Technology

A new bipartisan Senate bill is taking aim at the liability protections enjoyed by internet platforms like Facebook and YouTube. The Platform Accountability and Consumer Transparency (PACT) Act, introduced by Sens. Brian Schatz (D-HI) and John Thune (R-SD) on Wednesday, would require online platforms like Facebook and Google to reveal their content moderation practices through a range of mandatory disclosures. The bill would also create a new avenue for holding these companies responsible for hosting illegal content by making changes to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The bill is a combination of measures that encourage platforms to remove bad content and measures that keep those moderation systems in check, hoping to draw support from both sides of the ongoing debate over p...

FuboTV announced that it signed a multiyear distribution deal with Disney to bring ESPN to its service, filling in the missing link that could make it one of the best over-the-top live TV streaming services available for sports fans. It was already great for watching the Super Bowl and other live sporting events (especially since it has a free trial). But starting this summer, subscribers to FuboTV’s $54.99 standard subscription plan will get ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPN 3, ABC, along with access to many other Disney Television Studios channels. Here’s the complete list of channels being added to the standard plan: ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPN 3 SEC Network, ACC Network ABC, ABC News Live FX, FXX Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD Freeform National Geographic With ESPN now part of FuboTV’s offering, the...

California is seeking to force Uber and Lyft to reclassify their drivers as employees, in a dramatic escalation of the state’s months-long war with the gig economy companies. In May, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, along with city attorneys of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego, sued Uber and Lyft, arguing that their drivers were misclassified as independent contractors when they should be employees under the state’s AB5 law that went into effect on January 1st. Now, Becerra plans to file a motion for a preliminary injunction that would compel the ride-hailing companies to reclassify drivers as employees within weeks, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. A spokesperson for Becerra didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment. “Californians who drive for Uber an...

Apple will start switching its Macs to its own ARM-based processors later this year, but you won’t be able to run Windows in Boot Camp mode on them. Microsoft only licenses Windows 10 on ARM to PC makers to preinstall on new hardware, and the company hasn’t made copies of the operating system available for anyone to license or freely install. “Microsoft only licenses Windows 10 on ARM to OEMs,” says a Microsoft spokesperson in a statement to The Verge. We asked Microsoft if it plans to change this policy to allow Boot Camp on ARM-based Macs, and the company says “we have nothing further to share at this time.” Apple has been working closely with Microsoft to ensure Office is ready for ARM-based Macs later this year, but the company didn’t mention its lack of Boot Camp support at WWDC. It’s...

Amazon has announced that it’s launching a new Counterfeit Crimes Unit as the latest effort by the online retailer to fight counterfeit products on its website. The new team is said to be made up of “former federal prosecutors, experienced investigators, and data analysts,” who will work to proactively “go on the offensive” against counterfeiters, instead of just reacting by trying to identify and block bad listings. According to Amazon, the new Counterfeit Crimes Unit will make it easier for the company to file civil lawsuits, aid brands in their own investigations, and work with law enforcement officials in fighting counterfeiters. Counterfeit products are a big issue for the online retailer, especially from third-party sellers that try to dupe customers into buying fake knockoffs. Nike ...

As Tesla made its first public pitch to bring its Cybertruck factory to Austin, Texas on Tuesday, the company faced concerns from citizens about its treatment of workers, the proposal’s impact on the local housing crisis, the need to give the automaker tax breaks, and most of all, CEO Elon Musk. About 45 residents of Austin and the surrounding area spoke about the factory deal on Tuesday at a virtual public meeting held by the Travis County Commissioners Court, the policy-making and administrative arm of the local government. Many objected to Musk’s behavior during the coronavirus pandemic, including how he reopened Tesla’s California vehicle factory in violation of a local health order, sued the county where the factory is located, and spread misinformation about the virus. Texas is curre...

Cults prey on lonely and desperate people looking to belong to something, and as people migrate a bigger portion of their lives online, sometimes all it takes is a small showing of support to net someone’s full trust. In OneZero’s new investigative feature, journalists Emilie Friedlander and Joy Crane dig into two connected groups: Tumple and DayLife Army, the latter of which became a physical embodiment of an online cult. Started by Eben “Wiz-EL” Carlson and KoA Malone, the groups were founded primarily through Facebook, reaching people who hung out on a section of the social media site dubbed “Weird Facebook.” Speaking to 24 people who identified as members of Tumple and DayLife Army, as well as people with knowledge of the group and those related to people inside the organizations, OneZ...

There were 38,672 positive COVID-19 tests reported in the United States today, a new record high, according to the COVID Tracking Project, a volunteer organization housed at The Atlantic that collects data on the pandemic. The count surged past the previous high of 36,001, reported on April 25. Early in the pandemic, the US caseload was driven by outbreaks in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Those states have largely controlled the transmission of the virus, and daily case counts are down. The outbreak is now accelerating in the South and the West. States like Arizona, Florida, California, and South Carolina — which had relatively low numbers of cases early on — are home to the lion’s share of the newly diagnosed cases. The US is testing more people for COVID-19 now than it was in Ap...

Apple announced at WWDC this week that you’ll be able to add a digital car key to your iPhone or Apple Watch to wirelessly unlock and start your car. The feature is part of the newly revealed iOS 14, and it will work over NFC, Apple says. The first car supported will be the new 2021 BMW 5 Series, which comes out next month, and Apple says it’s working on an industry-wide standard that would use its new U1 ultra wideband chip instead of relying solely on NFC. Once you’ve paired your iPhone or Apple Watch with a car that supports the digital car keys, if you want to unlock your car, you’ll just need to hold your Apple device near an NFC reader that’s in your car (for example, in the car’s door handle). You won’t be asked to confirm your identity with Face ID or a passcode by default, but you...

Thinking about picking up a new Apple Watch? It’s never a bad idea to wait until there’s a good deal, and thankfully, those happen with some regularity. The latest model, the Apple Watch Series 5 starts at $400, but it’s frequently available for $100 less than that. If that’s a little too expensive, you can drop at least another $100 off that price for the Series 3 Watch. The Series 4 is a good choice, too, though not many retailers sell it, and it can be tough to find at a discount that’s all that much better than the Series 5. At this point, I wouldn’t recommend buying a new Series 1 or 2 Apple Watch, as they’re slower, less feature-rich, and they won’t get the upgrade to watchOS 7 later this year. Apple usually releases a new iteration of the Apple Watch each year — in September, to be ...

Netflix is set to introduce 59 new original things in July, including several new seasons of popular TV shows, entirely new series, new movies, new documentaries, and even some new anime. There’s a new season of Umbrella Academy, a high-profile Charlize Theron film, a sequel to the popular teen romcom The Kissing Booth, a final season of the popular sports documentary series Last Chance U, and the highly anticipated remake of The Babysitters Club. Quite frankly, it’s a lot. That 59 number doesn’t account for additional licensed content the streamer will introduce next month, either. Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch, Spaceballs, Cloud Atlas, and The Karate Kid trilogy are also landing on Netflix on July 1st. By simple math, Netflix will have close to two new original titles for every single day o...

When you think of Slack, you probably think of a chat app that’s growing in popularity for businesses large and small. Originally designed by accident as something that could potentially replace email, Slack hasn’t quite killed off email just yet. But over the past four years, Slack has quietly been building a major platform change for its communications app that might help replace your work email in the future. Slack Connect furthers the idea of shared channels that let companies collaborate, allowing up to 20 organizations to work seamlessly together with apps, chat, and more. Over a million Slack users have been testing Slack Connect in recent months, and it’s launching for all paid plans today. “The vision for Slack has always been to build Slack Connect so that the benefits you get fo...