Technology

Facebook has blocked President Trump from posting on the site for 24 hours, the company said Wednesday evening. The decision comes after the company already removed posts he made in support of the pro-Trump mob that attacked the US Capitol on Wednesday. “We’ve assessed two policy violations against President Trump’s Page which will result in a 24-hour feature block, meaning he will lose the ability to post on the platform during that time,” the statement reads. Trump’s account on Facebook-owned Instagram will also be locked for 24 hours, Instagram head Adam Mosseri confirmed. We’ve assessed two policy violations against President Trump’s Page which will result in a 24-hour feature block, meaning he will lose the ability to post on the platform during that time. — Facebook Newsr...

Twitch banned the popular PogChamp emote Wednesday after the person depicted in it published tweets “encouraging further violence” following a riot at the US Capitol. “We’ve made the decision to remove the PogChamp emote following statements from the face of the emote encouraging further violence after what took place in the Capitol today,” Twitch said in a statement Wednesday evening. “We want the sentiment and use of Pog to live on — its meaning is much bigger than the person depicted or image itself — and it has a big place in Twitch culture. However, we can’t in good conscience continue to enable use of the image.” We’ve made the decision to remove the PogChamp emote following statements from the face of the emote encouraging further violence after what took place in the Capitol ...

In the wake of an unprecedented mob attack on the Capitol building, Twitter restricted and then removed a tweet from President Donald Trump, including its attached video. Users initially could no longer reply to, like, or retweet the post due to what Twitter referred to as a “risk of violence.” The tweet containing the video was then deleted entirely with a nonspecific link to Twitter’s policy guidelines. In Trump’s Wednesday Twitter video, he responded to mob violence at the US Capitol calling on rioters to peacefully “go home” hours after the chaos began. But he also repeated false claims that the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent and did not denounce the violence, leading some to find the calls for order unconvincing. “We had an election that was stolen from us,” Trump said in t...

YouTube has removed a video from President Donald Trump addressing a mob attack on the Capitol today because the president repeats false information about the outcome of the 2020 election, The Verge has learned. The company will allow Trump’s message to appear in other creators’ videos if there is proper educational or news context; basically, if people are talking about Trump’s message as part of a greater point, YouTube will allow it to remain up. The removal comes after YouTube instituted a new policy update in December 2020 that forbids any type of content that alleges widespread voter fraud impacted the results of the 2020 presidential election. In Trump’s new video, which was also posted to Twitter and Facebook, he continued to spread misinformation about the 2020 election, calling t...

As rioters stormed the US Capitol on Wednesday, Facebook removed a video from President Donald Trump responding to the violence. The decision came around an hour after the video was posted on the platform. “This is an emergency situation and we are taking appropriate emergency measures, including removing President Trump’s video,” Guy Rosen, Facebook vice president of integrity, said in a tweet Wednesday. “We removed it because on balance we believe it contributes to rather than diminishes the risk of ongoing violence.” This is an emergency situation and we are taking appropriate emergency measures, including removing President Trump’s video. We removed it because on balance we believe it contributes to rather than diminishes the risk of ongoing violence. — Guy Rosen (@guyro) January...

On Wednesday afternoon, a mob of pro-Trump protesters stormed the US Capitol, resulting in chambers being vandalized and at least one death. The attack came in the middle of an ongoing vote to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election, and it sent both lawmakers and members of the press scrambling for safety. Some found discreet paths out of the building, while others took shelter in the tunnels beneath the Capitol. But some photojournalists wandered the halls of the Capitol alongside the intruders, capturing stunning images of the mob at work. With police struggling to bring the nation’s capital under control, those images gave us a first-hand look at the chaos and disgrace of today’s events. Supporters of US President Donald Trump gather outside the US Capitol.Photo by Olivie...

Microsoft is making a big change to its Windows 10 taskbar soon, with the addition of a news and weather widget. The new feature is available to testers today, and it will allow Windows 10 users to access a feed of news, stocks, and weather information straight from the taskbar. You’ll be able to quickly glance at the weather without having to open the Start menu, install a third-party app, or check online. The taskbar feature will pop out into a mini feed of content that can be personalized with the latest sports news, headlines, and weather information. Microsoft is using its Microsoft News network to surface news and content from more than 4,500 sources. The company has been curating this through artificial intelligence in recent months, and this particular feature will also learn what ...

Teachers who have found themselves holding class over Zoom have probably already figured out clever hacks to show their students documents, but there’s now an app designed specifically for that purpose (via 9to5Mac). Overviewer was made by developer Charlie Chapman, and it allows teachers (or anyone, really) to easily use their phone’s camera as a replacement for an overhead document viewer. If it’s been a minute since you were a student, or if your school didn’t have these overhead devices, they’re basically webcams pointing straight down that allow teachers to show students a printed document, book, hand drawing, or other piece of writing or image. It’s a useful ability to have, but many teachers are working from home because of COVID and may not have access to one like they would in the...

Mint, the free personal finance app from Intuit, is receiving an update today, adding more automated features like subscription tracking and new “insights” to keep you informed where your money is spent, Fast Company reports. Mint’s new features may bring it more in line with the competition from banks and companies like Google that have been nipping at its heels with built-in budget tracking features and other services over the years. Mint’s main function is tracking spending by automatically sorting transactions based on type. By connecting a checking or savings account, Mint can start combing through purchases to see how much is spent in categories like groceries, electronics, or gas. From there, you can create a budget by setting a limit for each category, and Mint can see when you go ...

Pro-Trump protesters have stormed the US Capitol building, effectively halting a vote to certify the results of the 2020 election. The Capitol is currently on lockdown, and multiple adjacent buildings have been evacuated. Vice President Mike Pence and Senate president pro tempore Chuck Grassley have also been evacuated, and tear gas has reportedly been deployed in the rotunda in an effort to secure the building. Information from within the building remains uneven, but it appears the mob has also breached certain congressional offices and the main Senate floor. There have also been reports of gunfire within the chambers. Protesters gathered this week for an extended rally protesting efforts to certify the electoral college results for the 2020 election. President Trump spoke at the rally ea...

Tuesday night was a good night for Democrats. Votes are still being tallied and no one has conceded, but it seems all but certain that Democratic candidates Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff have won election to the US Senate, putting the chamber under 50-50 Democratic control. It’s a huge shift in what’s possible for Democrats and policymakers are already discussing policies that seemed impossible on Monday, like $2,000 direct stimulus payments or a new voting rights act. But while the wins will have impacts across the Democratic platform, they may have particularly strong effects on net neutrality. Before Georgia, net neutrality advocates were facing a gridlock in Congress and the frightening possibility that the incoming president wouldn’t be able to appoint his own FCC commissioners. But ...

If you’re feeling swept up in New Year’s resolutions for getting fit and want a device that’s going to hold you accountable to meet your goals, Amazon’s Halo tracker is $25 off its usual $100 price. All sizes and colors are the same price. The Halo was actually about $10 cheaper when it first launched, but this is the next-best deal. In case you don’t know much about this product, it’s a tracker that can monitor more granular metrics than most fitness devices, like the tone of your voice and a general approximation of how much overall body fat you have. To get all of the features Halo offers, you’ll need a subscription. You’ll get six months for free with purchase. After that, it’s $3.99 per month if you want to continue. If not, then the Halo will just track sleep, heart rate, and step tr...