TikTok Told Moderators to Suppress Posts by “Ugly" People and the Poor to Attract New Users
The China-based social media company also has policies censoring various forms of political speech, leaked documents reveal.
Sam Biddle
Sam Biddle is a technology reporter focusing on issues of surveillance, privacy, and corporate power. He was previously a senior writer at Gawker, and his work has also appeared in GQ, Vice, and the New York Times magazine, among other outlets.
Contacts:
- sam.biddle@theintercept.com
- @sambiddle.99 on Signal
- @sambiddle.com on Bluesky
- @samfbiddle on X
Posts:
The Coronavirus Crisis
Facebook Contractors Must Work in Offices During Coronavirus Pandemic — While Staff Stay Home
Moderators and others employed through vendors are complaining about health conditions at Facebook offices in Austin, Texas, and Mountain View, California.
ICE’s New York Office Uses a Rigged Algorithm to Keep Virtually All Arrestees in Detention. The ACLU Says It’s Unconstitutional.
ICE is using an algorithm to determine whether detainees should be released or not, but eliminated options for both release and bond.
Voices
Fear Is the Democracy Killer, Not Hackers
An app caused problems counting votes in Iowa. But our attitude of assuming the cyber-worst at every cyber-turn will lead to a cynical electorate.
Ring Ukraine News Suppressed at Amazon's Request, Journalists Say
Amazon told a business publication that it was expanding the scope of its work in Ukraine — then asked for that information to be removed from the article.
Amazon’s Ring Planned Neighborhood “Watch Lists” Built on Facial Recognition
Documents hint the data could be shared with police, but Ring denies the features are in use or development.
Senators Press Amazon for Answers on Ring's Sloppy Security Practices
Five Democrats demand answers on private footage accessed in Ukraine.
Shutterstock Employees Fight Company’s New Chinese Search Blacklist
More than 180 employees signed a petition opposing the censorship, which blocked searches for “Taiwan flag,” “dictator,” “yellow umbrella,” and more.
For Some Reason, We Can’t Find a Single Leftist Mark Zuckerberg Invited to His Dinners With Pundits From “Across the Spectrum”
We asked The Nation, Mother Jones, Jacobin, Black Agenda Report, Chapo Trap House, and more: They all said their invitation from the Facebook CEO never arrived.
An American Citizen Was Detained While Trying to Pay a Customs Fee on a Gift for His Daughter
The incident, involving a Muslim man and two family members, saw CBP stretch the law “beyond recognition,” said a civil liberties attorney.