Category: News

Meta, the company that owns Facebook, is hosting its second annual Africa Day campaign to promote Africans who are making a global impact. The content producer for the film project, South African filmmaker Tarryn Crossman, said Meta identified eight innovators, creators and businesspeople on the continent whose stories the company wanted told for the "Made by Africa, Loved by the World" campaign. Crossman's company, Tia Productions, teamed up with Mashoba Media to find four fellow filmmakers in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Their job was to make two- to three-minute documentaries about the subjects. "So, for example we did Trevor Stuurman here in South Africa," Crossman said. "He's a visual artist and his line was, I just loved so much, he says: 'Africa's no longer the…

 Facebook parent Meta said it will start publicly providing more details about how advertisers target people with political ads just months ahead of the U.S. midterm elections.  The announcement follows years of criticism that the social media platforms withhold too much information about how campaigns, special interest groups and politicians use the platform to target small pockets of people with polarizing, divisive or misleading messages.  Meta, which also owns Instagram, said it will start releasing details in July about the demographics and interests of audiences who are targeted with ads that run on its two primary social networks. The company will also share how much advertisers spent in an effort to target people in certain states.  "By making advertiser targeting criteria available for analysis and reporting on ads run about…

A South African company that promotes solar power and uses crowdsourcing to raise capital is financing a solar-powered farm in Zimbabwe that is also benefiting neighboring farmers. The company, The Sun Exchange, raised $1.4 million for the farm. Columbus Mavhunga reports from Marondera, Zimbabwe. ...

When Chandler Jones realized she was pregnant during her junior year of college, she turned to a trusted source for information and advice. Her cellphone. "I couldn't imagine before the internet, trying to navigate this," said Jones, 26, who graduated Tuesday from the University of Baltimore School of Law. "I didn't know if hospitals did abortions. I knew Planned Parenthood did abortions, but there were none near me. So I kind of just Googled." But with each search, Jones was being surreptitiously followed — by the phone apps and browsers that track us as we click away, capturing even our most sensitive health data. Online searches. Period apps. Fitness trackers. Advice helplines. GPS. The often obscure companies collecting our health history and geolocation data may know more about us than…

The Apple Store at Union Square, the heart of San Francisco’s upscale tourist district, had drawn more than 30 customers within a few minutes of opening Friday morning. Visitors, couples and even a preschool-age boy browsed the atrium packed with iPhone 13s and watches to try out. A sign urged people to trade in old phones to save money on the 13s.  But a staff member could not say when the iPhone 14 would come out — presumably sometime this year — or what it would cost. Some shoppers wondered whether it would be delayed or cost more than expected given the months of supply chain disruptions in China, where the phones are made.  “This stuff has got to hit hard at some point,” said Bill Kimberlin, an Apple Store…

The Ukrainian government is using facial recognition software to identify Russian soldiers captured and dead. VOA's Julie Taboh spoke with one software company CEO and an official with the Ukrainian national police about how the technology is contributing to the war effort ...

Canada will ban Chinese telecommunications giants Huawei and ZTE from its 5G wireless networks because of national security concerns, officials said Thursday.  The long-awaited move follows those of the United States and other key allies and comes on the heels of a diplomatic row between Ottawa and Beijing over the detention of a senior Huawei executive on a U.S. warrant, which has now been resolved.  The United States has warned of the security implications of giving Chinese tech companies access to telecommunications infrastructure that could be used for state espionage.  Both Huawei and Beijing have rejected the allegations, while Beijing warned of repercussions for nations placing restrictions on the telecom equipment provider.  The company did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment on Canada's ban.  Canadian Industry Minister…

Twitter is stepping up its fight against misinformation with a new policy cracking down on posts that spread potentially dangerous false stories. The change is part of a broader effort to promote accurate information during times of conflict or crisis.  Starting Thursday, the platform will no longer automatically recommend or emphasize posts that make misleading claims about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, including material that mischaracterizes conditions in conflict zones or makes false allegations of war crimes or atrocities against civilians.  Under its new "crisis misinformation policy," Twitter will also add warning labels to debunked claims about ongoing humanitarian crises, the San Francisco-based company said. Users won't be able to like, forward or respond to posts that violate the new rules.  The changes make Twitter the latest social platform to…