-
After Facebook, Twitter ban, Trump fans and extremists turn elsewhere
San Francisco (AFP) - Gab instead of Twitter, MeWe over Facebook, Telegram for messaging and Discord for insiders -- banned from mainstream platforms, US conspiracy and supremacist movements, many of which support Donald Trump, have shifted to networks that are more confidential, and harder to regulate. "The most extreme Trump supporters were already on alternative platforms," said Nick Backovic, a researcher at Logically.AI, a company specializing in digital disinformation. "The fact that Facebook and Twitter took so long to (ban them) allowed influencers to rebuild conversation and groups al...
AFP
-
Feminist dating app Bumble takes Wall Street by storm
Washington (AFP) - US dating app Bumble, where women make the first move, won Wall Street's heart as it went public Friday, with markets valuing the company at $13 billion. Bumble offered 50 million shares at a price of $43 each, allowing it to raise more than $2 billion. The New York Stock Exchange welcomed its new arrival, listed as "BMBL," with open arms: its shares shot up by 63.51 percent to $70.31 dollars in its first trading session, given the company a market capitalization of $13 billion. Dating apps have been hugely successful since the pandemic began and singles found themselves wi...
AFP
-
Clubhouse: the wildly popular audio chat app
San Francisco (AFP) - Clubhouse, the invitation-only audio chat app, exploded in popularity during the coronavirus pandemic when people could not get together in person -- but now the once niche platform has far higher goals. Launched less than a year ago, Clubhouse -- which recently encountered a censorship hiccup in China -- is looking to establish itself as the standard-bearer for digital audio. The concept is simple: once you're invited to join, you can start or listen to conversations in digital "rooms," ranging from a major talk by someone famous to a chat within a small group. No posts...
AFP
-
Empire-builder Bezos looks beyond Amazon
Washington (AFP) - Starting three decades ago in his garage, Jeff Bezos built one of the world's most successful business empires -- and became the richest person on the planet. Now Bezos is turning to new challenges, giving up his role as chief executive of the technology giant to focus his energy on other business and philanthropic ventures. Now 57, Bezos founded Amazon in 1994 and went on to grow it into a colossus that dominates online retail, with operations in streaming music and television, groceries, cloud computing, robotics, artificial intelligence and more. Bezos announced Tuesday h...
AFP
-
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
-
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
-
Trump's history in tweets
Washington (AFP) - President Donald Trump had made Twitter his favored channel for sharing unflattering nicknames, insults, video montages and even policy decisions. But he no longer has that soapbox, as the social platform permanently suspended his account, @realDonaldTrump, on Friday. Here's a look back at some of his most memorable tweets: 'Fake News!'After just a few months in office, the Republican leader shared in July 2017 a video montage of him throwing a man to the floor during a wrestling match, with his opponent's face replaced by the logo for CNN. The tweet was shared hundreds of t...
AFP
-
Hackers breach US agencies, Homeland Security a reported target
New York (AFP) - The US Department of Homeland Security was the third federal department to be targeted in a major cyberattack, US media reported Monday, a day after Washington revealed the hack which may have been coordinated by a foreign government. The Washington Post cited unnamed officials who said that the DHS -- which is in charge of protecting the country from attacks both online and off -- had been added to a growing list of targets in the attack, including the Treasury and Commerce departments. A statement from DHS Monday did not confirm the report, saying only that it was "aware of ...
AFP
-
'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
-
TikTok files last-minute petition against Trump order
San Francisco (AFP) - TikTok asked a Washington court Tuesday to stop an order from US President Donald Trump's administration from taking effect this week as the White House seeks to ban the Chinese-owned app in the United States.Chinese company ByteDance is facing a Thursday deadline to restructure ownership of the app in the United States to meet US security concerns.In its court petition, TikTok asked for more time, saying it has not received enough feedback on its proposed solution.The company said in a statement that it had asked the government for a 30-day extension because it was "faci...
AFP
- More