Tag Archives: Google

Google Shuts China Offices, Toyota Halts Production

The Verge reports: Google is temporarily shutting down all of its China offices due to the coronavirus outbreak, the company confirmed to The Verge on Wednesday. The shutdown includes all offices in mainland China, as well as Google’s offices in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Currently, the offices are closed for the extended Lunar New Year holiday, a measure the Chinese …

Read More »

YouTube Stiffens Anti-Harassment Policies, Demeaning Language Rules After Right Winger’s Anti-Gay Attacks

The Verge reports: YouTube today announced an expansion of its anti-harassment policy that will ban video creators from insulting one another on the basis of their race, gender expression, or sexual orientation — even if the person they are insulting is a popular creator, celebrity, politician, or other public figure. The new policy comes several months after YouTube was criticized …

Read More »

Google/YouTube Has Booted Over 300 Trump Ads

CBS News reports: In response to concerns raised after the 2016 election cycle, Google and YouTube, like Facebook, keep a searchable archive of political ads that have run on the site. 60 Minutes reviewed the archive to learn more about President Trump’s problematic political ads. We found that over 300 video ads were taken down by Google and YouTube, mostly …

Read More »

Google To Offer Personal Checking Accounts In 2020

Reuters reports: Alphabet Inc’s Google said on Wednesday it will offer personal checking accounts next year through its Google Pay app in partnership with Citigroup Inc and a small credit union at Stanford University. The project, named Cache, comes as rivals Facebook and Apple are expanding their own efforts in consumer finance, a broad area that ranges from digital payment …

Read More »

YouTube Won’t Remove TOS Violations By Politicians

Politico reports: YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki said today that content by politicians would stay up on the video-sharing website even if it violates the company’s standards, echoing a position staked out by Facebook this week. “When you have a political officer that is making information this is really important for their constituents to see, or for other global leaders to …

Read More »

Texas Leads Multi-State Anti-Trust Probe Into Google

CNBC reports: Fifty attorneys general are joining an investigation into Google over possible antitrust violations, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the initiative’s leader, announced Monday. The news confirms reports last week about the bipartisan investigation into Google’s practices. The bipartisan probe includes attorneys general from 48 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. California and Alabama are not involved …

Read More »

FTC Fines Google $170M For Collecting Data On Kids

CNBC reports: Google’s YouTube will pay $170 million to settle allegations by the Federal Trade Commission and the New York attorney general that it earned millions by illegally collecting personal information from children without their parents’ consent. The settlement, announced Wednesday, was passed in a 3-2 vote by the commissioners along party lines. The two Democrats voted against it, saying …

Read More »

LOL: Russia Warns Google Against Election Interference

CNN reports: Google has been warned by Russia’s state communications regulator to stop “advertising” protests on YouTube ahead of local elections in Moscow. The watchdog, called Roskomnadzor, said in a letter to Google on Sunday that it considered advertisements and push notifications that publicize protests as “interference” in its domestic politics. Tens of thousands of people rallied in Moscow over …

Read More »

Trump Accuses Google Of “Illegally Boosting Negative Stories” About Him After Seeing Claims On Fox News

Politico reports: President Donald Trump on Tuesday warned his administration is “watching Google very closely” after Fox News and the Fox Business Network aired segments suggesting the technology giant harbors bias against him and is working to thwart his reelection prospects. “It all sounded good until I watched Kevin Cernekee, a Google engineer, say terrible things about what they did …

Read More »

Trump Threatens “Foolish” France With Tariffs On Wine

The BBC reports: US President Donald Trump has accused French President Emmanuel Macron of “foolishness” over a digital services tax, and hinted that he would tax French wine in retaliation. Mr Trump voiced his anger in a tweet on Friday, in response to French plans to tax multinational firms like Google. French authorities argue that the firms pay little or …

Read More »

Gabbard Files $50M “Censorship” Suit Against Google

The New York Times reports: Representative Tulsi Gabbard, the long-shot presidential candidate from Hawaii, said in a federal lawsuit that Google infringed on her free speech when it briefly suspended her campaign’s advertising account after the first Democratic debate in June. The lawsuit, filed on Thursday in a federal court in Los Angeles, is believed to be the first time …

Read More »

DOJ Launches Antitrust Probe Of Big Tech Platforms

Axios reports: The Justice Department said Tuesday it had launched an inquiry into the market power of major online platforms and whether they are “are engaging in practices that have reduced competition, stifled innovation, or otherwise harmed consumers.” Why it matters: While the announcement mentioned no specific companies, its reference to looking at concerns about “search, social media, and some …

Read More »

Trump Vows To Investigate Google For “Treason”

Axios reports: Peter Thiel, billionaire investor and Facebook board member, on Sunday night said that Google should be federally investigated for allegedly aiding the Chinese military. Thiel is the tech industry’s highest-profile Trump supporter, and one of the most powerful players in Silicon Valley. Thiel spoke at the National Conservatism Conference, a new event that bills itself as being focused …

Read More »

YouTube Tests “Hiding” Comments On Its Mobile App

The Daily Beast reports: In a software tweak first spotted by a developer forum, YouTube is toying with eliminating the comments section that accompanies videos on its mobile app. As it stands now, comments appear when a user scrolls below a video’s sharing buttons and “Up Next” recommended videos. The change would significantly downgrade the prominence of comments on the …

Read More »

YouTube Bans White Supremacists, 9/11 And Sandy Hook Truthers, Holocaust Deniers, Other Extremists

Vox reports: YouTube is finally banning content that promotes white supremacist views on its video platform. But it will still permit videos it classifies as “borderline,” which isn’t clearly defined, as well as a host of other problematic content. The Google-owned platform said on Wednesday that it’s updating its hate speech policy to prohibit “videos alleging that a group is …

Read More »

Google Unveils “Stonewall Forever” Digital Monument

From Google’s corporate blog: The LGBT Community Center of New York City, with support from Google.org, has worked to preserve LGBTQ+ history for future generations by extending the Stonewall National Monument from its physical location in New York City to a digital experience that can be accessed by everyone, everywhere. Stonewall Forever is the result of the LGBT Community Center’s …

Read More »

Google Gave Free Ads To Catholic Anti-Abortion Group

The Guardian reports: Google has given tens of thousands of dollars in free advertising to an anti-abortion group that runs ads suggesting it provides abortion services at its medical clinics, but actually seeks to deter “abortion-minded women” from terminating their pregnancies. The Obria Group, which runs a network of clinics funded by Catholic organizations, received a $120,000 Google advertising grant …

Read More »

Google Pulls Ex-Gay Torture App After HRC Pressure

Axios reports: Google is pulling a controversial app that LGBTQ rights groups say engages in a form of conversion therapy, joining Apple, Amazon and Microsoft, all of which banned the app months ago. Google had refused to ban the app from Living Hope Ministries, saying it didn’t clearly violate its Play Store terms of service. The change comes less than …

Read More »

HRC Yanks Google Endorsement Over Ex-Gay App

Fortune reports: Google lost an endorsement from the Human Rights Campaign, the largest U.S. LGBTQ group, over an app tied to the practice of so-called “conversion therapy” to change a gay person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Alphabet Inc.’s Google, which had previously scored a perfect 100 on the annual Corporate Equality Index, will have its rating withheld until the …

Read More »

Google To Fund Dozens Of New Local News Websites

Axios reports: Google is launching the Local Experiments Project, an effort to fund dozens of new local news websites around the country and eventually around the world. The tech giant says it will have no editorial control over the sites, which will be built by partners it selects with local news expertise. Big tech companies like Google and Facebook are …

Read More »