So if you are a current or former tech employee with information on how a company's product or practices is affecting young people, I want to hear from you. Reach out to naomi.nix.writes1@gmail.com or cell/signal on a non-company device: 571-882-3412.

Naomi Nix@naominix.bsky.social · 4mo ago

This kind of journalism will remain crucial as regulators try to figure out which laws will effectively keep kids safe (a complicated topic!). It will also be critical if plaintiffs, especially state AGs, continue to win and they are able to force platform design changes.

There are so many takeaways from the LA and New Mexico rulings but I'll highlight three. 1) The academic research, which has limited experimental designs, has been mixed on the connection between mental distress and social media. The companies own docs were crucial to the case.

New: I take you inside the Trump administration’s campaign against the Digital Services Act to fight what it considers to be Europe's censorship of speech online. (Side note: this was the last story I filed before WaPo's cuts): www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

Inside the Trump administration’s campaign to counter content bans in Europe

The president has expanded efforts to fight what he sees as censorship overseas, using the State Department to target European governments.

washingtonpost.com

After almost four years at The Washington Post, my role was eliminated this week along with hundreds of other talented journalists. It’s a cliche to say but this job was a dream come true. Thanks to my brilliant reporter friends and talented editors who made the stories stronger and banter funnier.

What’s it like to be a whistleblower? @naominix.bsky.social talks with tech whistleblowers, including @yaeleisenstat.bsky.social, about what life looks like after speaking truth to power. In our latest newsletter 👇 citizensreunited.substack.com/p/new-year-n...

New: Instagram pursued a yearslong strategy to win teens back even after critics said it wasn’t safe, according to records recently reviewed by the Washington Post. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

Leaked documents show Instagram’s plan to win back teens

Instagram has pursued a yearslong strategy to win teens back to the app after its critics said the platform wasn’t safe for them, documents obtained by The Post show.

washingtonpost.com

New: After exposing the harms of Big Tech, many whistleblowers say they faced poorer job prospects and professional exile in Silicon Valley. They have no regrets. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

She blew the whistle at Meta. Then her career fell apart.

After exposing the harms of Big Tech, many whistleblowers say they faced poor job prospects and isolation in Silicon Valley. They have no regrets.

washingtonpost.com

New: To compete with OpenAI's Pulse, Meta is testing a new product that would give Facebook users a personalized, AI-powered information briefing www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

Meta is building an AI-powered morning brief in push to compete with ChatGPT

Meta is testing a new product that would give Facebook users a personalized, AI-powered briefing of information relevant to their daily lives.

washingtonpost.com

New: TikTok posts on Israel-Gaza war are overwhelmingly pro-Palestinian but that doesn't mean they get more traction online. Analysis @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

TikTok posts on Israel-Gaza war are overwhelmingly pro-Palestinian

A new report finds 17 pro-Palestinian posts for every pro-Israeli one, but they tend to get the same amount of traction online.

washingtonpost.com

Both Republicans and Democrats have long sought to "work the refs" at social media companies that decide which speech should stay up or be taken down. See this oldie but goodie on jawboning /w ‪@cqzakrz.bsky.social‬ www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

Ted Cruz, Joe Biden and other politicians ask social media companies to remove posts

The Supreme Court is set to decide whether government demands to remove social media posts violate the First Amendment.

washingtonpost.com

A teen told Meta researchers his brother, then under 10, had been sexually propositioned through Meta's VR headsets multiple times. Their boss told them to delete the evidence, they said. That's one example in our new investigation about Meta's crack down on internal research.

His custom cancer therapy is in an NIH freezer. He may not get it in time. How a metastatic cancer patient became collateral damage in federal workforce cuts www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025...

His custom cancer therapy is in an NIH freezer. He may not get it in time.

The purge of probationary federal workers included skilled lab personnel who would have finalized a customized cell immunotherapy for cancer patients.

washingtonpost.com

New(ish): Meta agreed to pay $14.8B for a 49% stake in the artificial intelligence data firm Scale AI, per person familiar. We are confirming reports in NYT, Bloomberg and The Information. Deal could be announced as soon as today. /w @nitasha.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

Meta takes $15 billion stake in Scale AI in bid to catch competitors

Meta agreed to pay $14.8 billion for a 49 percent stake in the AI data firm Scale AI, which will give the company access to talent and data services.

washingtonpost.com

As the Trump administration posts through its mass deportation push, viral images from protests and raids are amping up outrage on both sides. W @drewharwell.com and @naominix.bsky.social

Drew Harwell@drewharwell.com · last yr.

New: A week before the ICE raid on day workers outside a Home Depot ignited the L.A. protests, the White House posted video from a similar bust, calling it an "EPIC Takedown." Commenters called it "disturbing": this "isn't a reality show." But the messaging war had just begun 🧵 wapo.st/4l2fK2A

New: A tighter job market for tech and lower corporate tolerance for employee activism have stifled the once boisterous worker-led movements in Silicon Valley on everything from AI safety to the Israel-Gaza war. /w @nitasha.bsky.social & Trisha Thadani www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

Big Tech takes a harder line against worker activism, political dissent

A tighter labor market and lower corporate tolerance have stifled employee input on controversies over company policy, AI safety and the Israel-Gaza war.

washingtonpost.com

Pulitzer winner @anntelnaes.bsky.social "resigned in early January after a top editor rejected one of her cartoons — a depiction of Post owner Jeff Bezos, along with other business moguls, bowing before a statue of Trump, offering up bags of money" www.washingtonpost.com/style/media/...

The Post wins Pulitzers for Trump rally shooting stories, editorial cartoons

The Washington Post was recognized with two Pulitzer Prizes for coverage of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump and political cartoons by Ann Telnaes.

washingtonpost.com

the coverage was led by our climate team's @bradydennis.bsky.social, brianna sacks and @byscottdance.com on the ground in NC, w/ assists from @samueloakford.bsky.social in visual forensics and my tech colleagues @gerritd.bsky.social & @jeremybmerrill.com et al www.washingtonpost.com/weather/inte...

In North Carolina, there was before Helene. This is the after.

“A hundred years from now, they will be talking about this flood,” said one resident in Western North Carolina, where the extent of the disaster is only beginning to emerge.

washingtonpost.com

not a big Prize Guy but proud to have played a role on the @washingtonpost.com team that was named a Pulitzer finalist in National Reporting today for our coverage of Hurricane Helene, including the social media-fueled storm of lies that followed in its wake www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2024...

How a conspiracy-fueled group got a foothold in this hurricane-battered town

Over the course of 11 days, a supermarket parking lot became a snapshot of the chaos that can unfold in some corners of post-disaster America.

washingtonpost.com

A belated thank you to everyone who is putting up with Media Tour Faiz this week. I assure you regular programming will resume soon. But as a special treat, you may now see the cover of the Italian edition, which is out now!!

This post appeared under this Techmeme headline:

Naomi Nix@naominix.bsky.social · last yr.

The OSB was scheduled to release this ruling along with several others NEXT WEEK. After I reached out to OSB for comment on the story on Friday (including the outcome of ruling), I was told they would get back to me by EOD Tues. Instead, they pushed up the release of their rulings to this morning.

You may have seen a lot of headlines this morning about Meta's @oversightboard.bsky.social latest rulings but there was one officials there clearly didn't want you to read

Exclusive: Following President Donald Trump’s new tariffs on China, Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick about the potential impact of the tariffs on iPhone prices.

How Tim Cook helped Apple out of Trump’s tariff storm — for now

Apple’s CEO Tim Cook spoke to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick last week about the potential impact of the tariffs on iPhone prices.

wapo.st

A few takeaways from Zuck so far: -FTC lawyer Daniel Matheson has really pressed Zuck on the main goal of Facebook, using his own words and company documents. He argues that Facebook has always been about connecting friends and family. -Zuck says the goal is also to entertain and inform.

Naomi Nix@naominix.bsky.social · last yr.

He has on a suit but the hair is still curly.

FTC's first witness is Mark Zuckerberg

Naomi Nix@naominix.bsky.social · last yr.

We'll be continuously updating our coverage of today's hearing of FTC's landmark antitrust case. Opening arguments largely followed their legal briefs www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

We'll be continuously updating our coverage of today's hearing of FTC's landmark antitrust case. Opening arguments largely followed their legal briefs www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

FTC says Meta bought up its rivals instead of competing with them

Opening arguments are expected from the FTC and social media giant Meta as the first big antitrust trial of Trump’s second term gets underway in Judge James E. Boasberg’s courtroom.

washingtonpost.com

On Sunday, we published an exclusive story about the extraordinary lengths Meta was willing to take to censor content in order to convince the CCP to allow Facebook to enter China. They were ultimately, unsuccessful. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

Zuckerberg’s Meta considered sharing user data with China, whistleblower alleges

Meta went to extreme lengths, including developing a censorship system, in a failed attempt to bring Facebook to millions of internet users in China, according to a whistleblower complaint.

washingtonpost.com

Elon Musk’s DOGE Service has dismantled government agencies, stripped down the federal workforce and gained access to sensitive government data — all in an attempt, he says, to “restore democracy.” Here are the major legal questions about the group’s actions.

Is what DOGE doing even legal?

An overview of the key legal questions about the actions of the group overseen by Elon Musk.

washingtonpost.com

Using my “personal liberties” to repost this

Dave Jorgenson@davejorgenson.bsky.social · 2y ago

Here’s why some billionaires are going soft on Trump

Jeff Bezos announced that the Washington Post opinion page will no longer publish viewpoints opposing personal liberties and free markets. In light of this news, I want to emphasize that there is a strong firewall between opinion and news at our publication.

New: Meta is one of several tech companies that have made chronic layoffs routine. This is fundamentally changing the way workers see their jobs, which may offer a preview of what's to come for the federal government's workforce, if Elon has his way: www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

Tech layoffs reveal the unintended consequences of mass job cuts

After years of layoffs and cutbacks, tech workers have lost trust in their employers. Federal employees may face the same fate after cuts from the White House.

washingtonpost.com