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Facebook blocks Brazil president's allies after court order
Facebook has blocked allies of Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro after a court order, but it's appealing over free speech claims.
Google will pay publishers for 'high-quality' news and absorb paywall costs
Google has announced that it will start paying publishers to license “high-quality” content in an upcoming service it’s describing as a “news experience.” The announcement appears to confirm rumors from earlier this year that Google planned to launch a news site much like Apple News+.
Brazil's Central Bank forces WhatsApp to suspend mobile payments
Brazil’s Central Bank has put a pause on WhatsApp payments in the country, according to Bloomberg.
Twitter tests 'Fleets' that delete themselves after 24 hours
Twitter is finally dipping its toe into ephemeral content. The company is testing a new feature, called "fleets," which allows users to to post tweets that automatically disappear after 24 hours. For now, the experimental feature is only live in Brazil, but Twitter says it could eventually land in other countries. If fleets do end up becoming widely available, it could fundamentally alter how people interact on Twitter.
Brazilian judge dismisses hacking charges against journalist Glenn Greenwald
Last month The Intercept's Glenn Greenwald faced criminal charges for breaking cybersecurity laws in Brazil. Now a judge has dismissed the hacking charges, linked to six people who allegedly stole information from the phones of public officials and judges. His outlet published excerpts of a group chat allegedly showing coordination between the judge and prosecutors working on a corruption investigation. The Intercept reports that the judge's dismissal is "for now," with an indication that if a previous injunction by a Supreme Court minister blocking investigation of the journalist were overturned, charges could be refiled. As it stands, the other six people will still face charges of alleged hacking to obtain the messages. In a statement, Greenwald said, "this ruling, while good, is insufficient as a protection of core press freedom. We will continue reporting and will also go to the Supreme Court for an even stronger ruling."
Brazil charges journalist Glenn Greenwald for colluding with hackers
Brazilian federal prosecutors have charged Glenn Greenwald with violating the country's cybersecurity laws, reports The New York Times. According to a 95-page complaint, Greenwald was part of the "criminal organization" that hacked into the phones of several public officials and prosecutors in 2019. The charges come after Greenwald's website, The Intercept Brasil, published multiple reports last year that exposed unethical behavior from some of Brazil's highest public officials, including current Justice Minister Sérgio Moro.
Brazil hits Facebook with $1.6 million Cambridge Analytica fine
The Cambridge Analytica data scandal may have come to light nearly two years ago, but the former company -- and as a result, Facebook -- is still feeling the effects of the fall out. Brazil's government has imposed a $1.6 million fine on Facebook for its role in the fiasco -- a considerably higher sum than the $644,000 fined by the UK, where the incident took place.
WhatsApp banned over 400,000 accounts during Brazil's election
There's little doubt that Facebook had to deal with a ton of fake news during Brazil's 2018 election, but now it's clearer just how much was on its plate. A document submitted to an investigation of misinformation during the presidential election has revealed that WhatsApp banned over 400,000 accounts in Brazil between August 15th and October 28th of last year. While WhatsApp's privacy-protecting encryption prevented the team from banning users based on message content, it used behavior to crack down on "automated and bulk messaging activities."
Uber will test an audio recording safety feature in Brazil and Mexico
A couple months ago, we learned that Uber was testing a feature that would allow riders to record audio through the app if they felt unsafe during a trip. Now, Uber is launching a pilot of that audio-recording feature in select cities in Brazil and Mexico, The Washington Post reports.
Amazon launches a scaled-down Prime service in Brazil
Brazilians can get unlimited two-day shipping and access to Amazon's original programming now that Prime is available in their country. Amazon has launched its Prime service in Brazil in an effort to get a piece of one of Latin America's biggest economies. According to Bloomberg, Prime for Brazil will start as a scaled-down version of its US counterpart, offering free shipping for around 500,000 products out of the 2 million items in its marketplace. The company will give residents in 90 cities access to two-day shipping, while shipping in other areas will take three days or more.
The world’s largest telescope is one step closer to completion
The world's largest telescope is one step closer to completion. This month, the team working on the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) completed the second of seven primary mirror segments, a process that began in January 2012.
Hitting the Books: Modern surveillance and 'the science of happiness'
Welcome to Hitting the Books. With less than one in five Americans reading just for fun these days, we've done the hard work for you by scouring the internet for the most interesting, thought provoking books on science and technology we can find and delivering an easily digestible nugget of their stories.
Facebook shut down a spam network in Brazil
Facebook's crackdown on misleading content continues, this time in Brazil. The social network gave the boot to 68 pages and 43 accounts -- all linked to a single marketing group -- for violating the company's policies on misrepresentation and spam.
Facebook will show who paid for political ads in the UK
Facebook is pushing its transparency agenda again, this time with the introduction of a tool that reveals information about political ads in the UK. From today, all advertisers that run ads in the UK referencing political figures and parties, elections and legislation before parliament will have to verify their location and identity, and the adverts will have to carry a "paid for by" disclaimer.
Facebook cracks down on fake news ahead of Brazil elections
Facebook took down 196 pages and 87 accounts used by a right-wing Brazilian activist group to spread fake news, Reuters reports. According to the publication's sources, the group, Movimento Brazil Livre, was running fake pages to spread its political message throughout Brazil ahead of the country's general election in October. In a statement given to Reuters, Facebook, which didn't name the pages or who was behind them, said the deactivations were instituted because the pages were part of "a coordinated network that hid behind fake Facebook accounts and misled people about the nature and origin of its content, all for the purpose of sowing division and spreading misinformation."
New international Netflix series include Salma Hayek's 'Monarca'
Netflix announced today that it's partnering with Salma Hayek's Ventanarosa production company on a new original series from Mexico. Monarca is set in the world of Mexican billionaires and focuses on a family with a tequila-born business empire. But drama ensues as one family member sets out to fight the corrupt system her family helped put into place. The series is scheduled for a global launch next year and it joins a number of other original shows Netflix is working on outside of the US.
Spotify tests stripped-down lite version of its app
Spotify is eager to add to its 170 million monthly users, and it's testing a new way to get there. Android users in Brazil (or perhaps elsewhere if you know where to look) can try Spotify Lite, which pares down the main app to something less storage and data hungry. Spotify says it works on all Android phones and in all network conditions.
Hyperloop TT's expansion continues with a Brazil tech center
From what sounded like a pretty crazy Elon Musk scheme, hyperloop transportation has been shaping up into a real system, over the last six months or so. After a slow start one of the two main players, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT), has expanding quickly, opening a new tech center in Toulouse, France. Now, it's unveiled plans to open a global innovation center for logistics called XO Square in Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Facebook fined $33 million for failing to help Brazilian authorities
Facebook has had a contentious relationship with Brazilian authorities, and its WhatsApp messenger has suffered multiple service bans for failing to cooperate. Two years ago, a court froze around $6 million of the company's cash after it didn't hand over data for a criminal investigation over drug smuggling. It seems the social media platform still isn't cooperating. Reuters reports that a judge just handed down a 111.7 reais ($33 million) fine regarding Facebook's failure to grant authorities access to messages as part of a health fraud investigation.
Amazon may finally bring its full retail business to Brazil
In 2017, Amazon Brazil started allowing third-party sellers to list their items on the website. Apparently, though, that could've been just the beginning of the e-commerce titan's expansion in the biggest retail market in Latin America. According to Reuters, the company held a meeting with a bunch of manufacturers in Brazil last week to discuss its plans on stocking and selling goods -- everything from consumer electronics to perfume -- itself. It follows a previous Reuters report, which says Amazon is looking to rent a warehouse just outside of Sao Paulo.
