theverge--2020-04-21--How Facebook’s pandemic relief efforts could be undermined by its own user base

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Here ’ s hoping all of you who signed up over the weekend find The Interface a useful guide to tech , democracy , and the pandemic .
Facebook is a publicly traded company that mostly operates in rational and predictable ways .
Facebook is also a collection of posts from more than 2 billion people , and an enduring lesson from the company ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ operate in irrational and unpredictable ways .
This weekend we got to witness an important tension between the two .
Facebook the company is fighting the good fight against the global pandemic .
It has donated more than $ 100 million to small businesses and is prominently displaying vetted information from public health authorities across Facebook and Instagram .
It released maps illustrating regional mobility patterns that have informed elected officials ’ decisions to close parks and beaches .
It ’ s using machine-learning systems to help hospitals anticipate spikes in demand for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and other supplies .
And on Monday , the company announced early results from its symptom tracker , which is asking people across the country to self-report their health status in a survey conducted by Carnegie Mellon University .
Two weeks in , researchers say that results from the tracker correlate with available public health data , suggesting that the 150,000 reports a day the survey is generating can be used as an effective surrogate for in-person surveys .
On Wednesday the survey will go international , in coordination with researchers at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ way too soon to evaluate which tech giant has made the most effective contributions to the pandemic response .
But it seems to me like Facebook may have made the most contributions to the response , at least in terms of sheer number of projects .
I don ’ t doubt the sincerity of any of these efforts , and I suspect many of Facebook ’ s efforts will be quite helpful .
( Several researchers have in fact already told me that they have been . )
And yet it also feels @ @ @ @ @ @ @ buttress two pillars of Facebook ’ s strategic messaging : that its vast size does more good than harm , and that its commitment to free speech is a pro-democratic force .
I spoke with CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Sunday , and he emphasized both points .
From my story in The Verge — point one , on the value of size : And point two , on the value of free speech : He elaborated on that point in an op-ed today in the Washington Post .
Again , there are a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to reduce the impact of the pandemic around the world .
But it ’ s also true that the moment has presented the company with a once-in-a-generation opportunity to demonstrate the merits of its size and and its free-speech ethos , and Zuckerberg is seizing it .
But while Facebook the company works on its maps and its symptom trackers , Facebook the user base continues to post in sometimes dangerous ways .
In recent weeks users have gone into overdrive spreading misinformation related to the coronavirus , and one report found that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had 117 million views .
And then over the past week , some people began using Facebook to organize protests of legal orders to stay home .
Here are Isaac Stanley-Becker and Tony Romm in the Washington Post : You can see a clear path forward for what comes next .
Posts in these groups will generate outrage , which will drive engagement , which will earn the posts and groups more algorithmic promotion within Facebook .
Membership in the groups will swell , viewpoints will harden around partisan lines , and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
None of this will be caused by Facebook , exactly , but some aspects may be worsened by it .
By Monday there were more than 100 such state-specific groups , with more than 900,000 members , who had organized at least 49 events , NBC News reported .
ABC News ’ George Stephanopoulos asked Zuckerberg how the company would respond .
Here ’ s what he said , as captured by Joe Concha at The Hill : There ’ s currently a debate among journalists about how much oxygen to give @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a good time to re-read Data & Society ’ s Oxygen of Amplification report . )
A majority of Republicans continue to support stay-at-home orders , along with virtually all Democrats .
The protests themselves remain relatively small .
But what if they grow ?
And what if the Facebook groups that organize these events grow along with them , aided by prominent placement in the News Feed ?
These are the same mechanics that helped fueled the rise of anti-vaccination zealots , ISIS , and — most famously — Russian election interference @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from Facebook ’ s vast reach and its commitment to permit the maximum amount of speech .
And they are mechanics that seem to be working basically as well as they ever have .
And so on one hand you have Facebook the company working to stop the spread of the pandemic , and on the other you have a small but growing group of users working to exacerbate it .
It ’ s easy to assume that the corporate effort , which draw on Facebook ’ s wealth of resources , will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has taught us that what happens at Facebook is usually not as important as what happens on Facebook .
On Thursday I wrote about Facebook ’ s efforts to fight COVID-19 misinformation and noted that people who are shown links to popular coronavirus myths won ’ t be informed that they are seeing it because they shared a falsehood .
A spokeswoman followed up to remind me that while this is true , if you do share a falsehood and Facebook removes it , you do get a notification about that .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s later debunked , we send explicit notifications telling them false info was found in their post , share the fact-checker ’ s articles , and let them know we ’ ve placed a label on their content saying that it ’ s false , ” the spokeswoman said .
A fair point , and something I should have included .
Thanks to you , we hit capacity for the first virtual installment of our live interview series within three days .
I can ’ t tell you how much I appreciate your @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seeing hundreds of you Tuesday evening .
You ’ ll have the chance to ask questions of me and my guest , No Filter author Sarah Frier , as well as take part in some live polls .
And for those who didn ’ t manage to register in time , please stay tuned : we ’ re working on alternate ways of sharing tomorrow ’ s event with you .
Today in news that could affect public perception of the big tech platforms .
⬇ Trending down : The National Labor Relations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ violated workers ’ rights during the coronavirus pandemic .
The news comes after workers in Chicago filed charges against the company alleging it retaliated against them for participating in protests about working conditions .
A trio of far-right , pro-gun activists is behind some of the largest Facebook groups calling for anti-quarantine protests around the country .
The news shows how seemingly organic demonstrations are being engineered by a small network of conservative activists .
( Isaac Stanley-Becker and Tony Romm / The Washington Post ) Facebook is expanding its like reactions with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people show support .
Facebook says it hopes the reaction , which shows a face hugging a heart , helps people feel “ a bit more connected ” with their friends and family during the pandemic .
( Taylor Lyles / The Verge ) Facebook launched fundraisers in India to allow users to contribute to community causes during the coronavirus pandemic .
The company also partnered with additional state governments to provide authoritative information about the coronavirus through WhatsApp and Messenger .
( Manish Singh / TechCrunch ) Amazon has started to use @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up screening for workers who could be infected with COVID-19 .
The cameras measure how much heat people emit relative to their surroundings .
( Jeffrey Dastin and Krystal Hu / Reuters ) The pandemic has made Amazon more essential .
It has also made it vulnerable .
This profile of Stacy Mitchell , an antitrust reformer and monopoly critic , explores how she has worked to focus opposition against the tech giant .
( David Streitfeld / The New York Times ) Amazon Web Services ( AWS ) and Microsoft are restructuring @ @ @ @ @ @ @ basis amid the pandemic , but smaller companies aren ’ t getting the same flexibility .
Startup executives said recent appeals to these cloud companies have gone unanswered .
( Mark Bergen and Matt Day / Bloomberg ) Amazon and eBay have cracked down on listings for personal protective equipment , known as PPE .
Now , a gray market has cropped up on LinkedIn to help meet the rising demand .
( Mara Hvistendahl / Wired ) Whole Foods is quietly tracking its employees with a heat map tool that ranks which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The stores ’ individual risk scores are calculated from more than two dozen metrics , including employee “ loyalty , ” turnover , and racial diversity , and “ tipline ” calls to human resources .
( Hayley Peterson / Business Insider ) Taiwan ’ s first official warning about COVID-19 came from a Reddit-like forum called PTT .
The warning led to early action by government officials , which is now seen as one of the primary reasons Taiwan managed to keep Covid-19 in check .
( Masha Borak / Abacus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contact tracing system isn ’ t perfect .
But many of the biggest concerns have solutions .
Here are your biggest questions about the system , answered .
( Andy Greenberg / Wired ) The Apple/Google collaboration is billed as opt-in .
But it seems likely that employers , schools , churches and other institutions could require people to use it in exchange for access .
( Will Oremus / OneZero ) Some of Google ’ s contract workers say they ’ re getting left out of the company ’ s pandemic benefits @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have been told they won ’ t be compensated if they need to take time off to care for their kids — unlike full-time Google employees .
( Rob Price and Hugh Langley / Google ) Google is now listing COVID-19 testing centers in search results .
When you search for something related to COVID-19 , you ’ ll now see a new “ Testing ” tab as part of the information shown in Google ’ s COVID-19 SOS alert .
( Jay Peters / The Verge ) YouTube ’ s lo-fi hip-hop @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stuck indoors due to COVID-19 .
The streams have long been a place to virtually gather , do homework , and find comfort in the random messages of strangers that populate live chats .
( Julia Alexander / The Verge ) As tech offices begin to think about reopening , figuring out how to mass test employees and set up socially distant floor plans is key .
( Lauren Hepler , Matt Drange and Levi Sumagaysay / Protocol ) More than 300 people around the world have been arrested for “ spreading COVID-19 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are part of a crack-down on the spread of misinformation , but human rights advocates are warning the aggressive measures are aimed at controlling the virus narrative .
( Poynter ) New York Gov .
Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order allowing New Yorkers to obtain marriage licenses and perform ceremonies via videoconference .
Bride and groom ?
Meet bride and Zoom .
( J. Edward Moreno / The Hill ) The idea that coronavirus has made the internet good again is a tempting thought , but a premature one .
After a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of an online utopia , the cracks are starting to show .
( Kaitlyn Tiffany / The Atlantic ) Wild conspiracy theories about Bill Gates are circulating on social media .
On YouTube , Facebook and Twitter , he is being falsely portrayed as the creator of Covid-19 and as someone who wants to profit from the virus .
( Daisuke Wakabayashi , Davey Alba and Marc Tracy / The New York Times ) A group of six TikTok creators called the Bytesquad collective moved in together in the UK , despite social @ @ @ @ @ @ @ BBC ) Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger ’ s first collaboration since leaving Instagram is now live .
It ’ s an effort to measure the rate at which COVID-19 is spreading in each individual state .
Total cases in the US : At least 770,138 Total deaths in the US : More than 37,000 Data from The New York Times .
⭐Google and Facebook will both be forced to pay media companies in Australia for publishing their news under what the government says is a world-first mandatory code of conduct .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cost of preparing journalistic content , or the value added to the digital platform by using it .
Here ’ s Ed Johnson at Bloomberg : Twitter won ’ t be able to reveal surveillance requests it receives from the US government after a federal judge accepted government arguments that this was likely to harm national security .
Twitter had been arguing its free-speech rights were being violated by not being allowed to reveal the details .
( Kanishka Singh / Reuters ) The Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Division have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ investigate big tech companies like Facebook and Google for possible antitrust violations .
Public sentiment toward the companies has shifted , but that might not matter for the probes .
( Lauren Feiner / CNBC ) Researchers discovered an unsecured server storing information on 42 million messaging accounts , nearly all from Iran and tied to the messaging app Telegram , was part of the Iranian government ’ s spying operation .
( Ryan Gallagher / Bloomberg ) ⭐Dropbox privately paid top hackers to find bugs in Zoom ’ s software years before @ @ @ @ @ @ @ national news .
They said Zoom was slow to fix the flaws , even after being alerted to them .
Natasha Singer and Nicole Perlroth at The New York Times report : Facebook is launching a dedicated gaming app to take on Twitch and YouTube .
Facebook ’ s gaming app will largely curate and focus on the streaming community , although it will also highlight casual games that people might play online already , including Words with Friends .
( Julia Alexander / The Verge ) Instagram founder Kevin Systrom didn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ terms .
But today , he has an “ amicable ” relationship with Mark Zuckerberg .
( Kurt Wagner and Emily Chang / Bloomberg ) Stuff to occupy you online during the quarantine .
Watch one of the 10 educational documentaries Netflix released for free on YouTube .
Watch this beautiful , heartfelt quarantine song from a music teacher on TikTok .
Listen to the second new Bob Dylan song in as many weeks .
Read Fiona Apple explain the story behind every song on her new masterpiece , Fetch the Bolt Cutters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pep talk about why it ’ s time to start building .
Send us tips , comments , questions , and your favorite astroturfed quarantine protest groups : casey @ theverge.com and zoe @ theverge.com .

Thanks to the Morning Brew for recommending us as an “Essential” read. Here’s hoping all of you who signed up over the weekend find The Interface a useful guide to tech, democracy, and the pandemic.
Facebook is a publicly traded company that mostly operates in rational and predictable ways. Facebook is also a collection of posts from more than 2 billion people, and an enduring lesson from the company’s history is that those people often operate in irrational and unpredictable ways. This weekend we got to witness an important tension between the two.
Facebook the company is fighting the good fight against the global pandemic. It has donated more than $100 million to small businesses and is prominently displaying vetted information from public health authorities across Facebook and Instagram. It released maps illustrating regional mobility patterns that have informed elected officials’ decisions to close parks and beaches. It’s using machine-learning systems to help hospitals anticipate spikes in demand for intensive care unit beds, ventilators, and other supplies.
And on Monday, the company announced early results from its symptom tracker, which is asking people across the country to self-report their health status in a survey conducted by Carnegie Mellon University. Two weeks in, researchers say that results from the tracker correlate with available public health data, suggesting that the 150,000 reports a day the survey is generating can be used as an effective surrogate for in-person surveys. On Wednesday the survey will go international, in coordination with researchers at the University of Maryland.
It’s way too soon to evaluate which tech giant has made the most effective contributions to the pandemic response. But it seems to me like Facebook may have made the most contributions to the response, at least in terms of sheer number of projects.
I don’t doubt the sincerity of any of these efforts, and I suspect many of Facebook’s efforts will be quite helpful. (Several researchers have in fact already told me that they have been.) And yet it also feels fair game to note that these projects buttress two pillars of Facebook’s strategic messaging: that its vast size does more good than harm, and that its commitment to free speech is a pro-democratic force.
I spoke with CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Sunday, and he emphasized both points. From my story in The Verge — point one, on the value of size:
Zuckerberg said that while Facebook would not seek to interpret the symptom data it shares with researchers, its size has enabled it to make a significant contribution to the public health response. “What we can do is help them get a survey out to a large number of people quickly, and on a daily basis,” he said. “Since we have a basic understanding of who people are, we can make sure that it’s sampled properly. We’re in a relatively unique position where I don’t think that there are that many institutions in the world that could stand up a survey like this — across the country, much less across the world.”
And point two, on the value of free speech:
Zuckerberg said that global maps could serve as a reality check in places where elected officials have been slow to acknowledge the spread of COVID-19 within their borders. “Some of these governments, frankly, are not excited about the world knowing how many actual cases there might be, or indicators of how it’s spreading in their countries,” Zuckerberg said. “So getting that data out there is very important.”
He elaborated on that point in an op-ed today in the Washington Post. Again, there are a lot of people at Facebook working hard to reduce the impact of the pandemic around the world. But it’s also true that the moment has presented the company with a once-in-a-generation opportunity to demonstrate the merits of its size and and its free-speech ethos, and Zuckerberg is seizing it.
But while Facebook the company works on its maps and its symptom trackers, Facebook the user base continues to post in sometimes dangerous ways. In recent weeks users have gone into overdrive spreading misinformation related to the coronavirus, and one report found that just 100 pieces of false COVID-19 content had 117 million views. And then over the past week, some people began using Facebook to organize protests of legal orders to stay home. Here are Isaac Stanley-Becker and Tony Romm in the Washington Post:
The Facebook groups target Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York, and they appear to be the work of Ben Dorr, the political director of a group called “Minnesota Gun Rights,” and his siblings, Christopher and Aaron. By Sunday, the groups had roughly 200,000 members combined, and they continued to expand quickly, days after President Trump endorsed such protests by suggesting citizens should “liberate” their states.
You can see a clear path forward for what comes next. Posts in these groups will generate outrage, which will drive engagement, which will earn the posts and groups more algorithmic promotion within Facebook. Membership in the groups will swell, viewpoints will harden around partisan lines, and the social fabric will tear a bit more. None of this will be caused by Facebook, exactly, but some aspects may be worsened by it. By Monday there were more than 100 such state-specific groups, with more than 900,000 members, who had organized at least 49 events, NBC News reported.
ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos asked Zuckerberg how the company would respond. Here’s what he said, as captured by Joe Concha at The Hill:
“We do classify that as harmful misinformation and we take that down,” Zuckerberg said. “At the same time, it’s important that people can debate policies, so there’s a line on this, you know, more than normal political discourse. I think a lot of the stuff that people are saying that is false around a health emergency like this can be classified as harmful misinformation.” A spokesperson for Facebook told The Hill that the events would only be taken down if they violate state laws, meaning that many protests against social distancing guidelines could continue to be organized on the platform unless they break the guidelines themselves.
There’s currently a debate among journalists about how much oxygen to give these protests. (It’s a good time to re-read Data & Society’s Oxygen of Amplification report.) A majority of Republicans continue to support stay-at-home orders, along with virtually all Democrats. The protests themselves remain relatively small. But what if they grow? And what if the Facebook groups that organize these events grow along with them, aided by prominent placement in the News Feed?
These are the same mechanics that helped fueled the rise of anti-vaccination zealots, ISIS, and — most famously — Russian election interference. They are mechanics that benefit enormously from Facebook’s vast reach and its commitment to permit the maximum amount of speech. And they are mechanics that seem to be working basically as well as they ever have.
And so on one hand you have Facebook the company working to stop the spread of the pandemic, and on the other you have a small but growing group of users working to exacerbate it. It’s easy to assume that the corporate effort, which draw on Facebook’s wealth of resources, will have the largest impact. But history has taught us that what happens at Facebook is usually not as important as what happens on Facebook.
Pushback
On Thursday I wrote about Facebook’s efforts to fight COVID-19 misinformation and noted that people who are shown links to popular coronavirus myths won’t be informed that they are seeing it because they shared a falsehood. A spokeswoman followed up to remind me that while this is true, if you do share a falsehood and Facebook removes it, you do get a notification about that. “For people who share misinformation that’s later debunked, we send explicit notifications telling them false info was found in their post, share the fact-checker’s articles, and let them know we’ve placed a label on their content saying that it’s false,” the spokeswoman said. A fair point, and something I should have included.
The Interface Live!
Thanks to you, we hit capacity for the first virtual installment of our live interview series within three days. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your support — and I look forward to seeing hundreds of you Tuesday evening. You’ll have the chance to ask questions of me and my guest, No Filter author Sarah Frier, as well as take part in some live polls. And for those who didn’t manage to register in time, please stay tuned: we’re working on alternate ways of sharing tomorrow’s event with you.
The Ratio
Today in news that could affect public perception of the big tech platforms.
⬇ Trending down: The National Labor Relations Board is looking into claims that Amazon violated workers’ rights during the coronavirus pandemic. The news comes after workers in Chicago filed charges against the company alleging it retaliated against them for participating in protests about working conditions.
Pandemic
A trio of far-right, pro-gun activists is behind some of the largest Facebook groups calling for anti-quarantine protests around the country. The news shows how seemingly organic demonstrations are being engineered by a small network of conservative activists. (Isaac Stanley-Becker and Tony Romm / The Washington Post)
Facebook is expanding its like reactions with a “care” reaction to help people show support. Facebook says it hopes the reaction, which shows a face hugging a heart, helps people feel “a bit more connected” with their friends and family during the pandemic. (Taylor Lyles / The Verge)
Facebook launched fundraisers in India to allow users to contribute to community causes during the coronavirus pandemic. The company also partnered with additional state governments to provide authoritative information about the coronavirus through WhatsApp and Messenger. (Manish Singh / TechCrunch)
Amazon has started to use thermal cameras at its warehouses to speed up screening for workers who could be infected with COVID-19. The cameras measure how much heat people emit relative to their surroundings. (Jeffrey Dastin and Krystal Hu / Reuters)
The pandemic has made Amazon more essential. It has also made it vulnerable. This profile of Stacy Mitchell, an antitrust reformer and monopoly critic, explores how she has worked to focus opposition against the tech giant. (David Streitfeld / The New York Times)
Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft are restructuring large cloud computing contracts on a case-by-case basis amid the pandemic, but smaller companies aren’t getting the same flexibility. Startup executives said recent appeals to these cloud companies have gone unanswered. (Mark Bergen and Matt Day / Bloomberg)
Amazon and eBay have cracked down on listings for personal protective equipment, known as PPE. Now, a gray market has cropped up on LinkedIn to help meet the rising demand. (Mara Hvistendahl / Wired)
Whole Foods is quietly tracking its employees with a heat map tool that ranks which stores are most at risk of unionizing. The stores’ individual risk scores are calculated from more than two dozen metrics, including employee “loyalty,” turnover, and racial diversity, and “tipline” calls to human resources. (Hayley Peterson / Business Insider)
Taiwan’s first official warning about COVID-19 came from a Reddit-like forum called PTT. The warning led to early action by government officials, which is now seen as one of the primary reasons Taiwan managed to keep Covid-19 in check. (Masha Borak / Abacus)
Apple and Google’s Bluetooth-based contact tracing system isn’t perfect. But many of the biggest concerns have solutions. Here are your biggest questions about the system, answered. (Andy Greenberg / Wired)
Some of Google’s contract workers say they’re getting left out of the company’s pandemic benefits for childcare and quarantine pay. Some have been told they won’t be compensated if they need to take time off to care for their kids — unlike full-time Google employees. (Rob Price and Hugh Langley / Google)
Google is now listing COVID-19 testing centers in search results. When you search for something related to COVID-19, you’ll now see a new “Testing” tab as part of the information shown in Google’s COVID-19 SOS alert. (Jay Peters / The Verge)
YouTube’s lo-fi hip-hop community is growing rapidly as people stay stuck indoors due to COVID-19. The streams have long been a place to virtually gather, do homework, and find comfort in the random messages of strangers that populate live chats. (Julia Alexander / The Verge)
As tech offices begin to think about reopening, figuring out how to mass test employees and set up socially distant floor plans is key. (Lauren Hepler, Matt Drange and Levi Sumagaysay / Protocol)
More than 300 people around the world have been arrested for “spreading COVID-19 falsehoods.” Some countries say the arrests are part of a crack-down on the spread of misinformation, but human rights advocates are warning the aggressive measures are aimed at controlling the virus narrative. (Poynter)
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order allowing New Yorkers to obtain marriage licenses and perform ceremonies via videoconference. Bride and groom? Meet bride and Zoom. (J. Edward Moreno / The Hill)
The idea that coronavirus has made the internet good again is a tempting thought, but a premature one. After a few weeks of faith in the possibility of an online utopia, the cracks are starting to show. (Kaitlyn Tiffany / The Atlantic)
Wild conspiracy theories about Bill Gates are circulating on social media. On YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, he is being falsely portrayed as the creator of Covid-19 and as someone who wants to profit from the virus. (Daisuke Wakabayashi, Davey Alba and Marc Tracy / The New York Times)
Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger’s first collaboration since leaving Instagram is now live. It’s an effort to measure the rate at which COVID-19 is spreading in each individual state.
Virus tracker
Total cases in the US: At least 770,138
Total deaths in the US: More than 37,000
Reported cases in California: 31,906
Reported cases in New York: 247,543
Reported cases in New Jersey: 88,806
Reported cases in Massachusetts: 38,077
Governing
⭐Google and Facebook will both be forced to pay media companies in Australia for publishing their news under what the government says is a world-first mandatory code of conduct. The payment model could be based on the cost of preparing journalistic content, or the value added to the digital platform by using it. Here’s Ed Johnson at Bloomberg:
Australia’s government has pledged to tackle the “power imbalance” between the digital giants and traditional media, adding to a barrage of global action against Google and Facebook. Regulators worldwide have been trying to loosen the tech giants’ grip on everything from advertising and search engines to news, data and elections. Frydenberg said the government was “very conscious of the challenges” of forcing the companies to pay for news content, after efforts in France and Spain had failed. The payment model could be based on the cost of preparing journalistic content, or the value added to the digital platform by using it, he said.
Twitter won’t be able to reveal surveillance requests it receives from the US government after a federal judge accepted government arguments that this was likely to harm national security. Twitter had been arguing its free-speech rights were being violated by not being allowed to reveal the details. (Kanishka Singh / Reuters)
The Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Division have both signaled they are continuing to seriously investigate big tech companies like Facebook and Google for possible antitrust violations. Public sentiment toward the companies has shifted, but that might not matter for the probes. (Lauren Feiner / CNBC)
Industry
⭐Dropbox privately paid top hackers to find bugs in Zoom’s software years before the company’s security flaws became national news. They said Zoom was slow to fix the flaws, even after being alerted to them. Natasha Singer and Nicole Perlroth at The New York Times report:
As part of a novel security assessment program for its vendors and partners, Dropbox in 2018 began privately offering rewards to top hackers to find holes in Zoom’s software code and that of a few other companies. The former Dropbox engineers said they were stunned by the volume and severity of the security flaws that hackers discovered in Zoom’s code — and troubled by Zoom’s slowness in fixing them. After Dropbox presented the hackers’ findings from the Singapore event to Zoom Video Communications, the California company behind the videoconferencing service, it took more than three months for Zoom to fix the bug, the former engineers said. Zoom patched the vulnerability only after another hacker publicized a different security flaw with the same root cause.
Facebook is launching a dedicated gaming app to take on Twitch and YouTube. Facebook’s gaming app will largely curate and focus on the streaming community, although it will also highlight casual games that people might play online already, including Words with Friends. (Julia Alexander / The Verge)
Instagram founder Kevin Systrom didn’t leave Facebook on the best of terms. But today, he has an “amicable” relationship with Mark Zuckerberg. (Kurt Wagner and Emily Chang / Bloomberg)
Things to do
Stuff to occupy you online during the quarantine.
Watch one of the 10 educational documentaries Netflix released for free on YouTube.
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theverge--2020-04-21--Apple’s App Store and other services launch in dozens more countries

Apple is launching its major services , including the App Store , iCloud , Apple Podcasts , and Apple Arcade , in 20 new countries today .
In addition , Apple Music is expanding to 52 new countries .
The expansion means that the App Store in particular is now available in a total of 175 countries and regions .
The list of places Apple ’ s services are expanding to is diverse , and includes countries in Africa , Asia-Pacific , Europe , Latin America and the Caribbean , the Middle East , and Oceana .
Here ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that its App Store , Apple Arcade , Apple Music , Apple Podcasts , and iCloud are expanding to : Here ’ s the list of places where Apple Music is launching : It ’ s a big list , but it ’ s an important one for Apple to grow as more and more of its revenue comes from selling services alongside its hardware .
In its last earnings release , Apple CEO Tim Cook boasted that its services division had set an all-time revenue record for the company , following the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Arcade late last year .

Apple is launching its major services, including the App Store, iCloud, Apple Podcasts, and Apple Arcade, in 20 new countries today. In addition, Apple Music is expanding to 52 new countries. The expansion means that the App Store in particular is now available in a total of 175 countries and regions.
The list of places Apple’s services are expanding to is diverse, and includes countries in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East, and Oceana. Here’s Apple’s list of the countries that its App Store, Apple Arcade, Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, and iCloud are expanding to:
Africa: Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Libya, Morocco, Rwanda, and Zambia. Asia-Pacific: Maldives and Myanmar. Europe: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Serbia. Middle East: Afghanistan (excluding Apple Music) and Iraq. Oceania: Nauru (excluding Apple Music), Tonga, and Vanuatu.
Here’s the list of places where Apple Music is launching:
Africa: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Chad, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Tunisia. Asia-Pacific: Bhutan. Europe: Croatia, Iceland, and North Macedonia. Latin America and the Caribbean: the Bahamas, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Turks and Caicos, and Uruguay. Middle East: Kuwait, Qatar, and Yemen. Oceania: Solomon Islands.


theverge--2020-04-21--Demand for Sharp’s face masks crashes website and smart home gadgets

Sharp announced last month that it would begin making face masks at its TV factory in Japan , and this morning they became available to order — at least , that was the plan .
Demand for the masks has overwhelmed Sharp ’ s servers to the point that not only is it near-impossible to access the online store , internet services for the company ’ s smart home gadgets have apparently been taken down too .
The Asahi Shimbun reports that Sharp IoT devices like air conditioners that connect to the internet and use smartphones for controls are currently @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the trouble and said the company is looking into the root cause .
According to the company , it ’ s possible that the problems were caused by concentrated traffic to a server that handles user accounts for both the online store and the smart devices .
The masks look like regular medical masks that are commonly worn in Japan and other Asian countries to help prevent the spread of diseases , but they do have a Sharp logo on the bottom .
They cost 2,980 yen ( ~ $ 28 ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 680 yen ( $ 6 ) for shipping , and customers are restricted to buying one box at a time every three days .
The store went live at 10AM JST today , but as of this writing ( nearly five hours later ) is still offline .

Sharp announced last month that it would begin making face masks at its TV factory in Japan, and this morning they became available to order — at least, that was the plan. Demand for the masks has overwhelmed Sharp’s servers to the point that not only is it near-impossible to access the online store, internet services for the company’s smart home gadgets have apparently been taken down too.
The Asahi Shimbun reports that Sharp IoT devices like air conditioners that connect to the internet and use smartphones for controls are currently experiencing problems. A Sharp representative apologized for the trouble and said the company is looking into the root cause. According to the company, it’s possible that the problems were caused by concentrated traffic to a server that handles user accounts for both the online store and the smart devices.


theverge--2020-04-21--Spotify launches curated podcast playlists in a bid to make the platform a podcast tastemaker

Spotify ’ s officially trying to solve the podcast discovery problem while also trying to help podcasters reach new audiences .
The company announced today that it ’ s rolling out three human-curated podcast playlists in six countries : the US , Germany , Sweden , the UK , Mexico , and Brazil .
The three weekly playlists are called Best Podcasts of the Week , Brain Snacks , and Crime Scene .
They ’ ll each be localized to the countries and will be populated by curators in each location .
Spotify hired podcast curators around the world specifically @ @ @ @ @ @ @ meant to get people who already listen to podcasts to “ build a habit around listening on Spotify , ” says Courtney Holt , VP , Global Head of Studios & Video .
The audio platform first tested podcast playlists last year and spent the time since observing how people use them .
Holt says Spotify is also looking for these playlists to engage people who have never listened to a podcast and to help people searching for something new .
Of course , the playlist rollout comes at a fraught time for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ podcasters are watching to see if disappearing commute times affect how often people listen to their shows .
Holt says Spotify has seen habits change , like people listening to shows at different times of day , but he says the company expects behavior to return to usual as the pandemic eases up .
Spotify is making playlists , but it ’ s also making its own podcasts too “ I think that a lot of people are changing behaviors for a limited time , but we also have signals — we look @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ re seeing different datasets in different markets who are in different stages of pandemic response , ” he says .
The playlist rollout would have happened with or without the pandemic , he says , so the company is keeping with its podcast plans .
Spotify ’ s curation efforts might make some in the broader industry nervous .
Apple , the original and biggest name in podcast platforms , features editorial lists , not playlists that cycle through every recommended episode .
The industry largely respects that team ’ s opinions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ making its own podcast content .
Spotify , however , is .
It owns Gimlet Media , Parcast , Anchor , and its own Spotify Studios , all of which are designed to produce different podcasts .
People in the industry might worry that Spotify will use its playlists to amplify its own voices .
Holt says people shouldn ’ t worry .
“ The product only works if it has editorial integrity , and our editors have been given directive to pick what the best content is , ” he says .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ do with whether or not we ’ ve made it ...
The goal is to reflect what is interesting to a broad constituency , and if our shows rise to the occasion , that ’ s great , but the idea is that this is not a way to celebrate Spotify-produced content .
It ’ s a way to celebrate the shows you have to hear in any given week because they ’ re amazing.
” He says the curators will use a “ bunch of different datasets ” to find shows with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that lets creators submit their own episodes , too .
Along with today ’ s announcement , the company ’ s also launching a tool in its Spotify for Podcasters dashboard that ’ ll send a notification to show creators whenever one of their episodes is included in a playlist .
Holy doesn ’ t think Spotify positioning itself as a tastemaker and as a place where everyone can listen to shows , is problematic for the industry .
If anything , it ’ s a benefit , he says .
“ The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Holt says .
“ So I think the more we do that , the better it is for everybody .
”

Spotify’s officially trying to solve the podcast discovery problem while also trying to help podcasters reach new audiences. The company announced today that it’s rolling out three human-curated podcast playlists in six countries: the US, Germany, Sweden, the UK, Mexico, and Brazil. The three weekly playlists are called Best Podcasts of the Week, Brain Snacks, and Crime Scene. They’ll each be localized to the countries and will be populated by curators in each location. Spotify hired podcast curators around the world specifically for this feature.
The playlists are meant to get people who already listen to podcasts to “build a habit around listening on Spotify,” says Courtney Holt, VP, Global Head of Studios & Video. The audio platform first tested podcast playlists last year and spent the time since observing how people use them. Holt says Spotify is also looking for these playlists to engage people who have never listened to a podcast and to help people searching for something new.
Of course, the playlist rollout comes at a fraught time for the world, and one in which podcasters are watching to see if disappearing commute times affect how often people listen to their shows. Holt says Spotify has seen habits change, like people listening to shows at different times of day, but he says the company expects behavior to return to usual as the pandemic eases up.
Spotify is making playlists, but it’s also making its own podcasts too
“I think that a lot of people are changing behaviors for a limited time, but we also have signals — we look at our platform globally — and we’re seeing different datasets in different markets who are in different stages of pandemic response,” he says. The playlist rollout would have happened with or without the pandemic, he says, so the company is keeping with its podcast plans.
Spotify’s curation efforts might make some in the broader industry nervous. Apple, the original and biggest name in podcast platforms, features editorial lists, not playlists that cycle through every recommended episode. The industry largely respects that team’s opinions, mostly because Apple isn’t making its own podcast content. Spotify, however, is. It owns Gimlet Media, Parcast, Anchor, and its own Spotify Studios, all of which are designed to produce different podcasts. People in the industry might worry that Spotify will use its playlists to amplify its own voices. Holt says people shouldn’t worry.
“The product only works if it has editorial integrity, and our editors have been given directive to pick what the best content is,” he says. “It really has very little to do with whether or not we’ve made it ... The goal is to reflect what is interesting to a broad constituency, and if our shows rise to the occasion, that’s great, but the idea is that this is not a way to celebrate Spotify-produced content. It’s a way to celebrate the shows you have to hear in any given week because they’re amazing.”
He says the curators will use a “bunch of different datasets” to find shows with the eventual goal of building a tool that lets creators submit their own episodes, too. Along with today’s announcement, the company’s also launching a tool in its Spotify for Podcasters dashboard that’ll send a notification to show creators whenever one of their episodes is included in a playlist.
Holy doesn’t think Spotify positioning itself as a tastemaker and as a place where everyone can listen to shows, is problematic for the industry. If anything, it’s a benefit, he says.


theverge--2020-04-20--Super Mario Maker 2 adds World Maker mode for building entire games

Nintendo has announced what it describes as the final update to Super Mario Maker 2 , and it comes with @ @ @ @ @ a World Maker mode that lets you design a map and string multiple courses together @ @ @ @ @ Each world can contain up to five levels , and eight of the worlds themselves @ @ @ @ @ you can create your own 40-level Mario game .
The update also includes the addition @ @ @ @ @ power-ups including the frog suit from Super Mario Bros. 3 , the power balloon from @ @ @ @ @ a mushroom that turns characters into their Super Mario Bros. 2 sprites and lets them @ @ @ @ @ will release the update for free on April 22nd .
It ’ s unfortunate that @ @ @ @ @ ’ t receive any more content , but the ability to build an entire new @ @ @ @ @ the worst way to sign off .

Nintendo has announced what it describes as the final update to Super Mario Maker 2, and it comes with a huge new feature: a World Maker mode that lets you design a map and string multiple courses together, Super Mario World-style. Each world can contain up to five levels, and eight of the worlds themselves can be combined, meaning you can create your own 40-level Mario game.
The update also includes the addition of several new enemies and power-ups including the frog suit from Super Mario Bros. 3, the power balloon from Super Mario World, and a mushroom that turns characters into their Super Mario Bros. 2 sprites and lets them throw items around.
Nintendo will release the update for free on April 22nd. It’s unfortunate that Super Mario Maker 2 won’t receive any more content, but the ability to build an entire new Mario game isn’t the worst way to sign off.


theverge--2020-04-21--Zoom will soon let you report meeting participants to help bust Zoombombers

Zoom is adding a way for hosts to report meeting participants , according to the app ’ s release notes published on April 19th ( via PC Mag ) .
In theory , that could help the company track down trolls that take over Zoom calls and share inappropriate material , a practice more colloquially known as “ Zoombombing.
” Zoom says the reporting feature will be available in an update that ’ s scheduled to release on Sunday , April 26th .
“ This feature will generate a report which will be sent to the Zoom Trust and Safety @ @ @ @ @ @ @ platform and block a user if necessary , ” Zoom said in the update notes .
Account owners and admins will be able to turn on the setting .
Zoom declined to comment when The Verge asked for more details about the policy .
As Zoom usage has skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic , the platform has become a potential target for pranks and harassment through methods like Zoombombing .
To help prevent Zoombombing , the company turned on passwords and waiting rooms for meetings by default for free users and for users @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s cheapest paid tier on April 5th .
Zoom also removed Meeting IDs from meeting title bars on April 8th — before then , sharing screenshots of meetings on social media could expose that Meeting ID and potentially let people to join your meeting uninvited .
Federal prosecutors have also warned that there could be significant legal implications for Zoombombing .

Zoom is adding a way for hosts to report meeting participants, according to the app’s release notes published on April 19th (via PC Mag). In theory, that could help the company track down trolls that take over Zoom calls and share inappropriate material, a practice more colloquially known as “Zoombombing.” Zoom says the reporting feature will be available in an update that’s scheduled to release on Sunday, April 26th.
“This feature will generate a report which will be sent to the Zoom Trust and Safety team to evaluate any misuse of the platform and block a user if necessary,” Zoom said in the update notes. Account owners and admins will be able to turn on the setting. Zoom declined to comment when The Verge asked for more details about the policy.
As Zoom usage has skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the platform has become a potential target for pranks and harassment through methods like Zoombombing. To help prevent Zoombombing, the company turned on passwords and waiting rooms for meetings by default for free users and for users with a single license on Zoom’s cheapest paid tier on April 5th.


theverge--2020-04-21--Peter Thiel’s controversial Palantir is helping build a coronavirus tracking tool for the Trump admi

Peter Thiel’s controversial Palantir is helping build a coronavirus tracking tool for the Trump admin

Palantir , an analytics company co-founded by Trump ally Peter Thiel , is supporting the US Department of Health and Human Services ( HHS ) in building a tool to track the spread of the coronavirus , according to a new report from The Daily Beast .
The tool , which is reportedly called HHS Protect Now , is already up and running as of April 10th and it helps officials compile reports on the coronavirus ’ spread through the US by collecting data from state and local governments , healthcare institutions , and colleges .
It is unclear what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ comes from , or how it ’ s being used .
It ’ s also unclear if Palantir is the sole technology provider of the tool , or if other partners are involved .
Reports earlier this month first surfaced Palantir ’ s involvement with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the UK ’ s National Health Service regarding coronavirus tracking software and other assistance in combating the global pandemic .
This would appear to be an extension of that work ; Palantir has at least two active contracts with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the other less than two weeks ago .
Here ’ s how The Daily Beast describes the initiative , based on sources with knowledge of the project and confirmation from HHS itself : And here ’ s an at least partial description of the kind of data we ’ re talking about here : “ We are using the data aggregated ... to paint a picture for the Task Force , and state and local leaders to show the impact of their strategic decisions , ” the HHS spokesperson told The Daily Beast @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , if there are a number of cases concentrated at a hospital next to an airport and a mass transit stop , we can build a predictive model using a transmission chain to predict how quickly the disease will spread taking into account these factors.
” Palantir is known best for its surveillance , predictive , and analytic work with the US government and state and local law enforcement , as well as services provided to the private sector in areas like finance and healthcare .
It ’ s controversial in part because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ US Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ICE ) and because it generally operates with extreme secrecy and with little oversight regarding the tools and data it provides to military operations , governments , and hedge funds .
Palantir has been controversial for its secret work with governments and police For instance , the company clandestinely provided predictive policing software to the city of New Orleans .
The city only terminated the contract after six years operating in secrecy once The Verge and other news organizations unearthed the partnership and highlighted the privacy and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ itself , a nod to the magical artifact in J.R.R .
Tolkien ’ s The Lord of the Rings trilogy that takes its name from the Elvish word for “ all-seeing , ” speaks to the company ’ s surveillance ambitions and Thiel ’ s willingness to align them with political causes he supports .
In this case , it appears Thiel ’ s connections to Trump — the infamous investor is a well-known conservative in liberal-leaning Silicon Valley and supported Trump ’ s election in 2016 — may have helped influence Palantir @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
( Thiel has also pledged to support Trump ’ s reelection , and he has reportedly used his influence at Facebook , where he was the company ’ s first angel investor and remains on its board of directors , to help Trump with regard to oversight and moderation of political ads . )
HHS Protect Now was intended to become the “ the single source for testing data by April 20th , ” according to an internal Trump administration document obtained by The Daily Beast , though it ’ s unclear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Currently , Dr. Deborah Birx , the White House ’ s coronavirus response coordinator , is making use of data the tool aggregates , and that data and Birx ’ s presentations are factors for how Trump and his administration plan to reopen parts of the country , The Daily Beast reports .

Palantir, an analytics company co-founded by Trump ally Peter Thiel, is supporting the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in building a tool to track the spread of the coronavirus, according to a new report from The Daily Beast.
The tool, which is reportedly called HHS Protect Now, is already up and running as of April 10th and it helps officials compile reports on the coronavirus’ spread through the US by collecting data from state and local governments, healthcare institutions, and colleges. It is unclear what exactly this data is, where it comes from, or how it’s being used. It’s also unclear if Palantir is the sole technology provider of the tool, or if other partners are involved.
Reports earlier this month first surfaced Palantir’s involvement with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the UK’s National Health Service regarding coronavirus tracking software and other assistance in combating the global pandemic. This would appear to be an extension of that work; Palantir has at least two active contracts with HHS, one signed in January and the other less than two weeks ago.
Here’s how The Daily Beast describes the initiative, based on sources with knowledge of the project and confirmation from HHS itself:
The HHS Protect Now platform, which is set to be unveiled later this week, pulls data from across the federal government, state and local governments, healthcare facilities, and colleges, to help administration officials determine how to “mitigate and prevent spread” of the coronavirus, according to a spokesperson for the department.
And here’s an at least partial description of the kind of data we’re talking about here:
HHS said it has 187 data sets integrated into the platform, with inputs that include hospital capacity and inventories, supply chain data from the government and industry, diagnostic and geographic testing data, demographic statistics, state policy actions, and coronavirus and flu-like emergency department data. The spokesperson also said HHS was relying on “private sector partner contributions of data.”
“We are using the data aggregated... to paint a picture for the Task Force, and state and local leaders to show the impact of their strategic decisions,” the HHS spokesperson told The Daily Beast in a statement. “For instance, if there are a number of cases concentrated at a hospital next to an airport and a mass transit stop, we can build a predictive model using a transmission chain to predict how quickly the disease will spread taking into account these factors.”
Palantir is known best for its surveillance, predictive, and analytic work with the US government and state and local law enforcement, as well as services provided to the private sector in areas like finance and healthcare. It’s controversial in part because it has provided profiling tools to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and because it generally operates with extreme secrecy and with little oversight regarding the tools and data it provides to military operations, governments, and hedge funds.
Palantir has been controversial for its secret work with governments and police
For instance, the company clandestinely provided predictive policing software to the city of New Orleans. The city only terminated the contract after six years operating in secrecy once The Verge and other news organizations unearthed the partnership and highlighted the privacy and civil rights concerns involved.
The name itself, a nod to the magical artifact in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy that takes its name from the Elvish word for “all-seeing,” speaks to the company’s surveillance ambitions and Thiel’s willingness to align them with political causes he supports.
In this case, it appears Thiel’s connections to Trump — the infamous investor is a well-known conservative in liberal-leaning Silicon Valley and supported Trump’s election in 2016 — may have helped influence Palantir’s involvement with HHS Protect Now. (Thiel has also pledged to support Trump’s reelection, and he has reportedly used his influence at Facebook, where he was the company’s first angel investor and remains on its board of directors, to help Trump with regard to oversight and moderation of political ads.)


theverge--2020-04-21--Patreon lays off 13 percent of its staff

Patreon has laid off 30 employees , or 13 percent of the company ’ s staff , due to economic difficulties created by the COVID-19 pandemic , as first reported by TechCrunch on Tuesday .
“ It is unclear how long this economic uncertainty will last and therefore , to prepare accordingly , we have made the difficult decision to part ways with 13 percent of Patreon ’ s workforce , ” Patreon said in a statement to The Verge .
The company also said that “ in March alone , we onboarded 50,000 new creators to the platform of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ higher than previous months.
” However , the company has seen a “ slightly higher ” rate of patron subscriptions being deleted , with “ some ” patrons reporting COVID-19 as the reason for the deletion , it said in a March 25th blog post .
Patreon is not the only crowdfunding platform experiencing hardships — Kickstarter ’ s CEO Aziz Hasan announced the company would be discussing “ potential layoffs ” with Kickstarter ’ s union organizers in a memo sent yesterday .
The number of live projects on Kickstarter is down @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was at this time last year , Hasan said in the memo .
Here is Patreon ’ s statement about the layoffs : Over the past six weeks , Patreon has experienced a significant influx of new creators launching on the platform along with increased financial support from both their new and existing patrons .
In March alone , we onboarded 50,000 new creators to the platform of which the average income was 60 % higher than previous months .
This surge , along with years of continuous growth , has put Patreon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ creators successfully manage their creative businesses during this challenging time .
Although the business is in a strong cash position , we want to ensure that we can continue to support creators for many years to come .
It is unclear how long this economic uncertainty will last and therefore , to prepare accordingly , we have made the difficult decision to part ways with 13 % of Patreon ’ s workforce .
This decision was not made lightly and consisted of several other factors beyond the financial ones .
Prior to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ performance review cycle and deployed a new company strategy - both exercises highlighted the need for different skill sets moving forward .
It was this combination of economic uncertainty , performance reviews and a shift in strategy that prompted us to make this change .
Patreon is now on a path to long-term success and the business will emerge from this layoff even stronger , both financially and strategically .

Over the past six weeks, Patreon has experienced a significant influx of new creators launching on the platform along with increased financial support from both their new and existing patrons. In March alone, we onboarded 50,000 new creators to the platform of which the average income was 60% higher than previous months. This surge, along with years of continuous growth, has put Patreon in a strong financial position to help creators successfully manage their creative businesses during this challenging time.
Although the business is in a strong cash position, we want to ensure that we can continue to support creators for many years to come. It is unclear how long this economic uncertainty will last and therefore, to prepare accordingly, we have made the difficult decision to part ways with 13% of Patreon’s workforce. This decision was not made lightly and consisted of several other factors beyond the financial ones. Prior to the pandemic, we had completed an in-depth performance review cycle and deployed a new company strategy - both exercises highlighted the need for different skill sets moving forward.
It was this combination of economic uncertainty, performance reviews and a shift in strategy that prompted us to make this change. Patreon is now on a path to long-term success and the business will emerge from this layoff even stronger, both financially and strategically.


theverge--2020-04-21--How to celebrate Earth Day 2020 online

How to celebrate Earth Day 2020 online

April 22nd , 2020 , marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day , the annual celebration of the environmental movement .
In 1970 , according to EarthDay.org , about 20 million Americans assembled to demand greater attention to the protection of the planet .
Since then , activists around the world have gathered each year to mark the day .
Ironically , this year ’ s Earth Day is taking place during one of the most widespread and deadly pandemics the world has seen for generations .
As a result , any gatherings or other in-person events have had to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t mean we can ’ t celebrate the occasion while sheltering in place .
There are over a thousand different programs from all over the world listed on the Earth Day website .
Unless stated otherwise , all take place on Wednesday , April 22nd .
A sample includes : A range of activists , along with entertainment and political celebrities , will offer discussions , performances , teach-ins , and suggestions for action on the office website of the Earth Day movement .
This will take place for 24 hours .
Participants @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sen. Elizabeth Warren , and Dave Matthews .
This is a program of 10 short animated films by professional animators , college students , and children , all from the Pacific Northwest and curated by artist and animator Marilyn Zornado .
They will be available starting 8AM ET on April 22nd through 8PM ET on Sunday , April 26th .
An “ international telematic festival ” featuring live performances by a variety of multimedia artists will start at 8PM ET on Tuesday , April 21st , and continue through Wednesday , April 22nd @ @ @ @ @ @ @ World Earth Day Sculpture Challenge , Jupiter Artland and the Centre for Interaction Design at Edinburgh Napier University is inviting young people to explore sculptures by professional artists and build their own sculptures .
The winning design will join Jupiter ’ s permanent collection .
This seven-minute YouTube event described as “ a meditative study of the seemingly infinite nature of space and natural physical structure ” will take place on Wednesday at 3PM ET .
The UVM Environmental Program and the Gund Institute sponsor a talk by Nalini Nadkarni , the pioneer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to 6:30PM .
This is only a very small sampling .
There is a wide range of other events happening .
For example : invitations for children to send in art or to participate in sing-alongs , classes about rooftop gardens in Nepal , and a climate workshop for students in Belarus .
To find something you may be interested in joining , you can visit the Earth Day 2020 event page where you can either click on an event on a world map or page through a calendar of events .
You @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , age group , and language , or ( if you haven ’ t yet ) add an event of your own .
Vox Media has affiliate partnerships .
These do not influence editorial content , though Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links .
For more information , see

April 22nd, 2020, marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, the annual celebration of the environmental movement. In 1970, according to EarthDay.org, about 20 million Americans assembled to demand greater attention to the protection of the planet. Since then, activists around the world have gathered each year to mark the day.
Ironically, this year’s Earth Day is taking place during one of the most widespread and deadly pandemics the world has seen for generations. As a result, any gatherings or other in-person events have had to be canceled — but that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate the occasion while sheltering in place.
There are over a thousand different programs from all over the world listed on the Earth Day website. Unless stated otherwise, all take place on Wednesday, April 22nd. A sample includes:
A range of activists, along with entertainment and political celebrities, will offer discussions, performances, teach-ins, and suggestions for action on the office website of the Earth Day movement. This will take place for 24 hours. Participants include Pope Francis, Steve Ballmer, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and Dave Matthews.
This is a program of 10 short animated films by professional animators, college students, and children, all from the Pacific Northwest and curated by artist and animator Marilyn Zornado. They will be available starting 8AM ET on April 22nd through 8PM ET on Sunday, April 26th.
An “international telematic festival” featuring live performances by a variety of multimedia artists will start at 8PM ET on Tuesday, April 21st, and continue through Wednesday, April 22nd, at 8PM ET.
Image courtesy Jupiter Artland
In a World Earth Day Sculpture Challenge, Jupiter Artland and the Centre for Interaction Design at Edinburgh Napier University is inviting young people to explore sculptures by professional artists and build their own sculptures. The winning design will join Jupiter’s permanent collection.
This seven-minute YouTube event, described as “a meditative study of the seemingly infinite nature of space and natural physical structure,” will take place on Wednesday at 3PM ET.
The UVM Environmental Program and the Gund Institute will sponsor a talk by Nalini Nadkarni, the pioneer of tree canopy ecology, from 4:30 to 6:30PM.
National Geographic is encouraging kids to start their own safaris by creating artwork featuring their favorite animals (there are resources on the website) and then hanging their art out so that others can see them from their windows or as they (safely) walk around the neighborhood.
This is only a very small sampling. There is a wide range of other events happening — for example, invitations for children to send in art or to participate in sing-alongs, classes about rooftop gardens in Nepal, and a climate workshop for students in Belarus.
To find something you may be interested in joining, you can visit the Earth Day 2020 event page where you can either click on an event on a world map or page through a calendar of events. You can also filter the events by type, age group, and language, or (if you haven’t yet) add an event of your own.
Update April 22nd, 2020, 8:30AM ET: This article has been updated to include the Nat Geo event.


theverge--2020-04-21--Netflix will reduce developing ‘product innovations’ as teams go remote

Despite employees adapting fairly well to working from home during the global pandemic , Netflix is reducing the number of product features it experiments with as a precaution .
“ Our product teams , for example , have been relatively unaffected , ” Netflix ’ s letter to shareholders reads .
“ As a precaution , we have temporarily reduced the number of product innovations we try , while continuing to release features that we know will add meaningful value for our members.
” The last two features Netflix rolled out to subscribers were Top 10 lists , now available @ @ @ @ @ @ @ parental control features .
Netflix ’ s letter doesn ’ t list any product features that are already in development that might continue .
Instead , the letter reiterates that “ our focus has been on maintaining the quality of our service while our employees around the world adapt to working from home.
” Other parts of Netflix ’ s business have been impacted by shelter-at-home orders and general social isolation practices as people work to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus .
Netflix ’ s letter notes that its animation production @ @ @ @ @ @ @ working remotely .
Production on other shows and films have “ largely paused around the world , ” according to the company , as they rely on people being on physical sets and in close proximity of one another .
More than 200 projects have been able to continue via remote tasks , and original series writers ’ rooms have continued virtually .

Despite employees adapting fairly well to working from home during the global pandemic, Netflix is reducing the number of product features it experiments with as a precaution.
“Our product teams, for example, have been relatively unaffected,” Netflix’s letter to shareholders reads. “As a precaution, we have temporarily reduced the number of product innovations we try, while continuing to release features that we know will add meaningful value for our members.”
The last two features Netflix rolled out to subscribers were Top 10 lists, now available in nearly 100 countries, and new parental control features. Netflix’s letter doesn’t list any product features that are already in development that might continue. Instead, the letter reiterates that “our focus has been on maintaining the quality of our service while our employees around the world adapt to working from home.”


theverge--2020-04-21--Adobe’s Photoshop and Fresco iPad apps get new $10 per month bundle

Adobe is now bundling Photoshop for iPad and Fresco Premium into one package .
The bundle allows iPad owners to @ @ @ @ @ just $ 9.99 a month , instead of paying that same price for each of @ @ @ @ @ with a subscription to the individual Photoshop app will also have access to Fresco Premium @ @ @ @ @ package , Adobe announced in the blog post .
Adobe said in the same blog @ @ @ @ @ also released an update to Photoshop for iPad today .
It includes “ Adobe fonts @ @ @ @ @ that automatically detects any fonts missing in your PSD files , alongside tutorial videos to @ @ @ @ @ the program .
Adobe offers a similar bundle on PC and Mac , which provides @ @ @ @ @ and Photoshop for $ 9.99 month .
Both Fresco Premium and Photoshop for iPad came @ @ @ @ @ early reviews of Photoshop were negative , however , Fresco Premium was met with a @ @ @ @

Adobe is now bundling Photoshop for iPad and Fresco Premium into one package. The bundle allows iPad owners to gain access to both for just $9.99 a month, instead of paying that same price for each of them.
Creative Cloud customers with a subscription to the individual Photoshop app will also have access to Fresco Premium as part of their monthly package, Adobe announced in the blog post.
Adobe said in the same blog post that it’s also released an update to Photoshop for iPad today. It includes “Adobe fonts auto-activation,” a feature that automatically detects any fonts missing in your PSD files, alongside tutorial videos to teach novices the basics of the program.


theverge--2020-04-21--Gogo furloughs 60 percent of its workforce as passenger air travel collapses

In-flight internet provider Gogo is placing more than 600 workers on unpaid leave , or about 60 percent of its workforce , the company announced on Tuesday .
The Illinois-based company says sales of its in-flight internet service are expected to drop as much as 70 percent in April on commercial airlines , as passenger air travel falls to historic lows during the coronavirus pandemic .
Gogo said Tuesday that it has also applied for a $ 150 million loan and an $ 81 million grant from the government under the Coronavirus Aid , Relief , and Economic Security ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the time and duration of the furloughs will “ vary based on workload in individual departments.
” Gogo ’ s CEO is also taking a 30 percent pay cut , with other executives taking a 20 percent cut .
Gogo tells The Verge that , despite the furloughs , the company is “ continuing to move forward ” with its plan to roll out a new 5G air-to-ground network in 2021 .
The company expects the new 5G network to help bolster its network and its position in an increasingly competitive market .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , as Gogo — which has still not turned a profit since it went public in 2013 — has admitted in financial filings that its current network has already run into capacity constraints .
That network is still heavily dependent on air-to-ground connections , which are susceptible to interruptions and bandwidth issues , resulting in slow internet speeds and frustrated customers .
To that end , Gogo has also spent the last few years trying to outfit as many of its customers ’ planes as possible with the ability to connect to satellite-based @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and can maintain a longer connection .

In-flight internet provider Gogo is placing more than 600 workers on unpaid leave, or about 60 percent of its workforce, the company announced on Tuesday. The Illinois-based company says sales of its in-flight internet service are expected to drop as much as 70 percent in April on commercial airlines, as passenger air travel falls to historic lows during the coronavirus pandemic.
Gogo said Tuesday that it has also applied for a $150 million loan and an $81 million grant from the government under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The company said the time and duration of the furloughs will “vary based on workload in individual departments.” Gogo’s CEO is also taking a 30 percent pay cut, with other executives taking a 20 percent cut.
Gogo tells The Verge that, despite the furloughs, the company is “continuing to move forward” with its plan to roll out a new 5G air-to-ground network in 2021. The company expects the new 5G network to help bolster its network and its position in an increasingly competitive market.


theverge--2020-04-21--IFA 2020 will take place in an ‘innovative new’ form instead of the normal conference due to COVID-1

IFA 2020 will take place in an ‘innovative new’ form instead of the normal conference due to COVID-19

IFA announced on Twitter that its upcoming 2020 conference will be affected by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic , but it ’ s not canceling the show .
The Berlin government has banned events with more than 5,000 participants from taking place until October 24th , 2020 — well past the conference ’ s usual timing in September .
Instead , the conference organizers say that IFA 2020 will carry on with “ an innovative new concept.
” It didn ’ t share more concrete language to express how it expects to do this , though it ’ s hard to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sort of live stream .
# IFA20 : Set for an innovative concept designed for unprecedented times .
IFA Berlin is set to go ahead in 2020 , but with an innovative new concept , following the decision by the Berlin government to ban all events with more than 5,000 participants until 24 October 2020 .
1/6 pic.twitter.com/MLDvamLXzf — IFA Berlin ( @ IFA_Berlin ) April 21 , 2020 Hans-Joachim Kamp , the chairman on the supervisory board of the company that organizes IFA , says in one of the tweets that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ being held have helped it , and the many exhibitors who might have been planning a presence at IFA 2020 , to start making plans for what will replace the in-person event .
IFA 2020 is by no means the only tech industry event affected by the novel coronavirus .
Several in-person conferences have been completely canceled , including Google I/O 2020 , MWC 2020 , SXSW 2020 , Facebook F8 , and GDC 2020 .
Others have pledged to host virtual events , like Oculus Connect , E3 2020 , Apple ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Build 2020 , Gamescom , and more .

IFA announced on Twitter that its upcoming 2020 conference will be affected by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, but it’s not canceling the show. The Berlin government has banned events with more than 5,000 participants from taking place until October 24th, 2020 — well past the conference’s usual timing in September. Instead, the conference organizers say that IFA 2020 will carry on with “an innovative new concept.” It didn’t share more concrete language to express how it expects to do this, though it’s hard to imagine it means anything other than some sort of live stream.


theverge--2020-04-21--A 72-hour live stream is bringing Earth Day online

To honor Earth Day ’ s 50th anniversary this week , activists like Harlan Pruden had originally planned to be outside .
But the pandemic scrapped all the carefully planned marches , protests , and performances surrounding the big day on April 22nd , forcing the environmental movement online .
“ We gather in this virtual space , but it is a place , and one of great importance , ” Pruden said in a live stream kickoff organized by the nonprofit Earth Day Initiative on April 19th .
Pruden , an educator with the British Columbia Centre for Disease @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Nation , hadn ’ t planned to lead the opening of the live stream ; he was stepping in for a colleague hospitalized that morning with complications from COVID-19 .
“ We gather in this virtual space , but it is a place , and one of great importance ” Connecting digital spaces to the physical planet , Pruden and others started the week of online events with a “ land acknowledgement , ” a practice that pays respects to indigenous nations and tribes and their traditional homeland .
“ If I didn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ kind of liken it to me walking into your house [ and ] not acknowledging that I ’ m in your house , ” Pruden explained , speaking from the ancestral territory of the Coast Salish peoples , which is now Vancouver .
In this case , the land he acknowledged wasn ’ t just for his current home , but for the entire world .
The fact that each of the 500 or so people tuning in were scattered across the world in their own houses made the poignant moment a little @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this new , digital Earth Day .
Earth Day plans were upended just over a month ago , as cities and states began telling people to stay at home to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus .
Since then , organizers have scrambled to make plans online .
If they ’ re able to rally just as many people online as they planned to bring out to the streets on April 22nd , the feat could mark a new form of digital resistance in the time of coronavirus .
“ People are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been done before , ” says Alec Connon , a coordinator for the Stop The Money Pipeline coalition , a group of organizations that is leading a day of programming during one of the most anticipated Earth Day events this year : a live stream dubbed “ Earth Day Live.
” The three-day event is hosted by a broader partnership of environmental groups called the Future Coalition and begins on April 22nd .
“ It ’ s definitely a case of building the ship as we sail across the sea , ” says @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we sail across the sea ” Earth Day Live organizers hope to draw in millions of people to rally for action on climate change and make it a priority for would-be voters .
There will be celebrity cameos and high-profile speakers , including Stacey Abrams , Al Gore , Jane Fonda , Joaquin Phoenix , Shepard Fairey , Ai Weiwei , and more .
Questlove , Ziggy Marley , Jason Mraz , Angélique Kidjo , and others will perform .
There will even be DJ ’ d sets with Talib Kweli , Madame @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for living room dance parties .
It ’ ll all be broadcast on their website and shared on social media .
Connon visited Scotland for a couple weeks in March for his brother ’ s wedding , and he realized after returning stateside that months of planning for Earth Day demonstrations were essentially out the door .
“ I felt like 35 years had passed by how much things have changed , ” he said .
He and other organizers tell The Verge they ’ ve been working overtime over the past month @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sunrise Movement , typically occupy lawmakers ’ offices and hit the pavement to agitate for change .
They began figuring out how to have the same impact over the phone and online in March , after canceling smaller actions .
Their Earth Day plans had been in motion since September , and a 50th anniversary couldn ’ t be canceled or rescheduled .
So the Future Coalition announced on March 13th that they would “ think creatively about how to disrupt business as usual.
” They had roughly five weeks to figure it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Zoom calls and throwing ideas onto Google Docs for their new plan to materialize .
Groups had already turned to social media to keep each of their own campaigns going .
But more of the same wouldn ’ t be enough for Earth Day .
“ From the very beginning , we knew in the back of our minds that we had to match the momentum , and that it couldn ’ t just be a social media campaign that you just like , do a tweet storm , ” says Dillon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ director .
“ To match the impact we wanted to make , it had to be something that was fittingly out of bounds , because I think as a youth-led movement we also kind of toe the line of what would usually be considered impossible.
” Many of the groups behind Earth Day Live — including US Youth Climate Strike , Sunrise Movement , and Extinction Rebellion — were the driving force of a series of mass protests last year .
In September , protesters demanding ambitious climate action surrounded the United Nations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ October , the iconic Wall Street bull was doused with blood by activists with Extinction Rebellion , who said it symbolized what they saw as Wall Street prioritizing profits from fossil fuels over human life .
Protest coordinators are keeping details under wraps until the live stream begins on the 22nd , but a few groups have already outlined some preliminary efforts targeting fossil fuels .
The Stop the Money Pipeline coalition originally planned to protest at Chase locations to pressure the bank to fully divest from fossil fuels .
Now those protests @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by taking aim at rating pages like Yelp for each location , according to organizers .
For many of the young organizers The Verge spoke with , this year is one of the first times they ’ ve participated in demonstrations marking Earth Day — a day that ’ s lately been more associated with appreciating trees and polar bears than with rallying against injustice .
But the first Earth Day in 1970 was born out of outrage and frustration .
It was organized in the wake of a massive oil spill off @ @ @ @ @ @ @ harms caused by the pesticide DDT that were exposed in Rachel Carson ’ s seminal book , Silent Spring .
“ This is not about a celebration , it never was .
It was about creating the world ’ s largest movement to force our leaders , our corporate leaders , our national leaders , even our international leaders to get off their butts and do something , ” says Kathleen Rogers , president of Earth Day Network , which grew out of the very first Earth Day and helps to coordinate annual @ @ @ @ @ @ @ use the word celebrate in our office , ” Rogers says .
Phone calls and messages in multiple languages flooded Rogers ’ office after it announced that Earth Day 2020 would have to go digital , some from groups that had spent years planning for events .
“ It was so sad , ” she says , as she lists projects falling by the wayside — orchestras that planned to perform for 24 hours in a row , dance companies choreographing original pieces , Sikh religious leaders who had banned plastic in their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Day event .
Some of those projects might still take place during the Earth Day ’ s half-year anniversary in October , or perhaps for the 51st anniversary next year , Rogers says .
Others might join the live stream this week .
The Earth Day Live broadcast will feature a national live stream , and the event website will include a map and links for local live streams across the US and the world .
It reflects the way the climate movement itself is a patchwork of individuals and groups working from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to tackle a global crisis .
Their hope is that coming together in a new way online now might lay the groundwork for a digital infrastructure that can further their work afterwards , especially during the 2020 election season in the US .
“ Really from nothing , there ’ s been a whole infrastructure that has sprung up over the last month , ” Connon tells The Verge .
The Future Coalition has turned to groups like the nonprofit assemblage of engineers , technologists , and activists Fight for the Future and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ live stream is no easy feat during a pandemic A 72-hour live stream is no easy feat during a pandemic .
Event organizers built a new website dedicated to the three-day live stream .
They ’ ll also be working with media studio Mobeon and the video platform Maestro to make the live stream interactive .
Since a big focus will be getting people to vote for candidates who support strong climate policies , viewers can click on an overlay that asks them to register to vote via the nonprofit Rock The Vote @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , “ I think otherwise we would get it done but it might not look as good and might crash , ” Bernard says with a laugh .
They ’ ve put together a virtual “ war room ” of organizers on Zoom who will troubleshoot any problems that pop up .
If the video embed on the webpage crashes , they have backup embeds .
If the website itself crashes , they ’ ll quickly redirect viewers to another channel to watch — most likely the organizers ’ Twitch page .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the internet , ” Bernard says , they ’ ve broadened their reach .
People who tune into the live stream and have never hit the streets for a climate strike might take part the next time the opportunity arises .
The coalition has built new relationships with celebrities joining their Earth Day program , whom they hope they can count on again in the future .
And the next time they organize a rally in real life , which many of the participating groups typically record on Twitter or Facebook Live @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to put together a more sophisticated broadcast .
Ultimately , Bernard says , “ When we ’ re able to go back into the streets , I think our movement will be stronger .
”

To honor Earth Day’s 50th anniversary this week, activists like Harlan Pruden had originally planned to be outside. But the pandemic scrapped all the carefully planned marches, protests, and performances surrounding the big day on April 22nd, forcing the environmental movement online.
“We gather in this virtual space, but it is a place, and one of great importance,” Pruden said in a live stream kickoff organized by the nonprofit Earth Day Initiative on April 19th. Pruden, an educator with the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control and a member of the Cree Nation, hadn’t planned to lead the opening of the live stream; he was stepping in for a colleague hospitalized that morning with complications from COVID-19.
“We gather in this virtual space, but it is a place, and one of great importance”
Connecting digital spaces to the physical planet, Pruden and others started the week of online events with a “land acknowledgement,” a practice that pays respects to indigenous nations and tribes and their traditional homeland. “If I didn’t do this land acknowledgement I kind of liken it to me walking into your house [and] not acknowledging that I’m in your house,” Pruden explained, speaking from the ancestral territory of the Coast Salish peoples, which is now Vancouver. In this case, the land he acknowledged wasn’t just for his current home, but for the entire world.
The fact that each of the 500 or so people tuning in were scattered across the world in their own houses made the poignant moment a little surreal, highlighting the unusual circumstances of this new, digital Earth Day.
Earth Day plans were upended just over a month ago, as cities and states began telling people to stay at home to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus. Since then, organizers have scrambled to make plans online. If they’re able to rally just as many people online as they planned to bring out to the streets on April 22nd, the feat could mark a new form of digital resistance in the time of coronavirus.
“People are doing something that’s never really been done before,” says Alec Connon, a coordinator for the Stop The Money Pipeline coalition, a group of organizations that is leading a day of programming during one of the most anticipated Earth Day events this year: a live stream dubbed “Earth Day Live.” The three-day event is hosted by a broader partnership of environmental groups called the Future Coalition and begins on April 22nd. “It’s definitely a case of building the ship as we sail across the sea,” says Connon.
“building the ship as we sail across the sea”
Earth Day Live organizers hope to draw in millions of people to rally for action on climate change and make it a priority for would-be voters. There will be celebrity cameos and high-profile speakers, including Stacey Abrams, Al Gore, Jane Fonda, Joaquin Phoenix, Shepard Fairey, Ai Weiwei, and more. Questlove, Ziggy Marley, Jason Mraz, Angélique Kidjo, and others will perform. There will even be DJ’d sets with Talib Kweli, Madame Gandhi, and Soul Clap each evening for living room dance parties. It’ll all be broadcast on their website and shared on social media.
Connon visited Scotland for a couple weeks in March for his brother’s wedding, and he realized after returning stateside that months of planning for Earth Day demonstrations were essentially out the door. “I felt like 35 years had passed by how much things have changed,” he said. He and other organizers tell The Verge they’ve been working overtime over the past month to recalibrate.
Youth-led groups, like Sunrise Movement, typically occupy lawmakers’ offices and hit the pavement to agitate for change. They began figuring out how to have the same impact over the phone and online in March, after canceling smaller actions. Their Earth Day plans had been in motion since September, and a 50th anniversary couldn’t be canceled or rescheduled. So the Future Coalition announced on March 13th that they would “think creatively about how to disrupt business as usual.” They had roughly five weeks to figure it out.
It took an initial flurry of Zoom calls and throwing ideas onto Google Docs for their new plan to materialize. Groups had already turned to social media to keep each of their own campaigns going. But more of the same wouldn’t be enough for Earth Day.
“From the very beginning, we knew in the back of our minds that we had to match the momentum, and that it couldn’t just be a social media campaign that you just like, do a tweet storm,” says Dillon Bernard, Future Coalition’s communications director. “To match the impact we wanted to make, it had to be something that was fittingly out of bounds, because I think as a youth-led movement we also kind of toe the line of what would usually be considered impossible.”
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in New York City for the Global Climate Strike on September 20th, 2019. Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Many of the groups behind Earth Day Live — including US Youth Climate Strike, Sunrise Movement, and Extinction Rebellion — were the driving force of a series of mass protests last year. In September, protesters demanding ambitious climate action surrounded the United Nations climate conference in New York. In October, the iconic Wall Street bull was doused with blood by activists with Extinction Rebellion, who said it symbolized what they saw as Wall Street prioritizing profits from fossil fuels over human life.
Protest coordinators are keeping details under wraps until the live stream begins on the 22nd, but a few groups have already outlined some preliminary efforts targeting fossil fuels. The Stop the Money Pipeline coalition originally planned to protest at Chase locations to pressure the bank to fully divest from fossil fuels. Now those protests will need to move online, potentially by taking aim at rating pages like Yelp for each location, according to organizers.
For many of the young organizers The Verge spoke with, this year is one of the first times they’ve participated in demonstrations marking Earth Day — a day that’s lately been more associated with appreciating trees and polar bears than with rallying against injustice.
But the first Earth Day in 1970 was born out of outrage and frustration. It was organized in the wake of a massive oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara and the harms caused by the pesticide DDT that were exposed in Rachel Carson’s seminal book, Silent Spring.
“This is not about a celebration, it never was. It was about creating the world’s largest movement to force our leaders, our corporate leaders, our national leaders, even our international leaders to get off their butts and do something,” says Kathleen Rogers, president of Earth Day Network, which grew out of the very first Earth Day and helps to coordinate annual events worldwide. “You cannot use the word celebrate in our office,” Rogers says.
Bicyclists demonstrate near state capitol during the first Earth Day in 1970. Photo By Duane Howell/The Denver Post via Getty Images
Phone calls and messages in multiple languages flooded Rogers’ office after it announced that Earth Day 2020 would have to go digital, some from groups that had spent years planning for events. “It was so sad,” she says, as she lists projects falling by the wayside — orchestras that planned to perform for 24 hours in a row, dance companies choreographing original pieces, Sikh religious leaders who had banned plastic in their temples leading up to a big Earth Day event.
Some of those projects might still take place during the Earth Day’s half-year anniversary in October, or perhaps for the 51st anniversary next year, Rogers says. Others might join the live stream this week.
The Earth Day Live broadcast will feature a national live stream, and the event website will include a map and links for local live streams across the US and the world. It reflects the way the climate movement itself is a patchwork of individuals and groups working from wherever they call home and coming together to tackle a global crisis. Their hope is that coming together in a new way online now might lay the groundwork for a digital infrastructure that can further their work afterwards, especially during the 2020 election season in the US.
“Really from nothing, there’s been a whole infrastructure that has sprung up over the last month,” Connon tells The Verge. The Future Coalition has turned to groups like the nonprofit assemblage of engineers, technologists, and activists Fight for the Future and others for technical support.
A 72-hour live stream is no easy feat during a pandemic
A 72-hour live stream is no easy feat during a pandemic. Event organizers built a new website dedicated to the three-day live stream. They’ll also be working with media studio Mobeon and the video platform Maestro to make the live stream interactive. Since a big focus will be getting people to vote for candidates who support strong climate policies, viewers can click on an overlay that asks them to register to vote via the nonprofit Rock The Vote.
Without help from their many partners, “I think otherwise we would get it done but it might not look as good and might crash,” Bernard says with a laugh. They’ve put together a virtual “war room” of organizers on Zoom who will troubleshoot any problems that pop up. If the video embed on the webpage crashes, they have backup embeds. If the website itself crashes, they’ll quickly redirect viewers to another channel to watch — most likely the organizers’ Twitch page.