Technologies

Facebook resisted changes to dial back viral content, report says

Leaked company documents are providing more insight into how Facebook moderates political content.

Facebook’s executives reportedly resisted efforts to dial back features that help amplify false and inflammatory content ahead of the 2020 US election because they feared doing so could harm the platform’s usage and growth.

The Wall Street Journal, citing leaked internal documents, said Facebook’s employees suggested changes such as killing the reshare button or stop promoting reshared content unless it was from a user’s friend that could slow the spread of viral content for everyone. A proponent of making these types of changes has been Kang-Xing Jin, who heads Facebook’s health initiatives, according to the report. But executives such as John Hegeman, Facebook’s head of ads, raised concerns about stifling viral content.

«If we remove a small percentage of reshares from people’s inventory,» Hegeman wrote in internal communications cited by The Journal. «they decide to come back to Facebook less.»

The report is the latest in a series of leaked internal documents and communications that The Journal says shows Facebook has put its profits over the safety of its users. Frances Haugen, who used to work as a Facebook product manager, publicly identified herself as the whistleblower who gathered leaked documents used by The Journal. The findings from these internal documents has reignited scrutiny from US and UK lawmakers. Haugen, who already appeared before Congress, is scheduled to testify before the UK Parliament on Monday.

Facebook has repeatedly said its internal research and correspondence is being mischaracterized. «Provocative content has always spread easily among people. It’s an issue that cuts across technology, media, politics and all aspects of society, and when it harms people, we strive to take steps to address it on our platform through our products and policies,» a Facebook spokesman said in a statement.

The moderation of political content, though, has been a hot-button issue for the company as it tries to balance safety with concerns about hindering free speech. Conservatives have also accused Facebook of intentionally censoring their content, allegations the company denies.

Instead of making changes that would be less likely to raise alarms about free speech, Facebook’s approach to moderating content from groups that it considers dangerous has been described as a game of whack-a-mole by The Journal.

The New York Times, also citing internal documents, reported Friday that Facebook failed to address misinformation and inflammatory content before and after the 2020 US presidential election even though employees had raised red flags about the issue.

Supporters of Donald Trump, who lost the presidential election to Joe Biden, were posting false claims that the election had been stolen. Facebook has suspended Trump from its platform until at least 2023 because of concerns his comments could incite violence following the deadly US Capitol Hill riot in January.

One Facebook data scientist found that 10 percent of all US views of political content were of posts that alleged the vote was fraudulent, according to The Times. Facebook employees also felt like the company could have done more to crack down on misinformation and conspiracy theories.

A Facebook spokesperson said the company spent more than two years preparing for the 2020 election and more than 40,000 people now work on safety and security. The company adjusted some of its measures before, during and after the election following more information from law enforcement. «It is wrong to claim that these steps were the reason for January 6th — the measures we did need remained in place well into February, and some like not recommending new, civic, or political groups remain in place to this day,» Facebook said.

The Times story is part of a series expected from an international group of news organizations that also received documents Haugen, according to The Information. More stories are expected next week, when Facebook reports earnings and holds its Connect conference on artificial and virtual reality.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Oct. 23 #599

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Oct. 23, No. 599.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle might be Halloween-themed, as the answers are all rather dangerous. Some of them are a bit tough to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Please don’t eat me!

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Remember Mr. Yuk?

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

POND, NOON, NODE, BALE, SOCK, LOVE, LOCK, MOCK, LEER, REEL, GLOVE, DAIS, LEAN, LEAD, REEL

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

AZALEA, HEMLOCK, FOXGLOVE, OLEANDER, BELLADONNA

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is POISONOUS. To find it, look for the P that is the first letter on the far left of the top row, and wind down and across.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Oct. 23, #395

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Oct. 23, No. 395.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition has one of those crazy purple categories, where you wonder if anyone saw the connection, or if people just put that grouping together because only those four words were left. If you’re struggling but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Fan noise.

Green group hint: Strategies for hoops.

Blue group hint: Minor league.

Purple group hint: Look for a connection to hoops.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Sounds from the crowd.

Green group: Basketball offenses.

Blue group: Triple-A baseball teams.

Purple group: Ends with a basketball stat.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is sounds from the crowd. The four answers are boo, cheer, clap and whistle.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is basketball offenses. The four answers are motion, pick and roll, Princeton and triangle.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is triple-A baseball teams. The four answers are Aces, Jumbo Shrimp, Sounds and Storm Chasers.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is ends with a basketball stat. The four answers are afoul, bassist, counterpoint and sunblock.

Technologies

Amazon’s Delivery Drivers Will Soon Wear AI Smart Glasses to Work

The goal is to streamline the delivery process while keeping drivers safe.

Amazon announced on Wednesday that it is developing new AI-powered smart glasses to simplify the delivery experience for its drivers. CNET smart glasses expert Scott Stein mentioned this wearable rollout last month, and now the plan is in its final testing stages.

The goal is to simplify package delivery by reducing the need for drivers to look at their phones, the label on the package they’re delivering and their surroundings to find the correct address.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

A heads-up display will activate as soon as the driver parks, pointing out potential hazards and tasks that must be completed. From there, drivers can locate and scan packages, follow turn-by-turn directions and snap a photograph to prove delivery completion without needing to take out their phone.

The company is testing the glasses in select North American markets.

Watch: See our Instagram post with a video showing the glasses

A representative for Amazon didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

To fight battery drain, the glasses pair with a controller attached to the employee’s delivery vest, allowing them to replace depleted batteries and access operational controls. The glasses will support an employee’s eyeglass prescription. An emergency button will be within reach to ensure the driver’s safety.

Amazon is already planning future versions of the glasses, which will feature «real-time defect detection,» notifying the driver if a package was delivered to the incorrect address. They plan to add features to the glasses to detect if pets are in the yard and adjust to low light.