Tech

Facebook’s data center plans rile residents in the Netherlands

Enlarge (credit: Robin Utrecht | Abaca Press | Alamy) When Susan Schaap, 61, travels from her Dutch hometown of Zeewolde to the nearest city of Leylystad, the 30-minute drive takes her through vast tulip fields, interrupted only by wind turbines and sometimes sheep. But if Facebook parent company Meta’s plans are approved, her view would […]

Tech

Lawsuit: Facebook recommendations helped extremists meet and plan murder

Enlarge / Members of the Boogaloo Bois gather for the 12th annual Second Amendment March sponsored by Michigan Open Carry Inc. and Second Amendment March outside of the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing, Michigan, on September 23, 2021. (credit: Getty Images | Jeff Kowalsky) The sister of a slain federal security officer has filed a […]

Tech

Report: Meta pulls the plug on its AR/VR operating system ambitions

Enlarge / The Oculus Quest 2, Meta’s most popular VR headset today. (credit: Sam Machkovech) Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, has pulled the plug on its current efforts to develop an operating system for AR and VR devices, The Information reported today. Citing “two people familiar with the decision,” the article claims that […]

Tech

Big Tech split leads to demise of Internet Association

Enlarge / Street sign for K Street, the Wall Street of political influence in the US capital. (credit: Bjarte Rettedal | Getty Images) Growing tensions between Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, and Apple lie behind the death of the Internet Association (IA), the nine-year-old lobby group that was Big Tech’s voice in Washington, according to insiders […]

Tech

2021 was the year the world finally turned on Facebook

Enlarge (credit: Jens Buettner/picture alliance) Wish 2021 had been a better year? Facebook probably does, too. The company has long been maligned by politicians, media observers, and consumer advocates, but it wasn’t until 2021 that it felt like the tide truly began to turn. Though Facebook had faced scandals in the past, from Cambridge Analytica […]

Tech

Meta investors are sick of the scandals and want more oversight

Enlarge / A worker picks up trash in front of the new logo in front of Meta’s headquarters on October 28, 2021, in Menlo Park, Calif. (credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) After a year of stunning and damning revelations, Meta, formerly Facebook, is facing calls from investors to allow an independent assessment of the company’s audit […]