Hello, Leaf and Core readers, and welcome to another recap of the previous week’s tech news. New Zealand has had enough of Facebook’s lies, YouTube let toxicity fester unfettered, and Microsoft is, unsurprisingly, a lousy place for women. Furthermore, I helped you clean you dirty AirPods with a technique or two you might not have thought of! So, let’s take a look back at what Leaf and Core had this week, as well as a look at the rest of the tech world.
In This Article:
Leaf and Core Recap
Women of Microsoft Speak Up: Microsoft is a Toxic Workplace for Women
The same company that brought us female strippers at a developers conference just three years ago is still sexist? I’m shocked! How could this have happened? Unless… they did fire all the employees responsible for that, setting the tone for the other employees and educating them on why objectifying women in the workplace is wrong, right?
Oh they didn’t do any of that? Well how’d they expect their culture to get any better? Oh, they didn’t expect it to get better?
Well, mission accomplished!
At Microsoft, women are sexually assaulted and told they’ll be fired if they don’t continue to work with their abusers. They’re silenced in meetings, passed over for promotions, and harassed at every opportunity. It’s a vile place to work for women, and Microsoft’s not doing enough to change that. It gets worse. Read on for the full story.
Clean Your AirPods! Here’s How
Wait, you didn’t know how to clean your AirPods with Elmer’s glue and Borax? Well then I have the perfect guide for you. Head over to the article above to learn how to clean your AirPods to the point that they look brand new, even if you do drop them on dirty NYC streets while skateboarding.
YouTube Knew it Was Radicalizing Users… But How Mad Can We be? Hate Crimes Are Profitable!
YouTube has a way of trapping people on their site. What they do with them is decided by algorithms YouTube has refused to rein in.
Sure, YouTube knew its algorithms were driving users to radical ideas, hate speech, violence, and irrational ideas like flat earth, crisis actor conspiracies, Ben Shapiro’s hate speech, or trickle down economics, but did you know those destructive paths were making YouTube rich? Bet YouTube doesn’t look so bad now that you know the hate that it spread made it very rich!
Oh… it’s still bad?
Even if they knew for three years?
New Zealand’s Privacy Commissioner Has Had it with Facebook
John Edwards, New Zealand Privacy Commissioner
“Facebook cannot be trusted. They are morally bankrupt pathological liars who enable genocide (Myanmar), facilitate foreign undermining of democratic institutions.”
John Edwards, Privacy Commissioner of New Zealand didn’t stop there. He called out Facebook for spreading fake news, hate, violence, and refusing to change. Once again, Facebook willingly has become a vehicle for hate because they don’t want to alienate Republican users.
So the next time your kid stumbles upon a live video of someone shooting a bunch of innocent people, remind your child that, if Facebook did something about that, they’d make less money from hateful bigots who like to see people die like that.
Around the Web
Apple Cops Another Anti-Trust Investigation (Congrats!): Bryan Menegus, Gizmodo
All Apple had to do was use the same vertical integration tactics of railroads in the 19th century, sprinkle on some unfair advantage for their own products over the products their services support, and suddenly they’re in trouble with the laws that were made to prevent exactly that.
Who knew?
Now Europe, the only strict anti-monopoly force in the world left, it would seem, has made a move against Apple. Dutch officials are investigating Apple’s app store, and preferential treatment of their own apps and services over those of competitors. Spotify is suing for that exact behavior currently. Many other app developers expressed frustration over Apple’s rule violating News+ upsell popups and notifications as well. The case against Apple is open and shut, but prosecutors want to amass evidence and plaintiffs to take on the Apple giant.
Instagram Now Demotes Vaguely ‘Inappropriate’ Content: Josh Constine, TechCrunch
Women’s bodies are put on the same level of men’s sexual harassment? Why?
Instagram is now going to start demoting content that doesn’t break their rules, but still may be lewd, edgy, or violent. These kind of rules always disproportionately affect women. Instagram’s rules already directly target female bodies more than men’s, and the new rule would count female skin as violating their rules, but is unclear on workout videos, topless men on beaches, or other such photos.
The parts made to filter out edgy memes, violence, or other graphic/shocking images are great? The increased targeting of women? Not so great.
Trans Actors Criticise IMDb for Publishing Birth Names Without Consent: Lydia Smith, PinkNews
Transgender people frequently have to hide from their past. Once they’ve transitioned, having their former life brought up can be painful and can even endanger them. They can lose jobs, lose friends, and even face harassment or assault. Deadnaming, the process of using a transgender person’s old (and often no longer legal) name,is considered hate speech by many groups, including Twitter.
That’s why IMDB’s deadnaming of trans actors is particularly damning. This is a large website engaging in what is, basically put, hate speech made to endanger actors and actresses who have transitioned. Now trans actors are speaking up against IMDB, asking the service to stop using their old names.
Will IMDB comply, or will it continue to engage in the kind of hate speech that would get them banned from Twitter?