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Trump protest outside Twitter HQ over ban flops
San Francisco (AFP) - A planned protest outside Twitter's San Francisco headquarters against the social media platform's ban of Donald Trump fizzled out Monday when just a handful of the US president's supporters turned up. Messages posted this weekend on popular far-right forum TheDonald.win had called on pro-Trump activists to assemble outside the tech giant's offices, which are largely deserted as staff work from home due to the pandemic. One user even urged participants to bring zip ties to "citizen arrest violent agitators," the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Police deployed dozens of ...
AFP
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Conservative site Parler, banned by tech giants, is headed offline
New York (AFP) - Tech giants Amazon, Apple and Google have all cut ties with Parler, the social media platform popular with some conservatives, potentially leaving it without an internet home as of midnight Sunday even as its usership has recently been soaring. The three mega-corporations have accused the platform of continuing to post messages inciting violence even after the deadly assault Wednesday on the US Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump. If Parler is unable to find a new hosting partner by 08H00 GMT Monday, when Amazon cuts off its services, the site will be unable to fu...
AFP
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'Can't make a living': DoorDash couriers race to make ends meet
Marina del Rey (United States) (AFP) - Investors gorged on food delivery service DoorDash's US stock market debut Wednesday, but thousands of its couriers struggle to earn minimal wage and juggle working for multiple app services to get by, according to one Los Angeles worker. Driving in wealthy Marina del Rey, Devon Gutekunst scrolled through the DoorDash app and swiftly dismissed a notification offering a job that wouldn't begin to pay the bills. "$5.50 for 4.6 miles... which would be 30 minutes," he told AFP. "$11 an hour, that is an automatic decline. Not enough, right?" California's mini...
AFP
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Zoom opens platform for paid events, following Facebook
New York (AFP) - The fast-growing online video app Zoom said Wednesday it would open its platform to paid events to help performers, teachers and others monetize their activity.The announcement of the new service called OnZoom comes after a similar initiative by Facebook to help people and groups unable to hold in-person events because of pandemic restrictions."The difficult period we are going through has taught us that it's possible to work remotely," said Zoom founder and chief executive Eric Yuan, who announced the new service at the company's Zoomtopia conference."The future of communicat...
AFP
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Prince William, in global TED event, urges climate solution by 2030
San Francisco (AFP) - Prince William issued an urgent plea Saturday for a global effort to resolve the climate crisis by the end of this decade so that "we won't have to sacrifice everything we enjoy."The prince was speaking as part of a free streamed TED event aimed at unifying people to face the threats of climate change. Speakers range from Pope Francis to actor Chris Hemsworth and former US vice president Al Gore.The remarks from William, the duke of Cambridge, came in a prerecorded 18-minute video, part of which was released early on YouTube."The shared goals of our generation are clear -...
AFP
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Facebook launches new campaign to encourage voting
New York (AFP) - Facebook is launching a new initiative this week to encourage Americans to vote in the upcoming presidential election, the latest effort by the social network to prove it is a responsible player on the internet.The tech titan will kick off Monday a massive campaign encouraging people to visit its virtual voting information centers where they can look up how to register to vote, how to vote by mail or how to volunteer to work at polling stations on Election Day.The marketing campaign will be broadcast on major US television and radio channels, as well as online news outlets.Sin...
AFP
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US TikTok users prepare for a possible exit from platform
New York (AFP) - American TikTok users reacted with a collective shrug Friday to the US move to ban new downloads of the video-sharing app -- but many are already planning an exit to other platforms should the clampdown lead to an outright ban."Oh my God! Ok! It's happening! Everybody stay calm!" TikToker Nick Foster told his 577,000 followers, dubbing a video of himself with audio of actor Steve Carell's character on the series "The Office" panicking during a fire alarm.Although young users on the platform, who make up its primary base, don't seem to have paid much attention to the government...
AFP