News

Apple re-closes some stores, raising economic concerns

By TALI ARBEL and MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writers Apple’s Friday decision to close stores in four states with surging coronavirus cases highlights a question that other businesses may soon face: Stay open or prepare for more shutdowns? Apple, like many other major U.S. retailers, shut down all of its U.S. locations in March. On […]

Twitter flags Trump's tweet of doctored 'racist baby' video

Twitter has slapped another label on a tweet by President Donald Trump, this time warning that a video he shared was doctored and escalating the social media company’s crackdown on one of its most widely followed users. After Trump tweeted the video late Thursday, Twitter took the rare step of adding a warning that it […]

Britain scraps virus tracing app for Google-Apple system

By KELVIN CHAN AP Business Writer LONDON (AP) — Britain scrapped plans to launch its own coronavirus contact tracing smartphone app because of technical problems and will now work on building one using technology supplied by Apple and Google, health authorities said Thursday. The app had been undergoing trials on the Isle of Wight, off […]

JD.com racks up $38B in sales in annual online shopping fest

By ZEN SOO Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — JD.com’s annual “618” online shopping extravaganza racked up a total of 269.2 billion yuan ($38 billion) worth of transactions, as consumers splurged during China’s first major e-commerce sale since the pandemic began. This year’s tally was 33% higher than last year’s 201.5 billion yuan in sales. […]

Netflix CEO to donate $120M to historically black colleges

By The Associated Press undefined Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and his wife, Patty Quillin, are donating $120 million toward student scholarships at historically black colleges and universities. The couple is giving $40 million to each of three institutions: the United Negro College Fund, Spelman College and Morehouse College. The organizations said it is the largest […]

Administration seeking rollbacks on tech company protections

By MICHAEL BALSAMO and MARCY GORDON Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is proposing that Congress roll back legal protections for online platforms such as Facebook, Google and Twitter that generally could not be held legally responsible for what people post on the sites. The proposed changes to Section 230 of a major […]

Facebook aims to help voters, but won't block Trump misinfo

By BARBARA ORTUTAY AP Technology Writer Facebook is launching a widespread effort to boost U.S. voter turnout and provide authoritative information about voting — just as it doubles down on its policy allowing politicians like President Donald Trump to post false information on the same subject. The social media giant is launching a “Voting Information […]

FCC calls hours-long T-Mobile service outage 'unacceptable'

By TALI ARBEL AP Technology Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The head of the U.S. communications regulator said T-Mobile’s nationwide, hours-long outage Monday was “unacceptable” and that the Federal Communications Commission will investigate. T-Mobile, one of the country’s three largest cellphone service providers, said it had a “voice and text wireless issue” that began around […]

WhatsApp starts payments in Brazil: Sign of things to come?

By The Associated Press undefined Facebook’s WhatsApp chat platform is launching mobile payments in Brazil, a country often used to test out new services because of its large online population. WhatsApp said in a blog post Monday that users in Brazil will now be able to send money securely, or make a purchase from a […]

Norway ends virus tracing app over privacy concerns

OSLO, Norway (AP) — Norway has suspended use of its smartphone app meant to track and trace coronavirus contagions after a public spat between health authorities and the information watchdog. Geir Bukholm, an official at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH), said the decision Monday to delete data and halt any further information gathering […]