of Bitcoin creator “Satoshi Nakamoto” may have been revealed. Australian businessman Craig Wright claims to be the man behind the mask. While several key figures in the Bitcoin community say they believe Wright’s claim, others have demanded more evidence. The problem is that definitive proof may be difficult or even impossible given the […]
Comcast is testing a plan to increase its controversial monthly data cap to 1 terabyte a month. It also plans on increasing the costs for users who go over the limit. According to the Wall Street Journal, officially all Comcast customers have a 250GB cap, but this hasn’t been widely enforced for years. Instead it […]
Google briefly labelled Google.com as “partly dangerous.” The automated warning appears to be a quirk caused by hosted content. The warning came on Google’s own Transparency Report page, which includes details of its Safe Browsing technology. That’s the database that gives warnings in Google’s search tools and the Chrome browser when pointing to a potentially risky […]
Microsoft is suing the Department of Justice to demand the right to tell users when it gives officials access to personal data. The company says forcing it to keep such searches a secret is a double constitutional violation. The case centers on the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which dates back to 1986 and extends the […]
Facebook has launched a tool that describes photographs to visually impaired users. However, it seems to be keeping expectations low. The tool is the work of Facebook engineer Matt King, who lost his sight through a medical condition. He wanted to deal with the way screen readers currently “speak” the name of the person who […]
The Associated Press has decided to switch from “the Internet” and “the Web” to “the internet” and “the web” from June 1. It’s provoked a mix of politeness, pedantry and philosophy. The changes will come in the AP stylebook. Not only does that determine the “correct” usage in the AP’s reports, but it’s also used […]