Mark Zuckerberg

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Gizmodo Plans to Publish the Facebook Papers, Explaining the Decision

Andrew Orr · · 1 Comment

Partnering with experts from NYU, Mass Amherst, Columbia, Marquette, and the ACLU, Gizmodo is planning to publish the Facebook Papers. It would be the first media outlet to do so.

We believe there’s a strong public need in making as many of the documents public as possible, as quickly as possible. To that end, we’ve partnered with a small group of independent monitors, who are joining us to establish guidelines for an accountable review of the documents prior to publication. The mission is to minimize any costs to individuals’ privacy or the furtherance of other harms while ensuring the responsible disclosure of the greatest amount of information in the public interest.

I look forward to storing a copy of the archive.

Walt Mossberg, Kara Swisher Talk Mark Zuckerberg on ‘Sway’ Podcast
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Walt Mossberg, Kara Swisher Talk Mark Zuckerberg on 'Sway' Podcast

Andrew Orr · · Add Comment

After leaked internal documents in The Wall Street Journal, whistle-blower testimony on Capitol Hill, a global server outage and drops in share price, Facebook has recently taken (another) spectacular beating. But veteran tech journalist Walt Mossberg says none of it has been a surprise. In the latest episode of Sway, Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg talk about “the sins of Facebook,” whether this new scandal really is the company’s Big Tobacco moment and why Sheryl Sandberg is still sitting at Mark Zuckerberg’s side. They also swap stories of tech executives — from making Mark Zuckerberg sweat (literally) and getting the cold shoulder from Elon Musk to Walt Mossberg’s Taco Bell invitation from Bill Gates and “arm-waving arguments” with Steve Jobs.

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Apple and Facebook Are on a Collision Course

Charlotte Henry · · 6 Comments

We’ve reported a lot on The Mac Observer about the growing tensions between Apple and Facebook. Bloomberg News has a good writeup of how things turned sour between the two tech giants, and why this may be just the beginning.

In March 2018, Facebook Inc. was in the midst of a scandal involving political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica and was facing serious questions about its stewardship of its users’ personal data. A commentator on MSNBC asked Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook what he would do if he were in Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s shoes. “I wouldn’t be in this situation,” Cook said…. The feud has escalated rapidly over Apple’s forthcoming update to the software that powers its iPhones, which includes a requirement that developers get explicit permission to collect certain data and track users’ activity across apps and websites. Such a move could undermine the efficacy of Facebook’s targeted advertisements. In December, Facebook took out full-page ads in a trio of U.S. newspapers saying it was “standing up to Apple for small businesses everywhere” by opposing the changes, which it describes as an abuse of market power.

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Examining the Feud Between Apple and Facebook

Andrew Orr · · Add Comment

James Titcomb has a op-ed in The Sydney Morning Herald where he pieces together the Apple-Facebook feud.

Over the past six months Facebook has become Apple’s chief antagonist, airing its gripes with investors, the media, its own employees and even the regulators writing the rules that will govern digital services for the next decade.

That is despite the companies not being traditional rivals: Apple sells hardware and runs subscription services; Facebook gets 98 per cent of its income through advertising.

I think the fundamental difference is that Facebook is doing everything in its power to become a mediator for reality. But so far it’s a mediator on platforms that it can’t control, and Apple is chipping away at some of the tools Facebook relies on, like targeted advertising.