testimony
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Sam Bankman-Fried says he'll testify next week about FTX Collapse
The embattled ex-CEO said he'll testify in front of Congress about FTX's sudden downfall.
Facebook releases Zuckerberg’s upcoming testimony in defense of Libra
Tomorrow, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will appear before the Financial Services Committee, where he's expected to be grilled about Facebook's planned cryptocurrency Libra and digital wallet Calibra. Ahead of tomorrow's inquisition, Facebook has shared Zuckerberg's prepared statement. In it, Zuckerberg admits that Facebook is "not the ideal messenger right now" and promises that Facebook will not move forward with Libra anywhere in the world until US regulators approve.
House committee asks 8chan owner to testify over extremist content
Politicians are still determined to investigate 8chan's role in fueling extremism even though the site is effectively out of commission. The House's Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson and Ranking Member Mike Rogers have sent a letter to 8chan owner Jim Watkins asking him to testify about the site's efforts to "investigate and mitigate" the appearance of extremist content, including white supremacist material. The politicians were concerned that 8chan has been linked to three mass shootings in 2019 (Christchurch, Poway and El Paso), with the attackers reportedly posting letters or manifestos on the site shortly before committing the murders.
How to stream the Mueller testimony
Robert Mueller famously stated that "the report is my testimony" about potential obstruction of justice by President Donald Trump. However, Congress was having none of that and subpoenaed the former special counsel to testify before the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees. That testimony will take place over a single day -- today, July 24th -- starting at 8:30 AM ET. If you're hoping for some drama or political theater, here's how to stream or watch it on TV.
Snapchat admits its age-verification system doesn’t work
Confronted by the UK's Parliament, Snapchat admitted its age verification process doesn't keep users younger than 13 years old from signing up. That's not exactly a big secret. Users are simply asked to enter their birthday, which could easily be fudged. But Snapchat's admission is significant.
Apple and Google will testify to Senate on data privacy September 26th
More tech companies are about to face congressional scrutiny. Leaders from Amazon, Apple, AT&T, Charter and Google are scheduled to testify before a US Senate panel at a data privacy hearing on September 26th. Senators will grill the companies on their existing approaches to privacy, how Congress can press for "clear privacy expectations" and how firms will adapt to stricter requirements like the European Union's GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act.
Twitter is keeping 500,000 bots from logging in every day
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is currently testifying before the House Energy and Commerce Committee and in response to questions from Representatives Kathy Castor (D-FL) and Gene Green (D-TX) about bots, Dorsey said that the platform is keeping around 500,000 bot accounts from logging in every day. He also reiterated that every week, Twitter's systems are challenging between eight and ten million accounts that are suspected of misusing automation or disseminating spam.
Google shares ‘testimony’ for Senate hearing it won’t attend
Tomorrow, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey will appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee to discuss election meddling and security. Google was invited to send a representative as well and it offered Chief Legal Officer Kent Walker, but the committee rejected Walker as a witness, insisting that higher-level leaders like Alphabet CEO Larry Page or Google CEO Sundar Pichai would be more appropriate. Now, however, Walker has released the company's "testimony" online even though it appears that no one from Google will be at the hearing to deliver it.
Facebook tells Senate it needs help stopping election interference
Facebook has been scrambling to fight election meddling ahead of the 2018 midterms, but it doesn't want to go alone. The social network has released COO Sheryl Sandberg's prepared testimony ahead of her Senate appearance on September 5th, and she uses the presentation to call for more government help in battling interference from countries like Russia. Facebook's staffers "can't stop interference by ourselves," she said, noting that Facebook doesn't have "all the investigative tools" of government and can't always identify perpetrators or their motivations.
Facebook provides 452-page answer to Congressional questions
Mark Zuckerberg's testimony before Congress was frustrating if you were expecting plenty of immediate answers about Facebook's policies -- he frequently promised follow-ups, and there were questions that went unasked. Facebook is now filling in some of those holes, however. The company has posted responses to questions its CEO didn't answer during the hearings themselves. There's a lot of material to comb through (452 pages' worth without introductions), and not all of it is useful -- some of it is little more than grandstanding. Still, there's already a highlight.
Russian politicians want a piece of Mark Zuckerberg, too
Mark Zuckerberg has testified before Congress and the European Parliament and now Russia is calling for the Facebook CEO to address its politicians as well. The Moscow Times reports that Senator Anton Belyakov suggested the invite, who, pointing to President Putin's calls to "digitize the economy," said, "I am absolutely confident that this is a person who has ideas to share and who is looking to the future." In regards to that effort, Belyakov noted that Zuckerberg had touched on the topic in his earlier testimonies. "After all, he spoke about information security, not giving access to personal data, preventing the dissemination of harmful content," said Belyakov.
Facebook to UK parliament: No Zuckerberg for you
Following the Cambridge Analytica scandal, the UK asked Mark Zuckerberg to appear before a parliamentary committee in order to address questions and concerns about user data privacy. The CEO declined in March and the company sent CTO Mike Schroepfer to testify instead. But the UK's Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee wasn't satisfied with Schroepfer's answers and sent follow up questions to Facebook as well as a renewed request for Zuckerberg to appear himself. "We hope that he will respond positively to our request, but if not, the committee will resolve to issue a formal summons for him to appear when he is next in the UK," wrote Committee Chair Damian Collins. However, despite the threat of a summons, Zuckerberg has again declined the request.
Mark Zuckerberg got grilled by Congress. Was it worth it?
On Tuesday and Wednesday, Zuckerberg gave testimony to Congress in response to his company's role in the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Russian election interference and his website's utter nightmare of data privacy. He impressed people by wearing his absolute nicest human suit.
Watch Mark Zuckerberg's second day of congressional testimony at 10AM ET
After Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg spent several hours answering questions from dozens of senators yesterday, he'll face the House Energy and Commerce Committee this morning. Zuckerberg is scheduled to testify at 10AM ET and you can watch the proceedings live via the committee's website right here. As was the case yesterday, Bloomberg's TicToc will be livestreaming the hearing on Twitter and several other outlets will have YouTube and Facebook feeds. We've embedded the YouTube broadcast from PBS News Hour down below for easy access.
Facebook didn't report initial Cambridge Analytica data use to FTC
During his first hearing in Washington, DC this week, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg noted that the company didn't alert the FTC to the initial Cambridge Analytica leak in 2015. When answering questions from several senators during his testimony, Zuckerberg explained that after Facebook first learned that Cambridge Analytica was in possession of user data from the "Thisisyourdigitallife" app, it "considered it a closed case" when the data company said it had deleted any unauthorized info. The CEO admitted that it was a mistake to take Cambridge Analytica's word for it, but that the company didn't feel that any further action was required.
Zuckerberg says a 'version' of Facebook will always be free
Mark Zuckerberg is testifying today before the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, answering questions from 44 Senators about Facebook's data managing practices, the Cambridge Analytica scandal and the use of its platform by foreign groups attempting to influence US elections. During his questioning today, Senator Orrin Hatch harkened back to Zuckerberg's first visit to Capitol Hill in 2010 where he said that Facebook would always be free. Zuckerberg then responded that a version of Facebook would always be free, leaving open the interpretation that the platform could one day charge a fee.
Watch Mark Zuckerberg's first congressional hearing at 2:15PM ET
After a couple weeks of anticipation, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will make the first of two appearances before congressional committees this afternoon. At 2:15PM ET, Zuckerberg with testify before both the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and the Senate Committee on the Judiciary on privacy and user data. This is the first of two days appearances before Congress this week as the Facebook chief will also appear before the House Energy and Commerce Committee tomorrow morning.
I sat in on a virtual support group for sexual-assault survivors
Thanks to its ability to give you a first-person point of view, virtual reality has become a common vehicle for empathetic storytelling. Testimony, a VR project that premiered at Tribeca 2017, does so by putting you in a virtual support group, showing the effectiveness of simply watching people tell their stories, especially when the subject is as disturbing as sexual assault.
FBI director to testify on Clinton email investigation
Were you confused when the FBI said that Hillary Clinton likely broke the law by sending classified email through her private email server, but recommended against charges? You're not the only one. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has announced that FBI Director James Comey will testify regarding that decision at a hearing on July 7th. Republican Chairman Jason Chaffetz argues that the recommendation was "surprising and confusing," and disagrees with Comey's statement that Clinton didn't mean to break rules. "Individuals who intentionally skirt the law must be held accountable," Chaffetz says in a statement.
Eleven alpha tester: Game is 'identical to Glitch'
"Incredible! I didn't expect it to be identical to Glitch, which it is." So sayeth one of Eleven's select few alpha testers, some of whom posted testimonials on the site about their experience. While a second tester cited "overwhelming" nostalgia, others were more critical of bugs, reloads, and generic visuals. The fan remake of Glitch has more than doubled its alpha test pool, from 13 to 31 players, and continues to advance the project as a whole. "This has been a great success, with many improvements being made to help improve the stability and experience while some other work is ongoing in order to bring over some more features," the devs said.
