Whether it’s to “bring the world closer together” or improve its public image, Facebook today announced Community Boost. It’s a program travelling to 30 cities around the U.S. in 2018 that will teach digital job skills to the unemployed, Internet literacy to those just getting online, startup methodology to entrepreneurs, and customer growth to small business… Read More
Category: Government
Senators push to ditch social security numbers in light of Equifax hack
Eyeing more secure alternatives to social security numbers, lawmakers in the U.S. are looking abroad. Today, the Senate Commerce Committee questioned former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, Verizon Chief Privacy Officer Karen Zacharia, and both the current and former CEOs of Equifax on how to protect consumers against major data breaches. The consensus was that social security numbers have got to… Read More
UK bulk spying challenge in European Court of Human Rights
Legal representatives of the UK government faced a raft of questions today from judges sitting in the European Court of Human Rights hearing a challenge to intelligence agencies’ bulk collection practices brought by a coalition of civil and human rights campaigners. Read More
The government is handing out 10,000 Fitbits to research precision medicine
In his 2015 State of the Union, President Obama announced the Precision Medicine Initiative — a massive research project designed to gain more insight into how we live with and treat various diseases. Last year, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) changed the initiative’s name to the warmer, fuzzier, All of Us, and opened enrollment in hopes of achieving its goal of gaining… Read More
That proposed tax plan would kill the $7,500 electric vehicle credit
The tax plan proposed by House Republicans has hiding in it the repeal of a $7,500 tax credit that has arguably been one of the main drivers of electric vehicle purchases. Removing the credit would almost certainly adversely affect sales of elect…
View More That proposed tax plan would kill the $7,500 electric vehicle creditThat proposed tax plan would kill the $7,500 electric vehicle credit
The tax plan proposed by House Republicans has hiding in it the repeal of a $7,500 tax credit that has arguably been one of the main drivers of electric vehicle purchases. Removing the credit would almost certainly adversely affect sales of elect…
View More That proposed tax plan would kill the $7,500 electric vehicle creditVCs’ carried interest is safe for now, preserved in a new tax bill released today
The House tax bill released earlier today has something for VCs (and private equity folks, and hedge fund managers) to celebrate: it doesn’t touch the carried interest tax break that both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton vowed to do away with on the campaign trail last year. Read More
Here’s how Russia targeted its fake Facebook ads and how those ads performed
It’s impossible to know just how much stuff being circulated on social networks is Russian state content in sheep’s clothing, although tech companies are scrambling to figure that out. Now, thanks to Congress, we just got a rare peek behind the curtain of how Facebook’s ad operations were manipulated by a foreign power to foment outrage and division in American society. Read More
Zuck says ad transparency regulation would be ‘very good if it’s done well’
Despite Facebook’s effort to rapidly self-regulate in the wake of Russian interference in the U.S. election using Facebook ads, CEO Mark Zuckerberg says he would support government regulation if implemented properly. Meanwhile, Facebook elevated its expense estimates for 2018 to fund security hiring. Read More
Here are the Russian ads that deceived users on Facebook and Instagram
Russian interests have been attempting to influence public opinion via social media to an extent no one expected. The content itself, however, has largely been a mystery — the ads and fake accounts have long been taken down. But Facebook delivered them to Congress as part of an ongoing inquiry, and the House’s Intelligence Committee has posted a handful ahead of its hearing tomorrow. Read More
Trump and Clinton spent $81M on US election Facebook ads, Russian agency $46K
Russian information troll farm the Internert Research Agency spent just 0.05% as much on Facebook ads as Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump’s campaigns combined in the run up to the 2016 US presidential election. Clinton and Trump spent $81 million, while the IRA spent $46,000. Facebook general counsel Colin Stretch revealed these figures today during the Senate Intelligence… Read More
120K Instagrams by Russian election attackers hit 20M Americans
Facebook detailed the extent of Russia’s election interference campaign on Instagram today during its second congressional hearing. Facebook general counsel Colin Stretch said that 120,000 posts by Russian election attackers reached 16 million Americans from October through the election, and the posts reached an additional 4 million Americans prior to October. That’s on top of the… Read More