Technology
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New Technology Could Provide Police Access to Real-Time Footage From Home Security Cameras
I don’t know why anyone thought this was a good idea, but apparently Jackson, Miss. is experimenting with a pilot program that would give police the ability to access real-time video surveillance from your home security camera. So did none of these people play Watch Dogs? Watch Psycho-Pass? Consume literally any media about the dangers…
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Massachusetts Legislators Vote to Ban Police From Using Facial Recognition Technology
Lawmakers in Massachusetts have taken the rare step back from our inevitable, Minority Report-lite future by voting to ban police departments from using facial recognition technology. According to TechCrunch, the ban was part of an overall police reform bill that also bans police from using chokeholds, rubber bullets, limits the use of chemical agents such…
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Announcing Blacktag, a Platform for Black Creation, Curation and Consumption; Issa Rae and Common Among Partners
In the midst of tragedy, hardships and frustrations that came with the 2020 global pandemic, creators have been pushed to well…be creative in order to survive in this economy. Virtual content is key this year (as all of us who telework and spend a lot of time on Zoom can attest), so naturally, that applies…
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Report Finds Facebook Is Still Profiting Off Far-Right Extremism. In Other Words, It’s a Monday
A recent study has shown that despite Facebook’s claims that it’s cracking down on right-wing extremist groups, the company accepted ad buys from such groups as recently as October. According to Buzzfeed News, a report from the Tech Transparency Project (TTP) has shown that multiple Facebook pages and groups associated with far-right extremist groups are…
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Advertisers and Social Media Companies Agree On Steps to Curb Hate Speech
Facebook, YouTube and Twitter have come to an agreement with a collective of advertisers on steps to curb hate speech and other harmful content on their platforms. They’re baby steps but steps nonetheless, I suppose. According to Reuters, the move comes three months after the George Floyd protests spurred advertisers to boycott Facebook over its…
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Twitter to Investigate Why Its Picture Cropping Algorithm Is Apparently Racist
Considering how little diversity is present in Silicon Valley, I’m never terribly surprised when some arbitrary feature on a tech platform turns out to have a racial bias. I mean, if white people aren’t thinking about how their racial bias affects people in the real world, I doubt they’re thinking about how it affects cropping…
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Seeing Myself: Learning to Celebrate Blackness With Photography
Editor’s Note: This story was produced by Consumer Reports, an independent, nonprofit member organization that works to create a fair and just marketplace. Sign up for CR’s free newsletters. In a recent conversation on Facebook, a friend of mine, who is white, noted that he did not see his racial identity as part of himself…
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I Almost Walked Into A Fight: An Accidental Product Review of Apple's AirPods Pro's Noise-Cancellation Technology
Hey, you. Are you in the market for noise-cancelling earbuds? If you are, have I got a product review for you. Let’s start at the beginning though. As most of you know, we’re in the midst of a pandemic. That’s not really central to this story but I feel like it’s irresponsible to not say…
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Facial Recognition Results in Detroit Man Being Arrested for a Crime He Didn't Commit
The long, arduous slog that’s been 2020 has had me reflecting on many things. One of those things has been how extensively movies and shows about cops lie to us. We’re repeatedly inundated with this idea that cops are moral arbiters who, operate like a well-oiled machine, and utilize the most cutting edge technology to…
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Civil Rights Orgs Blast Mark Zuckerberg as Audit Finds Facebook’s Weak Hate Speech Policies Are ‘Serious Setbacks for Civil Rights’
For the last two years, Facebook has touted a major civil rights audit as proof that it was taking seriously allegations that it was aiding the spread of hate and misinformation. The results of that report were released Wednesday morning, and while it praised the company for making some necessary improvements to its platform and…