Category Archives: Technology

Calls rise inside Amazon to address racial inequity

SEATTLE—Last week, Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s chief executive, wrote a rare note to all of the company’s employees. His leadership team had been reflecting on the “systemic racism” facing Black communities, he said, and he urged employees to take time to learn and reflect on Juneteenth, the holiday marking the end of slavery in the United […]

Tencent’s Twitch streaming rival is hiding in plain sight

Tencent Holdings Ltd. is rolling out a live-streaming service similar to Amazon.com Inc.’s Twitch in the U.S., making a rare foray into American social media. China’s largest company has been quietly testing a mobile-focused streaming network via an affiliate in the U.S. since at least March. Initially called Madcat and now branded Trovo Live, the […]

Amazon buys driverless startup Zoox, cites ride-hailing prowess

When news broke last month that Amazon.com Inc. was interested in buying Zoox Inc., observers assumed the e-commerce giant was looking to automate its delivery fleet. After all, Amazon already invested in an electric truck maker and is a major buyer of everything from planes to diesel vehicles. But in a statement on Friday confirming […]

Nike to cut jobs in its push to sell more directly to consumers

Nike Inc. is cutting jobs as the world’s largest athletic brand refocuses on selling directly to consumers, pushing further away from a traditional retail channel that’s been ravaged by the pandemic. Chief executive officer John Donahoe, a longtime Silicon Valley executive who took the helm at Nike in January, announced a new phase in its […]

Facebook will label all voting-related posts, not just Trump

Facebook Inc. will begin labelling all posts that include information about voting with a link encouraging users to get facts from the company’s new voting hub, and expands its prohibition on advertising for hate speech. The new policy on voting announced Friday by chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg means Facebook will label future posts from […]

Netflix to shift $100 million of cash into Black-owned banks

Netflix Inc. will shift as much as $100 million U.S. to lenders that serve the Black community, making it the largest company yet to pledge cash to historically underfunded financial institutions. The online TV giant will start by shifting $25 million into the Black Economic Development Initiative, a new fund that will invest in Black-owned […]

A third of brands set to halt social media spending, survey says

Almost one in three top brands are set to stop spending on advertising with social media platforms like Facebook Inc., Twitter Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube due to hate speech policies, according to a new survey. Among major brands, five per cent said they have already withheld money from such platforms, and a further 26 […]

Regulation is the only way to rein in rich and powerful digital platforms

When talking about the complexities of news, or how information is distributed in the 21st century, the word “bully” might seem out of place. But as Facebook threatens to cut off access to sharing news in response to a proposed Australian law, it’s hard not to think that bullying might be exactly what is going […]