Instagram ‘pushes weight-loss messages to teenagers’

Researchers find minimal interactions by teen users can trigger a deluge of thin-body and dieting images Instagram’s algorithms are pushing teenage girls who even briefly engage with fitness-related images towards a flood of weight-loss content, according to new research which aimed to recreate the experience of being a child on social networks.

Source: Instagram ‘pushes weight-loss messages to teenagers’

Hollywood’s Labor Force Does Not Reflect California’s Diversity

Norm Langley was one of the first Black camera operators to break into the business in the early 1970s, when the industry was facing government pressure to diversify. He had a 38-year career, working on TV shows like “The Practice” and movies including “The Color Purple” and “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.” In his retirement, he has grown increasingly agitated that his union — IATSE Local 600 — never did more to recruit minorities.

Source: Hollywood’s Labor Force Does Not Reflect California’s Diversity

Activision Blizzard Sued Over ‘Frat Boy’ Culture, Harassment 

Video game giant Activision Blizzard Inc., maker of games including World of Warcraft and Diablo, fosters a “frat boy” culture in which female employees are subjected to constant sexual harassment, unequal pay, and retaliation, according to a lawsuit filed by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing.

Source: Activision Blizzard Sued Over ‘Frat Boy’ Culture, Harassment (1)

These African animators are saving their native languages using cartoons

A YouTube screen grab of CMR KIDS TV -a TV channel on YouTube fteaches young Cameroonian children languages such as Ewondo, Dioula, their culture and history.

Disney+ and Cartoon Network, two major US animation platforms, announced last month they will air four productions by African creators. This comes on the heels of similar announcements by streaming giants like Netflix and Youtube Originals, indicating a demand for representation and homegrown narratives among African audiences amidst a global market boom for animated content.

Source: These African animators are saving their native languages using cartoons

The American Booksellers Association promoted an anti-trans book, apologized, and then deleted it.

The American Booksellers Association has made their Twitter account private after promoting a scientifically inaccurate anti-trans book, apologizing, and then deleting the apology. The controversy started when the ABA, as part of their July “white box” promotional mailing, sent 750 bookstores a copy of freelance journalist Abigail Shrier’s Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters , whose cover features a doleful-looking girl with a big hole cut out of her center.

Source: The American Booksellers Association promoted an anti-trans book, apologized, and then deleted it.

What the “Creator Economy” Promises—and What It Actually Does

The influencer is a fading stock character of the Internet’s commedia dell’arte. Often a conventionally attractive white woman, she shows off her aspirational life style via social-media channels. She accrues a large following, and then makes a living by getting companies to sponsor the content of her glamorous life.

Source: What the “Creator Economy” Promises—and What It Actually Does

What Will Be the Language of Our Digital Future?


Most of the tech that we encounter is built with an English-speaking user in mind. After all, English is used throughout the world, with more than a billion people speaking it as a second language. Indeed, most of us who speak English also speak another language, often switching to English only in specific formal contexts or when consuming the cultural products of the current global hegemon, the United States. The platforms that we rely on to remain connected in this digital age are not ready for our multilingual truths: We live in numerous languages, and constraining our ability to communicate in them effectively limits our ability to participate fully in our digital future.

Source: What Will Be the Language of Our Digital Future?

Beyond Silicon Valley

The six cities building the future of the global tech industry. Each has its own story and a set of unique factors behind its rise. What they all do carry is a measure of the Silicon Valley myth: The idea that, if you want to make it in tech, you need to be there.

Source: Beyond Silicon Valley

From Macy’s to Ace Hardware, facial recognition is already everywhere

A masked person walks in front of a Rite Aid.Rite Aid had deployed facial recognition in at least 200 stores over eight years, before ditching the technology last year.  Facial recognition is popping up at our favorite stores, but customers are largely unaware.

Source: From Macy’s to Ace Hardware, facial recognition is already everywhere

See also: Black teen misidentified by facial recognition sparks fears of machine-driven segregation

Inside the Industry That Unmasks People at Scale

Tech companies have repeatedly reassured the public that trackers used to follow smartphone users through apps are anonymous or at least pseudonymous, not directly identifying the person using the phone. But what they don’t mention is that an entire overlooked industry exists to purposefully and explicitly shatter that anonymity.

Source: Inside the Industry That Unmasks People at Scale

See also: ‘Chilling Effect’: Reporter Says Police Are Using This Israeli Tech to Hack Journalists’ Phones