The Outline
Paris Martineau
Info Spiral: How much water is left?
A difficult-to-follow story, in convenient capsule form.
By Paris Martineau
If Bank of America thinks you’re not a U.S. citizen, say goodbye to your bank account
The company is shutting down the bank accounts of legal U.S. residents.
Brands are paying influencers $75K+ to trash their competitors
Inside the drama that’s taking the beauty influencer industry by storm.
Put your phone in Do Not Disturb mode forever
Join me in a buzz-free, ping-free, vibration-free, light-up-free world.
The free-speech days on social platforms might finally be over
Facebook banned 20 top-ranking members of the Myanmar military for posting ethnic-cleansing propaganda, but years late and only after the UN blasted them.
Info Spiral: Other countries are on social media trying to mess up upcoming elections. Again.
A difficult-to-follow story, in convenient capsule form.
By Paris Martineau
The best Twitter account is @redditships
Maybe the only thing on Twitter that (probably) won’t make you violently ill.
Amazon is almost certainly making a healthcare play
Jeff Bezos is sneakily assembling a health-tech dream team.
Info Spiral: What did Facebook do in Myanmar?
A difficult-to-follow story, in convenient capsule form.
By Paris Martineau
Turns out the financial sector is okay with regulation, but only for AI
And you thought your banking app was bad.
Whoever told Silicon Valley PR about activist language should go to jail
Uber, Lyft, and Lime shamelessly push customers to lobby on their behalf by pushing alerts, disrupting service, and more.
How to hack a voting machine in two minutes
Ballpoint pen not included.
Info Spiral: Should Infowars be banned?
A difficult-to-follow story, in convenient capsule form.
By Paris Martineu
If your heart rate spiked today, your insurance company knows
An interview with Priya Kumar, a data expert who is trying to help companies not abuse their customers’ data rights.
NYC votes to stop Uber’s unchecked growth, give drivers a minimum wage
It’s the first time a major city has officially regulated ride-hailing services.
All the awful shit Facebook and YouTube let slide before banning Alex Jones
A timeline of all the depraved nonsense the Infowars host got away with.
By Paris Martineau
The robots have our groceries
Will they ever see a human hand again?
We would rather die than 3D-scan our bodies
Naked Labs' 3D Body Scanner is like Juicero but for your eyes.
We haven’t figured out how to handle online conspiracies
But erring on the side of not giving them outsized attention is probably the way to go.
Facebook deleted a real D.C. protest that began as a false flag
A “bad actor” may have started it, but did “No Unite the Right 2 – DC” become real once actual American protesters got involved?
Ticketing app AXS scrapes everything it can get from your phone
Seeing your favorite band live will probably cost you more in data than in dollars.
Twitter announces stage one in the plan to eventually have a plan to fix Twitter
Unfortunately it involves academic research teams and not banning Nazis.
MoviePass is so broke it had to borrow $5 million just to keep the lights on
Brb gonna see 37 movies in a row before they go under.
How to sign away the rights to your DNA
All it takes is one click!
InfoWars is the hill that tech companies are choosing to die on
How is Alex Jones still on YouTube and Facebook?
Huge underground lake found on Mars
Someone cue up that David Bowie song.
Dogs always know when you’re sad, but only some rush to your aid
The science is in: A consummate good boy can tell you’re going through it.
Uber and Lyft driver fired for secretly livestreaming hundreds of passengers
Thousands of online viewers watched the livestream ostensibly to critique the appearance of passengers.
Here’s what tech companies are spending to influence the government
Facebook, Amazon, Google, and others spent millions last quarter to influence Washington on a handful of specific issues.
By Paris Martineau
An ice shelf melts and the world’s sea levels gain an inch
The sea level will rise many feet over the next hundred years, but the impact of a single shelf is huge.
Soylent, but make it summery
Soylent’s newest flavor is actually pretty refreshing.
Trump wants to endanger endangered animals even further
I guess they’re just pivoting to pure evil at this point.
Neither conservatives nor Mark Zuckerberg actually care about fixing Facebook
And why would they?
This Amazon Prime Day, try not to be a scab
What matters more, saving $7 on a spice rack or your soul?
A cartographer maps the global impact of humanity
In commercial flights, in undersea cables, in roads and population density.
Tech bros who identify as “futurists” are sadly incorrect
By Paris Martineau
Welcome to the age of the online pseudo-pharmacy startup
Where everything is pastel colored, VC-funded, and capital-C Cool.
Can anyone stop the new Internet censorship laws?
A bunch of advocacy groups are banding together to take FOSTA to court.
Facebook seems to be giving Fox News a boost
Slap that in your ‘Trending Stories’ tab...
$41 million vaporware tells ICE to detain immigrants indefinitely no matter what
Abolish tech?
FDA approves first ever cannabis-based medication
Don't tell the feds.
Cops can’t track your location without a warrant anymore
Holy shit, the Supreme Court finally did something right.
The E.U. votes to make memes essentially illegal
Lol what.
Turns out our evil tech overlords may be no match for Europe’s new privacy laws
Thanks, GDPR.
Facebook’s latest idea: letting the Nazis they abet vote on news videos
The company is going to gamify video, potential side effects be damned.
Your encrypted messages are encrypted from everyone except the feds
A useful reminder.
How is Twitter supposed to know what we want?
It’s a mystery, I guess.
Facebook is just calling everything a political ad
This puts entirely too much responsibility on, well, not Facebook.
A bunch of new flying machine concepts, ranked by danger
The skies of the future are full of drones.
How alt-right Twitter tricks the media into panicking
@thebradfordfile has been cited as evidence of the rise of the alt-right, but its popularity is faked through power-engagement groups and networks of sockpuppets.
Facebook claims it’s not a monopoly, is your whole home screen
Ok, Facebook.
Google: we promise not to use our vast and unchecked power for murder
Google has laid out “principles” about how it will approach AI, as if what a corporation promises matters.
Being extremely online can only bring you pain
Turns out the website where Nazis yell at you can make people depressed.
Please enjoy this creepy drones-only fashion show
Drones, but make it fashion.
Bezos throws billions into space exploration, Amazon workers still can’t stop for a drink of water
A new batch of Amazon warehouse employees are raising the alarm about their treatment as their CEO gloats about how he struggles to spend all his money.
How Facebook steamrolls apps into giving up users’ information
WhatsApp's messy high-profile breakup with Facebook is so bad it’s good.
France is building a village for Alzheimer’s patients
French Alzheimer’s care is miles ahead of the rest of the US.
Canon has sold its last film camera
Tired: Instagram. Wired: Instax. Retired: 35mm.
Our food supply chain is killing us
Even for countries with a surplus of food, the environmental impact is inescapable.
The tech bro alignment chart
For your viewing pleasure.
Dermatologists hate him! Meet the skin-cancer detecting robot
A new study shows they’re better at it than humans.
Facebook and Twitter are doing the bare minimum to disclose political ad info
Any real effort would involve some self-awareness about how people use their services.
Cinnamon vape juice is for real bad boys only
It’s like the cinnamon challenge, only somehow more lame.
The internet’s collective memory has no backup
The Wayback Machine depends on good will and ignorance.
Zuckerberg: join Facebook to delete your data from Facebook
Zuckerberg’s meeting with European Parliament was a hot mess.
A new ‘ethnicity recognition’ tool is just automated racial profiling
Potential uses include racism and, well, absolutely nothing else.
We haven't learned anything about what the internet is for since 1996
Another great day to be online.
Facebook is tracking you on over 8.4 million websites
This is great and fine and not at all worrying.
Facebook partners with think tank to avoid breaking the world again
For a platform that isn't an actual extension of the government, it sure seems to need to be managed like one.
Bitcoin is consuming as much energy as the country of Ireland
Ireland gives us whiskey, Bitcoin gives us... hmm.
The vaping industry takes a hit
Finally, scientific evidence vaping isn’t cool
New York cabbies have a surprisingly wholesome secret: group chats
How NYC cabbies span the distance using WhatsApp, conference calls, and way too many emojis.
YouTube’s search suggests racist autocompletes
Search suggestions have long been problematic; now “black men are” and many other terms have disturbing autocompletes on YouTube.
Remember when Google said it would stop reading your email?
Yet another case of ‘If you’re not the customer, you’re the product.’
Facebook’s fake news algorithm seems to be working
Publishers are doing... fine?
A no-bullshit guide to Google I/O 2018
We give you the good, the bad, and the ugly from Google's developer conference.
Welcome to the Google Extended Universe™
There’s absolutely no way this will go poorly.
The “Intellectual Dark Web” is just a bunch of whiny rich people
These hosts and personalities with audiences the size of Rachel Maddow's have monetized a persecution narrative.
Why Google docs is gaslighting everyone about spelling: an investigation
Turns out, it’s the internet’s fault.
Stop saying ‘privacy,’ start saying ‘data protection’
Let’s do away with the most meaningless word in tech.
Zuckerberg admits he doesn’t know how most of Facebook works
Totally normal admission from a totally normal CEO.
Influencers still need to hawk shit if they want to make any money
If you want to make a living as a YouTube star or Instagram influencer, viral content doesn’t pay. Commodity merch does.
By Paris Martineau
With Facebook for Dating, you’re either out or way too far in
At least it’s incredibly on-brand.
Dr. Drone will see you now
Nepalese drones are bringing medicine to the remotest areas.
Conservative news isn’t being censored. It just sucks.
Conservative Congresspeople missed the point again when it comes to news on Facebook.
Tech giants to Congress: “lol sorry had a thing”
Facebook, Google, and Twitter bailed last minute on the hearing about social media “filtering practices.”
One 30-page document contains everything you need to know about AI
Congress, for the love of god, please learn about technology.
Teens smoked because of movies, and they vape because of Vine
Vape or die, brah.
Content mods would solve an urgent problem, if anyone were willing to pay them
Facebook and YouTube need moderation more than ever, but are relying on manpower where we need nuance, training, and investment.
Is Google... evil?
Google still struggles to make its autocomplete feature not offend people on the regular.
How the bathing suit you looked at online once follows you around for two months
Ads are the worst stalkers.
Humans can still save coral from the damage we caused
A pinpoint of light in the climate change darkness.
Here’s what’s going to happen on Westworld, according to its biggest fans
Season two is almost here and no one is as prepared as r/Westworld.
What Facebook still refuses to say
Facebook has an entire separate trove of data you can’t download and it won’t discuss.
The obesity paradox is more about muscles than weight
In other words: lift weights if you want to live.
Zuckerberg’s testimony contradicted his own privacy ops team
Zuckerberg’s statements to Congress contradict what Facebook’s privacy operations team has told European data authorities.
The two ways Zuckerberg dodged every question from Congress
The House asks, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg manages to never answer.
Zuckerberg owned himself
His testimony poked holes in some of Facebook’s official stances.
Cambridge Analytica got private Facebook messages, too
Cool cool cool cool cool cool cool cool cool
Reddit’s calls to “HODL” cryptocurrency: do they work?
One data visualization looks to see how calls to not sell crypto affect its market value.
Backpage has been seized by the Feds
The classified ads site that's been tied to underage sex trafficking has been taken offline.
When conspiracy theories become weaponized
How a rage-fueled fever dream named QAnon took over the internet.
The YouTube shooting can’t be reduced to a simple story about the Adpocalypse
The woman who shot three YouTube employees had a long, complex, and contentious relationship with the platform.
1.2 million terrorist accounts found on Twitter
Twitter says it’s suspended them all.
You don’t need blockchain in that
Salad? Coffee? Water? No thank you.
By Paris Martineau
The hosts have already taken over Westworld’s website
Season 2 of the HBO show has begun online.
Grindr exposes location of 3 million daily users
Facebook isn't the only platform making data available to irresponsible third parties.
Years of complaints against Cambridge Analytica reveal how it influenced voters
Complaints filed by U.S. citizens from 2013-2017 detail Cambridge Analytica’s messaging tactics.
Welcome to the age of the data mercenary
How companies like Cambridge Analytica use your Facebook data to promote political causes around the globe.
PSA: Yes, these other apps are also Facebook
Instagram, Moves, and WhatsApp: all Facebook, my friends.
Read the full Kogan email: Researcher says Facebook is scapegoating him
The man who made the quiz at the center of the Facebook controversy accuses media outlets of grossly exaggerating the usefulness of his data.
Congress just censored the internet and put sex workers, trafficking victims in even more danger
FOSTA is a bad bill that put sex works and trafficking victims in greater danger. Of course Congress just passed it
David Carroll was fighting Cambridge Analytica before it was cool
This professor is trying to force transparency upon one of the world’s shadiest companies.
Deleting Facebook? You’d better delete these accounts too
Facebook isn’t the only one handling your data like this.
Inside YouTube’s fake views economy
Views are currency on YouTube, and the existence of fake ones creates questions for all videos.
The first game to actually give a damn about natural black hair
‘The Valley of Gods’ actually took the time to get its protagonist’s hair right, and it looks fantastic.
Wonder Woman’s music man
The Dutch composer Tom Holkenborg, also known as Junkie XL, composes the themes that make heroines soar.
Twitter bots are now trying to tip the scales in local elections
They have hundreds of thousands of followers, and one was even retweeted by Trump.
Facebook is pivoting to baseball
Zuck is coming for sports TV.
Man, what happened to the ‘Copy Link to Tweet’ button?
He’s not gone, he just moved.
The SEC calls altcoins “fraudulent and manipulative”
Wow, owned by the federal government.
MoviePass is too good to be true
You had to see this coming, right?
Facebook, please just hire one normal person
Facebook has spent years asking embarrassing questions about whether it should let pedophiles groom targets, among other things.
Conservative publishers hit hardest by Facebook News Feed change
Right wing publications see a sharp decrease in engagement since Facebook’s latest News Feed changes.
YouTube has lost control of its moderators
Even more channels have been banned as YouTube says it’s aware its new mods are being too hasty.
Jack Dorsey admits our Twitter conversations are toxic
As Twitter discourse circles the drain, Dorsey calls for research on how to steer the community.
YouTube is taking down conspiracy theorist channels and popular gun videos
Looks like that whole “content moderation” thing wasn't a joke after all.
Congress is trying to save net neutrality right now
A bill that would circumvent the FCC is one vote away from passing.
The alt-right is recruiting depressed people
Alt-right figures are targeting vulnerable communities with videos and, unfortunately, it seems to be working.
Uber and Lyft are making traffic way, way worse
Ride hailing services siphon way more people from public transportation than single-occupancy cars, studies show.
Congress doesn’t seem to know how sex trafficking or the internet actually works
FOSTA legislation would break fundamental parts of the web
Reddit cracks down on posts attacking Florida shooting survivor David Hogg
Members of Reddit’s Trust and Safety team reached out to mods to curb the spread of harassment.
You can actually ban the Nazis
The “marketplace of ideas” has failed, and Twitter should pay attention to what Medium is doing.
Alt-right leaders can no longer spread disinformation on Medium
A complete overhaul of the platform's rules caught some awful people in the crossfire.
Your therapist is typing
Ads for text therapy are everywhere, but people who have tried it say it’s surprisingly unhelpful and expensive.
Russians stole identities of U.S. citizens to fund election interference
Trolls opened PayPal and bank accounts to fund their astroturfing.
A court ruling threatens the way we share things on the internet
A single image of Tom Brady is bringing down the system.
Facebook is thirsty as hell
And doesn’t care who knows it.
Why is Instagram so worried about my mental health?
How awkward.
Cheating at HQ Trivia just got a whole lot harder
RIP HQuack.
There is a light that could kill flu viruses in public spaces
Using light to kill contagions without killing people: tricky, but possible.
Facebook was designed to prey on the fearful and angry
Who’d have guessed.
For Uber, moving on from Kalanick is worth $245 million
Cleaning up after Kalanick’s reign is costly.
Why… do old people… text… like this…? An investigation…
We need... answers...
Facebook puts a bullet in online comedy videos
Funny or Die: I guess now we know!
Shower yourself with Bitcoin
Literally.
Venmo settled at least 65,000 (mostly illegal) Super Bowl bets
Venmo knows sports betting is against the law, but takes no action.
Super Bowl gambling with Venmo: extremely popular, mostly illegal
Football’s biggest night is also Venmo’s
1.4 million Twitter users interacted with Russian propaganda
That's more than double the company's original estimate.
Now anyone can cheat at HQ Trivia
HQuack, the first publicly available HQ cheat, is sucking all the fun out of America’s favorite trivia app.
What if Florida, the state everyone loves to hate, is actually good?
A discussion between our resident Floridians.
Inside Instagram’s foot fetish economy
People are buying and selling photos of their feet on the same app where your mom posts blurry pictures of pasta.
Facebook is into local news now
The platform wants it both ways.
Hey Alexa, shut up
Why do voice assistants talk so much?
A longtime Google engineer quit, saying the company “can no longer innovate”
Steve Yegge wrote a scathing 5,000-word blog post saying Google has become too obsessed with its rivals.
Bumble did what Twitter won’t
The dating app recently banned white supremacist Jack Posobiec from its platform.
We interviewed the mind behind the greatest fake Coachella lineup ever
Botnik Studios created a fake Coachella lineup using a neural network and team of comedy writers.
This plug-in corrects “racially charged” to “racist”
Now you can easily fix a euphemism that systematically minimizes the impact of race-based discrimination.
Shocking absolutely no one, Facebook admits it may be bad for democracy
Please share.
Inside the group chats where people pump and dump cryptocurrency
How self-proclaimed “pump and dump groups” scam thousands of wannabe altcoin investors.
Take that stupid thing off your phone
PopSockets are a waste of money.
Twitter and Facebook have very different ideas about “fake news.” One of them is terribly wrong.
Hint: It’s Facebook.
Instagram handles have replaced phone numbers
Why talk when you can stalk?
Amazon treats its employees like shit
Maybe your city shouldn’t want the company’s new headquarters.
Pyramid schemes target Snapchat teens
Snapchatters have discovered pyramid schemes, and it’s going just as well as you’d expect.
