theverge--2020-05-29--Apple now sells refurbished iPhone XRs

Apple now sells refurbished iPhone XRs

You can now buy a refurbished iPhone XR from the Apple Store , MacRumors reports .
It ’ s a cheaper way of getting the bestselling phone of last year , and Apple ’ s refurbishing process means that it should perform almost identically to a brand new model .
A 64GB refurbished iPhone XR will set you back $ 499 , a $ 100 saving over its current $ 599 asking price , while a refurbished XR with 128GB of storage costs $ 539 , $ 110 less than the $ 649 Apple now charges for the phone new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in a more limited selection of colors , there ’ s a wider selection of storage options .
The 256GB iPhone XR , which Apple discontinued last year , can be bought refurbished for $ 629 .
All refurbished phones come in a new box , complete with accessories Those prices aren ’ t quite as cheap as what Apple is charging for its new iPhone SE , which starts at $ 399 , but the XR is still a great option , particularly if you ’ re bezel-averse and prefer to use @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Any refurbished phones bought from Apple come with a one year warranty , as well as a new battery , and new outer shell .
The devices are also tested by Apple to ensure they ’ re working , and the company also repackages them into a brand new box complete with accessories and cables .

You can now buy a refurbished iPhone XR from the Apple Store, MacRumors reports. It’s a cheaper way of getting the bestselling phone of last year, and Apple’s refurbishing process means that it should perform almost identically to a brand new model.
A 64GB refurbished iPhone XR will set you back $499, a $100 saving over its current $599 asking price, while a refurbished XR with 128GB of storage costs $539, $110 less than the $649 Apple now charges for the phone new. Although the refurbished phone is available in a more limited selection of colors, there’s a wider selection of storage options. The 256GB iPhone XR, which Apple discontinued last year, can be bought refurbished for $629.
All refurbished phones come in a new box, complete with accessories
Those prices aren’t quite as cheap as what Apple is charging for its new iPhone SE, which starts at $399, but the XR is still a great option, particularly if you’re bezel-averse and prefer to use Face ID rather than Touch ID.
Any refurbished phones bought from Apple come with a one year warranty, as well as a new battery, and new outer shell. The devices are also tested by Apple to ensure they’re working, and the company also repackages them into a brand new box complete with accessories and cables.


theverge--2020-05-29--Why Twitter labeled Trump’s tweets as misleading and Facebook didn’t

The Interface is a daily column and newsletter about the intersection of social media and democracy .
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Oh boy , there ’ s an executive order !
About social media !
And also the entire internet !
And the president signed it , reports Chris Megerian at the Los Angeles Times : The order directs Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to request new regulations from the Federal Communications Commission to determine whether a social media company is acting “ in good faith ” to moderate content .
In theory , that could open the door to users suing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ posts are restricted inappropriately .
But it could also make the companies more likely to take down false or misleading content rather that just add a disclaimer — the opposite of what Trump wants .
“ That ’ s the irony of all this , ” said Nathaniel Persily , a Stanford University law professor who studies technology and democracy .
“ The platforms will be much more aggressive in their automated filtering to go after content that could raise their legal liability.
” An executive order like this had first been proposed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ invited ordinary Americans to share stories about times when they felt they had been unfairly censored by social networks .
According to Issie Lapowsky and Emily Birnbaum at Protocol , Trump ordered that his staff “ do something ” about Twitter labeling his tweets , and so “ they picked this [ order ] off the shelf and essentially rammed it through , ” according to an unnamed official .
As to the merits of the president ’ s complaint : independent audits have found that social media posts by liberals and conservatives @ @ @ @ @ @ @ conservatives have consistently made claims of discrimination anyway based on anecdotes .
Even as Fox News consistently gets more engagement on Facebook than almost any other publisher , conservatives have come to define “ bias ” ever downward — so that it now covers any outcome they don ’ t like , whether it ’ s poor placement in search results , the removal of bot followers , or fact-checking .
That has led an increasing number of conservatives to sue social networks alleging infringements on their rights .
What these cases have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them out , as Adi Robertson reported this week in The Verge , in a piece that surveys a large handful of recent attempts .
Interestingly , to the extent that there ’ s a nexus between Twitter and the First Amendment , courts have found that it is found when the president blocks users — a practice they have found to be unconstitutional , Robertson writes : That leads to the question of what practical effect today ’ s executive order will have , and Democratic members of Congress , legal scholars @ @ @ @ @ @ @ follow have been united in predicting it will not survive legal challenges .
Here ’ s Russell Brandom with a good , concise explanation of the reasons in The Verge : The biggest one is the First Amendment , which prevents the US government from limiting private speech .
Telling Twitter how and when it can moderate is going to look an awful lot like limiting the company ’ s private speech — particularly when the inciting incident was about adding content rather than blocking it .
In practical terms , it means @ @ @ @ @ @ @ court challenge alleging that the order is unconstitutional , which will hamstring any attempted action by the FCC .
That ’ s not the only legal problem , although I ’ m not sure we have room to run through all of them here .
It ’ s not clear that the FCC has the authority to do any of this on the basis of an executive order .
It ’ s really not clear that you can change 230 ( which is part of a law , let ’ s remember ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you could , all the usual concerns about changing 230 still apply .
This wouldn ’ t just hit Twitter .
The FCC would suddenly be in charge of YouTube , Craigslist , and every comments section on the internet .
Yesterday I noted here that while Trump ’ s bluster against social networks often results in a flurry of coverage , it hasn ’ t ever really gone much further .
Well , this is going further .
If the courts strike it down , as everyone expects , then in retrospect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
But if Trump finds a legal footing , then a lot of sites on the internet are going to be in trouble — and not just social networks , by the way .
And even if he doesn ’ t , we ’ ll still have seen a deeply disturbing encroachment of the federal government on actual free speech — part of a new surge in American authoritarianism that threatens our internet , our elections , and so much more .
Today the president is focused on a handful of social networks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it still seems both obvious and necessary to say that if he wins , he won ’ t stop there .
Given that the executive order threatens every social platform equally , you might expect some level of solidarity in the corporate response .
And trade groups to which the big platforms belong did put out statements condemning the order as unworkable nonsense .
But Mark Zuckerberg raised some eyebrows Wednesday night when he appeared on Fox News and appeared to draw a distinction between Facebook ’ s approach to moderating speech and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ elaborated on these points in an interview with CNBC : Zuckerberg then mentions a case in which Facebook removed a post by the president of Brazil .
“ There are lines , and we will enforce them , ” he said .
“ But I think in general you want to give as wide of a voice possible .
And I think you want to have a special deference to political speech.
” The weird thing about all this is that , as best I can tell , Facebook and Twitter ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ same .
Facebook introduced policies prohibiting voter suppression and intimidation in 2018 , and expanded its guidelines in October .
The policies prohibit : You can argue that Trump ’ s baseless warnings about voter fraud related to voting by mail haven ’ t yet “ misrepresented methods for voting or voter registration.
” But you can ’ t say Facebook isn ’ t an arbiter of truth on election information .
If you go on Facebook tonight and post that “ Republicans vote a week later Democrats , ” Facebook will remove @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a fact-checker first .
Of course , Jack Dorsey complicated all of this by posting a confusing Twitter thread in which he said of the company ’ s decision to label two of Trump ’ s tweets : “ This does not make us an ‘ arbiter of truth.
’ Our intention is to connect the dots of conflicting statements and show the information in dispute so people can judge for themselves.
” Maybe Twitter isn ’ t playing truth-decider in this case — it just added a link to some tweets , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in plenty of other cases , and in fact updated its policies just this month so it could do so more often .
So what was Twitter ’ s policy rationale for labeling Trump ’ s tweets ?
Will Oremus has a tick-tock in One Zero that explains how the tweets traveled through the company .
A third-party fact checker flagged them as potentially violating rules against election misinformation that date back to 2018 .
Twitter decided they did not , but a secondary review found that they could be eligible for one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which it introduced this month as part of an effort to fight misinformation about COVID-19 .
Twitter said it made the decision to add links to Trump ’ s tweets about vote-by-mail fraud in line with this new policy , even though the connection between vote-by-mail and COVID-19 may not be clear to many people .
( The idea is that more people will want to vote by mail to avoid getting sick at the polls , which happened to 52 people during the recent election in Wisconsin . )
Given everything @ @ @ @ @ @ @ two of his tweets — threatening nuclear war comes to mind — it does seem strange the company chose mail-in-ballots , of all places , to challenge the president .
It would have been a more clear-cut violation if the president had tweeted “ Democrats aren ’ t allowed to vote in November , ” for example , or “ I ’ m canceling the election.
” But the spirit of Trump ’ s tweets is to suppress voter turnout and misrepresent the legitimacy of legally cast , mail-in ballots — and that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for a company to die on as any other .
It is messy , though , and while Twitter has always been messy , Facebook works hard to keep things consistent .
And this is the basic reason Trump ’ s tweets got a label on Twitter but the same words , cross-posted to Facebook , went unchanged .
Trump might have walked right up to the line but with his threats about voter fraud , but Facebook didn ’ t see a clear violation .
The real policy , as ever , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a novel approach to putting limits on the president ; that ’ s fine for Twitter , but Facebook is staying out of it .
Today in news that could affect public perception of the big tech platforms .
Trending up : Google is giving 5,300 local newsrooms around the world funding to survive the pandemic .
The grants range from from $ 5,000 - $ 30,000 .
( Google ) Trending up : TikTok partnered with 800 creators who ’ ve been affected by the pandemic to create learning content on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ TikTok ’ s $ 50 million Creative Learning Fund .
( TikTok ) Trending up : Google partnered with The National Alliance on Mental Illness to help people struggling with anxiety during the coronavirus crisis .
Now , people who search for information about anxiety on Google will see a clinically-validated questionnaire along with symptoms and common treatments .
( Google ) Trending down : Amazon.com was down for many people in the US for a short while Thursday afternoon .
The news doesn ’ t look good for the company that ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jay Peters / The Verge ) Total cases in the US : More than 1,721,200 Total deaths in the US : At least 101,200 Total test results ( positive and negative ) in New York : 1,811,544 Total test results ( positive and negative ) in New Jersey : 660,325 Data from The New York Times .
Test data from The COVID Tracking Project .
⭐ Twitter is continuing to fact-check Donald Trump ’ s tweets as the war between the president and social media platforms escalates .
And other people ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Conger and Mike Isaac at The New York Times : A German official suggested Twitter reincorporate in Germany if things get too bad with Trump .
“ Here you are free to criticize the government as well as to fight fake news , ” tweeted Thomas Jarzombek , who works on economic development .
( Douglas Busvine / Reuters ) Facebook is rolling out a new policy to limit inauthentic behavior .
The company is going to require that the people behind “ high reach ” profiles verify their identity .
Viral posts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
This is a really interesting move , and I ’ m planning to learn more and share soon .
( Taylor Lyles / The Verge ) Researchers are trying to “ flatten the curve ” of the infodemic by rooting out coronavirus misinformation .
They say the battle that can ’ t be won completely — it ’ s just not possible to stop people from spreading ill-founded rumors .
( Philip Ball and Amy Maxmen / Nature ) Democrats in Congress are joining the GOP fight against TikTok .
They ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to investigate the app for allegedly violating the Children ’ s Online Privacy Protection Act .
( Alexandra Levine / Politico ) The ACLU is suing the facial recognition firm Clearview AI for alleged privacy violations .
The complaint says Clearview illegally collected and stored data on Illinois citizens in violation of the Biometric Information Privacy Act .
( Nick Statt / The Verge ) Kickstarter employees were the first white-collar technology workforce to unionize in US history .
This article describes how they pulled it off .
( Bryce Covert / Wired @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , fueled by the rapid expansion of rentership in the US .
The companies produce cheap and fast reports for an estimated nine out of 10 landlords across the country .
But the reports are extremely flawed , attributing crimes to perspective tenants that they never committed .
( Lauren Kirchner and Matthew Goldstein / The Markup and The New York Times ) ⭐ Amazon plans to offer permanent jobs to about 70 percent of the people it hired to temporarily meet consumer demand during the coronavirus pandemic .
The company will begin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they can keep their roles longer-term .
Jeffrey Dastin at Reuters has the story : ByteDance is shifting TikTok ’ s power out of China amid ongoing regulatory scrutiny .
The company has expanded its engineering and research operations in Mountain View and hired a New York-based investor relations director to stay in touch with major investors .
( Yingzhi Yang , Echo Wang and Alexandra Alper / Reuters ) Kuaishou , the second-largest social video app in China , is launching an app in the US to challenge TikTok .
The app @ @ @ @ @ @ @ upload , edit and share short videos .
In a twist , it ’ s also paying users to watch content and recruit other users .
( Yunan Zhang / The Information ) Charli D ’ Amelio is TikTok ’ s biggest star .
This profile tries to unpack why .
( Travis M. Andrews / The Washington Post ) Snap is planning to let other companies build pared-down versions of their mobile apps within Snapchat .
The move mimics the approach of popular Chinese social app WeChat .
( Alex Heath / @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of thousands of followers who shared her family ’ s experience of adopting a toddler from China announced that she and her husband had permanently placed their child with another family after unspecified behavioral issues .
The YouTuber spent years creating — and monetizing — content with her now-former son .
( Stephanie McNeal / BuzzFeed ) YouTube is full of scams advertising access to OnlyFans content for free if you follow a few steps to “ unlock ” premium accounts .
The videos instruct users to download and interact with apps for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to OnlyFans that never materializes .
( Samantha Cole / Vice ) There ’ s a scientific explanation for why Zoom is so exhausting .
Looming heads , staring eyes , a silent audience , and that millisecond delay disrupt normal human communication .
( Betsy Morris / The Wall Street Journal ) Stuff to occupy you online during the quarantine .
Start a watch party with friends on Hulu .
Even if the appeal of this joint viewing thing continues to escape me .
Read an oral history of YouTube ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was disgusting , ” a former content moderator reveals !
Schedule a tweet using Twitter ’ s web app — and know what it is to feel truly alive for the first time .
Send us tips , comments , questions , and attacks on free speech : casey @ theverge.com and zoe @ theverge.com .

I.
Oh boy, there’s an executive order! About social media! And also the entire internet! And the president signed it, reports Chris Megerian at the Los Angeles Times:
The order directs Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to request new regulations from the Federal Communications Commission to determine whether a social media company is acting “in good faith” to moderate content. In theory, that could open the door to users suing social media platforms if they feel their posts are restricted inappropriately. But it could also make the companies more likely to take down false or misleading content rather that just add a disclaimer — the opposite of what Trump wants. “That’s the irony of all this,” said Nathaniel Persily, a Stanford University law professor who studies technology and democracy. “The platforms will be much more aggressive in their automated filtering to go after content that could raise their legal liability.”
An executive order like this had first been proposed last August, after the White House invited ordinary Americans to share stories about times when they felt they had been unfairly censored by social networks. According to Issie Lapowsky and Emily Birnbaum at Protocol, Trump ordered that his staff “do something” about Twitter labeling his tweets, and so “they picked this [order] off the shelf and essentially rammed it through,” according to an unnamed official.
As to the merits of the president’s complaint: independent audits have found that social media posts by liberals and conservatives get similar levels of engagement, but conservatives have consistently made claims of discrimination anyway based on anecdotes. Even as Fox News consistently gets more engagement on Facebook than almost any other publisher, conservatives have come to define “bias” ever downward — so that it now covers any outcome they don’t like, whether it’s poor placement in search results, the removal of bot followers, or fact-checking.
That has led an increasing number of conservatives to sue social networks alleging infringements on their rights. What these cases have in common is that courts keep throwing them out, as Adi Robertson reported this week in The Verge, in a piece that surveys a large handful of recent attempts.
Interestingly, to the extent that there’s a nexus between Twitter and the First Amendment, courts have found that it is found when the president blocks users — a practice they have found to be unconstitutional, Robertson writes:
People have been suing internet platforms for banning them since long before Trump took office; back in 2009, for instance, a PlayStation Network user sued on the grounds that Sony had created a “company town.” (The user lost.) Courts have overwhelmingly concluded that social media networks can ban, limit, or otherwise suppress users’ posts. Conversely, government figures like Trump actually face strict rules about blocking users. Last year, a court required Trump to unblock Twitter accounts that had criticized him, determining that his Twitter account specifically — not the site as a whole — constituted a public space protected by the First Amendment. Other public officials have lost similar lawsuits from constituents.
That leads to the question of what practical effect today’s executive order will have, and Democratic members of Congress, legal scholars, academics, and most journalists I follow have been united in predicting it will not survive legal challenges. Here’s Russell Brandom with a good, concise explanation of the reasons in The Verge:
The biggest one is the First Amendment, which prevents the US government from limiting private speech. Telling Twitter how and when it can moderate is going to look an awful lot like limiting the company’s private speech — particularly when the inciting incident was about adding content rather than blocking it. In practical terms, it means that there is certain to be a court challenge alleging that the order is unconstitutional, which will hamstring any attempted action by the FCC. That’s not the only legal problem, although I’m not sure we have room to run through all of them here. It’s not clear that the FCC has the authority to do any of this on the basis of an executive order. It’s really not clear that you can change 230 (which is part of a law, let’s remember) without congressional approval. And even if you could, all the usual concerns about changing 230 still apply. This wouldn’t just hit Twitter. The FCC would suddenly be in charge of YouTube, Craigslist, and every comments section on the internet.
Yesterday I noted here that while Trump’s bluster against social networks often results in a flurry of coverage, it hasn’t ever really gone much further. Well, this is going further. If the courts strike it down, as everyone expects, then in retrospect it will just look like more bluster. But if Trump finds a legal footing, then a lot of sites on the internet are going to be in trouble — and not just social networks, by the way.
And even if he doesn’t, we’ll still have seen a deeply disturbing encroachment of the federal government on actual free speech — part of a new surge in American authoritarianism that threatens our internet, our elections, and so much more. Today the president is focused on a handful of social networks that have challenged his power. But it still seems both obvious and necessary to say that if he wins, he won’t stop there.
II.
Given that the executive order threatens every social platform equally, you might expect some level of solidarity in the corporate response. And trade groups to which the big platforms belong did put out statements condemning the order as unworkable nonsense.
But Mark Zuckerberg raised some eyebrows Wednesday night when he appeared on Fox News and appeared to draw a distinction between Facebook’s approach to moderating speech and Twitter’s:
“We have a different policy than, I think, Twitter on this,” Zuckerberg told ”The Daily Briefing” in an interview scheduled to air in full on Thursday. “I just believe strongly that Facebook shouldn’t be the arbiter of truth of everything that people say online,” he added. “Private companies probably shouldn’t be, especially these platform companies, shouldn’t be in the position of doing that.”
On Thursday he elaborated on these points in an interview with CNBC:
I don’t think that Facebook or internet platforms, in general, should be arbiters of truth. I think that’s kind of a dangerous line to get down to, in terms of deciding what is true and what isn’t. And I think political speech is one of the most sensitive parts of a democracy. And people should be able to see what politicians say. And there’s tons of scrutiny already—political speech is the most scrutinized speech already by a lot of the media. And I think that that will continue. [...] You know, just because we don’t want to be determining what is true and false, you know, doesn’t mean that politicians or anyone else can just say whatever they want. And our policies are grounded in trying to give people as much voice as possible while saying, if you’re going to harm people in specific ways ... we will take them down no matter who says that.
Zuckerberg then mentions a case in which Facebook removed a post by the president of Brazil. “There are lines, and we will enforce them,” he said. “But I think in general you want to give as wide of a voice possible. And I think you want to have a special deference to political speech.”
The weird thing about all this is that, as best I can tell, Facebook and Twitter’s policies around election misinformation are essentially the same. Facebook introduced policies prohibiting voter suppression and intimidation in 2018, and expanded its guidelines in October. The policies prohibit:
Misrepresentation of the dates, locations, times and methods for voting or voter registration (e.g. “Vote by text!”); misrepresentation of who can vote, qualifications for voting, whether a vote will be counted and what information and/or materials must be provided in order to vote (e.g. “If you voted in the primary, your vote in the general election won’t count.”); and threats of violence relating to voting, voter registration or the outcome of an election.
Twitter adopted similar rules this month.
You can argue that Trump’s baseless warnings about voter fraud related to voting by mail haven’t yet “misrepresented methods for voting or voter registration.” But you can’t say Facebook isn’t an arbiter of truth on election information. If you go on Facebook tonight and post that “Republicans vote a week later Democrats,” Facebook will remove that post without even sending it to a fact-checker first.
Of course, Jack Dorsey complicated all of this by posting a confusing Twitter thread in which he said of the company’s decision to label two of Trump’s tweets: “This does not make us an ‘arbiter of truth.’ Our intention is to connect the dots of conflicting statements and show the information in dispute so people can judge for themselves.” Maybe Twitter isn’t playing truth-decider in this case — it just added a link to some tweets, after all — but it does so in plenty of other cases, and in fact updated its policies just this month so it could do so more often.
So what was Twitter’s policy rationale for labeling Trump’s tweets? Will Oremus has a tick-tock in One Zero that explains how the tweets traveled through the company. A third-party fact checker flagged them as potentially violating rules against election misinformation that date back to 2018. Twitter decided they did not, but a secondary review found that they could be eligible for one of the company’s new labels, which it introduced this month as part of an effort to fight misinformation about COVID-19.
Twitter said it made the decision to add links to Trump’s tweets about vote-by-mail fraud in line with this new policy, even though the connection between vote-by-mail and COVID-19 may not be clear to many people. (The idea is that more people will want to vote by mail to avoid getting sick at the polls, which happened to 52 people during the recent election in Wisconsin.)
Given everything Trump tweeted before Twitter decided to label two of his tweets — threatening nuclear war comes to mind — it does seem strange the company chose mail-in-ballots, of all places, to challenge the president. It would have been a more clear-cut violation if the president had tweeted “Democrats aren’t allowed to vote in November,” for example, or “I’m canceling the election.” But the spirit of Trump’s tweets is to suppress voter turnout and misrepresent the legitimacy of legally cast, mail-in ballots — and that seems like as good a content-moderation hill for a company to die on as any other.
It is messy, though, and while Twitter has always been messy, Facebook works hard to keep things consistent. And this is the basic reason Trump’s tweets got a label on Twitter but the same words, cross-posted to Facebook, went unchanged. Trump might have walked right up to the line but with his threats about voter fraud, but Facebook didn’t see a clear violation. The real policy, as ever, is what you enforce. Twitter took a novel approach to putting limits on the president; that’s fine for Twitter, but Facebook is staying out of it.
The Ratio
Today in news that could affect public perception of the big tech platforms.
🔼 Trending up: Google is giving 5,300 local newsrooms around the world funding to survive the pandemic. The grants range from from $5,000 - $30,000. (Google)
🔼 Trending up: TikTok partnered with 800 creators who’ve been affected by the pandemic to create learning content on the platform. The creators get grants from TikTok’s $50 million Creative Learning Fund. (TikTok)
🔼 Trending up: Google partnered with The National Alliance on Mental Illness to help people struggling with anxiety during the coronavirus crisis. Now, people who search for information about anxiety on Google will see a clinically-validated questionnaire along with symptoms and common treatments. (Google)
🔽 Trending down: Amazon.com was down for many people in the US for a short while Thursday afternoon. The news doesn’t look good for the company that’s prided itself on reliability. (Jay Peters / The Verge)
Virus tracker
Total cases in the US: More than 1,721,200
Total deaths in the US: At least 101,200
Reported cases in California: 102,565
Total test results (positive and negative) in California: 1,736,894
Reported cases in New York: 371,559
Total test results (positive and negative) in New York: 1,811,544
Reported cases in New Jersey: 157,815
Total test results (positive and negative) in New Jersey: 660,325
Reported cases in Illinois: 114,612
Total test results (positive and negative) in Illinois: 803,973
Governing
⭐ Twitter is continuing to fact-check Donald Trump’s tweets as the war between the president and social media platforms escalates. And other people’s tweets, too. Here are Kate Conger and Mike Isaac at The New York Times:
Late Wednesday, it added fact-checking labels to messages from Zhao Lijian, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry who had claimed that the coronavirus outbreak may have begun in the United States and been brought to China by the U.S. military. Twitter also added notices on hundreds of tweets that falsely claimed a photo of a man in a red baseball cap was Derek Chauvin, an officer involved in the death of George Floyd, an African-American man who died this week after being handcuffed and pinned to the ground by police. The Twitter label alerted viewers that the image was “manipulated media.”
A German official suggested Twitter reincorporate in Germany if things get too bad with Trump. “Here you are free to criticize the government as well as to fight fake news,” tweeted Thomas Jarzombek, who works on economic development. (Douglas Busvine / Reuters)
Facebook is rolling out a new policy to limit inauthentic behavior. The company is going to require that the people behind “high reach” profiles verify their identity. Viral posts from unverified accounts will have limited reach. This is a really interesting move, and I’m planning to learn more and share soon. (Taylor Lyles / The Verge)
Researchers are trying to “flatten the curve” of the infodemic by rooting out coronavirus misinformation. They say the battle that can’t be won completely — it’s just not possible to stop people from spreading ill-founded rumors. (Philip Ball and Amy Maxmen / Nature)
Democrats in Congress are joining the GOP fight against TikTok. They’re calling on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the app for allegedly violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. (Alexandra Levine / Politico)
The ACLU is suing the facial recognition firm Clearview AI for alleged privacy violations. The complaint says Clearview illegally collected and stored data on Illinois citizens in violation of the Biometric Information Privacy Act. (Nick Statt / The Verge)
Kickstarter employees were the first white-collar technology workforce to unionize in US history. This article describes how they pulled it off. (Bryce Covert / Wired)
The tenant screening industry is growing, fueled by the rapid expansion of rentership in the US. The companies produce cheap and fast reports for an estimated nine out of 10 landlords across the country. But the reports are extremely flawed, attributing crimes to perspective tenants that they never committed. (Lauren Kirchner and Matthew Goldstein / The Markup and The New York Times)
Industry
⭐ Amazon plans to offer permanent jobs to about 70 percent of the people it hired to temporarily meet consumer demand during the coronavirus pandemic. The company will begin telling 125,000 warehouse employees in June that they can keep their roles longer-term. Jeffrey Dastin at Reuters has the story:
The decision is a sign that Amazon’s sales have increased sufficiently to justify an expanded workforce for order fulfillment, even as government lockdowns ease and rivals open their retail stores for pickup. Amazon started the hiring spree in March with a blog post appealing to workers laid off by restaurants and other shuttered businesses, promising employment “until things return to normal and their past employer is able to bring them back.”
ByteDance is shifting TikTok’s power out of China amid ongoing regulatory scrutiny. The company has expanded its engineering and research operations in Mountain View and hired a New York-based investor relations director to stay in touch with major investors. (Yingzhi Yang, Echo Wang and Alexandra Alper / Reuters)
Kuaishou, the second-largest social video app in China, is launching an app in the US to challenge TikTok. The app, called Zynn, allows users to upload, edit and share short videos. In a twist, it’s also paying users to watch content and recruit other users. (Yunan Zhang / The Information)
Charli D’Amelio is TikTok’s biggest star. This profile tries to unpack why. (Travis M. Andrews / The Washington Post)
Snap is planning to let other companies build pared-down versions of their mobile apps within Snapchat. The move mimics the approach of popular Chinese social app WeChat. (Alex Heath / The Information)
A YouTuber with hundreds of thousands of followers who shared her family’s experience of adopting a toddler from China announced that she and her husband had permanently placed their child with another family after unspecified behavioral issues. The YouTuber spent years creating — and monetizing — content with her now-former son. (Stephanie McNeal / BuzzFeed)
YouTube is full of scams advertising access to OnlyFans content for free if you follow a few steps to “unlock” premium accounts. The videos instruct users to download and interact with apps for a certain time in exchange for access to OnlyFans that never materializes. (Samantha Cole / Vice)
There’s a scientific explanation for why Zoom is so exhausting. Looming heads, staring eyes, a silent audience, and that millisecond delay disrupt normal human communication. (Betsy Morris / The Wall Street Journal)
Things to do
Stuff to occupy you online during the quarantine.
Start a watch party with friends on Hulu. Even if the appeal of this joint viewing thing continues to escape me.
Read an oral history of YouTube’s early days. “The office itself was disgusting,” a former content moderator reveals!
Schedule a tweet using Twitter’s web app — and know what it is to feel truly alive for the first time.
And finally...
Talk to us


theverge--2020-05-29--Twitter restricts new Trump tweet for ‘glorifying violence’

Twitter has placed a public interest notice on a tweet from President Trump for breaking the platform ’ s rules about the “ glorification of violence.
” However , Twitter has not chosen to remove the tweet from its platform entirely , because it believes it to be in the public interest .
Twitter announced the notice in a tweet thread from its official comms account .
The notice means that the tweet is hidden from Trump ’ s timeline , but is accessible if you visit the tweet directly after clicking a “ view ” button .
The reach @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as part of the process .
Although users can still retweet it with a comment , they can not reply to it , retweet it directly , or like it .
Twitter also says that its notice means that the tweet won ’ t be algorithmically recommended on its platform .
“ These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd , and I won ’ t let that happen , ” President Trump ’ s tweet reads .
“ Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ difficulty and we will assume control but , when the looting starts , the shooting starts .
Thank you !
” Twitter seemed to be taking issue with Trump ’ s line “ when the looting starts , the shooting starts.
” Twitter referred to that quote ’ s historical connection to violence as reason for today ’ s action .
Trump is intentionally or inadvertently quoting former Miami Police Chief Walter Headley .
In December 1967 , months before riots broke out during the ( Nixon ) Republican National Convention , Headley @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the shooting starts ” at the announcement of a new “ get tough ” policy for policing black neighborhoods .
Headley promised to use shotguns , dogs , and aggressive “ stop and frisk ” tactics in a bid to reduce crime .
“ We don ’ t mind being accused of police brutality , ” the New York Times reported him saying at the time .
“ They haven ’ t seen anything yet.
” “ We ’ ve taken action in the interest of preventing others from being inspired to commit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tweet on Twitter because it is important that the public still be able to see the Tweet given its relevance to ongoing matters of public importance , ” Twitter wrote in a follow-up tweet .
The notice was posted after tensions escalated between Twitter and the President this week .
On Tuesday , the company labeled two of Trump ’ s tweets as “ potentially misleading ” for the first time .
Trump had claimed that mail-in ballots would result in a “ rigged election.
” Yesterday , Trump signed an executive order @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protections given to social media sites like Twitter under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act .

Twitter has placed a public interest notice on a tweet from President Trump for breaking the platform’s rules about the “glorification of violence.” However, Twitter has not chosen to remove the tweet from its platform entirely, because it believes it to be in the public interest. Twitter announced the notice in a tweet thread from its official comms account.
The notice means that the tweet is hidden from Trump’s timeline, but is accessible if you visit the tweet directly after clicking a “view” button. The reach of the tweet will also be limited as part of the process. Although users can still retweet it with a comment, they cannot reply to it, retweet it directly, or like it. Twitter also says that its notice means that the tweet won’t be algorithmically recommended on its platform.
Trump’s tweet remained on the platform, but it’s now accompanied by a notice from Twitter. Screenshot: Twitter
“These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen,” President Trump’s tweet reads. “Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!”
Twitter seemed to be taking issue with Trump’s line “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” Twitter referred to that quote’s historical connection to violence as reason for today’s action.
Trump is intentionally or inadvertently quoting former Miami Police Chief Walter Headley. In December 1967, months before riots broke out during the (Nixon) Republican National Convention, Headley said “when the looting starts, the shooting starts” at the announcement of a new “get tough” policy for policing black neighborhoods. Headley promised to use shotguns, dogs, and aggressive “stop and frisk” tactics in a bid to reduce crime. “We don’t mind being accused of police brutality,” the New York Times reported him saying at the time. “They haven’t seen anything yet.”
“We’ve taken action in the interest of preventing others from being inspired to commit violent acts, but have kept the Tweet on Twitter because it is important that the public still be able to see the Tweet given its relevance to ongoing matters of public importance,” Twitter wrote in a follow-up tweet.


theverge--2020-05-29--OnePlus inadvertently disables ‘X-Ray’ filter with an update sent to its global phones

OnePlus accidentally pushed an over-the-air update that disables a filter that can see through some thin black plastics and , in certain cases , clothes .
Though OnePlus said on May 19 that it would temporarily disable the filter in the Chinese version of its operating system in an update , the company hadn ’ t planned on removing the filter from its global software .
Instead , OnePlus said it would update the filter .
The recent update removed the filter for people outside of China anyway .
The filter , called “ Photochrom , ” creates an X-Ray-like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ into the OnePlus 8 Pro to capture light that ’ s not visible to the human eye .
The feature was intended to be used to create interesting-looking photos .
But it came under scrutiny once people realized that it could sometimes see through clothing .
You can get a good look at how the filter sees through black plastic in the photos at the top of this post , taken from a video shared by Ben Geskin on Twitter .
And you can get an idea of how the filter can see @ @ @ @ @ @ @ video by Unbox Therapy .
The Verge also experimented with the feature , finding that “ it only works on very thin black plastic that ’ s already a little see-through in the right light ” and that it ’ s “ hit or miss ” with clothing .
The Photochrom filter was “ temporarily removed for adjustment , ” according to update notes seen by XDA Developers .
The notes also said the filter was expected to return “ around June , ” without disclosing an exact time , according to XDA @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forums reported seeing similar update notes .
Android Police installed the update , and confirmed that the Photochrom filter had been removed .
“ This OTA inadvertently went out to a limited number of devices , ” said a OnePlus spokesperson in a statement to The Verge .
It will be re-enabled in the next over-the-air update , the spokesperson said .
OnePlus also shared this statement on its forums .

OnePlus accidentally pushed an over-the-air update that disables a filter that can see through some thin black plastics and, in certain cases, clothes.
Though OnePlus said on May 19 that it would temporarily disable the filter in the Chinese version of its operating system in an update, the company hadn’t planned on removing the filter from its global software. Instead, OnePlus said it would update the filter. The recent update removed the filter for people outside of China anyway.
The filter, called “Photochrom,” creates an X-Ray-like effect by using the infrared sensors built into the OnePlus 8 Pro to capture light that’s not visible to the human eye. The feature was intended to be used to create interesting-looking photos. But it came under scrutiny once people realized that it could sometimes see through clothing.
You can get a good look at how the filter sees through black plastic in the photos at the top of this post, taken from a video shared by Ben Geskin on Twitter. And you can get an idea of how the filter can see through a thin black T-shirt in this video by Unbox Therapy.
The Verge also experimented with the feature, finding that “it only works on very thin black plastic that’s already a little see-through in the right light” and that it’s “hit or miss” with clothing.
The Photochrom filter was “temporarily removed for adjustment,” according to update notes seen by XDA Developers. The notes also said the filter was expected to return “around June,” without disclosing an exact time, according to XDA Developers. A user on OnePlus’ forums reported seeing similar update notes. Android Police installed the update, and confirmed that the Photochrom filter had been removed.


theverge--2020-05-29--Facebook won’t take any action on Trump’s post about shootings in Minnesota

Facebook will not remove or take any other action on a President Trump post that Twitter removed for “ glorifying violence , ” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Friday .
“ I know many people are upset that we ’ ve left the President ’ s posts up , but our position is that we should enable as much expression as possible unless it will cause imminent risk of specific harms or dangers spelled out in clear policies , ” Zuckerberg said .
Facebook “ looked very closely at the post that discussed the protests in Minnesota , ” Zuckerberg said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our policies.
” Ultimately , the company “ decided to leave it up because the National Guard references meant we read it as a warning about state action , and we think people need to know if the government is planning to deploy force .
Our policy around incitement of violence allows discussion around state use of force , although I think today ’ s situation raises important questions about what potential limits of that discussion should be.
” Zuckerberg noted that in a subsequent tweet , Trump softened his remarks , “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about the possibility that looting could lead to violence .
We decided that this post , which explicitly discouraged violence , also does not violate our policies and is important for people to see.
” Zuckerberg ’ s comments came after a day of sometimes agonizing debate within the company about whether to take action against Trump tweets that had been cross-posted to Facebook .
Twitter chose this week to add a contextual link to two Trump tweets about mail fraud and hide another behind an interstitial warning for “ glorifying violence.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Trump ’ s tweets about mail fraud , saying they had not violated the company ’ s policies .
But until late Friday , Facebook had made no comment about whether it intended to take action against Trump ’ s tweet about the protests in Minneapolis , which included the line , “ when the looting starts , the shooting starts.
” That led to consternation among some employees , who asked the company to intervene in posts on Workplace , the company ’ s internal chat tool .
“ I have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we have to go through incredibly hard to stomach , ” one employee wrote in a comment about the shooting post .
“ All this points to a very high risk of a violent escalation and civil unrest in November and if we fail the test case here , history will not judge us kindly.
” Zuckerberg said that Facebook differed from Twitter in that it has no policy about placing warning labels in front of posts that might incite violence , and instead simply removes them .
“ We believe that if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be removed regardless of whether it is newsworthy , even if it comes from a politician , ” he said .
“ We have been in touch with the White House today to explain these policies as well.
” He concluded : “ These are difficult decisions and , just like today , the content we leave up I often find deeply offensive .
We try to think through all the consequences , and we keep our policies under constant review because the context is always evolving .
People can agree or disagree @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but I hope they understand our overall philosophy is that it is better to have this discussion out in the open , especially when the stakes are so high .
I disagree strongly with how the President spoke about this , but I believe people should be able to see this for themselves , because ultimately accountability for those in positions of power can only happen when their speech is scrutinized out in the open .
”

Facebook will not remove or take any other action on a President Trump post that Twitter removed for “glorifying violence,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Friday. “I know many people are upset that we’ve left the President’s posts up, but our position is that we should enable as much expression as possible unless it will cause imminent risk of specific harms or dangers spelled out in clear policies,” Zuckerberg said.
Facebook “looked very closely at the post that discussed the protests in Minnesota,” Zuckerberg said, “to evaluate whether it violated our policies.” Ultimately, the company “decided to leave it up because the National Guard references meant we read it as a warning about state action, and we think people need to know if the government is planning to deploy force. Our policy around incitement of violence allows discussion around state use of force, although I think today’s situation raises important questions about what potential limits of that discussion should be.”
Zuckerberg noted that in a subsequent tweet, Trump softened his remarks, “saying that the original post was warning about the possibility that looting could lead to violence. We decided that this post, which explicitly discouraged violence, also does not violate our policies and is important for people to see.”
Zuckerberg’s comments came after a day of sometimes agonizing debate within the company about whether to take action against Trump tweets that had been cross-posted to Facebook. Twitter chose this week to add a contextual link to two Trump tweets about mail fraud and hide another behind an interstitial warning for “glorifying violence.” Facebook chose not to add a link to Trump’s tweets about mail fraud, saying they had not violated the company’s policies.
But until late Friday, Facebook had made no comment about whether it intended to take action against Trump’s tweet about the protests in Minneapolis, which included the line, “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” That led to consternation among some employees, who asked the company to intervene in posts on Workplace, the company’s internal chat tool.
“I have to say I am finding the contortions we have to go through incredibly hard to stomach,” one employee wrote in a comment about the shooting post. “All this points to a very high risk of a violent escalation and civil unrest in November and if we fail the test case here, history will not judge us kindly.”
Zuckerberg said that Facebook differed from Twitter in that it has no policy about placing warning labels in front of posts that might incite violence, and instead simply removes them. “We believe that if a post incites violence, it should be removed regardless of whether it is newsworthy, even if it comes from a politician,” he said. “We have been in touch with the White House today to explain these policies as well.”


theverge--2020-05-29--A new TikTok clone hit the top of the App Store by paying users to watch videos

TikTok has a new competitor : Zynn , a nearly button-for-button clone of TikTok that differentiates itself with one key twist — it pays users to sign up , watch videos , and convince others to follow suit .
The app launched at the beginning of May , and as Mashable noticed , it ’ s now the number one free app in Apple ’ s App Store and in the top 10 on Google ’ s Play Store , too .
Zynn is fully a TikTok clone .
The core interface is identical , and both are oriented around @ @ @ @ @ @ @ distinction is a countdown timer with a dollar sign in the middle that hovers over every video on Zynn .
As you watch videos , the timer fills up and gives you points , which you ’ re supposed to be able to redeem later as cash or gift cards .
I haven ’ t tested to see if this works , but a couple of people have posted YouTube videos showing payment receipts .
The goal is to make more ad revenue than Zynn pays out to users The app didn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ despite what it seems .
As The Information reported yesterday , Zynn is the extension of a rivalry over video apps in China .
Zynn ’ s creator , Kuaishou , is a well-funded startup that runs one of the biggest video apps in the country .
The app is second only to Douyin , the Chinese version of TikTok .
Kuaishou used the same technique of paying viewers to grow in China , according to the report .
The company ultimately makes money by selling ads , so long as it brings @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
( In the US , Zynn doesn ’ t currently appear to be running ads . )
Kuaishou recently received a $ 2 billion investment from Tencent , the Chinese tech giant behind WeChat .
The Information reported in December that the investment was meant to help Tencent “ contain the threat of ByteDance , ” which makes TikTok and Douyin .
Kuaishou ’ s expansion into the US seems to be an extension of that goal , with the company using the same strategy to take on Bytedance and find a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to have grown so quickly for a couple of reasons .
There ’ s the paying users to watch videos , obviously ( I was able to get $ 0.12 by watching videos for what felt like a few minutes ) .
But the app also has a referral scheme that pays users for getting others to sign up and use the service themselves , which likely went a long way toward helping it spread .
A big banner in the app promises $ 110 if you can get five people to sign @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most of that money only arrives if the people you refer continue to regularly use the app ) .
The service also came pre-filled with videos because the app is able to pull content from Kuaishou .
The Information reports that Zynn ’ s videos are “ mostly ” from Kuaishou right now .
Like TikTok , the app launches you straight into watching a video the first time you open it .
If you want to earn rewards , though , you have to sign up .
And to sign up , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ info to Zynn .
There ’ s no option to create an account directly with Zynn — it has to be tied to some other service : Google , Facebook , Twitter , or your phone number .
I tried to link my Google account , but Zynn wouldn ’ t let me proceed when I declined to share my contact information .
I ended up signing up with a burner Google Voice number .
This didn ’ t result in the app asking for access to my contacts , but Zynn now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The app also requested location access during the sign-up process , but it still allows you to proceed if you decline .
To cash out your rewards , you have to link a PayPal account as well .

TikTok has a new competitor: Zynn, a nearly button-for-button clone of TikTok that differentiates itself with one key twist — it pays users to sign up, watch videos, and convince others to follow suit. The app launched at the beginning of May, and as Mashable noticed, it’s now the number one free app in Apple’s App Store and in the top 10 on Google’s Play Store, too.
Zynn is fully a TikTok clone. The core interface is identical, and both are oriented around watching short portrait-orientation videos. The big distinction is a countdown timer with a dollar sign in the middle that hovers over every video on Zynn. As you watch videos, the timer fills up and gives you points, which you’re supposed to be able to redeem later as cash or gift cards. I haven’t tested to see if this works, but a couple of people have posted YouTube videos showing payment receipts.
Zynn offers money for signing up more users.
The goal is to make more ad revenue than Zynn pays out to users
The app didn’t exactly come out of nowhere, despite what it seems. As The Information reported yesterday, Zynn is the extension of a rivalry over video apps in China. Zynn’s creator, Kuaishou, is a well-funded startup that runs one of the biggest video apps in the country. The app is second only to Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok. Kuaishou used the same technique of paying viewers to grow in China, according to the report. The company ultimately makes money by selling ads, so long as it brings in more money than it pays out. (In the US, Zynn doesn’t currently appear to be running ads.)
Kuaishou recently received a $2 billion investment from Tencent, the Chinese tech giant behind WeChat. The Information reported in December that the investment was meant to help Tencent “contain the threat of ByteDance,” which makes TikTok and Douyin. Kuaishou’s expansion into the US seems to be an extension of that goal, with the company using the same strategy to take on Bytedance and find a space in the market.
Left: Zynn. Right: TikTok.
Zynn seems to have grown so quickly for a couple of reasons. There’s the paying users to watch videos, obviously (I was able to get $0.12 by watching videos for what felt like a few minutes). But the app also has a referral scheme that pays users for getting others to sign up and use the service themselves, which likely went a long way toward helping it spread. A big banner in the app promises $110 if you can get five people to sign up (with the fine print that most of that money only arrives if the people you refer continue to regularly use the app). The service also came pre-filled with videos because the app is able to pull content from Kuaishou. The Information reports that Zynn’s videos are “mostly” from Kuaishou right now.


theverge--2020-05-29--Leaked posts show Facebook employees asking the company to remove Trump’s threat of violence

Facebook ’ s decision not to take action against recent posts about mail-in ballots and the Minnesota protests by President Trump is roiling employees , some of whom are calling on executives to reconsider their stance .
In response to an internal post explaining the company ’ s rationale , some employees criticized the company ’ s neutral posture .
“ I have to say I am finding the contortions we have to go through incredibly hard to stomach , ” one employee wrote in a comment about the shooting post .
“ All this points to a very high @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unrest in November and if we fail the test case here , history will not judge us kindly.
” On Tuesday Twitter labeled two tweets about mail-in voting as “ potentially misleading ” for suggesting the practice would lead to a rigged election .
Early Friday morning , Twitter placed another tweet behind an interstitial warning for “ glorifying violence ” because it included the sentence “ when the looting starts , the shooting starts.
” In all cases , the tweets were cross-posted to Facebook .
“ if we fail the test @ @ @ @ @ @ @ us kindly.
” In between those events , Monika Bickert , the company ’ s vice president of global policy management , wrote a lengthy post on Workplace , the company ’ s internal version of Facebook , laying out the company ’ s rationale for not taking action on the mail-in ballot post .
“ We reviewed the claim and determined that it doesn ’ t break our rules against voter interference because it doesn ’ t mislead people about how they can register to vote or the different ways they can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a post that received more than 700 comments .
“ If it had , we should have removed the post from our platform altogether because our voter interference policy applies to everyone , including politicians.
” She continued : “ That said , we do not believe that a private technology company like Facebook should be in the business of vetting what politicians say in the context of a political debate .
As is the case with the President ’ s tweets , speech from candidates and elected officials is highly scrutinized and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ allowed to hear what politicians say , make up their own minds and hold politicians to account.
” But then Trump cross-posted to Facebook a tweet that seemed to suggest that violent action be taken against people protesting the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minnesota police .
“ Would it be possible to explain in more detail the interpretation of our community standards ?
” one employee asked .
“ Does this post violate them but get an exemption , or is it not violating ?
” But by mid-afternoon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not received a response — and they were beginning to grow frustrated .
“ It ’ s egregious that nobody from policy has chimed in or provided any sort of context here , ” one employee said .
When another employee defended Facebook ’ s silence by suggesting that top executives were likely debating their next steps , the original poster replied : “ They ’ ve already made an official decision by keeping the post up after it ’ s been reported .
They should communicate their justification for the decision.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ private technology company like Facebook should be in the business of vetting what politicians say.
” Another employee suggested that no one had responded to them “ because Facebook ’ s community of employees has demonstrated many times that private deliberations will be leaked to the press and taken out of context.
” “ I don ’ t think employees are asking anything here that the public doesn ’ t deserve to know , ” a colleague responded .
But another post viewed by The Verge suggests that an initial review of Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was deemed to be non-violating.
” “ Makes me sad and frankly ashamed , ” one employee wrote in response .
“ Hopefully this wasn ’ t the final assessment ?
Hopefully there is still someone somewhere discussing how and why this is clearly advocating for violence ?
” Wrote another : “ It ’ s been said previously that inciting violence would cause a post to be removed .
I too would like to know why the goals shifted , and where they are now.
” Another employee compared working at Facebook @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mitchell and Webb in which two SS officers are talking during World War II and one asks the other , “ Are we the baddies ?
” “ Waking up every morning at FB now and having this run through my head , immediately followed by ‘ yes , apparently , ’ ” the employee wrote , above a GIF of the sketch .
“ It ’ s honestly really hard for me to take seriously the words of support from our leadership this morning if we allow content like this on our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mitchell and Webb post .
“ Whatever we are getting from not acting on this , is it worth allowing clear , violent threats against Black protesters ?
” Facebook had no immediate comment .

Facebook’s decision not to take action against recent posts about mail-in ballots and the Minnesota protests by President Trump is roiling employees, some of whom are calling on executives to reconsider their stance. In response to an internal post explaining the company’s rationale, some employees criticized the company’s neutral posture.
“I have to say I am finding the contortions we have to go through incredibly hard to stomach,” one employee wrote in a comment about the shooting post. “All this points to a very high risk of a violent escalation and civil unrest in November and if we fail the test case here, history will not judge us kindly.”
On Tuesday Twitter labeled two tweets about mail-in voting as “potentially misleading” for suggesting the practice would lead to a rigged election. Early Friday morning, Twitter placed another tweet behind an interstitial warning for “glorifying violence” because it included the sentence “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” In all cases, the tweets were cross-posted to Facebook.
“if we fail the test case here, history will not judge us kindly.”
In between those events, Monika Bickert, the company’s vice president of global policy management, wrote a lengthy post on Workplace, the company’s internal version of Facebook, laying out the company’s rationale for not taking action on the mail-in ballot post.
“We reviewed the claim and determined that it doesn’t break our rules against voter interference because it doesn’t mislead people about how they can register to vote or the different ways they can vote,” Bickert wrote Thursday in a post that received more than 700 comments. “If it had, we should have removed the post from our platform altogether because our voter interference policy applies to everyone, including politicians.”
She continued: “That said, we do not believe that a private technology company like Facebook should be in the business of vetting what politicians say in the context of a political debate. As is the case with the President’s tweets, speech from candidates and elected officials is highly scrutinized and debated. We think people should be allowed to hear what politicians say, make up their own minds and hold politicians to account.”
But then Trump cross-posted to Facebook a tweet that seemed to suggest that violent action be taken against people protesting the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minnesota police. “Would it be possible to explain in more detail the interpretation of our community standards?” one employee asked. “Does this post violate them but get an exemption, or is it not violating?”
But by mid-afternoon Pacific time on Friday, employees had not received a response — and they were beginning to grow frustrated. “It’s egregious that nobody from policy has chimed in or provided any sort of context here,” one employee said. When another employee defended Facebook’s silence by suggesting that top executives were likely debating their next steps, the original poster replied: “They’ve already made an official decision by keeping the post up after it’s been reported. They should communicate their justification for the decision.”
“we do not believe that a private technology company like Facebook should be in the business of vetting what politicians say.”
Another employee suggested that no one had responded to them “because Facebook’s community of employees has demonstrated many times that private deliberations will be leaked to the press and taken out of context.”
“I don’t think employees are asking anything here that the public doesn’t deserve to know,” a colleague responded. But another post viewed by The Verge suggests that an initial review of Trump’s “shooting” post “was deemed to be non-violating.”
“Makes me sad and frankly ashamed,” one employee wrote in response. “Hopefully this wasn’t the final assessment? Hopefully there is still someone somewhere discussing how and why this is clearly advocating for violence?”
Wrote another: “It’s been said previously that inciting violence would cause a post to be removed. I too would like to know why the goals shifted, and where they are now.”
Another employee compared working at Facebook to a comedy sketch by the duo Mitchell and Webb in which two SS officers are talking during World War II and one asks the other, “Are we the baddies?” “Waking up every morning at FB now and having this run through my head, immediately followed by ‘yes, apparently,’” the employee wrote, above a GIF of the sketch.
“It’s honestly really hard for me to take seriously the words of support from our leadership this morning if we allow content like this on our platform,” someone wrote underneath the Mitchell and Webb post. “Whatever we are getting from not acting on this, is it worth allowing clear, violent threats against Black protesters?”


theverge--2020-05-29--SpaceX loses another Starship prototype in massive explosion

A fourth prototype of SpaceX ’ s next generation Starship rocket exploded right after a test at the company ’ s south Texas test site on Friday .
Shortly after SpaceX ignited the engine on the test rocket , a massive fireball engulfed the vehicle in flames , leaving very little hardware still standing and apparently causing damage to the test site .
The failed test comes just a day before SpaceX is set to perform an unrelated launch for NASA that will send two astronauts to the International Space Station .
That historic mission will take place out of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket , which has flown more than 100 times before .
While the failure of the Starship prototype is not linked to the upcoming NASA mission , SpaceX CEO Elon Musk did tell Aviation Week that SpaceX planned to put a pause on Starship development while the company focused on its first crewed flight .
“ I have redirected SpaceX ’ s priorities to be very focused on the crew launch , ” Musk told Aviation Week during a podcast interview published on May 26th .
“ So @ @ @ @ @ @ @ down on the Starship front.
” The failed test comes just a day before SpaceX is set to perform a critical launch for NASA The prototype that just exploded is meant to test out the design for SpaceX ’ s future Starship , a giant rocket the company wants to create to send people to deep space destinations like the Moon and Mars .
SpaceX has been building various test versions of the Starship down at the company ’ s work site in Boca Chica , Texas .
Today , the company ignited @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Starship prototype while holding the vehicle down , a type of test known as a static fire .
It was the fifth static fire test SpaceX had conducted over the last couple of weeks .
The explosion marks yet another failure that ’ s destroyed a Starship prototype .
SpaceX already lost three previous test versions of the vehicle during pressurized tests that either caused the vehicles to burst or implode .
This particular Starship got further along in the testing process than the others .
With this latest failure , it seems @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there seems to be some damage to the area surrounding the test site , too .
It ’ s unclear if anyone was hurt in the explosion .
SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment before publication .
Had the Starship prototype remained intact , SpaceX had plans to fly the vehicle on a low-altitude flight test in the coming days .
On May 28th , the Federal Aviation Administration granted SpaceX a license to conduct “ suborbital reusable launch vehicle missions ” with the vehicle out of Boca Chica .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the launch site for June 1st , preventing vehicles from flying below 26,000 feet over the area .
Now , those restrictions will likely be lifted as SpaceX works on its next prototype .

A fourth prototype of SpaceX’s next generation Starship rocket exploded right after a test at the company’s south Texas test site on Friday. Shortly after SpaceX ignited the engine on the test rocket, a massive fireball engulfed the vehicle in flames, leaving very little hardware still standing and apparently causing damage to the test site.
The failed test comes just a day before SpaceX is set to perform an unrelated launch for NASA that will send two astronauts to the International Space Station. That historic mission will take place out of Cape Canaveral, Florida, on SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket, which has flown close to 100 times before.
While the failure of the Starship prototype is not linked to the upcoming NASA mission, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk did tell Aviation Week that SpaceX planned to put a pause on Starship development while the company focused on its first crewed flight. “I have redirected SpaceX’s priorities to be very focused on the crew launch,” Musk told Aviation Week during a podcast interview published on May 26th. “So that’s going to slow things down on the Starship front.”
The failed test comes just a day before SpaceX is set to perform a critical launch for NASA
The prototype that just exploded is meant to test out the design for SpaceX’s future Starship, a giant rocket the company wants to create to send people to deep space destinations like the Moon and Mars. SpaceX has been building various test versions of the Starship down at the company’s work site in Boca Chica, Texas. Today, the company ignited the main Raptor engine on the latest Starship prototype while holding the vehicle down, a type of test known as a static fire. It was the fifth static fire test SpaceX had conducted over the last couple of weeks.
The explosion marks yet another failure that’s destroyed a Starship prototype. SpaceX already lost three previous test versions of the vehicle during pressurized tests that either caused the vehicles to burst or implode. This particular Starship got further along in the testing process than the others. With this latest failure, it seems unlikely that anything is salvageable, and there seems to be some damage to the area surrounding the test site, too. It’s unclear if anyone was hurt in the explosion. SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment before publication.


theverge--2020-05-29--The United States will cut ties with the World Health Organization, says President Trump

The United States will terminate its relationship with the World Health Organization ( WHO ) , President Trump said in a press conference today .
“ China has total control over World Health Organization , ” Trump said .
“ We have detailed to them the reforms that they must make and engaged with them directly but they have refused to act.
” Trump had previously frozen funding to the WHO , claiming that the organization bowed to pressure from China and was overly trusting on their early information about the spread of the coronavirus .
He also took issue @ @ @ @ @ @ @ travel bans .
Still , severing ties with the organization is a drastic step .
Experts say that if the US severs ties with the WHO , there could be catastrophic consequences to global public health .
The US contributes hundreds of millions of dollars to its efforts .
“ It ’ s surreal to even be having this conversation , since it ’ s so hard to get one ’ s head around the massive implications , ” Rebecca Katz , director of the Center for Global Health Science and Security at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The action could also impair the global response to COVID-19 .
The WHO is the central coordinating body for global public health emergencies .
It ’ s currently organizing an international clinical trial investigating drugs that could treat COVID-19 , and was pivotal in spurring early response to the disease , declaring a global public health emergency in January .
The organization also supports the pandemic response in under-resourced countries .
Nearly 6 million people around the world have contracted the virus , and over 360,000 have died .

The United States will terminate its relationship with the World Health Organization (WHO), President Trump said in a press conference today.
“China has total control over World Health Organization,” Trump said. “We have detailed to them the reforms that they must make and engaged with them directly but they have refused to act.”
Trump had previously frozen funding to the WHO, claiming that the organization bowed to pressure from China and was overly trusting on their early information about the spread of the coronavirus. He also took issue with the WHO’s criticism of travel bans.
Still, severing ties with the organization is a drastic step. Experts say that if the US severs ties with the WHO, there could be catastrophic consequences to global public health. The US contributes hundreds of millions of dollars to its efforts. “It’s surreal to even be having this conversation, since it’s so hard to get one’s head around the massive implications,” Rebecca Katz, director of the Center for Global Health Science and Security at Georgetown University, told Nature this week.
The action could also impair the global response to COVID-19. The WHO is the central coordinating body for global public health emergencies. It’s currently organizing an international clinical trial investigating drugs that could treat COVID-19, and was pivotal in spurring early response to the disease, declaring a global public health emergency in January. The organization also supports the pandemic response in under-resourced countries.


theverge--2020-05-29--Amazon will no longer support the Echo Look, encourages owners to recycle theirs

Amazon is discontinuing its Echo Look camera , a standalone device that gave owners fashion advice using artificial intelligence and machine learning .
The Look ’ s companion app and the device itself will stop functioning on July 24th .
Between now and July 24th , 2021 , Look users can back up their images and videos by making a free Amazon Photos account .
( People with existing Photos accounts will have their media backed up automatically . )
Anyone who wants to delete all their existing photos and videos will have to do so before the July 2020 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have to call Amazon ’ s customer service to have them deleted .
They can currently delete them through the Look app .
Amazon points out that much of the Echo Look ’ s functionality is now included in the Amazon Shopping app , including Style by Alexa , which involves the AI offering fashion pointers .
The company says people should download the app to keep consulting with Amazon , and they should also recycle their Look through Amazon ’ s program .
The Echo Look first came out in 2017 and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ including a collections tool , curated content from Vogue and GQ , and voice profile support .
Putting the Look ’ s functionality into the Amazon Shopping app makes sense , given that it allows more people access to Amazon ’ s fashion advice .
Plus , it streamlines the entire process , allowing people to use one device to shop and take photos of themselves .

Amazon is discontinuing its Echo Look camera, a standalone device that gave owners fashion advice using artificial intelligence and machine learning. The Look’s companion app and the device itself will stop functioning on July 24th. Between now and July 24th, 2021, Look users can back up their images and videos by making a free Amazon Photos account. (People with existing Photos accounts will have their media backed up automatically.) Anyone who wants to delete all their existing photos and videos will have to do so before the July 2020 deadline; otherwise, they’ll have to call Amazon’s customer service to have them deleted. They can currently delete them through the Look app.
Amazon points out that much of the Echo Look’s functionality is now included in the Amazon Shopping app, including Style by Alexa, which involves the AI offering fashion pointers. The company says people should download the app to keep consulting with Amazon, and they should also recycle their Look through Amazon’s program.


theverge--2020-05-29--Vergecast: Examining Donald Trump’s executive order targeting social media

On Thursday evening , President Donald Trump signed an executive order targeting Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act to regulate speech on social media platforms .
Thursday evening is also when we record our weekly chat show The Vergecast .
Co-hosts Nilay Patel and Dieter Bohn bring in Silicon Valley editor Casey Newton and senior reporter Adi Robertson to examine what exactly the executive order is trying to do and how effective it would be to regulate speech on platforms like Twitter and Facebook .
The second half of the show is a bit lighter .
WarnerMedia ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the US this week and Verge reporter Julia Alexander brings her expertise to the show to explain where HBO Max fits in with WarnerMedia ’ s other streaming services , as well as how their content differs from others in the market .
Listen here or in your preferred podcast player to hear the entire discussion .
• Google search results will take ‘ page experience ’ into account next year • Google Messages may finally be adding end-to-end encryption for RCS • Why Twitter labeling Trump ’ s tweets as “ potentially @ @ @ @ @ @ @ • Donald Trump is starting a messy fight with the entire internet • YouTube is deleting comments with two phrases that insult ... • YouTube fixes error that deleted comments critical of the ... • HBO Max is full of potential , but its biggest hurdle remains AT & T ’ s messy execution • HBO Max is taking on Netflix with human curation instead of solely relying on algorithms • HBO Max will use anime from Crunchyroll to compete with Netflix ’ s growing empire • All eight Harry Potter movies are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ expected • Snyder Cut fans demanded AT & T ’ s attention , and now AT & T is demanding their cash • Here are the hundreds of classic movies people can stream on HBO Max • You can no longer subscribe to HBO via Apple TV Channels

On Thursday evening, President Donald Trump signed an executive order targeting Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act to regulate speech on social media platforms.
Thursday evening is also when we record our weekly chat show The Vergecast. Co-hosts Nilay Patel and Dieter Bohn bring in Silicon Valley editor Casey Newton and senior reporter Adi Robertson to examine what exactly the executive order is trying to do and how effective it would be to regulate speech on platforms like Twitter and Facebook.
The second half of the show is a bit lighter. WarnerMedia’s newest streaming service HBO Max launched in the US this week and Verge reporter Julia Alexander brings her expertise to the show to explain where HBO Max fits in with WarnerMedia’s other streaming services, as well as how their content differs from others in the market.
Listen here or in your preferred podcast player to hear the entire discussion.
Stories discussed this week: