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Frances Haugen, a former Facebook employee and whistleblower, testifies before a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing in Washington on Oct. 5.

What the public doesn’t understand about whistleblowers

The psychological motivations of people like Frances Haugen are widely misunderstood

  • Oct 12, 2021

 

Former Facebook employee and whistleblower Frances Haugen is greeted by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), left, before testifying in a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation hearing in Washington. <ins>(Jabin Botsford/Pool via The New York Times)</ins>

When Facebook’s apps went down, the world saw how much it runs on them

Communication, business suffered but some welcomed the silence

  • Oct 5, 2021

 

A good way to think about Facebook’s problems is that they come in two flavors: some caused by having too many users, and others caused by having too few of the kind it wants: culture-creating, trendsetting, advertiser-coveted young Americans. (Delcan & Company/New York Times)

Facebook is weaker than we knew

Tech giant on a slow, steady decline characteristic of a dying company

  • Oct 4, 2021

 

Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park is pictured in July 2020; on Oct. 4, the site and its family of apps including Instagram and WhatsApp went down at the same time, taking out a vital communications platform used by billions of people around the world. (Jim Wilson/New York Times)

Gone in minutes, out for hours: outage shakes Facebook

Impact of rare event was far-reaching and severe

  • Oct 4, 2021
Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park is pictured in July 2020; on Oct. 4, the site and its family of apps including Instagram and WhatsApp went down at the same time, taking out a vital communications platform used by billions of people around the world. (Jim Wilson/New York Times)
For years, Facebook employees have identified serious harms and proposed potential fixes. CEO Mark Zuckerberg, pictured in 2019, and COO Sheryl Sandberg have rejected the remedies, causing whisteblowers to multiply. (Eric Thayer/New York Times)

Facebook’s problems at the top: Social media giant is not listening to whistleblowers

Whistleblowers multiply, but Zuckerberg and Sandberg don’t heed their warnings

  • Sep 27, 2021
For years, Facebook employees have identified serious harms and proposed potential fixes. CEO Mark Zuckerberg, pictured in 2019, and COO Sheryl Sandberg have rejected the remedies, causing whisteblowers to multiply. (Eric Thayer/New York Times)
Irish regulators said WhatsApp was not clear with users about how data was shared with other Facebook properties. (Shutterstock)

Facebook’s WhatsApp fined for breaking EU’s data privacy law

By Adam Satariano New York Times Facebook’s WhatsApp messaging service was fined…

  • Sep 2, 2021
Irish regulators said WhatsApp was not clear with users about how data was shared with other Facebook properties. (Shutterstock)
The suspended Twitter account of U.S. President Donald Trump appears on a laptop screen on January 08, 2021 in San Anselmo, California. Citing the risk of further incitement of violence following an attempted insurrection on Wednesday, Twitter permanently suspended President Donald Trump’s account. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/TNS)

Democrats fume at tech companies, but legislation may be elusive

Gopal Ratnam and Dean DeChiaro CQ-Roll Call Top Democrats in Congress who…

The suspended Twitter account of U.S. President Donald Trump appears on a laptop screen on January 08, 2021 in San Anselmo, California. Citing the risk of further incitement of violence following an attempted insurrection on Wednesday, Twitter permanently suspended President Donald Trump’s account. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/TNS)
Gregor Blanco, seen here with the Giants in 2016, returns to the big leagues with the injury to Steven Duggar. (Emma Chiang/Special to the S.F. Examiner)

San Francisco Giants fall flat on Facebook

PHILADELPHIA – Like it or not, Thursday’s game between the Giants and…

Gregor Blanco, seen here with the Giants in 2016, returns to the big leagues with the injury to Steven Duggar. (Emma Chiang/Special to the S.F. Examiner)
Mark Zuckerberg told Facebook followers that the company is working "to build the new social infrastructure to create the world we want for generations to come." (Courtesy Facebook)

Mark Zuckerberg calls for ‘global community’ in 5,700-word letter

Mark Zuckerberg offered nearly 6,000 words on Facebook on Thursday, promising that…

Mark Zuckerberg told Facebook followers that the company is working "to build the new social infrastructure to create the world we want for generations to come." (Courtesy Facebook)

Nearly $160,000 raised for victim of Facebook Live attack

CHICAGO — Nearly $160,000 has been donated to the family of a…

Political commentator Glenn Beck during the annual American Conservative Union CPAC conference at National Harbor March 5, 2016 in Oxon Hill, Md. (Gage Skidmore/Planet Pix/Zuma Press/TNS)

Facebook beating of disabled white teen becomes conservative rallying cry

CHICAGO — A depraved attack on a mentally disabled white teen broadcast…

Political commentator Glenn Beck during the annual American Conservative Union CPAC conference at National Harbor March 5, 2016 in Oxon Hill, Md. (Gage Skidmore/Planet Pix/Zuma Press/TNS)
(Photo courtesy Shutterstock)

Facebook cracks down on fake news

After accusations of being passive in the face of fake news arose…

(Photo courtesy Shutterstock)
A neighborhood in Palo Alto (Photo courtesy Shutterstock)

Affordable housing projects in South Bay awarded $20M from Facebook in new partnership

Facebook is partnering with the cities of East Palo Alto and Menlo…

A neighborhood in Palo Alto (Photo courtesy Shutterstock)
An online magazine opinion piece attributed to Lt. Gov. Gavin News contains at least one paragraph that largely originally appeared on the website of the National Center for Lesbian Rights. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s essay, posts lack citations

SACRAMENTO — An online magazine opinion piece attributed to California's lieutenant governor…

An online magazine opinion piece attributed to Lt. Gov. Gavin News contains at least one paragraph that largely originally appeared on the website of the National Center for Lesbian Rights. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)
In this 2015 file photo, Bruce Bennett folds a blanket in a room that he makes available to rent in he and his husband's home in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)

Airbnb sues hometown San Francisco over rental regulation

San Francisco wants people who rent out their homes through Airbnb and…

In this 2015 file photo, Bruce Bennett folds a blanket in a room that he makes available to rent in he and his husband's home in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)
Verizon has agreed to buy online portal Yahoo Inc. for roughly $5 billion, according to multiple media reports sourcing unnamed sources. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)

Verizon said to be buyer of Yahoo for $5 billion: Reports

NEW YORK — Verizon has agreed to buy online portal Yahoo Inc.…

Verizon has agreed to buy online portal Yahoo Inc. for roughly $5 billion, according to multiple media reports sourcing unnamed sources. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
The funeral procession for Philando Castile heads up Summit Avenue to The Cathedral of Saint Paul on Thursday in St. Paul, Minn. (Leila Navidi/Star Tribune via AP)

How Castile told officer about gun critical in final moments

MINNEAPOLIS — The final moments before Philando Castile was killed by a…

The funeral procession for Philando Castile heads up Summit Avenue to The Cathedral of Saint Paul on Thursday in St. Paul, Minn. (Leila Navidi/Star Tribune via AP)
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker speaks during a news conference in the Commission Berlaymont building in Brussels, Belgium, on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

New data-sharing rules for EU and US adopted

BRUSSELS — New rules governing trans-Atlantic data transfers were formally approved Tuesday,…

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker speaks during a news conference in the Commission Berlaymont building in Brussels, Belgium, on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Protesters gather outside the governor's residence Thursday, July 7, 2016, in St. Paul, Minn. A police officer fatally shot Philando Castile as a woman in the vehicle apparently livestreamed the aftermath in a widely shared Facebook video. The shooting happened late Wednesday during a traffic stop in the St. Paul suburb of Falcon Heights. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

Video shows gruesome aftermath of Minnesota police shooting

FALCON HEIGHTS, Minn. — A woman who watched as a police officer…

Protesters gather outside the governor's residence Thursday, July 7, 2016, in St. Paul, Minn. A police officer fatally shot Philando Castile as a woman in the vehicle apparently livestreamed the aftermath in a widely shared Facebook video. The shooting happened late Wednesday during a traffic stop in the St. Paul suburb of Falcon Heights. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
A man waits to cross Montgomery Street in the Financial District in San Francisco, Calif. on July 1, 2016. (Photo by Joel Angel Juárez/Special to S.F. Examiner)

SF’s gig economy comes into focus

More and more residents in San Francisco are earning supplemental income from…

A man waits to cross Montgomery Street in the Financial District in San Francisco, Calif. on July 1, 2016. (Photo by Joel Angel Juárez/Special to S.F. Examiner)