Bird Buddy, the startup behind multiple AI-powered smart bird feeders, including the recently announced smart Hummingbird Feeder and Bird Bath, is today launching its latest product — and it’s not another bird feeder. Instead, the company is debuting a new digital product called Bird Buddy Explore, which allows anyone to browse feeds from Bird Buddy cameras around the world, including in locations beyond the continental U.S. like Hawaii, Kenya, Chile and Bhutan.
The feature expands Bird Buddy’s reach to those who haven’t bought the company’s feeders, allowing them to enjoy birdwatching, including in locations and habitats beyond their own backyards. Digital Coding Machine Factory
The company notes there is plenty of content for it to curate for this new feature, as every week, two years’ worth of interactions with nature are created and recorded within the Bird Buddy app. In total, more than 1 million bird detections are logged by Bird Buddy smart bird feeders around the world every day.
To use Explore, you’ll download Bird Buddy’s flagship app for iOS or Android, which was previously designed only for owners of the company’s bird feeders. Now, this app includes a new Explore section designated by a “globe” icon where you can swipe through remote bird feeders in various locations around the world, then choose which one you want to watch by tapping “connect to feeder.” When you add a new feeder, you’ll then receive its “postcards” — snapshots and videos of bird visitors when they visit the feeder in that location.
In addition to providing birdwatching feeds, the Explore feature also offers interesting, educational information about each species of bird the user encounters when using the app. The feature joins a more lightweight feature, Bird Buddy TV, which offers a live TikTok-like vertical video feed of live bird sightings from various customers’ feeders.
Along with the launch of the new digital product, Bird Buddy is launching two new accessories designed to attract more species of birds to its feeders, including the Bird Buddy Perch Extender, which brings in bigger birds by offering a larger place to stand, and the Bird Buddy 3-in-1 Nutrition Set that includes a water fountain, jelly tray, and fruit spike to attract birds like orioles and finches.
“We are on a mission to help nature compete for our attention – and in the process, create daily connections with nature for as many people as possible,” explained Bird Buddy co-founder and CEO Franci Zidar, in a statement.
“That’s why we’re expanding the Bird Buddy app to offer a unique experience for those who may not have access to a backyard or feeder. This is our most exciting development to date, to truly unlock the magic that is the world of birds and their critical role in our ecosystems. To be able to bring joy 24/7 is a privilege and we are grateful to our community who have been instrumental in helping us achieve this,” he added.
The company also debuted a subscription product, Bird Buddy Pro, that lets users mute or ignore species, add additional guest slots and introduces a new frenzy mode that maximizes bird detections. And later this fall, Bird Buddy plans to introduce its own seed subscription service to make sure its customers have easy access to the right food for their feeders.
To date, Bird Buddy customers have installed 150,000 feeders around the world, which are capable of recognizing more than 1,000 species of birds.
X (formerly Twitter) appears to have removed an option that allowed users in a handful of markets to directly report misleading information about politics.<\/p>\n
An Australian digital research group called Reset.Australia spotted the change and posted an open letter<\/a> (via the Guardian<\/a>), addressed to X’s country manager, in which it writes:<\/p>\nA recent change to your reporting process appears to have left Australian users unable to report electoral misinformation. \u00a0This is because the categories for reporting in Australia offer no option to report electoral misinformation. Users are offered inappropriate categories such as hate speech, abuse, spam, imitation etc. Previously Australian users could select \u2018It\u2019s misleading\u2019 about \u2018Politics\u2019 category. This may leave violative content subject to an inappropriate review process and not labelled or removed in compliance with your policies.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The group warns X that the change could breach Australia\u2019s misinformation code — which it notes requires signatories to enable users to \u201creport content or behaviours to Signatories that violate their policies\u2026 through publicly available and accessible reporting tools\u201d.<\/p>\n “X\u2019s Civic Integrity Policy makes clear that electoral misinformation is against your policies (see appendix 2). Users should be able to report this content appropriately,” it adds. The letter also points out the timing of the change comes ahead of a major vote — dubbing it “extremely concerning that Australians would lose the ability to report serious misinformation weeks away from a major referendum”.<\/p>\n TechCrunch has confirmed in our own tests that an option on X to directly report election misinformation no longer appears for users with an IP address located in the US, Australia, Brazil or Spain — which were some of the earliest markets to get the ability to report political misinformation.<\/p>\n Instead users who click on the “report post” option in the drop-down menu attached to each post (i.e. tweet) are presented with options to make reports for the following reasons: Hate; abuse & harassment; violent speech; child safety; privacy; spam; suicide or self harm; sensitive or disturbing media; deceptive identities; violent & hateful entities.<\/p><\/div>\n The closest option to misleading information is to make a report for deceptive identities — but the option is focused on account impersonation, including of brands, so looks ill-suited to reporting other types of political misinformation.<\/p>\n The (now removed) misleading information reporting feature was added under Twitter’s former leadership to select markets (including the US) starting in August 2021<\/a> — when it was billed as a test — allowing users to report different types of misinformation, including politics\/election related and health\/COVID-19 related, or something else. The option was then subsequently rolled out<\/a> in South Korea and the Philippines, tracking electoral activity.<\/p>\n Fast forward to last fall, when new owner Elon Musk took over the company and set about putting his stamp (or sink<\/a>) on things, and Twitter (now X) quickly stopped enforcing the COVID-19 misleading info policy<\/a> — noting the change without explanation in one-line update on its official blog: “Effective November 23, 2022, Twitter is no longer enforcing the COVID-19 misleading information policy.”<\/i><\/p>\n No such bald line has been made by X regarding ending enforcement on political misinformation. Indeed, last month an unnamed member of “X Safety” claimed in another official blog post<\/a> that X is committed to combating threats to elections — and was currently expanding its safety and elections teams “to focus on combating manipulation, surfacing inauthentic accounts and closely monitoring the platform for emerging threats”.<\/p>\n The blog post also links directly to X’s “Civic Integrity” rules — which explicitly state:<\/p>\nYou may not use X\u2019s services for the purpose of manipulating or interfering in elections or other civic processes. This includes posting or sharing content that may suppress participation or mislead people about when, where, or how to participate in a civic process.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n However the blog post flags a series of policy changes which, if you dig into the detail<\/a>, confirm that under Musk the platform’s T&Cs are applying a particular definition of civic integrity that does not broadly prohibit misleading information about politics.<\/p>\n The “Civic Integrity” policy prohibitions, which are also only in place for a limited time before and after political elections, censuses and “major” referenda and ballot initiatives, are focused on a few specific areas — namely: Misleading info about how to participate in a vote; attempts to suppress participation, including via intimidation; and false or misleading affiliation.<\/p>\n There is explicitly no ban on general inaccurate statements about elected or appointed officials, candidates, or political parties — indeed, that kind of political misinformation is essentially treated as ‘freedom of expression’ by Musk. (The blog post stipulates the platform’s intent is to “strike the right balance between tackling the most harmful types of content — those that could intimidate or deceive people into surrendering their right to participate in a civic process — and not censoring political debate”.)<\/p>\n The post also points to an April update<\/a> to X’s “enforcement philosophy” — where it set out a preference to restrict the reach of posts that violate its policies by making the content less discoverable, rather than taking the posts down. And to add labels where this process of so-called “visibility filtering” has been applied.<\/p>\n Given this approach it’s not surprising to see Musk remove the legacy option to reporting misleading information about politics — which might generate lots of reports X won’t act on.<\/p>\n However, if X’s actions are to reflect its stated “Civic Integrity” policies, you would have expected it to add a direct option for users to report election misinformation — and, under that, offer additional options where users can report attempts at voter suppression\/intimidation etc — even if the ability to make these kinds of reports were only to appear close to the date of a relevant poll being held.<\/p>\n But Reset.Australia’s point is that hasn’t happened — with just over two weeks to go until the 2023 Indigenous Voice referendum<\/a> (which takes place on October 14).<\/p>\n As noted above the option for X users to report account impersonation is present — and could serve for reporting candidate or political party impersonation — but there’s no direct way for users in Australia to report posts that seek to interfere with the election at present.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the scale of disinformation on X also appears to be getting worse under Musk.<\/p>\n Yesterday the European Union reported on pilot research conducted by participants in its Code of Practice on tackling disinformation that found X’s platform to have the worst ratio of disinformation\/misinformation posts<\/a> to other major platforms in three EU Member States.<\/p>\n A NewsGuard\u00a0report<\/a> also found that Musk’s decision to remove labels denoting state-run or government-affiliated media accounts led to a surge in Russian, Chinese and Iranian propaganda — aka, the sort of disinformation that’s often aimed at democratic elections.<\/p>\n One curve ball here is that Musk has actually expanded<\/em> election misinformation reporting options — but only for users in the EU (a bloc of countries which includes Spain, where it has also removed the direct option to report misleading info about politics from the main “report post” menu).<\/p>\n So while X users in Spain (i.e. inside the EU) no longer see that direct political misinformation reporting option when they click on “report post” they do see an additional option at the top level of the menu — to “report EU illegal content” — where they are able to report election misinformation or other types of “negative effects” on civic discourse.<\/p>\n This recently added reporting is intended to let EU users make reports under a new set of pan-EU content moderation and governance rules, called the Digital Services Act (DSA) — which carries major penalties for infringements (of up to 6% of global annual turnover).<\/p>\n As such, there are a number of steps involved in making this type of report (and it’s a bit more long-winded than the direct reporting options) — including needing to provide some contact details; specifying which EU country’s laws the content being reported is breaching; and picking from a list of 14 options presented under the “legal reason” drop-down menu — which includes the aforementioned option to report “negative effects on civic discourse or elections” (which should cover reports concerning political misinformation).<\/p>\n The DSA form also offers a free text field where users can “provide more details about what’s happening”:<\/p>\n Screengrab: Natasha Lomas\/TechCrunch<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n This “report EU illegal content” option means that even though X has removed a direct option to report misleading political info in the main “report post” menu it has technically — since the end of last month when the DSA came into force for larger platforms such as X — expanded the ability to report this type of content to all users in the EU (i.e. not just Spain).<\/p>\n Although it remains to be seen how the platform will handle reports of illegal content it receives from EU users. (Notably, for example, X is facing several legal procedures in Germany<\/a> where it’s been accused of failing to comply with German speech laws<\/a> requiring it to take down illegal hate speech. So it may seek to limit how it acts on users reports of posts with “negative effects” on civic discourse or elections — but will need to justify its response to EU regulators with the risk of big fines if it strikes the wrong balance.)<\/p>\n X under Musk is clearly only providing the option for EU users to report political misinformation in response to the new pan-EU law — which regulates how platforms must respond to certain types of problematic content, including by providing users with the ability to make reports.<\/p>\n The DSA also requires larger platforms, including X, to assess and mitigate systemic risks — which includes disinformation. So it has a legal duty not to prevent or ignore user reports.<\/p>\n Countries and regions that don’t have comparable legal requirements to the EU’s DSA — such as the US — are, perhaps unsurprisingly (given Musk’s penchant for painting himself as a champion of free speech), no longer being provided with any direct option on X to report political misinformation.<\/p>\n Albeit, the lack of any obvious way for X users outside the EU to report election-related misinformation (at least) does look out of step with the policies Musk’s company claims it’s applying.<\/p>\n We emailed X’s press office regarding the removal of a direct option for users to report misleading information about politics, asking how the move squares with its wider claims to be investing in election integrity (repeated by CEO Linda Yaccarino in an interview with the Financial Times<\/a> today) — but the company did not engage with our questions — just firing out its latest empty auto-reply which states: “Busy now, check back later.”<\/p>\n\n X (formerly Twitter) is worst for disinformation, per EU analysis<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n\n Europe names 19 platforms that must report algorithmic risks under DSA<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" X (formerly Twitter) appears to have removed an option that allowed users in a handful of markets to directly report misleading information about politics. An Australian digital research group called Reset.Australia spotted the change and posted an open letter (via the Guardian), addressed to X’s country manager, in which it writes: A recent change to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39990176,"featured_media":2606370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"26a2ea83-eeff-30ec-8985-93e5f54cdba6","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-27T13:26:34Z","apple_news_api_id":"932a2100-cb73-46a7-9c1d-4e3eb8848cc2","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-27T13:28:30Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AkyohAMtzRqecHU4-uISMwg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577065682,577055593],"tags":[576598484,577193903,577193904],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[577037502,577037503],"yoast_head":"\nElon Musk's X removes general option to report misleading info about politics | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
A recent change to your reporting process appears to have left Australian users unable to report electoral misinformation. \u00a0This is because the categories for reporting in Australia offer no option to report electoral misinformation. Users are offered inappropriate categories such as hate speech, abuse, spam, imitation etc. Previously Australian users could select \u2018It\u2019s misleading\u2019 about \u2018Politics\u2019 category. This may leave violative content subject to an inappropriate review process and not labelled or removed in compliance with your policies.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The group warns X that the change could breach Australia\u2019s misinformation code — which it notes requires signatories to enable users to \u201creport content or behaviours to Signatories that violate their policies\u2026 through publicly available and accessible reporting tools\u201d.<\/p>\n
“X\u2019s Civic Integrity Policy makes clear that electoral misinformation is against your policies (see appendix 2). Users should be able to report this content appropriately,” it adds. The letter also points out the timing of the change comes ahead of a major vote — dubbing it “extremely concerning that Australians would lose the ability to report serious misinformation weeks away from a major referendum”.<\/p>\n
TechCrunch has confirmed in our own tests that an option on X to directly report election misinformation no longer appears for users with an IP address located in the US, Australia, Brazil or Spain — which were some of the earliest markets to get the ability to report political misinformation.<\/p>\n
Instead users who click on the “report post” option in the drop-down menu attached to each post (i.e. tweet) are presented with options to make reports for the following reasons: Hate; abuse & harassment; violent speech; child safety; privacy; spam; suicide or self harm; sensitive or disturbing media; deceptive identities; violent & hateful entities.<\/p><\/div>\n The closest option to misleading information is to make a report for deceptive identities — but the option is focused on account impersonation, including of brands, so looks ill-suited to reporting other types of political misinformation.<\/p>\n The (now removed) misleading information reporting feature was added under Twitter’s former leadership to select markets (including the US) starting in August 2021<\/a> — when it was billed as a test — allowing users to report different types of misinformation, including politics\/election related and health\/COVID-19 related, or something else. The option was then subsequently rolled out<\/a> in South Korea and the Philippines, tracking electoral activity.<\/p>\n Fast forward to last fall, when new owner Elon Musk took over the company and set about putting his stamp (or sink<\/a>) on things, and Twitter (now X) quickly stopped enforcing the COVID-19 misleading info policy<\/a> — noting the change without explanation in one-line update on its official blog: “Effective November 23, 2022, Twitter is no longer enforcing the COVID-19 misleading information policy.”<\/i><\/p>\n No such bald line has been made by X regarding ending enforcement on political misinformation. Indeed, last month an unnamed member of “X Safety” claimed in another official blog post<\/a> that X is committed to combating threats to elections — and was currently expanding its safety and elections teams “to focus on combating manipulation, surfacing inauthentic accounts and closely monitoring the platform for emerging threats”.<\/p>\n The blog post also links directly to X’s “Civic Integrity” rules — which explicitly state:<\/p>\nYou may not use X\u2019s services for the purpose of manipulating or interfering in elections or other civic processes. This includes posting or sharing content that may suppress participation or mislead people about when, where, or how to participate in a civic process.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n However the blog post flags a series of policy changes which, if you dig into the detail<\/a>, confirm that under Musk the platform’s T&Cs are applying a particular definition of civic integrity that does not broadly prohibit misleading information about politics.<\/p>\n The “Civic Integrity” policy prohibitions, which are also only in place for a limited time before and after political elections, censuses and “major” referenda and ballot initiatives, are focused on a few specific areas — namely: Misleading info about how to participate in a vote; attempts to suppress participation, including via intimidation; and false or misleading affiliation.<\/p>\n There is explicitly no ban on general inaccurate statements about elected or appointed officials, candidates, or political parties — indeed, that kind of political misinformation is essentially treated as ‘freedom of expression’ by Musk. (The blog post stipulates the platform’s intent is to “strike the right balance between tackling the most harmful types of content — those that could intimidate or deceive people into surrendering their right to participate in a civic process — and not censoring political debate”.)<\/p>\n The post also points to an April update<\/a> to X’s “enforcement philosophy” — where it set out a preference to restrict the reach of posts that violate its policies by making the content less discoverable, rather than taking the posts down. And to add labels where this process of so-called “visibility filtering” has been applied.<\/p>\n Given this approach it’s not surprising to see Musk remove the legacy option to reporting misleading information about politics — which might generate lots of reports X won’t act on.<\/p>\n However, if X’s actions are to reflect its stated “Civic Integrity” policies, you would have expected it to add a direct option for users to report election misinformation — and, under that, offer additional options where users can report attempts at voter suppression\/intimidation etc — even if the ability to make these kinds of reports were only to appear close to the date of a relevant poll being held.<\/p>\n But Reset.Australia’s point is that hasn’t happened — with just over two weeks to go until the 2023 Indigenous Voice referendum<\/a> (which takes place on October 14).<\/p>\n As noted above the option for X users to report account impersonation is present — and could serve for reporting candidate or political party impersonation — but there’s no direct way for users in Australia to report posts that seek to interfere with the election at present.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the scale of disinformation on X also appears to be getting worse under Musk.<\/p>\n Yesterday the European Union reported on pilot research conducted by participants in its Code of Practice on tackling disinformation that found X’s platform to have the worst ratio of disinformation\/misinformation posts<\/a> to other major platforms in three EU Member States.<\/p>\n A NewsGuard\u00a0report<\/a> also found that Musk’s decision to remove labels denoting state-run or government-affiliated media accounts led to a surge in Russian, Chinese and Iranian propaganda — aka, the sort of disinformation that’s often aimed at democratic elections.<\/p>\n One curve ball here is that Musk has actually expanded<\/em> election misinformation reporting options — but only for users in the EU (a bloc of countries which includes Spain, where it has also removed the direct option to report misleading info about politics from the main “report post” menu).<\/p>\n So while X users in Spain (i.e. inside the EU) no longer see that direct political misinformation reporting option when they click on “report post” they do see an additional option at the top level of the menu — to “report EU illegal content” — where they are able to report election misinformation or other types of “negative effects” on civic discourse.<\/p>\n This recently added reporting is intended to let EU users make reports under a new set of pan-EU content moderation and governance rules, called the Digital Services Act (DSA) — which carries major penalties for infringements (of up to 6% of global annual turnover).<\/p>\n As such, there are a number of steps involved in making this type of report (and it’s a bit more long-winded than the direct reporting options) — including needing to provide some contact details; specifying which EU country’s laws the content being reported is breaching; and picking from a list of 14 options presented under the “legal reason” drop-down menu — which includes the aforementioned option to report “negative effects on civic discourse or elections” (which should cover reports concerning political misinformation).<\/p>\n The DSA form also offers a free text field where users can “provide more details about what’s happening”:<\/p>\n Screengrab: Natasha Lomas\/TechCrunch<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n This “report EU illegal content” option means that even though X has removed a direct option to report misleading political info in the main “report post” menu it has technically — since the end of last month when the DSA came into force for larger platforms such as X — expanded the ability to report this type of content to all users in the EU (i.e. not just Spain).<\/p>\n Although it remains to be seen how the platform will handle reports of illegal content it receives from EU users. (Notably, for example, X is facing several legal procedures in Germany<\/a> where it’s been accused of failing to comply with German speech laws<\/a> requiring it to take down illegal hate speech. So it may seek to limit how it acts on users reports of posts with “negative effects” on civic discourse or elections — but will need to justify its response to EU regulators with the risk of big fines if it strikes the wrong balance.)<\/p>\n X under Musk is clearly only providing the option for EU users to report political misinformation in response to the new pan-EU law — which regulates how platforms must respond to certain types of problematic content, including by providing users with the ability to make reports.<\/p>\n The DSA also requires larger platforms, including X, to assess and mitigate systemic risks — which includes disinformation. So it has a legal duty not to prevent or ignore user reports.<\/p>\n Countries and regions that don’t have comparable legal requirements to the EU’s DSA — such as the US — are, perhaps unsurprisingly (given Musk’s penchant for painting himself as a champion of free speech), no longer being provided with any direct option on X to report political misinformation.<\/p>\n Albeit, the lack of any obvious way for X users outside the EU to report election-related misinformation (at least) does look out of step with the policies Musk’s company claims it’s applying.<\/p>\n We emailed X’s press office regarding the removal of a direct option for users to report misleading information about politics, asking how the move squares with its wider claims to be investing in election integrity (repeated by CEO Linda Yaccarino in an interview with the Financial Times<\/a> today) — but the company did not engage with our questions — just firing out its latest empty auto-reply which states: “Busy now, check back later.”<\/p>\n\n X (formerly Twitter) is worst for disinformation, per EU analysis<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n\n Europe names 19 platforms that must report algorithmic risks under DSA<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" X (formerly Twitter) appears to have removed an option that allowed users in a handful of markets to directly report misleading information about politics. An Australian digital research group called Reset.Australia spotted the change and posted an open letter (via the Guardian), addressed to X’s country manager, in which it writes: A recent change to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39990176,"featured_media":2606370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"26a2ea83-eeff-30ec-8985-93e5f54cdba6","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-27T13:26:34Z","apple_news_api_id":"932a2100-cb73-46a7-9c1d-4e3eb8848cc2","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-27T13:28:30Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AkyohAMtzRqecHU4-uISMwg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577065682,577055593],"tags":[576598484,577193903,577193904],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[577037502,577037503],"yoast_head":"\nElon Musk's X removes general option to report misleading info about politics | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
The closest option to misleading information is to make a report for deceptive identities — but the option is focused on account impersonation, including of brands, so looks ill-suited to reporting other types of political misinformation.<\/p>\n
The (now removed) misleading information reporting feature was added under Twitter’s former leadership to select markets (including the US) starting in August 2021<\/a> — when it was billed as a test — allowing users to report different types of misinformation, including politics\/election related and health\/COVID-19 related, or something else. The option was then subsequently rolled out<\/a> in South Korea and the Philippines, tracking electoral activity.<\/p>\n Fast forward to last fall, when new owner Elon Musk took over the company and set about putting his stamp (or sink<\/a>) on things, and Twitter (now X) quickly stopped enforcing the COVID-19 misleading info policy<\/a> — noting the change without explanation in one-line update on its official blog: “Effective November 23, 2022, Twitter is no longer enforcing the COVID-19 misleading information policy.”<\/i><\/p>\n No such bald line has been made by X regarding ending enforcement on political misinformation. Indeed, last month an unnamed member of “X Safety” claimed in another official blog post<\/a> that X is committed to combating threats to elections — and was currently expanding its safety and elections teams “to focus on combating manipulation, surfacing inauthentic accounts and closely monitoring the platform for emerging threats”.<\/p>\n The blog post also links directly to X’s “Civic Integrity” rules — which explicitly state:<\/p>\nYou may not use X\u2019s services for the purpose of manipulating or interfering in elections or other civic processes. This includes posting or sharing content that may suppress participation or mislead people about when, where, or how to participate in a civic process.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n However the blog post flags a series of policy changes which, if you dig into the detail<\/a>, confirm that under Musk the platform’s T&Cs are applying a particular definition of civic integrity that does not broadly prohibit misleading information about politics.<\/p>\n The “Civic Integrity” policy prohibitions, which are also only in place for a limited time before and after political elections, censuses and “major” referenda and ballot initiatives, are focused on a few specific areas — namely: Misleading info about how to participate in a vote; attempts to suppress participation, including via intimidation; and false or misleading affiliation.<\/p>\n There is explicitly no ban on general inaccurate statements about elected or appointed officials, candidates, or political parties — indeed, that kind of political misinformation is essentially treated as ‘freedom of expression’ by Musk. (The blog post stipulates the platform’s intent is to “strike the right balance between tackling the most harmful types of content — those that could intimidate or deceive people into surrendering their right to participate in a civic process — and not censoring political debate”.)<\/p>\n The post also points to an April update<\/a> to X’s “enforcement philosophy” — where it set out a preference to restrict the reach of posts that violate its policies by making the content less discoverable, rather than taking the posts down. And to add labels where this process of so-called “visibility filtering” has been applied.<\/p>\n Given this approach it’s not surprising to see Musk remove the legacy option to reporting misleading information about politics — which might generate lots of reports X won’t act on.<\/p>\n However, if X’s actions are to reflect its stated “Civic Integrity” policies, you would have expected it to add a direct option for users to report election misinformation — and, under that, offer additional options where users can report attempts at voter suppression\/intimidation etc — even if the ability to make these kinds of reports were only to appear close to the date of a relevant poll being held.<\/p>\n But Reset.Australia’s point is that hasn’t happened — with just over two weeks to go until the 2023 Indigenous Voice referendum<\/a> (which takes place on October 14).<\/p>\n As noted above the option for X users to report account impersonation is present — and could serve for reporting candidate or political party impersonation — but there’s no direct way for users in Australia to report posts that seek to interfere with the election at present.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the scale of disinformation on X also appears to be getting worse under Musk.<\/p>\n Yesterday the European Union reported on pilot research conducted by participants in its Code of Practice on tackling disinformation that found X’s platform to have the worst ratio of disinformation\/misinformation posts<\/a> to other major platforms in three EU Member States.<\/p>\n A NewsGuard\u00a0report<\/a> also found that Musk’s decision to remove labels denoting state-run or government-affiliated media accounts led to a surge in Russian, Chinese and Iranian propaganda — aka, the sort of disinformation that’s often aimed at democratic elections.<\/p>\n One curve ball here is that Musk has actually expanded<\/em> election misinformation reporting options — but only for users in the EU (a bloc of countries which includes Spain, where it has also removed the direct option to report misleading info about politics from the main “report post” menu).<\/p>\n So while X users in Spain (i.e. inside the EU) no longer see that direct political misinformation reporting option when they click on “report post” they do see an additional option at the top level of the menu — to “report EU illegal content” — where they are able to report election misinformation or other types of “negative effects” on civic discourse.<\/p>\n This recently added reporting is intended to let EU users make reports under a new set of pan-EU content moderation and governance rules, called the Digital Services Act (DSA) — which carries major penalties for infringements (of up to 6% of global annual turnover).<\/p>\n As such, there are a number of steps involved in making this type of report (and it’s a bit more long-winded than the direct reporting options) — including needing to provide some contact details; specifying which EU country’s laws the content being reported is breaching; and picking from a list of 14 options presented under the “legal reason” drop-down menu — which includes the aforementioned option to report “negative effects on civic discourse or elections” (which should cover reports concerning political misinformation).<\/p>\n The DSA form also offers a free text field where users can “provide more details about what’s happening”:<\/p>\n Screengrab: Natasha Lomas\/TechCrunch<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n This “report EU illegal content” option means that even though X has removed a direct option to report misleading political info in the main “report post” menu it has technically — since the end of last month when the DSA came into force for larger platforms such as X — expanded the ability to report this type of content to all users in the EU (i.e. not just Spain).<\/p>\n Although it remains to be seen how the platform will handle reports of illegal content it receives from EU users. (Notably, for example, X is facing several legal procedures in Germany<\/a> where it’s been accused of failing to comply with German speech laws<\/a> requiring it to take down illegal hate speech. So it may seek to limit how it acts on users reports of posts with “negative effects” on civic discourse or elections — but will need to justify its response to EU regulators with the risk of big fines if it strikes the wrong balance.)<\/p>\n X under Musk is clearly only providing the option for EU users to report political misinformation in response to the new pan-EU law — which regulates how platforms must respond to certain types of problematic content, including by providing users with the ability to make reports.<\/p>\n The DSA also requires larger platforms, including X, to assess and mitigate systemic risks — which includes disinformation. So it has a legal duty not to prevent or ignore user reports.<\/p>\n Countries and regions that don’t have comparable legal requirements to the EU’s DSA — such as the US — are, perhaps unsurprisingly (given Musk’s penchant for painting himself as a champion of free speech), no longer being provided with any direct option on X to report political misinformation.<\/p>\n Albeit, the lack of any obvious way for X users outside the EU to report election-related misinformation (at least) does look out of step with the policies Musk’s company claims it’s applying.<\/p>\n We emailed X’s press office regarding the removal of a direct option for users to report misleading information about politics, asking how the move squares with its wider claims to be investing in election integrity (repeated by CEO Linda Yaccarino in an interview with the Financial Times<\/a> today) — but the company did not engage with our questions — just firing out its latest empty auto-reply which states: “Busy now, check back later.”<\/p>\n\n X (formerly Twitter) is worst for disinformation, per EU analysis<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n\n Europe names 19 platforms that must report algorithmic risks under DSA<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" X (formerly Twitter) appears to have removed an option that allowed users in a handful of markets to directly report misleading information about politics. An Australian digital research group called Reset.Australia spotted the change and posted an open letter (via the Guardian), addressed to X’s country manager, in which it writes: A recent change to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39990176,"featured_media":2606370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"26a2ea83-eeff-30ec-8985-93e5f54cdba6","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-27T13:26:34Z","apple_news_api_id":"932a2100-cb73-46a7-9c1d-4e3eb8848cc2","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-27T13:28:30Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AkyohAMtzRqecHU4-uISMwg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577065682,577055593],"tags":[576598484,577193903,577193904],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[577037502,577037503],"yoast_head":"\nElon Musk's X removes general option to report misleading info about politics | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Fast forward to last fall, when new owner Elon Musk took over the company and set about putting his stamp (or sink<\/a>) on things, and Twitter (now X) quickly stopped enforcing the COVID-19 misleading info policy<\/a> — noting the change without explanation in one-line update on its official blog: “Effective November 23, 2022, Twitter is no longer enforcing the COVID-19 misleading information policy.”<\/i><\/p>\n No such bald line has been made by X regarding ending enforcement on political misinformation. Indeed, last month an unnamed member of “X Safety” claimed in another official blog post<\/a> that X is committed to combating threats to elections — and was currently expanding its safety and elections teams “to focus on combating manipulation, surfacing inauthentic accounts and closely monitoring the platform for emerging threats”.<\/p>\n The blog post also links directly to X’s “Civic Integrity” rules — which explicitly state:<\/p>\nYou may not use X\u2019s services for the purpose of manipulating or interfering in elections or other civic processes. This includes posting or sharing content that may suppress participation or mislead people about when, where, or how to participate in a civic process.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n However the blog post flags a series of policy changes which, if you dig into the detail<\/a>, confirm that under Musk the platform’s T&Cs are applying a particular definition of civic integrity that does not broadly prohibit misleading information about politics.<\/p>\n The “Civic Integrity” policy prohibitions, which are also only in place for a limited time before and after political elections, censuses and “major” referenda and ballot initiatives, are focused on a few specific areas — namely: Misleading info about how to participate in a vote; attempts to suppress participation, including via intimidation; and false or misleading affiliation.<\/p>\n There is explicitly no ban on general inaccurate statements about elected or appointed officials, candidates, or political parties — indeed, that kind of political misinformation is essentially treated as ‘freedom of expression’ by Musk. (The blog post stipulates the platform’s intent is to “strike the right balance between tackling the most harmful types of content — those that could intimidate or deceive people into surrendering their right to participate in a civic process — and not censoring political debate”.)<\/p>\n The post also points to an April update<\/a> to X’s “enforcement philosophy” — where it set out a preference to restrict the reach of posts that violate its policies by making the content less discoverable, rather than taking the posts down. And to add labels where this process of so-called “visibility filtering” has been applied.<\/p>\n Given this approach it’s not surprising to see Musk remove the legacy option to reporting misleading information about politics — which might generate lots of reports X won’t act on.<\/p>\n However, if X’s actions are to reflect its stated “Civic Integrity” policies, you would have expected it to add a direct option for users to report election misinformation — and, under that, offer additional options where users can report attempts at voter suppression\/intimidation etc — even if the ability to make these kinds of reports were only to appear close to the date of a relevant poll being held.<\/p>\n But Reset.Australia’s point is that hasn’t happened — with just over two weeks to go until the 2023 Indigenous Voice referendum<\/a> (which takes place on October 14).<\/p>\n As noted above the option for X users to report account impersonation is present — and could serve for reporting candidate or political party impersonation — but there’s no direct way for users in Australia to report posts that seek to interfere with the election at present.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the scale of disinformation on X also appears to be getting worse under Musk.<\/p>\n Yesterday the European Union reported on pilot research conducted by participants in its Code of Practice on tackling disinformation that found X’s platform to have the worst ratio of disinformation\/misinformation posts<\/a> to other major platforms in three EU Member States.<\/p>\n A NewsGuard\u00a0report<\/a> also found that Musk’s decision to remove labels denoting state-run or government-affiliated media accounts led to a surge in Russian, Chinese and Iranian propaganda — aka, the sort of disinformation that’s often aimed at democratic elections.<\/p>\n One curve ball here is that Musk has actually expanded<\/em> election misinformation reporting options — but only for users in the EU (a bloc of countries which includes Spain, where it has also removed the direct option to report misleading info about politics from the main “report post” menu).<\/p>\n So while X users in Spain (i.e. inside the EU) no longer see that direct political misinformation reporting option when they click on “report post” they do see an additional option at the top level of the menu — to “report EU illegal content” — where they are able to report election misinformation or other types of “negative effects” on civic discourse.<\/p>\n This recently added reporting is intended to let EU users make reports under a new set of pan-EU content moderation and governance rules, called the Digital Services Act (DSA) — which carries major penalties for infringements (of up to 6% of global annual turnover).<\/p>\n As such, there are a number of steps involved in making this type of report (and it’s a bit more long-winded than the direct reporting options) — including needing to provide some contact details; specifying which EU country’s laws the content being reported is breaching; and picking from a list of 14 options presented under the “legal reason” drop-down menu — which includes the aforementioned option to report “negative effects on civic discourse or elections” (which should cover reports concerning political misinformation).<\/p>\n The DSA form also offers a free text field where users can “provide more details about what’s happening”:<\/p>\n Screengrab: Natasha Lomas\/TechCrunch<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n This “report EU illegal content” option means that even though X has removed a direct option to report misleading political info in the main “report post” menu it has technically — since the end of last month when the DSA came into force for larger platforms such as X — expanded the ability to report this type of content to all users in the EU (i.e. not just Spain).<\/p>\n Although it remains to be seen how the platform will handle reports of illegal content it receives from EU users. (Notably, for example, X is facing several legal procedures in Germany<\/a> where it’s been accused of failing to comply with German speech laws<\/a> requiring it to take down illegal hate speech. So it may seek to limit how it acts on users reports of posts with “negative effects” on civic discourse or elections — but will need to justify its response to EU regulators with the risk of big fines if it strikes the wrong balance.)<\/p>\n X under Musk is clearly only providing the option for EU users to report political misinformation in response to the new pan-EU law — which regulates how platforms must respond to certain types of problematic content, including by providing users with the ability to make reports.<\/p>\n The DSA also requires larger platforms, including X, to assess and mitigate systemic risks — which includes disinformation. So it has a legal duty not to prevent or ignore user reports.<\/p>\n Countries and regions that don’t have comparable legal requirements to the EU’s DSA — such as the US — are, perhaps unsurprisingly (given Musk’s penchant for painting himself as a champion of free speech), no longer being provided with any direct option on X to report political misinformation.<\/p>\n Albeit, the lack of any obvious way for X users outside the EU to report election-related misinformation (at least) does look out of step with the policies Musk’s company claims it’s applying.<\/p>\n We emailed X’s press office regarding the removal of a direct option for users to report misleading information about politics, asking how the move squares with its wider claims to be investing in election integrity (repeated by CEO Linda Yaccarino in an interview with the Financial Times<\/a> today) — but the company did not engage with our questions — just firing out its latest empty auto-reply which states: “Busy now, check back later.”<\/p>\n\n X (formerly Twitter) is worst for disinformation, per EU analysis<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n\n Europe names 19 platforms that must report algorithmic risks under DSA<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" X (formerly Twitter) appears to have removed an option that allowed users in a handful of markets to directly report misleading information about politics. An Australian digital research group called Reset.Australia spotted the change and posted an open letter (via the Guardian), addressed to X’s country manager, in which it writes: A recent change to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39990176,"featured_media":2606370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"26a2ea83-eeff-30ec-8985-93e5f54cdba6","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-27T13:26:34Z","apple_news_api_id":"932a2100-cb73-46a7-9c1d-4e3eb8848cc2","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-27T13:28:30Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AkyohAMtzRqecHU4-uISMwg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577065682,577055593],"tags":[576598484,577193903,577193904],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[577037502,577037503],"yoast_head":"\nElon Musk's X removes general option to report misleading info about politics | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
No such bald line has been made by X regarding ending enforcement on political misinformation. Indeed, last month an unnamed member of “X Safety” claimed in another official blog post<\/a> that X is committed to combating threats to elections — and was currently expanding its safety and elections teams “to focus on combating manipulation, surfacing inauthentic accounts and closely monitoring the platform for emerging threats”.<\/p>\n The blog post also links directly to X’s “Civic Integrity” rules — which explicitly state:<\/p>\nYou may not use X\u2019s services for the purpose of manipulating or interfering in elections or other civic processes. This includes posting or sharing content that may suppress participation or mislead people about when, where, or how to participate in a civic process.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n However the blog post flags a series of policy changes which, if you dig into the detail<\/a>, confirm that under Musk the platform’s T&Cs are applying a particular definition of civic integrity that does not broadly prohibit misleading information about politics.<\/p>\n The “Civic Integrity” policy prohibitions, which are also only in place for a limited time before and after political elections, censuses and “major” referenda and ballot initiatives, are focused on a few specific areas — namely: Misleading info about how to participate in a vote; attempts to suppress participation, including via intimidation; and false or misleading affiliation.<\/p>\n There is explicitly no ban on general inaccurate statements about elected or appointed officials, candidates, or political parties — indeed, that kind of political misinformation is essentially treated as ‘freedom of expression’ by Musk. (The blog post stipulates the platform’s intent is to “strike the right balance between tackling the most harmful types of content — those that could intimidate or deceive people into surrendering their right to participate in a civic process — and not censoring political debate”.)<\/p>\n The post also points to an April update<\/a> to X’s “enforcement philosophy” — where it set out a preference to restrict the reach of posts that violate its policies by making the content less discoverable, rather than taking the posts down. And to add labels where this process of so-called “visibility filtering” has been applied.<\/p>\n Given this approach it’s not surprising to see Musk remove the legacy option to reporting misleading information about politics — which might generate lots of reports X won’t act on.<\/p>\n However, if X’s actions are to reflect its stated “Civic Integrity” policies, you would have expected it to add a direct option for users to report election misinformation — and, under that, offer additional options where users can report attempts at voter suppression\/intimidation etc — even if the ability to make these kinds of reports were only to appear close to the date of a relevant poll being held.<\/p>\n But Reset.Australia’s point is that hasn’t happened — with just over two weeks to go until the 2023 Indigenous Voice referendum<\/a> (which takes place on October 14).<\/p>\n As noted above the option for X users to report account impersonation is present — and could serve for reporting candidate or political party impersonation — but there’s no direct way for users in Australia to report posts that seek to interfere with the election at present.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the scale of disinformation on X also appears to be getting worse under Musk.<\/p>\n Yesterday the European Union reported on pilot research conducted by participants in its Code of Practice on tackling disinformation that found X’s platform to have the worst ratio of disinformation\/misinformation posts<\/a> to other major platforms in three EU Member States.<\/p>\n A NewsGuard\u00a0report<\/a> also found that Musk’s decision to remove labels denoting state-run or government-affiliated media accounts led to a surge in Russian, Chinese and Iranian propaganda — aka, the sort of disinformation that’s often aimed at democratic elections.<\/p>\n One curve ball here is that Musk has actually expanded<\/em> election misinformation reporting options — but only for users in the EU (a bloc of countries which includes Spain, where it has also removed the direct option to report misleading info about politics from the main “report post” menu).<\/p>\n So while X users in Spain (i.e. inside the EU) no longer see that direct political misinformation reporting option when they click on “report post” they do see an additional option at the top level of the menu — to “report EU illegal content” — where they are able to report election misinformation or other types of “negative effects” on civic discourse.<\/p>\n This recently added reporting is intended to let EU users make reports under a new set of pan-EU content moderation and governance rules, called the Digital Services Act (DSA) — which carries major penalties for infringements (of up to 6% of global annual turnover).<\/p>\n As such, there are a number of steps involved in making this type of report (and it’s a bit more long-winded than the direct reporting options) — including needing to provide some contact details; specifying which EU country’s laws the content being reported is breaching; and picking from a list of 14 options presented under the “legal reason” drop-down menu — which includes the aforementioned option to report “negative effects on civic discourse or elections” (which should cover reports concerning political misinformation).<\/p>\n The DSA form also offers a free text field where users can “provide more details about what’s happening”:<\/p>\n Screengrab: Natasha Lomas\/TechCrunch<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n This “report EU illegal content” option means that even though X has removed a direct option to report misleading political info in the main “report post” menu it has technically — since the end of last month when the DSA came into force for larger platforms such as X — expanded the ability to report this type of content to all users in the EU (i.e. not just Spain).<\/p>\n Although it remains to be seen how the platform will handle reports of illegal content it receives from EU users. (Notably, for example, X is facing several legal procedures in Germany<\/a> where it’s been accused of failing to comply with German speech laws<\/a> requiring it to take down illegal hate speech. So it may seek to limit how it acts on users reports of posts with “negative effects” on civic discourse or elections — but will need to justify its response to EU regulators with the risk of big fines if it strikes the wrong balance.)<\/p>\n X under Musk is clearly only providing the option for EU users to report political misinformation in response to the new pan-EU law — which regulates how platforms must respond to certain types of problematic content, including by providing users with the ability to make reports.<\/p>\n The DSA also requires larger platforms, including X, to assess and mitigate systemic risks — which includes disinformation. So it has a legal duty not to prevent or ignore user reports.<\/p>\n Countries and regions that don’t have comparable legal requirements to the EU’s DSA — such as the US — are, perhaps unsurprisingly (given Musk’s penchant for painting himself as a champion of free speech), no longer being provided with any direct option on X to report political misinformation.<\/p>\n Albeit, the lack of any obvious way for X users outside the EU to report election-related misinformation (at least) does look out of step with the policies Musk’s company claims it’s applying.<\/p>\n We emailed X’s press office regarding the removal of a direct option for users to report misleading information about politics, asking how the move squares with its wider claims to be investing in election integrity (repeated by CEO Linda Yaccarino in an interview with the Financial Times<\/a> today) — but the company did not engage with our questions — just firing out its latest empty auto-reply which states: “Busy now, check back later.”<\/p>\n\n X (formerly Twitter) is worst for disinformation, per EU analysis<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n\n Europe names 19 platforms that must report algorithmic risks under DSA<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" X (formerly Twitter) appears to have removed an option that allowed users in a handful of markets to directly report misleading information about politics. An Australian digital research group called Reset.Australia spotted the change and posted an open letter (via the Guardian), addressed to X’s country manager, in which it writes: A recent change to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39990176,"featured_media":2606370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"26a2ea83-eeff-30ec-8985-93e5f54cdba6","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-27T13:26:34Z","apple_news_api_id":"932a2100-cb73-46a7-9c1d-4e3eb8848cc2","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-27T13:28:30Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AkyohAMtzRqecHU4-uISMwg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577065682,577055593],"tags":[576598484,577193903,577193904],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[577037502,577037503],"yoast_head":"\nElon Musk's X removes general option to report misleading info about politics | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
The blog post also links directly to X’s “Civic Integrity” rules — which explicitly state:<\/p>\nYou may not use X\u2019s services for the purpose of manipulating or interfering in elections or other civic processes. This includes posting or sharing content that may suppress participation or mislead people about when, where, or how to participate in a civic process.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n However the blog post flags a series of policy changes which, if you dig into the detail<\/a>, confirm that under Musk the platform’s T&Cs are applying a particular definition of civic integrity that does not broadly prohibit misleading information about politics.<\/p>\n The “Civic Integrity” policy prohibitions, which are also only in place for a limited time before and after political elections, censuses and “major” referenda and ballot initiatives, are focused on a few specific areas — namely: Misleading info about how to participate in a vote; attempts to suppress participation, including via intimidation; and false or misleading affiliation.<\/p>\n There is explicitly no ban on general inaccurate statements about elected or appointed officials, candidates, or political parties — indeed, that kind of political misinformation is essentially treated as ‘freedom of expression’ by Musk. (The blog post stipulates the platform’s intent is to “strike the right balance between tackling the most harmful types of content — those that could intimidate or deceive people into surrendering their right to participate in a civic process — and not censoring political debate”.)<\/p>\n The post also points to an April update<\/a> to X’s “enforcement philosophy” — where it set out a preference to restrict the reach of posts that violate its policies by making the content less discoverable, rather than taking the posts down. And to add labels where this process of so-called “visibility filtering” has been applied.<\/p>\n Given this approach it’s not surprising to see Musk remove the legacy option to reporting misleading information about politics — which might generate lots of reports X won’t act on.<\/p>\n However, if X’s actions are to reflect its stated “Civic Integrity” policies, you would have expected it to add a direct option for users to report election misinformation — and, under that, offer additional options where users can report attempts at voter suppression\/intimidation etc — even if the ability to make these kinds of reports were only to appear close to the date of a relevant poll being held.<\/p>\n But Reset.Australia’s point is that hasn’t happened — with just over two weeks to go until the 2023 Indigenous Voice referendum<\/a> (which takes place on October 14).<\/p>\n As noted above the option for X users to report account impersonation is present — and could serve for reporting candidate or political party impersonation — but there’s no direct way for users in Australia to report posts that seek to interfere with the election at present.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the scale of disinformation on X also appears to be getting worse under Musk.<\/p>\n Yesterday the European Union reported on pilot research conducted by participants in its Code of Practice on tackling disinformation that found X’s platform to have the worst ratio of disinformation\/misinformation posts<\/a> to other major platforms in three EU Member States.<\/p>\n A NewsGuard\u00a0report<\/a> also found that Musk’s decision to remove labels denoting state-run or government-affiliated media accounts led to a surge in Russian, Chinese and Iranian propaganda — aka, the sort of disinformation that’s often aimed at democratic elections.<\/p>\n One curve ball here is that Musk has actually expanded<\/em> election misinformation reporting options — but only for users in the EU (a bloc of countries which includes Spain, where it has also removed the direct option to report misleading info about politics from the main “report post” menu).<\/p>\n So while X users in Spain (i.e. inside the EU) no longer see that direct political misinformation reporting option when they click on “report post” they do see an additional option at the top level of the menu — to “report EU illegal content” — where they are able to report election misinformation or other types of “negative effects” on civic discourse.<\/p>\n This recently added reporting is intended to let EU users make reports under a new set of pan-EU content moderation and governance rules, called the Digital Services Act (DSA) — which carries major penalties for infringements (of up to 6% of global annual turnover).<\/p>\n As such, there are a number of steps involved in making this type of report (and it’s a bit more long-winded than the direct reporting options) — including needing to provide some contact details; specifying which EU country’s laws the content being reported is breaching; and picking from a list of 14 options presented under the “legal reason” drop-down menu — which includes the aforementioned option to report “negative effects on civic discourse or elections” (which should cover reports concerning political misinformation).<\/p>\n The DSA form also offers a free text field where users can “provide more details about what’s happening”:<\/p>\n Screengrab: Natasha Lomas\/TechCrunch<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n This “report EU illegal content” option means that even though X has removed a direct option to report misleading political info in the main “report post” menu it has technically — since the end of last month when the DSA came into force for larger platforms such as X — expanded the ability to report this type of content to all users in the EU (i.e. not just Spain).<\/p>\n Although it remains to be seen how the platform will handle reports of illegal content it receives from EU users. (Notably, for example, X is facing several legal procedures in Germany<\/a> where it’s been accused of failing to comply with German speech laws<\/a> requiring it to take down illegal hate speech. So it may seek to limit how it acts on users reports of posts with “negative effects” on civic discourse or elections — but will need to justify its response to EU regulators with the risk of big fines if it strikes the wrong balance.)<\/p>\n X under Musk is clearly only providing the option for EU users to report political misinformation in response to the new pan-EU law — which regulates how platforms must respond to certain types of problematic content, including by providing users with the ability to make reports.<\/p>\n The DSA also requires larger platforms, including X, to assess and mitigate systemic risks — which includes disinformation. So it has a legal duty not to prevent or ignore user reports.<\/p>\n Countries and regions that don’t have comparable legal requirements to the EU’s DSA — such as the US — are, perhaps unsurprisingly (given Musk’s penchant for painting himself as a champion of free speech), no longer being provided with any direct option on X to report political misinformation.<\/p>\n Albeit, the lack of any obvious way for X users outside the EU to report election-related misinformation (at least) does look out of step with the policies Musk’s company claims it’s applying.<\/p>\n We emailed X’s press office regarding the removal of a direct option for users to report misleading information about politics, asking how the move squares with its wider claims to be investing in election integrity (repeated by CEO Linda Yaccarino in an interview with the Financial Times<\/a> today) — but the company did not engage with our questions — just firing out its latest empty auto-reply which states: “Busy now, check back later.”<\/p>\n\n X (formerly Twitter) is worst for disinformation, per EU analysis<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n\n Europe names 19 platforms that must report algorithmic risks under DSA<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" X (formerly Twitter) appears to have removed an option that allowed users in a handful of markets to directly report misleading information about politics. An Australian digital research group called Reset.Australia spotted the change and posted an open letter (via the Guardian), addressed to X’s country manager, in which it writes: A recent change to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39990176,"featured_media":2606370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"26a2ea83-eeff-30ec-8985-93e5f54cdba6","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-27T13:26:34Z","apple_news_api_id":"932a2100-cb73-46a7-9c1d-4e3eb8848cc2","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-27T13:28:30Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AkyohAMtzRqecHU4-uISMwg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577065682,577055593],"tags":[576598484,577193903,577193904],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[577037502,577037503],"yoast_head":"\nElon Musk's X removes general option to report misleading info about politics | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
You may not use X\u2019s services for the purpose of manipulating or interfering in elections or other civic processes. This includes posting or sharing content that may suppress participation or mislead people about when, where, or how to participate in a civic process.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
However the blog post flags a series of policy changes which, if you dig into the detail<\/a>, confirm that under Musk the platform’s T&Cs are applying a particular definition of civic integrity that does not broadly prohibit misleading information about politics.<\/p>\n The “Civic Integrity” policy prohibitions, which are also only in place for a limited time before and after political elections, censuses and “major” referenda and ballot initiatives, are focused on a few specific areas — namely: Misleading info about how to participate in a vote; attempts to suppress participation, including via intimidation; and false or misleading affiliation.<\/p>\n There is explicitly no ban on general inaccurate statements about elected or appointed officials, candidates, or political parties — indeed, that kind of political misinformation is essentially treated as ‘freedom of expression’ by Musk. (The blog post stipulates the platform’s intent is to “strike the right balance between tackling the most harmful types of content — those that could intimidate or deceive people into surrendering their right to participate in a civic process — and not censoring political debate”.)<\/p>\n The post also points to an April update<\/a> to X’s “enforcement philosophy” — where it set out a preference to restrict the reach of posts that violate its policies by making the content less discoverable, rather than taking the posts down. And to add labels where this process of so-called “visibility filtering” has been applied.<\/p>\n Given this approach it’s not surprising to see Musk remove the legacy option to reporting misleading information about politics — which might generate lots of reports X won’t act on.<\/p>\n However, if X’s actions are to reflect its stated “Civic Integrity” policies, you would have expected it to add a direct option for users to report election misinformation — and, under that, offer additional options where users can report attempts at voter suppression\/intimidation etc — even if the ability to make these kinds of reports were only to appear close to the date of a relevant poll being held.<\/p>\n But Reset.Australia’s point is that hasn’t happened — with just over two weeks to go until the 2023 Indigenous Voice referendum<\/a> (which takes place on October 14).<\/p>\n As noted above the option for X users to report account impersonation is present — and could serve for reporting candidate or political party impersonation — but there’s no direct way for users in Australia to report posts that seek to interfere with the election at present.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the scale of disinformation on X also appears to be getting worse under Musk.<\/p>\n Yesterday the European Union reported on pilot research conducted by participants in its Code of Practice on tackling disinformation that found X’s platform to have the worst ratio of disinformation\/misinformation posts<\/a> to other major platforms in three EU Member States.<\/p>\n A NewsGuard\u00a0report<\/a> also found that Musk’s decision to remove labels denoting state-run or government-affiliated media accounts led to a surge in Russian, Chinese and Iranian propaganda — aka, the sort of disinformation that’s often aimed at democratic elections.<\/p>\n One curve ball here is that Musk has actually expanded<\/em> election misinformation reporting options — but only for users in the EU (a bloc of countries which includes Spain, where it has also removed the direct option to report misleading info about politics from the main “report post” menu).<\/p>\n So while X users in Spain (i.e. inside the EU) no longer see that direct political misinformation reporting option when they click on “report post” they do see an additional option at the top level of the menu — to “report EU illegal content” — where they are able to report election misinformation or other types of “negative effects” on civic discourse.<\/p>\n This recently added reporting is intended to let EU users make reports under a new set of pan-EU content moderation and governance rules, called the Digital Services Act (DSA) — which carries major penalties for infringements (of up to 6% of global annual turnover).<\/p>\n As such, there are a number of steps involved in making this type of report (and it’s a bit more long-winded than the direct reporting options) — including needing to provide some contact details; specifying which EU country’s laws the content being reported is breaching; and picking from a list of 14 options presented under the “legal reason” drop-down menu — which includes the aforementioned option to report “negative effects on civic discourse or elections” (which should cover reports concerning political misinformation).<\/p>\n The DSA form also offers a free text field where users can “provide more details about what’s happening”:<\/p>\n Screengrab: Natasha Lomas\/TechCrunch<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n This “report EU illegal content” option means that even though X has removed a direct option to report misleading political info in the main “report post” menu it has technically — since the end of last month when the DSA came into force for larger platforms such as X — expanded the ability to report this type of content to all users in the EU (i.e. not just Spain).<\/p>\n Although it remains to be seen how the platform will handle reports of illegal content it receives from EU users. (Notably, for example, X is facing several legal procedures in Germany<\/a> where it’s been accused of failing to comply with German speech laws<\/a> requiring it to take down illegal hate speech. So it may seek to limit how it acts on users reports of posts with “negative effects” on civic discourse or elections — but will need to justify its response to EU regulators with the risk of big fines if it strikes the wrong balance.)<\/p>\n X under Musk is clearly only providing the option for EU users to report political misinformation in response to the new pan-EU law — which regulates how platforms must respond to certain types of problematic content, including by providing users with the ability to make reports.<\/p>\n The DSA also requires larger platforms, including X, to assess and mitigate systemic risks — which includes disinformation. So it has a legal duty not to prevent or ignore user reports.<\/p>\n Countries and regions that don’t have comparable legal requirements to the EU’s DSA — such as the US — are, perhaps unsurprisingly (given Musk’s penchant for painting himself as a champion of free speech), no longer being provided with any direct option on X to report political misinformation.<\/p>\n Albeit, the lack of any obvious way for X users outside the EU to report election-related misinformation (at least) does look out of step with the policies Musk’s company claims it’s applying.<\/p>\n We emailed X’s press office regarding the removal of a direct option for users to report misleading information about politics, asking how the move squares with its wider claims to be investing in election integrity (repeated by CEO Linda Yaccarino in an interview with the Financial Times<\/a> today) — but the company did not engage with our questions — just firing out its latest empty auto-reply which states: “Busy now, check back later.”<\/p>\n\n X (formerly Twitter) is worst for disinformation, per EU analysis<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n\n Europe names 19 platforms that must report algorithmic risks under DSA<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" X (formerly Twitter) appears to have removed an option that allowed users in a handful of markets to directly report misleading information about politics. An Australian digital research group called Reset.Australia spotted the change and posted an open letter (via the Guardian), addressed to X’s country manager, in which it writes: A recent change to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39990176,"featured_media":2606370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"26a2ea83-eeff-30ec-8985-93e5f54cdba6","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-27T13:26:34Z","apple_news_api_id":"932a2100-cb73-46a7-9c1d-4e3eb8848cc2","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-27T13:28:30Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AkyohAMtzRqecHU4-uISMwg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577065682,577055593],"tags":[576598484,577193903,577193904],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[577037502,577037503],"yoast_head":"\nElon Musk's X removes general option to report misleading info about politics | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
The “Civic Integrity” policy prohibitions, which are also only in place for a limited time before and after political elections, censuses and “major” referenda and ballot initiatives, are focused on a few specific areas — namely: Misleading info about how to participate in a vote; attempts to suppress participation, including via intimidation; and false or misleading affiliation.<\/p>\n
There is explicitly no ban on general inaccurate statements about elected or appointed officials, candidates, or political parties — indeed, that kind of political misinformation is essentially treated as ‘freedom of expression’ by Musk. (The blog post stipulates the platform’s intent is to “strike the right balance between tackling the most harmful types of content — those that could intimidate or deceive people into surrendering their right to participate in a civic process — and not censoring political debate”.)<\/p>\n
The post also points to an April update<\/a> to X’s “enforcement philosophy” — where it set out a preference to restrict the reach of posts that violate its policies by making the content less discoverable, rather than taking the posts down. And to add labels where this process of so-called “visibility filtering” has been applied.<\/p>\n Given this approach it’s not surprising to see Musk remove the legacy option to reporting misleading information about politics — which might generate lots of reports X won’t act on.<\/p>\n However, if X’s actions are to reflect its stated “Civic Integrity” policies, you would have expected it to add a direct option for users to report election misinformation — and, under that, offer additional options where users can report attempts at voter suppression\/intimidation etc — even if the ability to make these kinds of reports were only to appear close to the date of a relevant poll being held.<\/p>\n But Reset.Australia’s point is that hasn’t happened — with just over two weeks to go until the 2023 Indigenous Voice referendum<\/a> (which takes place on October 14).<\/p>\n As noted above the option for X users to report account impersonation is present — and could serve for reporting candidate or political party impersonation — but there’s no direct way for users in Australia to report posts that seek to interfere with the election at present.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the scale of disinformation on X also appears to be getting worse under Musk.<\/p>\n Yesterday the European Union reported on pilot research conducted by participants in its Code of Practice on tackling disinformation that found X’s platform to have the worst ratio of disinformation\/misinformation posts<\/a> to other major platforms in three EU Member States.<\/p>\n A NewsGuard\u00a0report<\/a> also found that Musk’s decision to remove labels denoting state-run or government-affiliated media accounts led to a surge in Russian, Chinese and Iranian propaganda — aka, the sort of disinformation that’s often aimed at democratic elections.<\/p>\n One curve ball here is that Musk has actually expanded<\/em> election misinformation reporting options — but only for users in the EU (a bloc of countries which includes Spain, where it has also removed the direct option to report misleading info about politics from the main “report post” menu).<\/p>\n So while X users in Spain (i.e. inside the EU) no longer see that direct political misinformation reporting option when they click on “report post” they do see an additional option at the top level of the menu — to “report EU illegal content” — where they are able to report election misinformation or other types of “negative effects” on civic discourse.<\/p>\n This recently added reporting is intended to let EU users make reports under a new set of pan-EU content moderation and governance rules, called the Digital Services Act (DSA) — which carries major penalties for infringements (of up to 6% of global annual turnover).<\/p>\n As such, there are a number of steps involved in making this type of report (and it’s a bit more long-winded than the direct reporting options) — including needing to provide some contact details; specifying which EU country’s laws the content being reported is breaching; and picking from a list of 14 options presented under the “legal reason” drop-down menu — which includes the aforementioned option to report “negative effects on civic discourse or elections” (which should cover reports concerning political misinformation).<\/p>\n The DSA form also offers a free text field where users can “provide more details about what’s happening”:<\/p>\n Screengrab: Natasha Lomas\/TechCrunch<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n This “report EU illegal content” option means that even though X has removed a direct option to report misleading political info in the main “report post” menu it has technically — since the end of last month when the DSA came into force for larger platforms such as X — expanded the ability to report this type of content to all users in the EU (i.e. not just Spain).<\/p>\n Although it remains to be seen how the platform will handle reports of illegal content it receives from EU users. (Notably, for example, X is facing several legal procedures in Germany<\/a> where it’s been accused of failing to comply with German speech laws<\/a> requiring it to take down illegal hate speech. So it may seek to limit how it acts on users reports of posts with “negative effects” on civic discourse or elections — but will need to justify its response to EU regulators with the risk of big fines if it strikes the wrong balance.)<\/p>\n X under Musk is clearly only providing the option for EU users to report political misinformation in response to the new pan-EU law — which regulates how platforms must respond to certain types of problematic content, including by providing users with the ability to make reports.<\/p>\n The DSA also requires larger platforms, including X, to assess and mitigate systemic risks — which includes disinformation. So it has a legal duty not to prevent or ignore user reports.<\/p>\n Countries and regions that don’t have comparable legal requirements to the EU’s DSA — such as the US — are, perhaps unsurprisingly (given Musk’s penchant for painting himself as a champion of free speech), no longer being provided with any direct option on X to report political misinformation.<\/p>\n Albeit, the lack of any obvious way for X users outside the EU to report election-related misinformation (at least) does look out of step with the policies Musk’s company claims it’s applying.<\/p>\n We emailed X’s press office regarding the removal of a direct option for users to report misleading information about politics, asking how the move squares with its wider claims to be investing in election integrity (repeated by CEO Linda Yaccarino in an interview with the Financial Times<\/a> today) — but the company did not engage with our questions — just firing out its latest empty auto-reply which states: “Busy now, check back later.”<\/p>\n\n X (formerly Twitter) is worst for disinformation, per EU analysis<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n\n Europe names 19 platforms that must report algorithmic risks under DSA<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" X (formerly Twitter) appears to have removed an option that allowed users in a handful of markets to directly report misleading information about politics. An Australian digital research group called Reset.Australia spotted the change and posted an open letter (via the Guardian), addressed to X’s country manager, in which it writes: A recent change to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39990176,"featured_media":2606370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"26a2ea83-eeff-30ec-8985-93e5f54cdba6","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-27T13:26:34Z","apple_news_api_id":"932a2100-cb73-46a7-9c1d-4e3eb8848cc2","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-27T13:28:30Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AkyohAMtzRqecHU4-uISMwg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577065682,577055593],"tags":[576598484,577193903,577193904],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[577037502,577037503],"yoast_head":"\nElon Musk's X removes general option to report misleading info about politics | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Given this approach it’s not surprising to see Musk remove the legacy option to reporting misleading information about politics — which might generate lots of reports X won’t act on.<\/p>\n
However, if X’s actions are to reflect its stated “Civic Integrity” policies, you would have expected it to add a direct option for users to report election misinformation — and, under that, offer additional options where users can report attempts at voter suppression\/intimidation etc — even if the ability to make these kinds of reports were only to appear close to the date of a relevant poll being held.<\/p>\n
But Reset.Australia’s point is that hasn’t happened — with just over two weeks to go until the 2023 Indigenous Voice referendum<\/a> (which takes place on October 14).<\/p>\n As noted above the option for X users to report account impersonation is present — and could serve for reporting candidate or political party impersonation — but there’s no direct way for users in Australia to report posts that seek to interfere with the election at present.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the scale of disinformation on X also appears to be getting worse under Musk.<\/p>\n Yesterday the European Union reported on pilot research conducted by participants in its Code of Practice on tackling disinformation that found X’s platform to have the worst ratio of disinformation\/misinformation posts<\/a> to other major platforms in three EU Member States.<\/p>\n A NewsGuard\u00a0report<\/a> also found that Musk’s decision to remove labels denoting state-run or government-affiliated media accounts led to a surge in Russian, Chinese and Iranian propaganda — aka, the sort of disinformation that’s often aimed at democratic elections.<\/p>\n One curve ball here is that Musk has actually expanded<\/em> election misinformation reporting options — but only for users in the EU (a bloc of countries which includes Spain, where it has also removed the direct option to report misleading info about politics from the main “report post” menu).<\/p>\n So while X users in Spain (i.e. inside the EU) no longer see that direct political misinformation reporting option when they click on “report post” they do see an additional option at the top level of the menu — to “report EU illegal content” — where they are able to report election misinformation or other types of “negative effects” on civic discourse.<\/p>\n This recently added reporting is intended to let EU users make reports under a new set of pan-EU content moderation and governance rules, called the Digital Services Act (DSA) — which carries major penalties for infringements (of up to 6% of global annual turnover).<\/p>\n As such, there are a number of steps involved in making this type of report (and it’s a bit more long-winded than the direct reporting options) — including needing to provide some contact details; specifying which EU country’s laws the content being reported is breaching; and picking from a list of 14 options presented under the “legal reason” drop-down menu — which includes the aforementioned option to report “negative effects on civic discourse or elections” (which should cover reports concerning political misinformation).<\/p>\n The DSA form also offers a free text field where users can “provide more details about what’s happening”:<\/p>\n Screengrab: Natasha Lomas\/TechCrunch<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n This “report EU illegal content” option means that even though X has removed a direct option to report misleading political info in the main “report post” menu it has technically — since the end of last month when the DSA came into force for larger platforms such as X — expanded the ability to report this type of content to all users in the EU (i.e. not just Spain).<\/p>\n Although it remains to be seen how the platform will handle reports of illegal content it receives from EU users. (Notably, for example, X is facing several legal procedures in Germany<\/a> where it’s been accused of failing to comply with German speech laws<\/a> requiring it to take down illegal hate speech. So it may seek to limit how it acts on users reports of posts with “negative effects” on civic discourse or elections — but will need to justify its response to EU regulators with the risk of big fines if it strikes the wrong balance.)<\/p>\n X under Musk is clearly only providing the option for EU users to report political misinformation in response to the new pan-EU law — which regulates how platforms must respond to certain types of problematic content, including by providing users with the ability to make reports.<\/p>\n The DSA also requires larger platforms, including X, to assess and mitigate systemic risks — which includes disinformation. So it has a legal duty not to prevent or ignore user reports.<\/p>\n Countries and regions that don’t have comparable legal requirements to the EU’s DSA — such as the US — are, perhaps unsurprisingly (given Musk’s penchant for painting himself as a champion of free speech), no longer being provided with any direct option on X to report political misinformation.<\/p>\n Albeit, the lack of any obvious way for X users outside the EU to report election-related misinformation (at least) does look out of step with the policies Musk’s company claims it’s applying.<\/p>\n We emailed X’s press office regarding the removal of a direct option for users to report misleading information about politics, asking how the move squares with its wider claims to be investing in election integrity (repeated by CEO Linda Yaccarino in an interview with the Financial Times<\/a> today) — but the company did not engage with our questions — just firing out its latest empty auto-reply which states: “Busy now, check back later.”<\/p>\n\n X (formerly Twitter) is worst for disinformation, per EU analysis<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n\n Europe names 19 platforms that must report algorithmic risks under DSA<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" X (formerly Twitter) appears to have removed an option that allowed users in a handful of markets to directly report misleading information about politics. An Australian digital research group called Reset.Australia spotted the change and posted an open letter (via the Guardian), addressed to X’s country manager, in which it writes: A recent change to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39990176,"featured_media":2606370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"26a2ea83-eeff-30ec-8985-93e5f54cdba6","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-27T13:26:34Z","apple_news_api_id":"932a2100-cb73-46a7-9c1d-4e3eb8848cc2","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-27T13:28:30Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AkyohAMtzRqecHU4-uISMwg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577065682,577055593],"tags":[576598484,577193903,577193904],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[577037502,577037503],"yoast_head":"\nElon Musk's X removes general option to report misleading info about politics | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
As noted above the option for X users to report account impersonation is present — and could serve for reporting candidate or political party impersonation — but there’s no direct way for users in Australia to report posts that seek to interfere with the election at present.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the scale of disinformation on X also appears to be getting worse under Musk.<\/p>\n
Yesterday the European Union reported on pilot research conducted by participants in its Code of Practice on tackling disinformation that found X’s platform to have the worst ratio of disinformation\/misinformation posts<\/a> to other major platforms in three EU Member States.<\/p>\n A NewsGuard\u00a0report<\/a> also found that Musk’s decision to remove labels denoting state-run or government-affiliated media accounts led to a surge in Russian, Chinese and Iranian propaganda — aka, the sort of disinformation that’s often aimed at democratic elections.<\/p>\n One curve ball here is that Musk has actually expanded<\/em> election misinformation reporting options — but only for users in the EU (a bloc of countries which includes Spain, where it has also removed the direct option to report misleading info about politics from the main “report post” menu).<\/p>\n So while X users in Spain (i.e. inside the EU) no longer see that direct political misinformation reporting option when they click on “report post” they do see an additional option at the top level of the menu — to “report EU illegal content” — where they are able to report election misinformation or other types of “negative effects” on civic discourse.<\/p>\n This recently added reporting is intended to let EU users make reports under a new set of pan-EU content moderation and governance rules, called the Digital Services Act (DSA) — which carries major penalties for infringements (of up to 6% of global annual turnover).<\/p>\n As such, there are a number of steps involved in making this type of report (and it’s a bit more long-winded than the direct reporting options) — including needing to provide some contact details; specifying which EU country’s laws the content being reported is breaching; and picking from a list of 14 options presented under the “legal reason” drop-down menu — which includes the aforementioned option to report “negative effects on civic discourse or elections” (which should cover reports concerning political misinformation).<\/p>\n The DSA form also offers a free text field where users can “provide more details about what’s happening”:<\/p>\n Screengrab: Natasha Lomas\/TechCrunch<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n This “report EU illegal content” option means that even though X has removed a direct option to report misleading political info in the main “report post” menu it has technically — since the end of last month when the DSA came into force for larger platforms such as X — expanded the ability to report this type of content to all users in the EU (i.e. not just Spain).<\/p>\n Although it remains to be seen how the platform will handle reports of illegal content it receives from EU users. (Notably, for example, X is facing several legal procedures in Germany<\/a> where it’s been accused of failing to comply with German speech laws<\/a> requiring it to take down illegal hate speech. So it may seek to limit how it acts on users reports of posts with “negative effects” on civic discourse or elections — but will need to justify its response to EU regulators with the risk of big fines if it strikes the wrong balance.)<\/p>\n X under Musk is clearly only providing the option for EU users to report political misinformation in response to the new pan-EU law — which regulates how platforms must respond to certain types of problematic content, including by providing users with the ability to make reports.<\/p>\n The DSA also requires larger platforms, including X, to assess and mitigate systemic risks — which includes disinformation. So it has a legal duty not to prevent or ignore user reports.<\/p>\n Countries and regions that don’t have comparable legal requirements to the EU’s DSA — such as the US — are, perhaps unsurprisingly (given Musk’s penchant for painting himself as a champion of free speech), no longer being provided with any direct option on X to report political misinformation.<\/p>\n Albeit, the lack of any obvious way for X users outside the EU to report election-related misinformation (at least) does look out of step with the policies Musk’s company claims it’s applying.<\/p>\n We emailed X’s press office regarding the removal of a direct option for users to report misleading information about politics, asking how the move squares with its wider claims to be investing in election integrity (repeated by CEO Linda Yaccarino in an interview with the Financial Times<\/a> today) — but the company did not engage with our questions — just firing out its latest empty auto-reply which states: “Busy now, check back later.”<\/p>\n\n X (formerly Twitter) is worst for disinformation, per EU analysis<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n\n Europe names 19 platforms that must report algorithmic risks under DSA<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" X (formerly Twitter) appears to have removed an option that allowed users in a handful of markets to directly report misleading information about politics. An Australian digital research group called Reset.Australia spotted the change and posted an open letter (via the Guardian), addressed to X’s country manager, in which it writes: A recent change to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39990176,"featured_media":2606370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"26a2ea83-eeff-30ec-8985-93e5f54cdba6","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-27T13:26:34Z","apple_news_api_id":"932a2100-cb73-46a7-9c1d-4e3eb8848cc2","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-27T13:28:30Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AkyohAMtzRqecHU4-uISMwg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577065682,577055593],"tags":[576598484,577193903,577193904],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[577037502,577037503],"yoast_head":"\nElon Musk's X removes general option to report misleading info about politics | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
A NewsGuard\u00a0report<\/a> also found that Musk’s decision to remove labels denoting state-run or government-affiliated media accounts led to a surge in Russian, Chinese and Iranian propaganda — aka, the sort of disinformation that’s often aimed at democratic elections.<\/p>\n One curve ball here is that Musk has actually expanded<\/em> election misinformation reporting options — but only for users in the EU (a bloc of countries which includes Spain, where it has also removed the direct option to report misleading info about politics from the main “report post” menu).<\/p>\n So while X users in Spain (i.e. inside the EU) no longer see that direct political misinformation reporting option when they click on “report post” they do see an additional option at the top level of the menu — to “report EU illegal content” — where they are able to report election misinformation or other types of “negative effects” on civic discourse.<\/p>\n This recently added reporting is intended to let EU users make reports under a new set of pan-EU content moderation and governance rules, called the Digital Services Act (DSA) — which carries major penalties for infringements (of up to 6% of global annual turnover).<\/p>\n As such, there are a number of steps involved in making this type of report (and it’s a bit more long-winded than the direct reporting options) — including needing to provide some contact details; specifying which EU country’s laws the content being reported is breaching; and picking from a list of 14 options presented under the “legal reason” drop-down menu — which includes the aforementioned option to report “negative effects on civic discourse or elections” (which should cover reports concerning political misinformation).<\/p>\n The DSA form also offers a free text field where users can “provide more details about what’s happening”:<\/p>\n Screengrab: Natasha Lomas\/TechCrunch<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n This “report EU illegal content” option means that even though X has removed a direct option to report misleading political info in the main “report post” menu it has technically — since the end of last month when the DSA came into force for larger platforms such as X — expanded the ability to report this type of content to all users in the EU (i.e. not just Spain).<\/p>\n Although it remains to be seen how the platform will handle reports of illegal content it receives from EU users. (Notably, for example, X is facing several legal procedures in Germany<\/a> where it’s been accused of failing to comply with German speech laws<\/a> requiring it to take down illegal hate speech. So it may seek to limit how it acts on users reports of posts with “negative effects” on civic discourse or elections — but will need to justify its response to EU regulators with the risk of big fines if it strikes the wrong balance.)<\/p>\n X under Musk is clearly only providing the option for EU users to report political misinformation in response to the new pan-EU law — which regulates how platforms must respond to certain types of problematic content, including by providing users with the ability to make reports.<\/p>\n The DSA also requires larger platforms, including X, to assess and mitigate systemic risks — which includes disinformation. So it has a legal duty not to prevent or ignore user reports.<\/p>\n Countries and regions that don’t have comparable legal requirements to the EU’s DSA — such as the US — are, perhaps unsurprisingly (given Musk’s penchant for painting himself as a champion of free speech), no longer being provided with any direct option on X to report political misinformation.<\/p>\n Albeit, the lack of any obvious way for X users outside the EU to report election-related misinformation (at least) does look out of step with the policies Musk’s company claims it’s applying.<\/p>\n We emailed X’s press office regarding the removal of a direct option for users to report misleading information about politics, asking how the move squares with its wider claims to be investing in election integrity (repeated by CEO Linda Yaccarino in an interview with the Financial Times<\/a> today) — but the company did not engage with our questions — just firing out its latest empty auto-reply which states: “Busy now, check back later.”<\/p>\n\n X (formerly Twitter) is worst for disinformation, per EU analysis<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n\n Europe names 19 platforms that must report algorithmic risks under DSA<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" X (formerly Twitter) appears to have removed an option that allowed users in a handful of markets to directly report misleading information about politics. An Australian digital research group called Reset.Australia spotted the change and posted an open letter (via the Guardian), addressed to X’s country manager, in which it writes: A recent change to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39990176,"featured_media":2606370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"26a2ea83-eeff-30ec-8985-93e5f54cdba6","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-27T13:26:34Z","apple_news_api_id":"932a2100-cb73-46a7-9c1d-4e3eb8848cc2","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-27T13:28:30Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AkyohAMtzRqecHU4-uISMwg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577065682,577055593],"tags":[576598484,577193903,577193904],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[577037502,577037503],"yoast_head":"\nElon Musk's X removes general option to report misleading info about politics | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
One curve ball here is that Musk has actually expanded<\/em> election misinformation reporting options — but only for users in the EU (a bloc of countries which includes Spain, where it has also removed the direct option to report misleading info about politics from the main “report post” menu).<\/p>\n So while X users in Spain (i.e. inside the EU) no longer see that direct political misinformation reporting option when they click on “report post” they do see an additional option at the top level of the menu — to “report EU illegal content” — where they are able to report election misinformation or other types of “negative effects” on civic discourse.<\/p>\n This recently added reporting is intended to let EU users make reports under a new set of pan-EU content moderation and governance rules, called the Digital Services Act (DSA) — which carries major penalties for infringements (of up to 6% of global annual turnover).<\/p>\n As such, there are a number of steps involved in making this type of report (and it’s a bit more long-winded than the direct reporting options) — including needing to provide some contact details; specifying which EU country’s laws the content being reported is breaching; and picking from a list of 14 options presented under the “legal reason” drop-down menu — which includes the aforementioned option to report “negative effects on civic discourse or elections” (which should cover reports concerning political misinformation).<\/p>\n The DSA form also offers a free text field where users can “provide more details about what’s happening”:<\/p>\n Screengrab: Natasha Lomas\/TechCrunch<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n This “report EU illegal content” option means that even though X has removed a direct option to report misleading political info in the main “report post” menu it has technically — since the end of last month when the DSA came into force for larger platforms such as X — expanded the ability to report this type of content to all users in the EU (i.e. not just Spain).<\/p>\n Although it remains to be seen how the platform will handle reports of illegal content it receives from EU users. (Notably, for example, X is facing several legal procedures in Germany<\/a> where it’s been accused of failing to comply with German speech laws<\/a> requiring it to take down illegal hate speech. So it may seek to limit how it acts on users reports of posts with “negative effects” on civic discourse or elections — but will need to justify its response to EU regulators with the risk of big fines if it strikes the wrong balance.)<\/p>\n X under Musk is clearly only providing the option for EU users to report political misinformation in response to the new pan-EU law — which regulates how platforms must respond to certain types of problematic content, including by providing users with the ability to make reports.<\/p>\n The DSA also requires larger platforms, including X, to assess and mitigate systemic risks — which includes disinformation. So it has a legal duty not to prevent or ignore user reports.<\/p>\n Countries and regions that don’t have comparable legal requirements to the EU’s DSA — such as the US — are, perhaps unsurprisingly (given Musk’s penchant for painting himself as a champion of free speech), no longer being provided with any direct option on X to report political misinformation.<\/p>\n Albeit, the lack of any obvious way for X users outside the EU to report election-related misinformation (at least) does look out of step with the policies Musk’s company claims it’s applying.<\/p>\n We emailed X’s press office regarding the removal of a direct option for users to report misleading information about politics, asking how the move squares with its wider claims to be investing in election integrity (repeated by CEO Linda Yaccarino in an interview with the Financial Times<\/a> today) — but the company did not engage with our questions — just firing out its latest empty auto-reply which states: “Busy now, check back later.”<\/p>\n\n X (formerly Twitter) is worst for disinformation, per EU analysis<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n\n Europe names 19 platforms that must report algorithmic risks under DSA<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" X (formerly Twitter) appears to have removed an option that allowed users in a handful of markets to directly report misleading information about politics. An Australian digital research group called Reset.Australia spotted the change and posted an open letter (via the Guardian), addressed to X’s country manager, in which it writes: A recent change to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39990176,"featured_media":2606370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"26a2ea83-eeff-30ec-8985-93e5f54cdba6","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-27T13:26:34Z","apple_news_api_id":"932a2100-cb73-46a7-9c1d-4e3eb8848cc2","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-27T13:28:30Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AkyohAMtzRqecHU4-uISMwg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577065682,577055593],"tags":[576598484,577193903,577193904],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[577037502,577037503],"yoast_head":"\nElon Musk's X removes general option to report misleading info about politics | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
So while X users in Spain (i.e. inside the EU) no longer see that direct political misinformation reporting option when they click on “report post” they do see an additional option at the top level of the menu — to “report EU illegal content” — where they are able to report election misinformation or other types of “negative effects” on civic discourse.<\/p>\n
This recently added reporting is intended to let EU users make reports under a new set of pan-EU content moderation and governance rules, called the Digital Services Act (DSA) — which carries major penalties for infringements (of up to 6% of global annual turnover).<\/p>\n
As such, there are a number of steps involved in making this type of report (and it’s a bit more long-winded than the direct reporting options) — including needing to provide some contact details; specifying which EU country’s laws the content being reported is breaching; and picking from a list of 14 options presented under the “legal reason” drop-down menu — which includes the aforementioned option to report “negative effects on civic discourse or elections” (which should cover reports concerning political misinformation).<\/p>\n
The DSA form also offers a free text field where users can “provide more details about what’s happening”:<\/p>\n
Screengrab: Natasha Lomas\/TechCrunch<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n This “report EU illegal content” option means that even though X has removed a direct option to report misleading political info in the main “report post” menu it has technically — since the end of last month when the DSA came into force for larger platforms such as X — expanded the ability to report this type of content to all users in the EU (i.e. not just Spain).<\/p>\n Although it remains to be seen how the platform will handle reports of illegal content it receives from EU users. (Notably, for example, X is facing several legal procedures in Germany<\/a> where it’s been accused of failing to comply with German speech laws<\/a> requiring it to take down illegal hate speech. So it may seek to limit how it acts on users reports of posts with “negative effects” on civic discourse or elections — but will need to justify its response to EU regulators with the risk of big fines if it strikes the wrong balance.)<\/p>\n X under Musk is clearly only providing the option for EU users to report political misinformation in response to the new pan-EU law — which regulates how platforms must respond to certain types of problematic content, including by providing users with the ability to make reports.<\/p>\n The DSA also requires larger platforms, including X, to assess and mitigate systemic risks — which includes disinformation. So it has a legal duty not to prevent or ignore user reports.<\/p>\n Countries and regions that don’t have comparable legal requirements to the EU’s DSA — such as the US — are, perhaps unsurprisingly (given Musk’s penchant for painting himself as a champion of free speech), no longer being provided with any direct option on X to report political misinformation.<\/p>\n Albeit, the lack of any obvious way for X users outside the EU to report election-related misinformation (at least) does look out of step with the policies Musk’s company claims it’s applying.<\/p>\n We emailed X’s press office regarding the removal of a direct option for users to report misleading information about politics, asking how the move squares with its wider claims to be investing in election integrity (repeated by CEO Linda Yaccarino in an interview with the Financial Times<\/a> today) — but the company did not engage with our questions — just firing out its latest empty auto-reply which states: “Busy now, check back later.”<\/p>\n\n X (formerly Twitter) is worst for disinformation, per EU analysis<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n\n Europe names 19 platforms that must report algorithmic risks under DSA<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" X (formerly Twitter) appears to have removed an option that allowed users in a handful of markets to directly report misleading information about politics. An Australian digital research group called Reset.Australia spotted the change and posted an open letter (via the Guardian), addressed to X’s country manager, in which it writes: A recent change to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39990176,"featured_media":2606370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"26a2ea83-eeff-30ec-8985-93e5f54cdba6","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-27T13:26:34Z","apple_news_api_id":"932a2100-cb73-46a7-9c1d-4e3eb8848cc2","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-27T13:28:30Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AkyohAMtzRqecHU4-uISMwg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577065682,577055593],"tags":[576598484,577193903,577193904],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[577037502,577037503],"yoast_head":"\nElon Musk's X removes general option to report misleading info about politics | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Screengrab: Natasha Lomas\/TechCrunch<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n
This “report EU illegal content” option means that even though X has removed a direct option to report misleading political info in the main “report post” menu it has technically — since the end of last month when the DSA came into force for larger platforms such as X — expanded the ability to report this type of content to all users in the EU (i.e. not just Spain).<\/p>\n
Although it remains to be seen how the platform will handle reports of illegal content it receives from EU users. (Notably, for example, X is facing several legal procedures in Germany<\/a> where it’s been accused of failing to comply with German speech laws<\/a> requiring it to take down illegal hate speech. So it may seek to limit how it acts on users reports of posts with “negative effects” on civic discourse or elections — but will need to justify its response to EU regulators with the risk of big fines if it strikes the wrong balance.)<\/p>\n X under Musk is clearly only providing the option for EU users to report political misinformation in response to the new pan-EU law — which regulates how platforms must respond to certain types of problematic content, including by providing users with the ability to make reports.<\/p>\n The DSA also requires larger platforms, including X, to assess and mitigate systemic risks — which includes disinformation. So it has a legal duty not to prevent or ignore user reports.<\/p>\n Countries and regions that don’t have comparable legal requirements to the EU’s DSA — such as the US — are, perhaps unsurprisingly (given Musk’s penchant for painting himself as a champion of free speech), no longer being provided with any direct option on X to report political misinformation.<\/p>\n Albeit, the lack of any obvious way for X users outside the EU to report election-related misinformation (at least) does look out of step with the policies Musk’s company claims it’s applying.<\/p>\n We emailed X’s press office regarding the removal of a direct option for users to report misleading information about politics, asking how the move squares with its wider claims to be investing in election integrity (repeated by CEO Linda Yaccarino in an interview with the Financial Times<\/a> today) — but the company did not engage with our questions — just firing out its latest empty auto-reply which states: “Busy now, check back later.”<\/p>\n\n X (formerly Twitter) is worst for disinformation, per EU analysis<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n\n Europe names 19 platforms that must report algorithmic risks under DSA<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" X (formerly Twitter) appears to have removed an option that allowed users in a handful of markets to directly report misleading information about politics. An Australian digital research group called Reset.Australia spotted the change and posted an open letter (via the Guardian), addressed to X’s country manager, in which it writes: A recent change to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39990176,"featured_media":2606370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"26a2ea83-eeff-30ec-8985-93e5f54cdba6","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-27T13:26:34Z","apple_news_api_id":"932a2100-cb73-46a7-9c1d-4e3eb8848cc2","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-27T13:28:30Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AkyohAMtzRqecHU4-uISMwg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577065682,577055593],"tags":[576598484,577193903,577193904],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[577037502,577037503],"yoast_head":"\nElon Musk's X removes general option to report misleading info about politics | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
X under Musk is clearly only providing the option for EU users to report political misinformation in response to the new pan-EU law — which regulates how platforms must respond to certain types of problematic content, including by providing users with the ability to make reports.<\/p>\n
The DSA also requires larger platforms, including X, to assess and mitigate systemic risks — which includes disinformation. So it has a legal duty not to prevent or ignore user reports.<\/p>\n
Countries and regions that don’t have comparable legal requirements to the EU’s DSA — such as the US — are, perhaps unsurprisingly (given Musk’s penchant for painting himself as a champion of free speech), no longer being provided with any direct option on X to report political misinformation.<\/p>\n
Albeit, the lack of any obvious way for X users outside the EU to report election-related misinformation (at least) does look out of step with the policies Musk’s company claims it’s applying.<\/p>\n
We emailed X’s press office regarding the removal of a direct option for users to report misleading information about politics, asking how the move squares with its wider claims to be investing in election integrity (repeated by CEO Linda Yaccarino in an interview with the Financial Times<\/a> today) — but the company did not engage with our questions — just firing out its latest empty auto-reply which states: “Busy now, check back later.”<\/p>\n\n X (formerly Twitter) is worst for disinformation, per EU analysis<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n\n Europe names 19 platforms that must report algorithmic risks under DSA<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" X (formerly Twitter) appears to have removed an option that allowed users in a handful of markets to directly report misleading information about politics. An Australian digital research group called Reset.Australia spotted the change and posted an open letter (via the Guardian), addressed to X’s country manager, in which it writes: A recent change to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39990176,"featured_media":2606370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"26a2ea83-eeff-30ec-8985-93e5f54cdba6","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-27T13:26:34Z","apple_news_api_id":"932a2100-cb73-46a7-9c1d-4e3eb8848cc2","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-27T13:28:30Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AkyohAMtzRqecHU4-uISMwg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577065682,577055593],"tags":[576598484,577193903,577193904],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[577037502,577037503],"yoast_head":"\nElon Musk's X removes general option to report misleading info about politics | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
X (formerly Twitter) is worst for disinformation, per EU analysis<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n\n Europe names 19 platforms that must report algorithmic risks under DSA<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" X (formerly Twitter) appears to have removed an option that allowed users in a handful of markets to directly report misleading information about politics. An Australian digital research group called Reset.Australia spotted the change and posted an open letter (via the Guardian), addressed to X’s country manager, in which it writes: A recent change to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39990176,"featured_media":2606370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"26a2ea83-eeff-30ec-8985-93e5f54cdba6","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-27T13:26:34Z","apple_news_api_id":"932a2100-cb73-46a7-9c1d-4e3eb8848cc2","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-27T13:28:30Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AkyohAMtzRqecHU4-uISMwg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577065682,577055593],"tags":[576598484,577193903,577193904],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[577037502,577037503],"yoast_head":"\nElon Musk's X removes general option to report misleading info about politics | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
<\/iframe><\/div>\n\n Europe names 19 platforms that must report algorithmic risks under DSA<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" X (formerly Twitter) appears to have removed an option that allowed users in a handful of markets to directly report misleading information about politics. An Australian digital research group called Reset.Australia spotted the change and posted an open letter (via the Guardian), addressed to X’s country manager, in which it writes: A recent change to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39990176,"featured_media":2606370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"26a2ea83-eeff-30ec-8985-93e5f54cdba6","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-27T13:26:34Z","apple_news_api_id":"932a2100-cb73-46a7-9c1d-4e3eb8848cc2","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-27T13:28:30Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AkyohAMtzRqecHU4-uISMwg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577065682,577055593],"tags":[576598484,577193903,577193904],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[577037502,577037503],"yoast_head":"\nElon Musk's X removes general option to report misleading info about politics | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Europe names 19 platforms that must report algorithmic risks under DSA<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" X (formerly Twitter) appears to have removed an option that allowed users in a handful of markets to directly report misleading information about politics. An Australian digital research group called Reset.Australia spotted the change and posted an open letter (via the Guardian), addressed to X’s country manager, in which it writes: A recent change to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39990176,"featured_media":2606370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"26a2ea83-eeff-30ec-8985-93e5f54cdba6","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-27T13:26:34Z","apple_news_api_id":"932a2100-cb73-46a7-9c1d-4e3eb8848cc2","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-27T13:28:30Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AkyohAMtzRqecHU4-uISMwg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577065682,577055593],"tags":[576598484,577193903,577193904],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[577037502,577037503],"yoast_head":"\nElon Musk's X removes general option to report misleading info about politics | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
<\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" X (formerly Twitter) appears to have removed an option that allowed users in a handful of markets to directly report misleading information about politics. An Australian digital research group called Reset.Australia spotted the change and posted an open letter (via the Guardian), addressed to X’s country manager, in which it writes: A recent change to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39990176,"featured_media":2606370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"26a2ea83-eeff-30ec-8985-93e5f54cdba6","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-27T13:26:34Z","apple_news_api_id":"932a2100-cb73-46a7-9c1d-4e3eb8848cc2","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-27T13:28:30Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AkyohAMtzRqecHU4-uISMwg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577065682,577055593],"tags":[576598484,577193903,577193904],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[577037502,577037503],"yoast_head":"\nElon Musk's X removes general option to report misleading info about politics | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
X (formerly Twitter) appears to have removed an option that allowed users in a handful of markets to directly report misleading information about politics. An Australian digital research group called Reset.Australia spotted the change and posted an open letter (via the Guardian), addressed to X’s country manager, in which it writes: A recent change to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39990176,"featured_media":2606370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"26a2ea83-eeff-30ec-8985-93e5f54cdba6","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-27T13:26:34Z","apple_news_api_id":"932a2100-cb73-46a7-9c1d-4e3eb8848cc2","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-27T13:28:30Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AkyohAMtzRqecHU4-uISMwg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577065682,577055593],"tags":[576598484,577193903,577193904],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[577037502,577037503],"yoast_head":"\nElon Musk's X removes general option to report misleading info about politics | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Natasha is a senior reporter for TechCrunch, joining September 2012, based in Europe. She joined TC after a stint reviewing smartphones for CNET UK and, prior to that, more than five years covering business technology for silicon.com (now folded into TechRepublic), where she focused on mobile and wireless, telecoms & networking, and IT skills issues. She has also freelanced for organisations including The Guardian and the BBC. Natasha holds a First Class degree in English from Cambridge University, and an MA in journalism from Goldsmiths College, University of London.<\/p>","cbAvatar":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/575a81841b1b431463585c830bffd373.jpg.jpg","twitter":"riptari","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users\/39990176"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users"}]}}],"author":[{"id":39990176,"name":"Natasha Lomas","url":"","description":"","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/author\/natasha-lomas\/","slug":"natasha-lomas","avatar_urls":{"24":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/68a02f90ad0a6349a7b852ddce6f93e4?s=24&d=identicon&r=g","48":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/68a02f90ad0a6349a7b852ddce6f93e4?s=48&d=identicon&r=g","96":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/68a02f90ad0a6349a7b852ddce6f93e4?s=96&d=identicon&r=g"},"yoast_head":"\nNatasha Lomas, Author at TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Natasha is a senior reporter for TechCrunch, joining September 2012, based in Europe. She joined TC after a stint reviewing smartphones for CNET UK and, prior to that, more than five years covering business technology for silicon.com (now folded into TechRepublic), where she focused on mobile and wireless, telecoms & networking, and IT skills issues. She has also freelanced for organisations including The Guardian and the BBC. Natasha holds a First Class degree in English from Cambridge University, and an MA in journalism from Goldsmiths College, University of London.<\/p>","cbAvatar":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/575a81841b1b431463585c830bffd373.jpg.jpg","twitter":"riptari","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users\/39990176"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users"}]}}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"id":2606370,"date":"2023-09-27T03:29:54","slug":"full-4","type":"attachment","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2023\/09\/27\/x-limits-report-post-options\/full-4\/","title":{"rendered":"X, formerly Twitter, displaying post reporting options"},"author":39990176,"license":{"source_key":"other","license_key":"other","person":"Natasha Lomas\/TechCrunch","person_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/author\/natasha-lomas\/"},"authors":[39990176],"caption":{"rendered":"
Image credits: Natasha Lomas\/TechCrunch<\/p>\n"},"alt_text":"X, formerly Twitter, displaying post reporting options","media_type":"image","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","media_details":{"width":2195,"height":1569,"file":"2023\/09\/full.jpg","filesize":1947546,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"file":"full.jpg?resize=150,107","width":150,"height":107,"filesize":1947546,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/full.jpg?w=150"},"medium":{"file":"full.jpg?resize=300,214","width":300,"height":214,"filesize":1947546,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/full.jpg?w=300"},"medium_large":{"file":"full.jpg?resize=768,549","width":768,"height":549,"filesize":1947546,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/full.jpg?w=1024"},"large":{"file":"full.jpg?resize=680,486","width":680,"height":486,"filesize":1947546,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/full.jpg?w=680"},"1536x1536":{"file":"full.jpg?resize=1536,1098","width":1536,"height":1098,"filesize":1947546,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/full.jpg?w=1536"},"2048x2048":{"file":"full.jpg?resize=2048,1464","width":2048,"height":1464,"filesize":1947546,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/full.jpg?w=2048"},"tc-social-image":{"file":"full.jpg?resize=1200,858","width":1200,"height":858,"filesize":1947546,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/full.jpg?w=1200"},"guest-author-32":{"file":"full.jpg?resize=32,32","width":32,"height":32,"filesize":1947546,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/full.jpg?w=32&h=32&crop=1"},"guest-author-50":{"file":"full.jpg?resize=50,50","width":50,"height":50,"filesize":1947546,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/full.jpg?w=50&h=50&crop=1"},"guest-author-64":{"file":"full.jpg?resize=64,64","width":64,"height":64,"filesize":1947546,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/full.jpg?w=64&h=64&crop=1"},"guest-author-96":{"file":"full.jpg?resize=96,96","width":96,"height":96,"filesize":1947546,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/full.jpg?w=96&h=96&crop=1"},"guest-author-128":{"file":"full.jpg?resize=128,128","width":128,"height":128,"filesize":1947546,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/full.jpg?w=128&h=128&crop=1"},"concierge-thumb":{"file":"full.jpg?resize=50,36","width":50,"height":36,"filesize":1947546,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/full.jpg?w=50"},"full":{"file":"full.jpg","width":1024,"height":732,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/full.jpg"}},"image_meta":{"aperture":"11","credit":"","camera":"DMC-GX1","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1695813090","copyright":"","focal_length":"14","iso":"3200","shutter_speed":"0.076923076923077","title":"","orientation":"1","keywords":[]}},"source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/full.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2606370"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/attachment"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2606370"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users\/39990176"}]}}],"wp:term":[[{"id":577065682,"description":"Technology is deeply intertwined with government and policy, both being regulated by them and augmenting civic infrastructure like voting, social services, the justice system, and state-funded research, as well as exploring the frontiers of civil rights.","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/category\/government-policy\/","name":"Government & Policy","slug":"government-policy","taxonomy":"category","parent":0,"yoast_head":"\nTech Policy & Government | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n
Walmart is returning to Roblox, but this time with a virtual world where gamers can discover new virtual items and accessories to personalize their experience, not browse or shop items from Walmart itself. The retailer a year ago had launched<\/a> two Walmart-branded experiences on the gaming platform, but came under fire from consumer advocacy groups<\/a> who wanted the games audited for stealth marketing to kids.<\/p>\n Those two virtual worlds, “Walmart Land” and “Universe of Play,” let Roblox players collect new virtual merchandise, play games featuring popular toys and characters, earn toys from a blimp, attend live concerts, win fashion competitions, and more. However, both have since been retired Walmart tells TechCrunch.<\/p>\n The retailer insists that neither of the two prior games were taken down for non-compliance with the U.S. children\u2019s online privacy law, COPPA<\/a>, or the guidelines set forth by the Children\u2019s Advertising Review Unit (CARU), as the consumer advocacy groups had alleged. But the fact that they were flagged for being potentially non-compliant with CARU could have put the games on the FTC’s radar.<\/p>\n “The intent of our presence on Roblox is to continuously innovate,” a Walmart spokesperson, Lea Ciskowski told us. “Taking down some experiences to work on new ones is part of that innovation. Since first launching on Roblox last September, we\u2019ve created several fun and unique experiences. We saw success from Walmart Land and Walmart\u2019s Universe of Play, and both experiences were retired after their planned runs came to an end. Our learnings from both experiences allowed us to create an offering that was even more endemic to the platform with Walmart Discovered,” she added.<\/p>\n In the new experience, “Walmart Discovered,” launched on Tuesday<\/a>, players 13 and up can participate in a nomination system where they can vote on the best games, indie experiences, and virtual items. The experience will also spotlight over 300 Roblox community creators, ranging from those who design virtual fashion items to Roblox experiences. The voting will take place over the next four months, as the Roblox developers and creators monetize their virtual items via sales paid for with Roblox’s virtual currency, Robux.<\/p>\n The world itself is divided into different “departments” including sports, pets, racing, beauty, Town & City, Entertainment, and Trending. In some, players can shop for virtual items for their avatar, while others, like Racing are gamified experiences inspired by other racing games on Roblox.<\/p>\n As users shop the virtual items, they can customize the experience further via features like My Department and My Cart. The former allows users to save virtual items they’ve discovered to revisit and purchase later, while the cart — inspired by Walmart’s own shopping carts — can be unlocked after they nominate and discover more virtual items.<\/p><\/div>\n Walmart says the new experience was designed based on user feedback, where they learned players were seeking easier ways to discover virtual items and Roblox experiences.<\/p>\n Walmart Discover can be played across devices, including PC, Mac, iOS, Android, Amazon devices, Xbox consoles, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Walmart is returning to Roblox, but this time with a virtual world where gamers can discover new virtual items and accessories to personalize their experience, not browse or shop items from Walmart itself. The retailer a year ago had launched two Walmart-branded experiences on the gaming platform, but came under fire from consumer advocacy groups […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":2606434,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"0d47bf8b-1e8c-34ed-855b-027894bcdcfc","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-27T14:04:14Z","apple_news_api_id":"ab14a470-6125-4aad-9e4f-89ddc396be09","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-27T14:04:14Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AqxSkcGElSq2eT4ndw5a-CQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577052802,577052804],"tags":[21080,21,2097093,15387],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nWalmart returns to Roblox after its first games were attacked by consumer advocacy groups | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Those two virtual worlds, “Walmart Land” and “Universe of Play,” let Roblox players collect new virtual merchandise, play games featuring popular toys and characters, earn toys from a blimp, attend live concerts, win fashion competitions, and more. However, both have since been retired Walmart tells TechCrunch.<\/p>\n
The retailer insists that neither of the two prior games were taken down for non-compliance with the U.S. children\u2019s online privacy law, COPPA<\/a>, or the guidelines set forth by the Children\u2019s Advertising Review Unit (CARU), as the consumer advocacy groups had alleged. But the fact that they were flagged for being potentially non-compliant with CARU could have put the games on the FTC’s radar.<\/p>\n “The intent of our presence on Roblox is to continuously innovate,” a Walmart spokesperson, Lea Ciskowski told us. “Taking down some experiences to work on new ones is part of that innovation. Since first launching on Roblox last September, we\u2019ve created several fun and unique experiences. We saw success from Walmart Land and Walmart\u2019s Universe of Play, and both experiences were retired after their planned runs came to an end. Our learnings from both experiences allowed us to create an offering that was even more endemic to the platform with Walmart Discovered,” she added.<\/p>\n In the new experience, “Walmart Discovered,” launched on Tuesday<\/a>, players 13 and up can participate in a nomination system where they can vote on the best games, indie experiences, and virtual items. The experience will also spotlight over 300 Roblox community creators, ranging from those who design virtual fashion items to Roblox experiences. The voting will take place over the next four months, as the Roblox developers and creators monetize their virtual items via sales paid for with Roblox’s virtual currency, Robux.<\/p>\n The world itself is divided into different “departments” including sports, pets, racing, beauty, Town & City, Entertainment, and Trending. In some, players can shop for virtual items for their avatar, while others, like Racing are gamified experiences inspired by other racing games on Roblox.<\/p>\n As users shop the virtual items, they can customize the experience further via features like My Department and My Cart. The former allows users to save virtual items they’ve discovered to revisit and purchase later, while the cart — inspired by Walmart’s own shopping carts — can be unlocked after they nominate and discover more virtual items.<\/p><\/div>\n Walmart says the new experience was designed based on user feedback, where they learned players were seeking easier ways to discover virtual items and Roblox experiences.<\/p>\n Walmart Discover can be played across devices, including PC, Mac, iOS, Android, Amazon devices, Xbox consoles, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Walmart is returning to Roblox, but this time with a virtual world where gamers can discover new virtual items and accessories to personalize their experience, not browse or shop items from Walmart itself. The retailer a year ago had launched two Walmart-branded experiences on the gaming platform, but came under fire from consumer advocacy groups […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":2606434,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"0d47bf8b-1e8c-34ed-855b-027894bcdcfc","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-27T14:04:14Z","apple_news_api_id":"ab14a470-6125-4aad-9e4f-89ddc396be09","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-27T14:04:14Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AqxSkcGElSq2eT4ndw5a-CQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577052802,577052804],"tags":[21080,21,2097093,15387],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nWalmart returns to Roblox after its first games were attacked by consumer advocacy groups | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
“The intent of our presence on Roblox is to continuously innovate,” a Walmart spokesperson, Lea Ciskowski told us. “Taking down some experiences to work on new ones is part of that innovation. Since first launching on Roblox last September, we\u2019ve created several fun and unique experiences. We saw success from Walmart Land and Walmart\u2019s Universe of Play, and both experiences were retired after their planned runs came to an end. Our learnings from both experiences allowed us to create an offering that was even more endemic to the platform with Walmart Discovered,” she added.<\/p>\n
In the new experience, “Walmart Discovered,” launched on Tuesday<\/a>, players 13 and up can participate in a nomination system where they can vote on the best games, indie experiences, and virtual items. The experience will also spotlight over 300 Roblox community creators, ranging from those who design virtual fashion items to Roblox experiences. The voting will take place over the next four months, as the Roblox developers and creators monetize their virtual items via sales paid for with Roblox’s virtual currency, Robux.<\/p>\n The world itself is divided into different “departments” including sports, pets, racing, beauty, Town & City, Entertainment, and Trending. In some, players can shop for virtual items for their avatar, while others, like Racing are gamified experiences inspired by other racing games on Roblox.<\/p>\n As users shop the virtual items, they can customize the experience further via features like My Department and My Cart. The former allows users to save virtual items they’ve discovered to revisit and purchase later, while the cart — inspired by Walmart’s own shopping carts — can be unlocked after they nominate and discover more virtual items.<\/p><\/div>\n Walmart says the new experience was designed based on user feedback, where they learned players were seeking easier ways to discover virtual items and Roblox experiences.<\/p>\n Walmart Discover can be played across devices, including PC, Mac, iOS, Android, Amazon devices, Xbox consoles, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Walmart is returning to Roblox, but this time with a virtual world where gamers can discover new virtual items and accessories to personalize their experience, not browse or shop items from Walmart itself. The retailer a year ago had launched two Walmart-branded experiences on the gaming platform, but came under fire from consumer advocacy groups […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":2606434,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"0d47bf8b-1e8c-34ed-855b-027894bcdcfc","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-27T14:04:14Z","apple_news_api_id":"ab14a470-6125-4aad-9e4f-89ddc396be09","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-27T14:04:14Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AqxSkcGElSq2eT4ndw5a-CQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577052802,577052804],"tags":[21080,21,2097093,15387],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nWalmart returns to Roblox after its first games were attacked by consumer advocacy groups | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
The world itself is divided into different “departments” including sports, pets, racing, beauty, Town & City, Entertainment, and Trending. In some, players can shop for virtual items for their avatar, while others, like Racing are gamified experiences inspired by other racing games on Roblox.<\/p>\n
As users shop the virtual items, they can customize the experience further via features like My Department and My Cart. The former allows users to save virtual items they’ve discovered to revisit and purchase later, while the cart — inspired by Walmart’s own shopping carts — can be unlocked after they nominate and discover more virtual items.<\/p><\/div>\n Walmart says the new experience was designed based on user feedback, where they learned players were seeking easier ways to discover virtual items and Roblox experiences.<\/p>\n Walmart Discover can be played across devices, including PC, Mac, iOS, Android, Amazon devices, Xbox consoles, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Walmart is returning to Roblox, but this time with a virtual world where gamers can discover new virtual items and accessories to personalize their experience, not browse or shop items from Walmart itself. The retailer a year ago had launched two Walmart-branded experiences on the gaming platform, but came under fire from consumer advocacy groups […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":2606434,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"0d47bf8b-1e8c-34ed-855b-027894bcdcfc","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-27T14:04:14Z","apple_news_api_id":"ab14a470-6125-4aad-9e4f-89ddc396be09","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-27T14:04:14Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AqxSkcGElSq2eT4ndw5a-CQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577052802,577052804],"tags":[21080,21,2097093,15387],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nWalmart returns to Roblox after its first games were attacked by consumer advocacy groups | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Walmart says the new experience was designed based on user feedback, where they learned players were seeking easier ways to discover virtual items and Roblox experiences.<\/p>\n
Walmart Discover can be played across devices, including PC, Mac, iOS, Android, Amazon devices, Xbox consoles, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Walmart is returning to Roblox, but this time with a virtual world where gamers can discover new virtual items and accessories to personalize their experience, not browse or shop items from Walmart itself. The retailer a year ago had launched two Walmart-branded experiences on the gaming platform, but came under fire from consumer advocacy groups […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":2606434,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"0d47bf8b-1e8c-34ed-855b-027894bcdcfc","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-27T14:04:14Z","apple_news_api_id":"ab14a470-6125-4aad-9e4f-89ddc396be09","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-27T14:04:14Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AqxSkcGElSq2eT4ndw5a-CQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577052802,577052804],"tags":[21080,21,2097093,15387],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nWalmart returns to Roblox after its first games were attacked by consumer advocacy groups | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Sarah has worked as a reporter for TechCrunch since August 2011. She joined the company after having previously spent over three years at ReadWriteWeb. Prior to her work as a reporter, Sarah worked in I.T. across a number of industries, including banking, retail and software.<\/p>","cbAvatar":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/lwzxxnshgj71bonwbik3.jpg.jpg","twitter":"sarahintampa","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users\/2414667"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users"}]}}],"author":[{"id":2414667,"name":"Sarah Perez","url":"","description":"","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/author\/sarah-perez\/","slug":"sarah-perez","avatar_urls":{"24":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5225bb627e112543aa03bf3b2958be3f?s=24&d=identicon&r=g","48":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5225bb627e112543aa03bf3b2958be3f?s=48&d=identicon&r=g","96":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5225bb627e112543aa03bf3b2958be3f?s=96&d=identicon&r=g"},"yoast_head":"\nSarah Perez, Author at TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Sarah has worked as a reporter for TechCrunch since August 2011. She joined the company after having previously spent over three years at ReadWriteWeb. Prior to her work as a reporter, Sarah worked in I.T. across a number of industries, including banking, retail and software.<\/p>","cbAvatar":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/lwzxxnshgj71bonwbik3.jpg.jpg","twitter":"sarahintampa","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users\/2414667"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users"}]}}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"id":2606434,"date":"2023-09-27T06:53:19","slug":"walmart-discovered-on-roblox","type":"attachment","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2023\/09\/27\/walmart-returns-to-roblox-after-its-first-games-were-attacked-by-consumer-advocacy-groups\/walmart-discovered-on-roblox\/","title":{"rendered":"Walmart-Discovered-on-Roblox"},"author":2414667,"license":{"person":"Walmart on Roblox"},"authors":[2414667],"caption":{"rendered":""},"alt_text":"","media_type":"image","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","media_details":{"width":1600,"height":900,"file":"2023\/09\/Walmart-Discovered-on-Roblox.jpg","filesize":1077913,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"file":"Walmart-Discovered-on-Roblox.jpg?resize=150,84","width":150,"height":84,"filesize":1077913,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Walmart-Discovered-on-Roblox.jpg?w=150"},"medium":{"file":"Walmart-Discovered-on-Roblox.jpg?resize=300,169","width":300,"height":169,"filesize":1077913,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Walmart-Discovered-on-Roblox.jpg?w=300"},"medium_large":{"file":"Walmart-Discovered-on-Roblox.jpg?resize=768,432","width":768,"height":432,"filesize":1077913,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Walmart-Discovered-on-Roblox.jpg?w=1024"},"large":{"file":"Walmart-Discovered-on-Roblox.jpg?resize=680,383","width":680,"height":383,"filesize":1077913,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Walmart-Discovered-on-Roblox.jpg?w=680"},"1536x1536":{"file":"Walmart-Discovered-on-Roblox.jpg?resize=1536,864","width":1536,"height":864,"filesize":1077913,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Walmart-Discovered-on-Roblox.jpg?w=1536"},"tc-social-image":{"file":"Walmart-Discovered-on-Roblox.jpg?resize=1200,675","width":1200,"height":675,"filesize":1077913,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Walmart-Discovered-on-Roblox.jpg?w=1200"},"guest-author-32":{"file":"Walmart-Discovered-on-Roblox.jpg?resize=32,32","width":32,"height":32,"filesize":1077913,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Walmart-Discovered-on-Roblox.jpg?w=32&h=32&crop=1"},"guest-author-50":{"file":"Walmart-Discovered-on-Roblox.jpg?resize=50,50","width":50,"height":50,"filesize":1077913,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Walmart-Discovered-on-Roblox.jpg?w=50&h=50&crop=1"},"guest-author-64":{"file":"Walmart-Discovered-on-Roblox.jpg?resize=64,64","width":64,"height":64,"filesize":1077913,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Walmart-Discovered-on-Roblox.jpg?w=64&h=64&crop=1"},"guest-author-96":{"file":"Walmart-Discovered-on-Roblox.jpg?resize=96,96","width":96,"height":96,"filesize":1077913,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Walmart-Discovered-on-Roblox.jpg?w=96&h=96&crop=1"},"guest-author-128":{"file":"Walmart-Discovered-on-Roblox.jpg?resize=128,128","width":128,"height":128,"filesize":1077913,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Walmart-Discovered-on-Roblox.jpg?w=128&h=128&crop=1"},"concierge-thumb":{"file":"Walmart-Discovered-on-Roblox.jpg?resize=50,28","width":50,"height":28,"filesize":1077913,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Walmart-Discovered-on-Roblox.jpg?w=50"},"full":{"file":"Walmart-Discovered-on-Roblox.jpg","width":1024,"height":576,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Walmart-Discovered-on-Roblox.jpg"}},"image_meta":{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0","keywords":[]}},"source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Walmart-Discovered-on-Roblox.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2606434"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/attachment"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2606434"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users\/2414667"}]}}],"wp:term":[[{"id":577052802,"description":"Retail, online shopping, e-commerce, and social commerce are a huge and ever-changing industry. Our commerce news covers everyone from Amazon, Shopify and Walmart to all the newest and hottest DTC brands, as well as influencers making the shift into selling products online.","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/category\/commerce\/","name":"Commerce","slug":"commerce","taxonomy":"category","parent":0,"yoast_head":"\nCommerce News | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n
Net neutrality is back on the menu, citizens. After a long, long battle<\/a> ending in eventual defeat during Trump’s presidency<\/a>, the FCC is set to reinstate rules that broadband providers must treat all traffic equally, giving no sweetheart deals to business partners or their own services.<\/p>\n The effort to revive this popular rule was announced in a speech<\/a> at the National Press Club by FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, who was one of the original rule’s champions over a decade ago.<\/p>\n Rosenworcel said that broadband is “not a luxury, it’s a necessity,” adding: “It is essential infrastructure for modern life. No-one without it has a fair shot at 21st century success. We need broadband to reach 100% of us, and it needs to be fast, open and fair.”<\/p>\n In a fact sheet shared online<\/a>, Rosenworcel said that the FCC “seeks to largely return to the successful rules the Commission adopted in 2015,” which would classify broadband as essential on a par with water, power and phone service.<\/p>\n As a quick refresher, net neutrality is the principle that internet providers \u2014 mobile or “fixed” like fiber \u2014 should act as simple pipes for data, not performing any analysis or prioritization beyond what is required to ensure good service. Some data must be prioritized due to the way networks function, of course, but it would be wrong (and illegal under net neutrality) for, say, Comcast to throttle the streaming services of its competitors while giving its own an advantage.<\/p>\n Although behavior that egregious was not particularly common, it had occurred, and non-neutral practices were gaining ground rebranded as “zero rating,” ostensibly a special deal for consumers where some streaming services didn’t count toward bandwidth caps.<\/p>\n The FCC passed net neutrality rules in 2015, and the idea that the companies we pay for bandwidth should have nothing to do with what we used that bandwidth for was extremely popular (especially as this was likely broadband companies’ nadir in terms of public opinion). But other parties were not so pleased<\/a> with what they perceived as regulatory overreach.<\/p>\n But with the 2016 election came (as expected) new leadership for the FCC. Tom Wheeler, one of the architects of the net neutrality rule, gave over chairmanship to Ajit Pai<\/a>, who made no secret of his intention to make overturning it a priority.<\/p>\n And overturn it he did, using legal logic that was spurious in the extreme, prompting the drafters of the law he cited to object to his interpretation of it<\/a>. But the deed was done.<\/p>\n\n The FCC’s case against net neutrality rests on a deliberate misrepresentation of how the internet works<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n Since then, a few states have attempted to place net neutrality rules on the books, and some national laws have been proposed as well. But ultimately it seems to have been acknowledged to be a matter for the FCC to decide, as it had done before.<\/p>\n Although Chairwoman Rosenworcel would almost certainly have liked to bring the matter before the Commission earlier, Republicans in the Senate have for years stalled on approving a fifth commissioner. This left the balance of power equal with two per party, dooming any allegedly partisan rulemaking like net neutrality. But with Anna Gomez being sworn in<\/a> as the fifth just today, that obstacle is removed.<\/p>\n Senators Ed Markey and Ron Wyden already noted their support of this endeavor:<\/p>\n\n\n Now that the FCC has a full slate of commissioners, we have the tools to ensure that the Internet is free and accessible. That\u2019s why @RonWyden<\/a> and I are urging the @FCC<\/a> to restore its rightful authority over broadband regulation and reinstate net neutrality protections. pic.twitter.com\/oRdea1uZ5X<\/a><\/p>\n — Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) September 25, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The effort to revive this popular rule was announced in a speech<\/a> at the National Press Club by FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, who was one of the original rule’s champions over a decade ago.<\/p>\n Rosenworcel said that broadband is “not a luxury, it’s a necessity,” adding: “It is essential infrastructure for modern life. No-one without it has a fair shot at 21st century success. We need broadband to reach 100% of us, and it needs to be fast, open and fair.”<\/p>\n In a fact sheet shared online<\/a>, Rosenworcel said that the FCC “seeks to largely return to the successful rules the Commission adopted in 2015,” which would classify broadband as essential on a par with water, power and phone service.<\/p>\n As a quick refresher, net neutrality is the principle that internet providers \u2014 mobile or “fixed” like fiber \u2014 should act as simple pipes for data, not performing any analysis or prioritization beyond what is required to ensure good service. Some data must be prioritized due to the way networks function, of course, but it would be wrong (and illegal under net neutrality) for, say, Comcast to throttle the streaming services of its competitors while giving its own an advantage.<\/p>\n Although behavior that egregious was not particularly common, it had occurred, and non-neutral practices were gaining ground rebranded as “zero rating,” ostensibly a special deal for consumers where some streaming services didn’t count toward bandwidth caps.<\/p>\n The FCC passed net neutrality rules in 2015, and the idea that the companies we pay for bandwidth should have nothing to do with what we used that bandwidth for was extremely popular (especially as this was likely broadband companies’ nadir in terms of public opinion). But other parties were not so pleased<\/a> with what they perceived as regulatory overreach.<\/p>\n But with the 2016 election came (as expected) new leadership for the FCC. Tom Wheeler, one of the architects of the net neutrality rule, gave over chairmanship to Ajit Pai<\/a>, who made no secret of his intention to make overturning it a priority.<\/p>\n And overturn it he did, using legal logic that was spurious in the extreme, prompting the drafters of the law he cited to object to his interpretation of it<\/a>. But the deed was done.<\/p>\n\n The FCC’s case against net neutrality rests on a deliberate misrepresentation of how the internet works<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n Since then, a few states have attempted to place net neutrality rules on the books, and some national laws have been proposed as well. But ultimately it seems to have been acknowledged to be a matter for the FCC to decide, as it had done before.<\/p>\n Although Chairwoman Rosenworcel would almost certainly have liked to bring the matter before the Commission earlier, Republicans in the Senate have for years stalled on approving a fifth commissioner. This left the balance of power equal with two per party, dooming any allegedly partisan rulemaking like net neutrality. But with Anna Gomez being sworn in<\/a> as the fifth just today, that obstacle is removed.<\/p>\n Senators Ed Markey and Ron Wyden already noted their support of this endeavor:<\/p>\n\n\n Now that the FCC has a full slate of commissioners, we have the tools to ensure that the Internet is free and accessible. That\u2019s why @RonWyden<\/a> and I are urging the @FCC<\/a> to restore its rightful authority over broadband regulation and reinstate net neutrality protections. pic.twitter.com\/oRdea1uZ5X<\/a><\/p>\n — Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) September 25, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Rosenworcel said that broadband is “not a luxury, it’s a necessity,” adding: “It is essential infrastructure for modern life. No-one without it has a fair shot at 21st century success. We need broadband to reach 100% of us, and it needs to be fast, open and fair.”<\/p>\n
In a fact sheet shared online<\/a>, Rosenworcel said that the FCC “seeks to largely return to the successful rules the Commission adopted in 2015,” which would classify broadband as essential on a par with water, power and phone service.<\/p>\n As a quick refresher, net neutrality is the principle that internet providers \u2014 mobile or “fixed” like fiber \u2014 should act as simple pipes for data, not performing any analysis or prioritization beyond what is required to ensure good service. Some data must be prioritized due to the way networks function, of course, but it would be wrong (and illegal under net neutrality) for, say, Comcast to throttle the streaming services of its competitors while giving its own an advantage.<\/p>\n Although behavior that egregious was not particularly common, it had occurred, and non-neutral practices were gaining ground rebranded as “zero rating,” ostensibly a special deal for consumers where some streaming services didn’t count toward bandwidth caps.<\/p>\n The FCC passed net neutrality rules in 2015, and the idea that the companies we pay for bandwidth should have nothing to do with what we used that bandwidth for was extremely popular (especially as this was likely broadband companies’ nadir in terms of public opinion). But other parties were not so pleased<\/a> with what they perceived as regulatory overreach.<\/p>\n But with the 2016 election came (as expected) new leadership for the FCC. Tom Wheeler, one of the architects of the net neutrality rule, gave over chairmanship to Ajit Pai<\/a>, who made no secret of his intention to make overturning it a priority.<\/p>\n And overturn it he did, using legal logic that was spurious in the extreme, prompting the drafters of the law he cited to object to his interpretation of it<\/a>. But the deed was done.<\/p>\n\n The FCC’s case against net neutrality rests on a deliberate misrepresentation of how the internet works<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n Since then, a few states have attempted to place net neutrality rules on the books, and some national laws have been proposed as well. But ultimately it seems to have been acknowledged to be a matter for the FCC to decide, as it had done before.<\/p>\n Although Chairwoman Rosenworcel would almost certainly have liked to bring the matter before the Commission earlier, Republicans in the Senate have for years stalled on approving a fifth commissioner. This left the balance of power equal with two per party, dooming any allegedly partisan rulemaking like net neutrality. But with Anna Gomez being sworn in<\/a> as the fifth just today, that obstacle is removed.<\/p>\n Senators Ed Markey and Ron Wyden already noted their support of this endeavor:<\/p>\n\n\n Now that the FCC has a full slate of commissioners, we have the tools to ensure that the Internet is free and accessible. That\u2019s why @RonWyden<\/a> and I are urging the @FCC<\/a> to restore its rightful authority over broadband regulation and reinstate net neutrality protections. pic.twitter.com\/oRdea1uZ5X<\/a><\/p>\n — Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) September 25, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
As a quick refresher, net neutrality is the principle that internet providers \u2014 mobile or “fixed” like fiber \u2014 should act as simple pipes for data, not performing any analysis or prioritization beyond what is required to ensure good service. Some data must be prioritized due to the way networks function, of course, but it would be wrong (and illegal under net neutrality) for, say, Comcast to throttle the streaming services of its competitors while giving its own an advantage.<\/p>\n
Although behavior that egregious was not particularly common, it had occurred, and non-neutral practices were gaining ground rebranded as “zero rating,” ostensibly a special deal for consumers where some streaming services didn’t count toward bandwidth caps.<\/p>\n
The FCC passed net neutrality rules in 2015, and the idea that the companies we pay for bandwidth should have nothing to do with what we used that bandwidth for was extremely popular (especially as this was likely broadband companies’ nadir in terms of public opinion). But other parties were not so pleased<\/a> with what they perceived as regulatory overreach.<\/p>\n But with the 2016 election came (as expected) new leadership for the FCC. Tom Wheeler, one of the architects of the net neutrality rule, gave over chairmanship to Ajit Pai<\/a>, who made no secret of his intention to make overturning it a priority.<\/p>\n And overturn it he did, using legal logic that was spurious in the extreme, prompting the drafters of the law he cited to object to his interpretation of it<\/a>. But the deed was done.<\/p>\n\n The FCC’s case against net neutrality rests on a deliberate misrepresentation of how the internet works<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n Since then, a few states have attempted to place net neutrality rules on the books, and some national laws have been proposed as well. But ultimately it seems to have been acknowledged to be a matter for the FCC to decide, as it had done before.<\/p>\n Although Chairwoman Rosenworcel would almost certainly have liked to bring the matter before the Commission earlier, Republicans in the Senate have for years stalled on approving a fifth commissioner. This left the balance of power equal with two per party, dooming any allegedly partisan rulemaking like net neutrality. But with Anna Gomez being sworn in<\/a> as the fifth just today, that obstacle is removed.<\/p>\n Senators Ed Markey and Ron Wyden already noted their support of this endeavor:<\/p>\n\n\n Now that the FCC has a full slate of commissioners, we have the tools to ensure that the Internet is free and accessible. That\u2019s why @RonWyden<\/a> and I are urging the @FCC<\/a> to restore its rightful authority over broadband regulation and reinstate net neutrality protections. pic.twitter.com\/oRdea1uZ5X<\/a><\/p>\n — Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) September 25, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
But with the 2016 election came (as expected) new leadership for the FCC. Tom Wheeler, one of the architects of the net neutrality rule, gave over chairmanship to Ajit Pai<\/a>, who made no secret of his intention to make overturning it a priority.<\/p>\n And overturn it he did, using legal logic that was spurious in the extreme, prompting the drafters of the law he cited to object to his interpretation of it<\/a>. But the deed was done.<\/p>\n\n The FCC’s case against net neutrality rests on a deliberate misrepresentation of how the internet works<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n Since then, a few states have attempted to place net neutrality rules on the books, and some national laws have been proposed as well. But ultimately it seems to have been acknowledged to be a matter for the FCC to decide, as it had done before.<\/p>\n Although Chairwoman Rosenworcel would almost certainly have liked to bring the matter before the Commission earlier, Republicans in the Senate have for years stalled on approving a fifth commissioner. This left the balance of power equal with two per party, dooming any allegedly partisan rulemaking like net neutrality. But with Anna Gomez being sworn in<\/a> as the fifth just today, that obstacle is removed.<\/p>\n Senators Ed Markey and Ron Wyden already noted their support of this endeavor:<\/p>\n\n\n Now that the FCC has a full slate of commissioners, we have the tools to ensure that the Internet is free and accessible. That\u2019s why @RonWyden<\/a> and I are urging the @FCC<\/a> to restore its rightful authority over broadband regulation and reinstate net neutrality protections. pic.twitter.com\/oRdea1uZ5X<\/a><\/p>\n — Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) September 25, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
And overturn it he did, using legal logic that was spurious in the extreme, prompting the drafters of the law he cited to object to his interpretation of it<\/a>. But the deed was done.<\/p>\n\n The FCC’s case against net neutrality rests on a deliberate misrepresentation of how the internet works<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n Since then, a few states have attempted to place net neutrality rules on the books, and some national laws have been proposed as well. But ultimately it seems to have been acknowledged to be a matter for the FCC to decide, as it had done before.<\/p>\n Although Chairwoman Rosenworcel would almost certainly have liked to bring the matter before the Commission earlier, Republicans in the Senate have for years stalled on approving a fifth commissioner. This left the balance of power equal with two per party, dooming any allegedly partisan rulemaking like net neutrality. But with Anna Gomez being sworn in<\/a> as the fifth just today, that obstacle is removed.<\/p>\n Senators Ed Markey and Ron Wyden already noted their support of this endeavor:<\/p>\n\n\n Now that the FCC has a full slate of commissioners, we have the tools to ensure that the Internet is free and accessible. That\u2019s why @RonWyden<\/a> and I are urging the @FCC<\/a> to restore its rightful authority over broadband regulation and reinstate net neutrality protections. pic.twitter.com\/oRdea1uZ5X<\/a><\/p>\n — Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) September 25, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The FCC’s case against net neutrality rests on a deliberate misrepresentation of how the internet works<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n Since then, a few states have attempted to place net neutrality rules on the books, and some national laws have been proposed as well. But ultimately it seems to have been acknowledged to be a matter for the FCC to decide, as it had done before.<\/p>\n Although Chairwoman Rosenworcel would almost certainly have liked to bring the matter before the Commission earlier, Republicans in the Senate have for years stalled on approving a fifth commissioner. This left the balance of power equal with two per party, dooming any allegedly partisan rulemaking like net neutrality. But with Anna Gomez being sworn in<\/a> as the fifth just today, that obstacle is removed.<\/p>\n Senators Ed Markey and Ron Wyden already noted their support of this endeavor:<\/p>\n\n\n Now that the FCC has a full slate of commissioners, we have the tools to ensure that the Internet is free and accessible. That\u2019s why @RonWyden<\/a> and I are urging the @FCC<\/a> to restore its rightful authority over broadband regulation and reinstate net neutrality protections. pic.twitter.com\/oRdea1uZ5X<\/a><\/p>\n — Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) September 25, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
<\/iframe><\/div>\n Since then, a few states have attempted to place net neutrality rules on the books, and some national laws have been proposed as well. But ultimately it seems to have been acknowledged to be a matter for the FCC to decide, as it had done before.<\/p>\n Although Chairwoman Rosenworcel would almost certainly have liked to bring the matter before the Commission earlier, Republicans in the Senate have for years stalled on approving a fifth commissioner. This left the balance of power equal with two per party, dooming any allegedly partisan rulemaking like net neutrality. But with Anna Gomez being sworn in<\/a> as the fifth just today, that obstacle is removed.<\/p>\n Senators Ed Markey and Ron Wyden already noted their support of this endeavor:<\/p>\n\n\n Now that the FCC has a full slate of commissioners, we have the tools to ensure that the Internet is free and accessible. That\u2019s why @RonWyden<\/a> and I are urging the @FCC<\/a> to restore its rightful authority over broadband regulation and reinstate net neutrality protections. pic.twitter.com\/oRdea1uZ5X<\/a><\/p>\n — Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) September 25, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Since then, a few states have attempted to place net neutrality rules on the books, and some national laws have been proposed as well. But ultimately it seems to have been acknowledged to be a matter for the FCC to decide, as it had done before.<\/p>\n
Although Chairwoman Rosenworcel would almost certainly have liked to bring the matter before the Commission earlier, Republicans in the Senate have for years stalled on approving a fifth commissioner. This left the balance of power equal with two per party, dooming any allegedly partisan rulemaking like net neutrality. But with Anna Gomez being sworn in<\/a> as the fifth just today, that obstacle is removed.<\/p>\n Senators Ed Markey and Ron Wyden already noted their support of this endeavor:<\/p>\n\n\n Now that the FCC has a full slate of commissioners, we have the tools to ensure that the Internet is free and accessible. That\u2019s why @RonWyden<\/a> and I are urging the @FCC<\/a> to restore its rightful authority over broadband regulation and reinstate net neutrality protections. pic.twitter.com\/oRdea1uZ5X<\/a><\/p>\n — Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) September 25, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Senators Ed Markey and Ron Wyden already noted their support of this endeavor:<\/p>\n\n\n Now that the FCC has a full slate of commissioners, we have the tools to ensure that the Internet is free and accessible. That\u2019s why @RonWyden<\/a> and I are urging the @FCC<\/a> to restore its rightful authority over broadband regulation and reinstate net neutrality protections. pic.twitter.com\/oRdea1uZ5X<\/a><\/p>\n — Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) September 25, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Now that the FCC has a full slate of commissioners, we have the tools to ensure that the Internet is free and accessible. That\u2019s why @RonWyden<\/a> and I are urging the @FCC<\/a> to restore its rightful authority over broadband regulation and reinstate net neutrality protections. pic.twitter.com\/oRdea1uZ5X<\/a><\/p>\n — Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) September 25, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
— Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) September 25, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The broadband and mobile industries will likely cry loudly that in the absence of net neutrality rules there has been no serious offense against the principle. But the better explanation for this is that these companies considered themselves on probation following the 2015 order, which given the flimsiness of the legal work overturning it, they knew must come round again.<\/p>\n
Now Rosenworcel, likely armed with an improved order that addresses any loose threads hanging off the last one, is in a fair position to establish net neutrality in a more permanent way. There will be some unpleasantness from dissenting Commissioners \u2014\u00a0Carr already dropped a pre-disputation of the plan ahead of Rosenworcel’s remarks.<\/a> And perhaps some kind of outrage from the political right, which may as it did before cast this (like other initiatives on privacy and accountability from the FCC) as an infringement on the free speech rights of corporations<\/a>. Unfortunately the judge who made that decision, Brett Kavanaugh, is now a Supreme Court Justice. So we may very well see net neutrality climb its way to that high court, where perhaps he will receive a second legal drubbing<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s brutal education in net neutrality<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Net neutrality is back on the menu, citizens. After a long, long battle ending in eventual defeat during Trump’s presidency, the FCC is set to reinstate rules that broadband providers must treat all traffic equally, giving no sweetheart deals to business partners or their own services. The effort to revive this popular rule was announced […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12084691,"featured_media":1576904,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"1c26785d-d58f-3f2f-bc46-4da40185a422","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-26T18:50:21Z","apple_news_api_id":"70dbb4ed-db68-4e3a-b979-46d443c80315","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-26T21:32:18Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AcNu07dtoTjq5eUbUQ8gDFQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577065682],"tags":[34447,38036],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nFCC announces plans to reinstate net neutrality | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s brutal education in net neutrality<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Net neutrality is back on the menu, citizens. After a long, long battle ending in eventual defeat during Trump’s presidency, the FCC is set to reinstate rules that broadband providers must treat all traffic equally, giving no sweetheart deals to business partners or their own services. The effort to revive this popular rule was announced […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12084691,"featured_media":1576904,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"1c26785d-d58f-3f2f-bc46-4da40185a422","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-26T18:50:21Z","apple_news_api_id":"70dbb4ed-db68-4e3a-b979-46d443c80315","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-26T21:32:18Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AcNu07dtoTjq5eUbUQ8gDFQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577065682],"tags":[34447,38036],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nFCC announces plans to reinstate net neutrality | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
<\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Net neutrality is back on the menu, citizens. After a long, long battle ending in eventual defeat during Trump’s presidency, the FCC is set to reinstate rules that broadband providers must treat all traffic equally, giving no sweetheart deals to business partners or their own services. The effort to revive this popular rule was announced […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12084691,"featured_media":1576904,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"1c26785d-d58f-3f2f-bc46-4da40185a422","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-26T18:50:21Z","apple_news_api_id":"70dbb4ed-db68-4e3a-b979-46d443c80315","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-26T21:32:18Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AcNu07dtoTjq5eUbUQ8gDFQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577065682],"tags":[34447,38036],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nFCC announces plans to reinstate net neutrality | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Net neutrality is back on the menu, citizens. After a long, long battle ending in eventual defeat during Trump’s presidency, the FCC is set to reinstate rules that broadband providers must treat all traffic equally, giving no sweetheart deals to business partners or their own services. The effort to revive this popular rule was announced […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12084691,"featured_media":1576904,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"1c26785d-d58f-3f2f-bc46-4da40185a422","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-26T18:50:21Z","apple_news_api_id":"70dbb4ed-db68-4e3a-b979-46d443c80315","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-26T21:32:18Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AcNu07dtoTjq5eUbUQ8gDFQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577065682],"tags":[34447,38036],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nFCC announces plans to reinstate net neutrality | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Devin Coldewey is a Seattle-based writer and photographer. He first wrote for TechCrunch in 2007. He has also written for MSNBC.com, NBC News, DPReview, The Economist\/GE's Look Ahead, and others.<\/p>\n\n
His personal website is coldewey.cc.<\/p>","cbAvatar":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/r4iwkrm6qsw3n2ximghe.jpg.jpg","twitter":"techcrunch","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users\/12084691"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users"}]}}],"author":[{"id":12084691,"name":"Devin Coldewey","url":"https:\/\/coldewey.cc","description":"","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/author\/devin-coldewey\/","slug":"devin-coldewey","avatar_urls":{"24":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/69fae9a8a3933fa91e81c086b8eee14a?s=24&d=identicon&r=g","48":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/69fae9a8a3933fa91e81c086b8eee14a?s=48&d=identicon&r=g","96":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/69fae9a8a3933fa91e81c086b8eee14a?s=96&d=identicon&r=g"},"yoast_head":"\nDevin Coldewey, Author at TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Devin Coldewey is a Seattle-based writer and photographer. He first wrote for TechCrunch in 2007. He has also written for MSNBC.com, NBC News, DPReview, The Economist\/GE's Look Ahead, and others.<\/p>\n\n
His personal website is coldewey.cc.<\/p>","cbAvatar":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/r4iwkrm6qsw3n2ximghe.jpg.jpg","twitter":"techcrunch","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users\/12084691"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users"}]}}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"id":1576904,"date":"2017-12-11T14:11:36","slug":"fcc-net-neutrality-splash","type":"attachment","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/?attachment_id=1576904","title":{"rendered":"fcc n-n splash"},"author":24893112,"license":{"source_key":"other","source":"TechCrunch","person":"Bryce Durbin"},"authors":[24893112],"caption":{"rendered":"
FCC net neutrality<\/p>\n"},"alt_text":"FCC net neutrality","media_type":"image","mime_type":"image\/png","media_details":{"width":2340,"height":1224,"file":"2017\/12\/fcc-net-neutrality-splash.png","sizes":{"thumbnail":{"file":"fcc-net-neutrality-splash.png?resize=150,78","width":150,"height":78,"filesize":378245,"mime_type":"image\/png","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/fcc-net-neutrality-splash.png?w=150"},"medium":{"file":"fcc-net-neutrality-splash.png?resize=300,157","width":300,"height":157,"filesize":378245,"mime_type":"image\/png","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/fcc-net-neutrality-splash.png?w=300"},"medium_large":{"file":"fcc-net-neutrality-splash.png?resize=768,402","width":768,"height":402,"filesize":378245,"mime_type":"image\/png","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/fcc-net-neutrality-splash.png?w=1024"},"large":{"file":"fcc-net-neutrality-splash.png?resize=680,356","width":680,"height":356,"filesize":378245,"mime_type":"image\/png","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/fcc-net-neutrality-splash.png?w=680"},"1536x1536":{"file":"fcc-net-neutrality-splash.png?resize=1536,803","width":1536,"height":803,"filesize":378245,"mime_type":"image\/png","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/fcc-net-neutrality-splash.png?w=1536"},"2048x2048":{"file":"fcc-net-neutrality-splash.png?resize=2048,1071","width":2048,"height":1071,"filesize":378245,"mime_type":"image\/png","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/fcc-net-neutrality-splash.png?w=2048"},"tc-social-image":{"file":"fcc-net-neutrality-splash.png?resize=1200,628","width":1200,"height":628,"filesize":378245,"mime_type":"image\/png","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/fcc-net-neutrality-splash.png?w=1200"},"guest-author-32":{"file":"fcc-net-neutrality-splash.png?resize=32,32","width":32,"height":32,"filesize":378245,"mime_type":"image\/png","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/fcc-net-neutrality-splash.png?w=32&h=32&crop=1"},"guest-author-50":{"file":"fcc-net-neutrality-splash.png?resize=50,50","width":50,"height":50,"filesize":378245,"mime_type":"image\/png","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/fcc-net-neutrality-splash.png?w=50&h=50&crop=1"},"guest-author-64":{"file":"fcc-net-neutrality-splash.png?resize=64,64","width":64,"height":64,"filesize":378245,"mime_type":"image\/png","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/fcc-net-neutrality-splash.png?w=64&h=64&crop=1"},"guest-author-96":{"file":"fcc-net-neutrality-splash.png?resize=96,96","width":96,"height":96,"filesize":378245,"mime_type":"image\/png","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/fcc-net-neutrality-splash.png?w=96&h=96&crop=1"},"guest-author-128":{"file":"fcc-net-neutrality-splash.png?resize=128,128","width":128,"height":128,"filesize":378245,"mime_type":"image\/png","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/fcc-net-neutrality-splash.png?w=128&h=128&crop=1"},"concierge-thumb":{"file":"fcc-net-neutrality-splash.png?resize=50,26","width":50,"height":26,"filesize":378245,"mime_type":"image\/png","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/fcc-net-neutrality-splash.png?w=50"},"full":{"file":"fcc-net-neutrality-splash.png","width":1024,"height":536,"mime_type":"image\/png","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/fcc-net-neutrality-splash.png"}},"image_meta":{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0","keywords":[]},"filesize":378245},"source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/fcc-net-neutrality-splash.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1576904"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/attachment"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1576904"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users\/24893112"}]}}],"wp:term":[[{"id":577065682,"description":"Technology is deeply intertwined with government and policy, both being regulated by them and augmenting civic infrastructure like voting, social services, the justice system, and state-funded research, as well as exploring the frontiers of civil rights.","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/category\/government-policy\/","name":"Government & Policy","slug":"government-policy","taxonomy":"category","parent":0,"yoast_head":"\nTech Policy & Government | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n
Google has announced the launch of its earthquake alert system for Android devices in India. The system uses smartphone sensors such as accelerators, which can act as small seismometers and detect tremors.<\/p>\n
The company on Wednesday said the system, developed with consultation from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the National Seismology Center (NSC), will provide early earthquake alerts for Android users in an area that’s likely to be impacted. These alerts will be available in local Indian languages supported by Android.<\/p>\n
The company sends two types of alerts: Be Aware and Take Action. The “Be Aware” alerts are sent to users exercising MMI 3 & 4 shaking during an earthquake of magnitude 4.5 or greater. It just shows an alert on your screen and doesn’t play any sound if your phone is on Do Not Disturb mode or in silent mode.<\/p>\n
\nhttps:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Asset1_nocaptions_1.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div><\/p>\n Google said that the alerts are sent to users experiencing MMI 5+ shaking during an earthquake of 4.5 magnitude. In this case, the alert will bypass system’s notification settings, including Do No Disturb, and play a loud sound.<\/p>\n The alert also suggests to users what action \u2014 such as taking cover under a table \u2014 they can take for safety.<\/p>\n Google said it detects a potential earthquake through many Android phones noting a seismic activity in an area. The company claims that alerts often reach many seconds before shaking.<\/p><\/div>\n In 2020, Google introduced Android Earthquake Alerts for people in California<\/a>. Users should be using a phone with Android 5 or later and have Wi-Fi or cellular data connectivity. To get earthquake alerts, users also need to have the location settings enabled on their devices.<\/p>\n Users can start getting earthquake alerts by going through Settings > Safety & emergency\u00a0 Earthquake alerts<\/em>. Alternatively, they can also enable earthquake alerts through Settings > Location > Advanced > Earthquake alerts<\/em>.<\/p>\n Google already issues AI-powered flood alerts to all Indian regions<\/a>. The company began the flood alert pilot<\/a> in Patna, the capital of the Indian state of Bihar, in 2018. Later, it expanded flood alerts to all of India in 2020.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Google has announced the launch of its earthquake alert system for Android devices in India. The system uses smartphone sensors such as accelerators, which can act as small seismometers and detect tremors. The company on Wednesday said the system, developed with consultation from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the National Seismology Center (NSC), […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574557,"featured_media":2491362,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"97e04a15-8d20-3b02-9113-8471b5580db8","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-27T06:54:50Z","apple_news_api_id":"600d2311-3f39-494c-a996-08b96e6e481a","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-27T06:54:50Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AYA0jET85SUyplgi5bm5IGg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577051039,576957003],"tags":[641922,576885798,43760,81,3054],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[577037498],"yoast_head":"\nGoogle launches earthquake alerts on Android in India | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Google said that the alerts are sent to users experiencing MMI 5+ shaking during an earthquake of 4.5 magnitude. In this case, the alert will bypass system’s notification settings, including Do No Disturb, and play a loud sound.<\/p>\n
The alert also suggests to users what action \u2014 such as taking cover under a table \u2014 they can take for safety.<\/p>\n
Google said it detects a potential earthquake through many Android phones noting a seismic activity in an area. The company claims that alerts often reach many seconds before shaking.<\/p><\/div>\n In 2020, Google introduced Android Earthquake Alerts for people in California<\/a>. Users should be using a phone with Android 5 or later and have Wi-Fi or cellular data connectivity. To get earthquake alerts, users also need to have the location settings enabled on their devices.<\/p>\n Users can start getting earthquake alerts by going through Settings > Safety & emergency\u00a0 Earthquake alerts<\/em>. Alternatively, they can also enable earthquake alerts through Settings > Location > Advanced > Earthquake alerts<\/em>.<\/p>\n Google already issues AI-powered flood alerts to all Indian regions<\/a>. The company began the flood alert pilot<\/a> in Patna, the capital of the Indian state of Bihar, in 2018. Later, it expanded flood alerts to all of India in 2020.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Google has announced the launch of its earthquake alert system for Android devices in India. The system uses smartphone sensors such as accelerators, which can act as small seismometers and detect tremors. The company on Wednesday said the system, developed with consultation from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the National Seismology Center (NSC), […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574557,"featured_media":2491362,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"97e04a15-8d20-3b02-9113-8471b5580db8","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-27T06:54:50Z","apple_news_api_id":"600d2311-3f39-494c-a996-08b96e6e481a","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-27T06:54:50Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AYA0jET85SUyplgi5bm5IGg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577051039,576957003],"tags":[641922,576885798,43760,81,3054],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[577037498],"yoast_head":"\nGoogle launches earthquake alerts on Android in India | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
In 2020, Google introduced Android Earthquake Alerts for people in California<\/a>. Users should be using a phone with Android 5 or later and have Wi-Fi or cellular data connectivity. To get earthquake alerts, users also need to have the location settings enabled on their devices.<\/p>\n Users can start getting earthquake alerts by going through Settings > Safety & emergency\u00a0 Earthquake alerts<\/em>. Alternatively, they can also enable earthquake alerts through Settings > Location > Advanced > Earthquake alerts<\/em>.<\/p>\n Google already issues AI-powered flood alerts to all Indian regions<\/a>. The company began the flood alert pilot<\/a> in Patna, the capital of the Indian state of Bihar, in 2018. Later, it expanded flood alerts to all of India in 2020.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Google has announced the launch of its earthquake alert system for Android devices in India. The system uses smartphone sensors such as accelerators, which can act as small seismometers and detect tremors. The company on Wednesday said the system, developed with consultation from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the National Seismology Center (NSC), […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574557,"featured_media":2491362,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"97e04a15-8d20-3b02-9113-8471b5580db8","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-27T06:54:50Z","apple_news_api_id":"600d2311-3f39-494c-a996-08b96e6e481a","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-27T06:54:50Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AYA0jET85SUyplgi5bm5IGg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577051039,576957003],"tags":[641922,576885798,43760,81,3054],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[577037498],"yoast_head":"\nGoogle launches earthquake alerts on Android in India | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Users can start getting earthquake alerts by going through Settings > Safety & emergency\u00a0 Earthquake alerts<\/em>. Alternatively, they can also enable earthquake alerts through Settings > Location > Advanced > Earthquake alerts<\/em>.<\/p>\n Google already issues AI-powered flood alerts to all Indian regions<\/a>. The company began the flood alert pilot<\/a> in Patna, the capital of the Indian state of Bihar, in 2018. Later, it expanded flood alerts to all of India in 2020.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Google has announced the launch of its earthquake alert system for Android devices in India. The system uses smartphone sensors such as accelerators, which can act as small seismometers and detect tremors. The company on Wednesday said the system, developed with consultation from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the National Seismology Center (NSC), […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574557,"featured_media":2491362,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"97e04a15-8d20-3b02-9113-8471b5580db8","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-27T06:54:50Z","apple_news_api_id":"600d2311-3f39-494c-a996-08b96e6e481a","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-27T06:54:50Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AYA0jET85SUyplgi5bm5IGg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577051039,576957003],"tags":[641922,576885798,43760,81,3054],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[577037498],"yoast_head":"\nGoogle launches earthquake alerts on Android in India | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Google already issues AI-powered flood alerts to all Indian regions<\/a>. The company began the flood alert pilot<\/a> in Patna, the capital of the Indian state of Bihar, in 2018. Later, it expanded flood alerts to all of India in 2020.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Google has announced the launch of its earthquake alert system for Android devices in India. The system uses smartphone sensors such as accelerators, which can act as small seismometers and detect tremors. The company on Wednesday said the system, developed with consultation from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the National Seismology Center (NSC), […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574557,"featured_media":2491362,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"97e04a15-8d20-3b02-9113-8471b5580db8","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-27T06:54:50Z","apple_news_api_id":"600d2311-3f39-494c-a996-08b96e6e481a","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-27T06:54:50Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AYA0jET85SUyplgi5bm5IGg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577051039,576957003],"tags":[641922,576885798,43760,81,3054],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[577037498],"yoast_head":"\nGoogle launches earthquake alerts on Android in India | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Google has announced the launch of its earthquake alert system for Android devices in India. The system uses smartphone sensors such as accelerators, which can act as small seismometers and detect tremors. The company on Wednesday said the system, developed with consultation from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the National Seismology Center (NSC), […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574557,"featured_media":2491362,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"97e04a15-8d20-3b02-9113-8471b5580db8","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-27T06:54:50Z","apple_news_api_id":"600d2311-3f39-494c-a996-08b96e6e481a","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-27T06:54:50Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AYA0jET85SUyplgi5bm5IGg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577051039,576957003],"tags":[641922,576885798,43760,81,3054],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[577037498],"yoast_head":"\nGoogle launches earthquake alerts on Android in India | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Google’s Android booth at MWC 2023 in Barcelona. Photo: Brian Heater<\/p>\n"},"alt_text":"Google's Android booth at MWC 2023 in Barcelona.","media_type":"image","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","media_details":{"width":4000,"height":3000,"file":"2023\/02\/20230227_083959.jpg","filesize":981733,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"file":"20230227_083959.jpg?resize=150,113","width":150,"height":113,"filesize":981733,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/20230227_083959.jpg?w=150"},"medium":{"file":"20230227_083959.jpg?resize=300,225","width":300,"height":225,"filesize":981733,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/20230227_083959.jpg?w=300"},"medium_large":{"file":"20230227_083959.jpg?resize=768,576","width":768,"height":576,"filesize":981733,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/20230227_083959.jpg?w=1024"},"large":{"file":"20230227_083959.jpg?resize=680,510","width":680,"height":510,"filesize":981733,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/20230227_083959.jpg?w=680"},"1536x1536":{"file":"20230227_083959.jpg?resize=1536,1152","width":1536,"height":1152,"filesize":981733,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/20230227_083959.jpg?w=1536"},"2048x2048":{"file":"20230227_083959.jpg?resize=2048,1536","width":2048,"height":1536,"filesize":981733,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/20230227_083959.jpg?w=2048"},"tc-social-image":{"file":"20230227_083959.jpg?resize=1200,900","width":1200,"height":900,"filesize":981733,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/20230227_083959.jpg?w=1200"},"guest-author-32":{"file":"20230227_083959.jpg?resize=32,32","width":32,"height":32,"filesize":981733,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/20230227_083959.jpg?w=32&h=32&crop=1"},"guest-author-50":{"file":"20230227_083959.jpg?resize=50,50","width":50,"height":50,"filesize":981733,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/20230227_083959.jpg?w=50&h=50&crop=1"},"guest-author-64":{"file":"20230227_083959.jpg?resize=64,64","width":64,"height":64,"filesize":981733,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/20230227_083959.jpg?w=64&h=64&crop=1"},"guest-author-96":{"file":"20230227_083959.jpg?resize=96,96","width":96,"height":96,"filesize":981733,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/20230227_083959.jpg?w=96&h=96&crop=1"},"guest-author-128":{"file":"20230227_083959.jpg?resize=128,128","width":128,"height":128,"filesize":981733,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/20230227_083959.jpg?w=128&h=128&crop=1"},"concierge-thumb":{"file":"20230227_083959.jpg?resize=50,38","width":50,"height":38,"filesize":981733,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/20230227_083959.jpg?w=50"},"full":{"file":"20230227_083959.jpg","width":1024,"height":768,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/20230227_083959.jpg"}},"image_meta":{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0","keywords":[]}},"source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/20230227_083959.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2491362"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/attachment"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2491362"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users\/699688"}]}}],"wp:term":[[{"id":577051039,"description":"The app economy continues to grow, having produced a record number of downloads and consumer spending across both the iOS and Google Play stores. Keep up with this fast-moving industry in one place, with the latest from the world of apps, including news, updates, startup fundings, mergers and acquisitions, and much more.","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/category\/apps\/","name":"Apps","slug":"apps","taxonomy":"category","parent":0,"yoast_head":"\nApps | Read the latest app news on TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n
Layoffs in the<\/span> technology industry have slowed sharply in recent months, bringing the number of jobs lost to tech’s efficiency push<\/a> to a near stop.<\/p>\n According to several services that track layoffs in the tech industry, after reaching a local maximum in January, the number of people laid off had declined by more than 90% by September. What’s more, some tech companies are hiring again to refill some of the roles that they had eliminated mere months ago.<\/p>\n\n The Exchange explores startups, markets and money. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Read it every morning on TechCrunch+<\/a> or get The Exchange newsletter<\/a> every Saturday.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n Such a quick shift from mass personnel cuts to more stable employee rolls and even hiring efforts may seem surprising, but it’s been a long time in the making. Data from popular tech industry layoff tracker Layoffs.fyi<\/a> shows that job cuts have slowed for seven consecutive months this year, plateauing around 10,000 per month from June through August and declining to just over 3,000 so far in September.<\/p>\n <\/iframe><\/p>\n <\/a><\/div>\nData visualization by Miranda Halpern<\/a>, created with Flourish<\/a><\/h6>\n TrueUp, a jobs board focused on the tech industry, also marked<\/a> that tech industry layoffs peaked in January and declined sharply thereafter. However, TrueUp’s layoff count shows a slightly lumpier trend in the total number of staff cuts. Regardless of the source, though, the trend is clear that job cuts are on the decline.<\/p>\n And that’s not even the good news. This column pointed out in July<\/a> that while the number of roles slashed by tech companies was falling, the number of companies doing layoffs was trending upward:<\/p>\n [W]e’re moving past the era when tech companies were slashing head counts deeply and broadly. Instead, we are seeing smaller, more tactical cuts as these businesses seek to shave off the last bits of operational excess. For tech employees, this is generally good news, but the danger hasn’t passed for people who weren’t affected by earlier layoffs. The damage is simply being spread around more than it was earlier in the year.<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Provided that tech stocks don’t drop by a surprise 10%, I suspect that we’re entering a period in which tech companies once again grow their headcounts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":428363,"featured_media":2296446,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"50ce2e89-8713-3b98-9164-a0e23d258ea3","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[449557044,20429],"tags":[576845141,576847237,576777923,577013489,576765839],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[576796356],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nTech layoffs are all but a thing of the past | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
According to several services that track layoffs in the tech industry, after reaching a local maximum in January, the number of people laid off had declined by more than 90% by September. What’s more, some tech companies are hiring again to refill some of the roles that they had eliminated mere months ago.<\/p>\n\n
The Exchange explores startups, markets and money. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Read it every morning on TechCrunch+<\/a> or get The Exchange newsletter<\/a> every Saturday.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n Such a quick shift from mass personnel cuts to more stable employee rolls and even hiring efforts may seem surprising, but it’s been a long time in the making. Data from popular tech industry layoff tracker Layoffs.fyi<\/a> shows that job cuts have slowed for seven consecutive months this year, plateauing around 10,000 per month from June through August and declining to just over 3,000 so far in September.<\/p>\n <\/iframe><\/p>\n <\/a><\/div>\nData visualization by Miranda Halpern<\/a>, created with Flourish<\/a><\/h6>\n TrueUp, a jobs board focused on the tech industry, also marked<\/a> that tech industry layoffs peaked in January and declined sharply thereafter. However, TrueUp’s layoff count shows a slightly lumpier trend in the total number of staff cuts. Regardless of the source, though, the trend is clear that job cuts are on the decline.<\/p>\n And that’s not even the good news. This column pointed out in July<\/a> that while the number of roles slashed by tech companies was falling, the number of companies doing layoffs was trending upward:<\/p>\n [W]e’re moving past the era when tech companies were slashing head counts deeply and broadly. Instead, we are seeing smaller, more tactical cuts as these businesses seek to shave off the last bits of operational excess. For tech employees, this is generally good news, but the danger hasn’t passed for people who weren’t affected by earlier layoffs. The damage is simply being spread around more than it was earlier in the year.<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Provided that tech stocks don’t drop by a surprise 10%, I suspect that we’re entering a period in which tech companies once again grow their headcounts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":428363,"featured_media":2296446,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"50ce2e89-8713-3b98-9164-a0e23d258ea3","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[449557044,20429],"tags":[576845141,576847237,576777923,577013489,576765839],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[576796356],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nTech layoffs are all but a thing of the past | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Read it every morning on TechCrunch+<\/a> or get The Exchange newsletter<\/a> every Saturday.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n Such a quick shift from mass personnel cuts to more stable employee rolls and even hiring efforts may seem surprising, but it’s been a long time in the making. Data from popular tech industry layoff tracker Layoffs.fyi<\/a> shows that job cuts have slowed for seven consecutive months this year, plateauing around 10,000 per month from June through August and declining to just over 3,000 so far in September.<\/p>\n <\/iframe><\/p>\n <\/a><\/div>\nData visualization by Miranda Halpern<\/a>, created with Flourish<\/a><\/h6>\n TrueUp, a jobs board focused on the tech industry, also marked<\/a> that tech industry layoffs peaked in January and declined sharply thereafter. However, TrueUp’s layoff count shows a slightly lumpier trend in the total number of staff cuts. Regardless of the source, though, the trend is clear that job cuts are on the decline.<\/p>\n And that’s not even the good news. This column pointed out in July<\/a> that while the number of roles slashed by tech companies was falling, the number of companies doing layoffs was trending upward:<\/p>\n [W]e’re moving past the era when tech companies were slashing head counts deeply and broadly. Instead, we are seeing smaller, more tactical cuts as these businesses seek to shave off the last bits of operational excess. For tech employees, this is generally good news, but the danger hasn’t passed for people who weren’t affected by earlier layoffs. The damage is simply being spread around more than it was earlier in the year.<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Provided that tech stocks don’t drop by a surprise 10%, I suspect that we’re entering a period in which tech companies once again grow their headcounts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":428363,"featured_media":2296446,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"50ce2e89-8713-3b98-9164-a0e23d258ea3","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[449557044,20429],"tags":[576845141,576847237,576777923,577013489,576765839],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[576796356],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nTech layoffs are all but a thing of the past | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Such a quick shift from mass personnel cuts to more stable employee rolls and even hiring efforts may seem surprising, but it’s been a long time in the making. Data from popular tech industry layoff tracker Layoffs.fyi<\/a> shows that job cuts have slowed for seven consecutive months this year, plateauing around 10,000 per month from June through August and declining to just over 3,000 so far in September.<\/p>\n <\/iframe><\/p>\n <\/a><\/div>\nData visualization by Miranda Halpern<\/a>, created with Flourish<\/a><\/h6>\n TrueUp, a jobs board focused on the tech industry, also marked<\/a> that tech industry layoffs peaked in January and declined sharply thereafter. However, TrueUp’s layoff count shows a slightly lumpier trend in the total number of staff cuts. Regardless of the source, though, the trend is clear that job cuts are on the decline.<\/p>\n And that’s not even the good news. This column pointed out in July<\/a> that while the number of roles slashed by tech companies was falling, the number of companies doing layoffs was trending upward:<\/p>\n [W]e’re moving past the era when tech companies were slashing head counts deeply and broadly. Instead, we are seeing smaller, more tactical cuts as these businesses seek to shave off the last bits of operational excess. For tech employees, this is generally good news, but the danger hasn’t passed for people who weren’t affected by earlier layoffs. The damage is simply being spread around more than it was earlier in the year.<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Provided that tech stocks don’t drop by a surprise 10%, I suspect that we’re entering a period in which tech companies once again grow their headcounts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":428363,"featured_media":2296446,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"50ce2e89-8713-3b98-9164-a0e23d258ea3","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[449557044,20429],"tags":[576845141,576847237,576777923,577013489,576765839],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[576796356],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nTech layoffs are all but a thing of the past | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
<\/iframe><\/p>\n <\/a><\/div>\nData visualization by Miranda Halpern<\/a>, created with Flourish<\/a><\/h6>\n TrueUp, a jobs board focused on the tech industry, also marked<\/a> that tech industry layoffs peaked in January and declined sharply thereafter. However, TrueUp’s layoff count shows a slightly lumpier trend in the total number of staff cuts. Regardless of the source, though, the trend is clear that job cuts are on the decline.<\/p>\n And that’s not even the good news. This column pointed out in July<\/a> that while the number of roles slashed by tech companies was falling, the number of companies doing layoffs was trending upward:<\/p>\n [W]e’re moving past the era when tech companies were slashing head counts deeply and broadly. Instead, we are seeing smaller, more tactical cuts as these businesses seek to shave off the last bits of operational excess. For tech employees, this is generally good news, but the danger hasn’t passed for people who weren’t affected by earlier layoffs. The damage is simply being spread around more than it was earlier in the year.<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Provided that tech stocks don’t drop by a surprise 10%, I suspect that we’re entering a period in which tech companies once again grow their headcounts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":428363,"featured_media":2296446,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"50ce2e89-8713-3b98-9164-a0e23d258ea3","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[449557044,20429],"tags":[576845141,576847237,576777923,577013489,576765839],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[576796356],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nTech layoffs are all but a thing of the past | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
TrueUp, a jobs board focused on the tech industry, also marked<\/a> that tech industry layoffs peaked in January and declined sharply thereafter. However, TrueUp’s layoff count shows a slightly lumpier trend in the total number of staff cuts. Regardless of the source, though, the trend is clear that job cuts are on the decline.<\/p>\n And that’s not even the good news. This column pointed out in July<\/a> that while the number of roles slashed by tech companies was falling, the number of companies doing layoffs was trending upward:<\/p>\n [W]e’re moving past the era when tech companies were slashing head counts deeply and broadly. Instead, we are seeing smaller, more tactical cuts as these businesses seek to shave off the last bits of operational excess. For tech employees, this is generally good news, but the danger hasn’t passed for people who weren’t affected by earlier layoffs. The damage is simply being spread around more than it was earlier in the year.<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Provided that tech stocks don’t drop by a surprise 10%, I suspect that we’re entering a period in which tech companies once again grow their headcounts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":428363,"featured_media":2296446,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"50ce2e89-8713-3b98-9164-a0e23d258ea3","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[449557044,20429],"tags":[576845141,576847237,576777923,577013489,576765839],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[576796356],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nTech layoffs are all but a thing of the past | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
And that’s not even the good news. This column pointed out in July<\/a> that while the number of roles slashed by tech companies was falling, the number of companies doing layoffs was trending upward:<\/p>\n [W]e’re moving past the era when tech companies were slashing head counts deeply and broadly. Instead, we are seeing smaller, more tactical cuts as these businesses seek to shave off the last bits of operational excess. For tech employees, this is generally good news, but the danger hasn’t passed for people who weren’t affected by earlier layoffs. The damage is simply being spread around more than it was earlier in the year.<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Provided that tech stocks don’t drop by a surprise 10%, I suspect that we’re entering a period in which tech companies once again grow their headcounts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":428363,"featured_media":2296446,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"50ce2e89-8713-3b98-9164-a0e23d258ea3","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[449557044,20429],"tags":[576845141,576847237,576777923,577013489,576765839],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[576796356],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nTech layoffs are all but a thing of the past | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
[W]e’re moving past the era when tech companies were slashing head counts deeply and broadly. Instead, we are seeing smaller, more tactical cuts as these businesses seek to shave off the last bits of operational excess. For tech employees, this is generally good news, but the danger hasn’t passed for people who weren’t affected by earlier layoffs. The damage is simply being spread around more than it was earlier in the year.<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Provided that tech stocks don’t drop by a surprise 10%, I suspect that we’re entering a period in which tech companies once again grow their headcounts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":428363,"featured_media":2296446,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"50ce2e89-8713-3b98-9164-a0e23d258ea3","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[449557044,20429],"tags":[576845141,576847237,576777923,577013489,576765839],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[576796356],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nTech layoffs are all but a thing of the past | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Provided that tech stocks don’t drop by a surprise 10%, I suspect that we’re entering a period in which tech companies once again grow their headcounts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":428363,"featured_media":2296446,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"50ce2e89-8713-3b98-9164-a0e23d258ea3","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[449557044,20429],"tags":[576845141,576847237,576777923,577013489,576765839],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[576796356],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nTech layoffs are all but a thing of the past | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Alex Wilhelm is Editor In Chief of TechCrunch+. He previously worked for Crunchbase News as Editor in Chief as well as The Next Web, TechCrunch, and Mattermark.<\/p>","cbAvatar":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Screen-Shot-2021-04-30-at-12.12.07-PM.png","twitter":"alex"}],"author":[{"id":428363,"name":"Alex Wilhelm","url":"","description":"","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/author\/alex-wilhelm\/","slug":"alex-wilhelm","avatar_urls":{"24":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cc9b583e483d57b5eb30b6b09baefa63?s=24&d=identicon&r=g","48":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cc9b583e483d57b5eb30b6b09baefa63?s=48&d=identicon&r=g","96":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cc9b583e483d57b5eb30b6b09baefa63?s=96&d=identicon&r=g"},"yoast_head":"\nAlex Wilhelm, Author at TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Alex Wilhelm is Editor In Chief of TechCrunch+. He previously worked for Crunchbase News as Editor in Chief as well as The Next Web, TechCrunch, and Mattermark.<\/p>","cbAvatar":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Screen-Shot-2021-04-30-at-12.12.07-PM.png","twitter":"alex","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users\/428363"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users"}]}}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"id":2296446,"date":"2022-04-07T09:18:23","slug":"better-layoffs-meeting-vishal","type":"attachment","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2022\/04\/07\/better-layoffs-vishal-garg-leaked-meeting\/better-layoffs-meeting-vishal\/","title":{"rendered":"better-layoffs-meeting-vishal"},"author":133574210,"license":{"source_key":"other","source":"TechCrunch"},"authors":[133574210],"caption":{"rendered":"
Better.com CEO Vishal Garg admits he ‘failed’ on multiple fronts in leaked recording addressing significant staff cuts.<\/p>\n"},"alt_text":"Vishal Garg Better.com layoffs, admits he 'failed' on multiple fronts in leaked recording addressing significant staff cuts. Screen shot of meeting.","media_type":"image","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","media_details":{"width":1945,"height":1186,"file":"2022\/04\/better-layoffs-meeting-vishal.jpg","sizes":{"thumbnail":{"file":"better-layoffs-meeting-vishal.jpg?resize=150,91","width":150,"height":91,"filesize":284213,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/better-layoffs-meeting-vishal.jpg?w=150"},"medium":{"file":"better-layoffs-meeting-vishal.jpg?resize=300,183","width":300,"height":183,"filesize":284213,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/better-layoffs-meeting-vishal.jpg?w=300"},"medium_large":{"file":"better-layoffs-meeting-vishal.jpg?resize=768,468","width":768,"height":468,"filesize":284213,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/better-layoffs-meeting-vishal.jpg?w=1024"},"large":{"file":"better-layoffs-meeting-vishal.jpg?resize=680,415","width":680,"height":415,"filesize":284213,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/better-layoffs-meeting-vishal.jpg?w=680"},"1536x1536":{"file":"better-layoffs-meeting-vishal.jpg?resize=1536,937","width":1536,"height":937,"filesize":284213,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/better-layoffs-meeting-vishal.jpg?w=1536"},"tc-social-image":{"file":"better-layoffs-meeting-vishal.jpg?resize=1200,732","width":1200,"height":732,"filesize":284213,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/better-layoffs-meeting-vishal.jpg?w=1200"},"guest-author-32":{"file":"better-layoffs-meeting-vishal.jpg?resize=32,32","width":32,"height":32,"filesize":284213,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/better-layoffs-meeting-vishal.jpg?w=32&h=32&crop=1"},"guest-author-50":{"file":"better-layoffs-meeting-vishal.jpg?resize=50,50","width":50,"height":50,"filesize":284213,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/better-layoffs-meeting-vishal.jpg?w=50&h=50&crop=1"},"guest-author-64":{"file":"better-layoffs-meeting-vishal.jpg?resize=64,64","width":64,"height":64,"filesize":284213,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/better-layoffs-meeting-vishal.jpg?w=64&h=64&crop=1"},"guest-author-96":{"file":"better-layoffs-meeting-vishal.jpg?resize=96,96","width":96,"height":96,"filesize":284213,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/better-layoffs-meeting-vishal.jpg?w=96&h=96&crop=1"},"guest-author-128":{"file":"better-layoffs-meeting-vishal.jpg?resize=128,128","width":128,"height":128,"filesize":284213,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/better-layoffs-meeting-vishal.jpg?w=128&h=128&crop=1"},"concierge-thumb":{"file":"better-layoffs-meeting-vishal.jpg?resize=50,30","width":50,"height":30,"filesize":284213,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/better-layoffs-meeting-vishal.jpg?w=50"},"full":{"file":"better-layoffs-meeting-vishal.jpg","width":1024,"height":624,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/better-layoffs-meeting-vishal.jpg"}},"image_meta":{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0","keywords":[]},"filesize":284213},"source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/better-layoffs-meeting-vishal.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2296446"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/attachment"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2296446"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users\/133574210"}]}}],"wp:term":[[{"id":449557044,"description":"Read the latest news on enterprise, from new products to large SaaS providers like Salesforce, Adobe, ServiceNow and Atlassian to funding for small SaaS companies and new products that help startups build their own SaaS.","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/category\/enterprise\/","name":"Enterprise","slug":"enterprise","taxonomy":"category","parent":0,"yoast_head":"\nEnterprise News | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n
Bird Buddy<\/a>, the startup behind multiple AI-powered smart bird feeders, including the recently announced smart Hummingbird Feeder and Bird Bath<\/a>, is today launching its latest product — and it’s not another bird feeder. Instead, the company is debuting a new digital product called Bird Buddy Explore, which allows anyone to browse feeds from Bird Buddy cameras around the world, including in locations beyond the continental U.S. like Hawaii, Kenya, Chile and Bhutan.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Bird Buddy<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n The feature expands Bird Buddy’s reach to those who haven’t bought the company’s feeders, allowing them to enjoy birdwatching, including in locations and habitats beyond their own backyards.<\/p>\n The company notes there is plenty of content for it to curate for this new feature, as every week, two years’ worth of interactions with nature are created and recorded within the Bird Buddy app. In total, more than 1 million bird detections are logged by Bird Buddy smart bird feeders around the world every day.<\/p>\n To use Explore<\/a>, you’ll download Bird Buddy’s flagship app for iOS<\/a> or Android<\/a>, which was previously designed only for owners of the company’s bird feeders. Now, this app includes a new Explore section designated by a “globe” icon where you can swipe through remote bird feeders in various locations around the world, then choose which one you want to watch by tapping “connect to feeder.” When you add a new feeder, you’ll then receive its “postcards” — snapshots and videos of bird visitors when they visit the feeder in that location.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Bird Buddy<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n In addition to providing birdwatching feeds, the Explore feature also offers interesting, educational information about each species of bird the user encounters when using the app. The feature joins a more lightweight feature, Bird Buddy TV, which offers a live TikTok-like vertical video feed of live bird sightings from various customers’ feeders.<\/p><\/div>\n Along with the launch of the new digital product, Bird Buddy is launching two new accessories designed to attract more species of birds to its feeders, including the Bird Buddy Perch Extender, which brings in bigger birds by offering a larger place to stand, and the Bird Buddy 3-in-1 Nutrition Set that includes a water fountain, jelly tray, and fruit spike to attract birds like orioles and finches.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Bird Buddy<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n \u201cWe are on a mission to help nature compete for our attention – and in the process, create daily connections with nature for as many people as possible,” explained Bird Buddy co-founder and CEO Franci Zidar, in a statement.<\/p>\n “That\u2019s why we\u2019re expanding the Bird Buddy app to offer a unique experience for those who may not have access to a backyard or feeder. This is our most exciting development to date, to truly unlock the magic that is the world of birds and their critical role in our ecosystems. To be able to bring joy 24\/7 is a privilege and we are grateful to our community who have been instrumental in helping us achieve this,” he added.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Bird Buddy<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n The company also debuted a subscription product, Bird Buddy Pro, that lets users mute or ignore species, add additional guest slots and introduces a new frenzy mode that maximizes bird detections. And later this fall, Bird Buddy plans to introduce its own seed subscription service to make sure its customers have easy access to the right food for their feeders.<\/p>\n To date, Bird Buddy customers have installed 150,000 feeders around the world, which are capable of recognizing more than 1,000 species of birds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Bird Buddy, the startup behind multiple AI-powered smart bird feeders, including the recently announced smart Hummingbird Feeder and Bird Bath, is today launching its latest product — and it’s not another bird feeder. Instead, the company is debuting a new digital product called Bird Buddy Explore, which allows anyone to browse feeds from Bird Buddy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":2601669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"941750c7-7301-3bf2-85d3-940923135273","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-18T15:01:04Z","apple_news_api_id":"d6a185e7-702f-47f8-8dc0-91ee73854ed9","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-18T16:55:11Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/A1qGF53AvR_iNwJHuc4VO2Q","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577047203,577051039,20429],"tags":[449557101,576959149,36845,77847,449557042],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nBird Buddy, the AI-powered bird feeder startup, now lets anyone use its app to birdwatch | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Image Credits:<\/strong> Bird Buddy<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n The feature expands Bird Buddy’s reach to those who haven’t bought the company’s feeders, allowing them to enjoy birdwatching, including in locations and habitats beyond their own backyards.<\/p>\n The company notes there is plenty of content for it to curate for this new feature, as every week, two years’ worth of interactions with nature are created and recorded within the Bird Buddy app. In total, more than 1 million bird detections are logged by Bird Buddy smart bird feeders around the world every day.<\/p>\n To use Explore<\/a>, you’ll download Bird Buddy’s flagship app for iOS<\/a> or Android<\/a>, which was previously designed only for owners of the company’s bird feeders. Now, this app includes a new Explore section designated by a “globe” icon where you can swipe through remote bird feeders in various locations around the world, then choose which one you want to watch by tapping “connect to feeder.” When you add a new feeder, you’ll then receive its “postcards” — snapshots and videos of bird visitors when they visit the feeder in that location.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Bird Buddy<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n In addition to providing birdwatching feeds, the Explore feature also offers interesting, educational information about each species of bird the user encounters when using the app. The feature joins a more lightweight feature, Bird Buddy TV, which offers a live TikTok-like vertical video feed of live bird sightings from various customers’ feeders.<\/p><\/div>\n Along with the launch of the new digital product, Bird Buddy is launching two new accessories designed to attract more species of birds to its feeders, including the Bird Buddy Perch Extender, which brings in bigger birds by offering a larger place to stand, and the Bird Buddy 3-in-1 Nutrition Set that includes a water fountain, jelly tray, and fruit spike to attract birds like orioles and finches.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Bird Buddy<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n \u201cWe are on a mission to help nature compete for our attention – and in the process, create daily connections with nature for as many people as possible,” explained Bird Buddy co-founder and CEO Franci Zidar, in a statement.<\/p>\n “That\u2019s why we\u2019re expanding the Bird Buddy app to offer a unique experience for those who may not have access to a backyard or feeder. This is our most exciting development to date, to truly unlock the magic that is the world of birds and their critical role in our ecosystems. To be able to bring joy 24\/7 is a privilege and we are grateful to our community who have been instrumental in helping us achieve this,” he added.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Bird Buddy<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n The company also debuted a subscription product, Bird Buddy Pro, that lets users mute or ignore species, add additional guest slots and introduces a new frenzy mode that maximizes bird detections. And later this fall, Bird Buddy plans to introduce its own seed subscription service to make sure its customers have easy access to the right food for their feeders.<\/p>\n To date, Bird Buddy customers have installed 150,000 feeders around the world, which are capable of recognizing more than 1,000 species of birds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Bird Buddy, the startup behind multiple AI-powered smart bird feeders, including the recently announced smart Hummingbird Feeder and Bird Bath, is today launching its latest product — and it’s not another bird feeder. Instead, the company is debuting a new digital product called Bird Buddy Explore, which allows anyone to browse feeds from Bird Buddy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":2601669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"941750c7-7301-3bf2-85d3-940923135273","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-18T15:01:04Z","apple_news_api_id":"d6a185e7-702f-47f8-8dc0-91ee73854ed9","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-18T16:55:11Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/A1qGF53AvR_iNwJHuc4VO2Q","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577047203,577051039,20429],"tags":[449557101,576959149,36845,77847,449557042],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nBird Buddy, the AI-powered bird feeder startup, now lets anyone use its app to birdwatch | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Image Credits:<\/strong> Bird Buddy<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n The feature expands Bird Buddy’s reach to those who haven’t bought the company’s feeders, allowing them to enjoy birdwatching, including in locations and habitats beyond their own backyards.<\/p>\n The company notes there is plenty of content for it to curate for this new feature, as every week, two years’ worth of interactions with nature are created and recorded within the Bird Buddy app. In total, more than 1 million bird detections are logged by Bird Buddy smart bird feeders around the world every day.<\/p>\n To use Explore<\/a>, you’ll download Bird Buddy’s flagship app for iOS<\/a> or Android<\/a>, which was previously designed only for owners of the company’s bird feeders. Now, this app includes a new Explore section designated by a “globe” icon where you can swipe through remote bird feeders in various locations around the world, then choose which one you want to watch by tapping “connect to feeder.” When you add a new feeder, you’ll then receive its “postcards” — snapshots and videos of bird visitors when they visit the feeder in that location.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Bird Buddy<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n In addition to providing birdwatching feeds, the Explore feature also offers interesting, educational information about each species of bird the user encounters when using the app. The feature joins a more lightweight feature, Bird Buddy TV, which offers a live TikTok-like vertical video feed of live bird sightings from various customers’ feeders.<\/p><\/div>\n Along with the launch of the new digital product, Bird Buddy is launching two new accessories designed to attract more species of birds to its feeders, including the Bird Buddy Perch Extender, which brings in bigger birds by offering a larger place to stand, and the Bird Buddy 3-in-1 Nutrition Set that includes a water fountain, jelly tray, and fruit spike to attract birds like orioles and finches.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Bird Buddy<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n \u201cWe are on a mission to help nature compete for our attention – and in the process, create daily connections with nature for as many people as possible,” explained Bird Buddy co-founder and CEO Franci Zidar, in a statement.<\/p>\n “That\u2019s why we\u2019re expanding the Bird Buddy app to offer a unique experience for those who may not have access to a backyard or feeder. This is our most exciting development to date, to truly unlock the magic that is the world of birds and their critical role in our ecosystems. To be able to bring joy 24\/7 is a privilege and we are grateful to our community who have been instrumental in helping us achieve this,” he added.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Bird Buddy<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n The company also debuted a subscription product, Bird Buddy Pro, that lets users mute or ignore species, add additional guest slots and introduces a new frenzy mode that maximizes bird detections. And later this fall, Bird Buddy plans to introduce its own seed subscription service to make sure its customers have easy access to the right food for their feeders.<\/p>\n To date, Bird Buddy customers have installed 150,000 feeders around the world, which are capable of recognizing more than 1,000 species of birds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Bird Buddy, the startup behind multiple AI-powered smart bird feeders, including the recently announced smart Hummingbird Feeder and Bird Bath, is today launching its latest product — and it’s not another bird feeder. Instead, the company is debuting a new digital product called Bird Buddy Explore, which allows anyone to browse feeds from Bird Buddy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":2601669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"941750c7-7301-3bf2-85d3-940923135273","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-18T15:01:04Z","apple_news_api_id":"d6a185e7-702f-47f8-8dc0-91ee73854ed9","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-18T16:55:11Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/A1qGF53AvR_iNwJHuc4VO2Q","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577047203,577051039,20429],"tags":[449557101,576959149,36845,77847,449557042],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nBird Buddy, the AI-powered bird feeder startup, now lets anyone use its app to birdwatch | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
The feature expands Bird Buddy’s reach to those who haven’t bought the company’s feeders, allowing them to enjoy birdwatching, including in locations and habitats beyond their own backyards.<\/p>\n
The company notes there is plenty of content for it to curate for this new feature, as every week, two years’ worth of interactions with nature are created and recorded within the Bird Buddy app. In total, more than 1 million bird detections are logged by Bird Buddy smart bird feeders around the world every day.<\/p>\n
To use Explore<\/a>, you’ll download Bird Buddy’s flagship app for iOS<\/a> or Android<\/a>, which was previously designed only for owners of the company’s bird feeders. Now, this app includes a new Explore section designated by a “globe” icon where you can swipe through remote bird feeders in various locations around the world, then choose which one you want to watch by tapping “connect to feeder.” When you add a new feeder, you’ll then receive its “postcards” — snapshots and videos of bird visitors when they visit the feeder in that location.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Bird Buddy<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n In addition to providing birdwatching feeds, the Explore feature also offers interesting, educational information about each species of bird the user encounters when using the app. The feature joins a more lightweight feature, Bird Buddy TV, which offers a live TikTok-like vertical video feed of live bird sightings from various customers’ feeders.<\/p><\/div>\n Along with the launch of the new digital product, Bird Buddy is launching two new accessories designed to attract more species of birds to its feeders, including the Bird Buddy Perch Extender, which brings in bigger birds by offering a larger place to stand, and the Bird Buddy 3-in-1 Nutrition Set that includes a water fountain, jelly tray, and fruit spike to attract birds like orioles and finches.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Bird Buddy<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n \u201cWe are on a mission to help nature compete for our attention – and in the process, create daily connections with nature for as many people as possible,” explained Bird Buddy co-founder and CEO Franci Zidar, in a statement.<\/p>\n “That\u2019s why we\u2019re expanding the Bird Buddy app to offer a unique experience for those who may not have access to a backyard or feeder. This is our most exciting development to date, to truly unlock the magic that is the world of birds and their critical role in our ecosystems. To be able to bring joy 24\/7 is a privilege and we are grateful to our community who have been instrumental in helping us achieve this,” he added.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Bird Buddy<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n The company also debuted a subscription product, Bird Buddy Pro, that lets users mute or ignore species, add additional guest slots and introduces a new frenzy mode that maximizes bird detections. And later this fall, Bird Buddy plans to introduce its own seed subscription service to make sure its customers have easy access to the right food for their feeders.<\/p>\n To date, Bird Buddy customers have installed 150,000 feeders around the world, which are capable of recognizing more than 1,000 species of birds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Bird Buddy, the startup behind multiple AI-powered smart bird feeders, including the recently announced smart Hummingbird Feeder and Bird Bath, is today launching its latest product — and it’s not another bird feeder. Instead, the company is debuting a new digital product called Bird Buddy Explore, which allows anyone to browse feeds from Bird Buddy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":2601669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"941750c7-7301-3bf2-85d3-940923135273","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-18T15:01:04Z","apple_news_api_id":"d6a185e7-702f-47f8-8dc0-91ee73854ed9","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-18T16:55:11Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/A1qGF53AvR_iNwJHuc4VO2Q","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577047203,577051039,20429],"tags":[449557101,576959149,36845,77847,449557042],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nBird Buddy, the AI-powered bird feeder startup, now lets anyone use its app to birdwatch | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Image Credits:<\/strong> Bird Buddy<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n In addition to providing birdwatching feeds, the Explore feature also offers interesting, educational information about each species of bird the user encounters when using the app. The feature joins a more lightweight feature, Bird Buddy TV, which offers a live TikTok-like vertical video feed of live bird sightings from various customers’ feeders.<\/p><\/div>\n Along with the launch of the new digital product, Bird Buddy is launching two new accessories designed to attract more species of birds to its feeders, including the Bird Buddy Perch Extender, which brings in bigger birds by offering a larger place to stand, and the Bird Buddy 3-in-1 Nutrition Set that includes a water fountain, jelly tray, and fruit spike to attract birds like orioles and finches.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Bird Buddy<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n \u201cWe are on a mission to help nature compete for our attention – and in the process, create daily connections with nature for as many people as possible,” explained Bird Buddy co-founder and CEO Franci Zidar, in a statement.<\/p>\n “That\u2019s why we\u2019re expanding the Bird Buddy app to offer a unique experience for those who may not have access to a backyard or feeder. This is our most exciting development to date, to truly unlock the magic that is the world of birds and their critical role in our ecosystems. To be able to bring joy 24\/7 is a privilege and we are grateful to our community who have been instrumental in helping us achieve this,” he added.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Bird Buddy<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n The company also debuted a subscription product, Bird Buddy Pro, that lets users mute or ignore species, add additional guest slots and introduces a new frenzy mode that maximizes bird detections. And later this fall, Bird Buddy plans to introduce its own seed subscription service to make sure its customers have easy access to the right food for their feeders.<\/p>\n To date, Bird Buddy customers have installed 150,000 feeders around the world, which are capable of recognizing more than 1,000 species of birds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Bird Buddy, the startup behind multiple AI-powered smart bird feeders, including the recently announced smart Hummingbird Feeder and Bird Bath, is today launching its latest product — and it’s not another bird feeder. Instead, the company is debuting a new digital product called Bird Buddy Explore, which allows anyone to browse feeds from Bird Buddy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":2601669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"941750c7-7301-3bf2-85d3-940923135273","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-18T15:01:04Z","apple_news_api_id":"d6a185e7-702f-47f8-8dc0-91ee73854ed9","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-18T16:55:11Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/A1qGF53AvR_iNwJHuc4VO2Q","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577047203,577051039,20429],"tags":[449557101,576959149,36845,77847,449557042],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nBird Buddy, the AI-powered bird feeder startup, now lets anyone use its app to birdwatch | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Image Credits:<\/strong> Bird Buddy<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n In addition to providing birdwatching feeds, the Explore feature also offers interesting, educational information about each species of bird the user encounters when using the app. The feature joins a more lightweight feature, Bird Buddy TV, which offers a live TikTok-like vertical video feed of live bird sightings from various customers’ feeders.<\/p><\/div>\n Along with the launch of the new digital product, Bird Buddy is launching two new accessories designed to attract more species of birds to its feeders, including the Bird Buddy Perch Extender, which brings in bigger birds by offering a larger place to stand, and the Bird Buddy 3-in-1 Nutrition Set that includes a water fountain, jelly tray, and fruit spike to attract birds like orioles and finches.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Bird Buddy<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n \u201cWe are on a mission to help nature compete for our attention – and in the process, create daily connections with nature for as many people as possible,” explained Bird Buddy co-founder and CEO Franci Zidar, in a statement.<\/p>\n “That\u2019s why we\u2019re expanding the Bird Buddy app to offer a unique experience for those who may not have access to a backyard or feeder. This is our most exciting development to date, to truly unlock the magic that is the world of birds and their critical role in our ecosystems. To be able to bring joy 24\/7 is a privilege and we are grateful to our community who have been instrumental in helping us achieve this,” he added.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Bird Buddy<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n The company also debuted a subscription product, Bird Buddy Pro, that lets users mute or ignore species, add additional guest slots and introduces a new frenzy mode that maximizes bird detections. And later this fall, Bird Buddy plans to introduce its own seed subscription service to make sure its customers have easy access to the right food for their feeders.<\/p>\n To date, Bird Buddy customers have installed 150,000 feeders around the world, which are capable of recognizing more than 1,000 species of birds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Bird Buddy, the startup behind multiple AI-powered smart bird feeders, including the recently announced smart Hummingbird Feeder and Bird Bath, is today launching its latest product — and it’s not another bird feeder. Instead, the company is debuting a new digital product called Bird Buddy Explore, which allows anyone to browse feeds from Bird Buddy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":2601669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"941750c7-7301-3bf2-85d3-940923135273","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-18T15:01:04Z","apple_news_api_id":"d6a185e7-702f-47f8-8dc0-91ee73854ed9","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-18T16:55:11Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/A1qGF53AvR_iNwJHuc4VO2Q","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577047203,577051039,20429],"tags":[449557101,576959149,36845,77847,449557042],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nBird Buddy, the AI-powered bird feeder startup, now lets anyone use its app to birdwatch | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
In addition to providing birdwatching feeds, the Explore feature also offers interesting, educational information about each species of bird the user encounters when using the app. The feature joins a more lightweight feature, Bird Buddy TV, which offers a live TikTok-like vertical video feed of live bird sightings from various customers’ feeders.<\/p><\/div>\n Along with the launch of the new digital product, Bird Buddy is launching two new accessories designed to attract more species of birds to its feeders, including the Bird Buddy Perch Extender, which brings in bigger birds by offering a larger place to stand, and the Bird Buddy 3-in-1 Nutrition Set that includes a water fountain, jelly tray, and fruit spike to attract birds like orioles and finches.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Bird Buddy<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n \u201cWe are on a mission to help nature compete for our attention – and in the process, create daily connections with nature for as many people as possible,” explained Bird Buddy co-founder and CEO Franci Zidar, in a statement.<\/p>\n “That\u2019s why we\u2019re expanding the Bird Buddy app to offer a unique experience for those who may not have access to a backyard or feeder. This is our most exciting development to date, to truly unlock the magic that is the world of birds and their critical role in our ecosystems. To be able to bring joy 24\/7 is a privilege and we are grateful to our community who have been instrumental in helping us achieve this,” he added.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Bird Buddy<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n The company also debuted a subscription product, Bird Buddy Pro, that lets users mute or ignore species, add additional guest slots and introduces a new frenzy mode that maximizes bird detections. And later this fall, Bird Buddy plans to introduce its own seed subscription service to make sure its customers have easy access to the right food for their feeders.<\/p>\n To date, Bird Buddy customers have installed 150,000 feeders around the world, which are capable of recognizing more than 1,000 species of birds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Bird Buddy, the startup behind multiple AI-powered smart bird feeders, including the recently announced smart Hummingbird Feeder and Bird Bath, is today launching its latest product — and it’s not another bird feeder. Instead, the company is debuting a new digital product called Bird Buddy Explore, which allows anyone to browse feeds from Bird Buddy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":2601669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"941750c7-7301-3bf2-85d3-940923135273","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-18T15:01:04Z","apple_news_api_id":"d6a185e7-702f-47f8-8dc0-91ee73854ed9","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-18T16:55:11Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/A1qGF53AvR_iNwJHuc4VO2Q","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577047203,577051039,20429],"tags":[449557101,576959149,36845,77847,449557042],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nBird Buddy, the AI-powered bird feeder startup, now lets anyone use its app to birdwatch | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Along with the launch of the new digital product, Bird Buddy is launching two new accessories designed to attract more species of birds to its feeders, including the Bird Buddy Perch Extender, which brings in bigger birds by offering a larger place to stand, and the Bird Buddy 3-in-1 Nutrition Set that includes a water fountain, jelly tray, and fruit spike to attract birds like orioles and finches.<\/p>\n
Image Credits:<\/strong> Bird Buddy<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n \u201cWe are on a mission to help nature compete for our attention – and in the process, create daily connections with nature for as many people as possible,” explained Bird Buddy co-founder and CEO Franci Zidar, in a statement.<\/p>\n “That\u2019s why we\u2019re expanding the Bird Buddy app to offer a unique experience for those who may not have access to a backyard or feeder. This is our most exciting development to date, to truly unlock the magic that is the world of birds and their critical role in our ecosystems. To be able to bring joy 24\/7 is a privilege and we are grateful to our community who have been instrumental in helping us achieve this,” he added.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Bird Buddy<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n The company also debuted a subscription product, Bird Buddy Pro, that lets users mute or ignore species, add additional guest slots and introduces a new frenzy mode that maximizes bird detections. And later this fall, Bird Buddy plans to introduce its own seed subscription service to make sure its customers have easy access to the right food for their feeders.<\/p>\n To date, Bird Buddy customers have installed 150,000 feeders around the world, which are capable of recognizing more than 1,000 species of birds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Bird Buddy, the startup behind multiple AI-powered smart bird feeders, including the recently announced smart Hummingbird Feeder and Bird Bath, is today launching its latest product — and it’s not another bird feeder. Instead, the company is debuting a new digital product called Bird Buddy Explore, which allows anyone to browse feeds from Bird Buddy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":2601669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"941750c7-7301-3bf2-85d3-940923135273","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-18T15:01:04Z","apple_news_api_id":"d6a185e7-702f-47f8-8dc0-91ee73854ed9","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-18T16:55:11Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/A1qGF53AvR_iNwJHuc4VO2Q","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577047203,577051039,20429],"tags":[449557101,576959149,36845,77847,449557042],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nBird Buddy, the AI-powered bird feeder startup, now lets anyone use its app to birdwatch | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Image Credits:<\/strong> Bird Buddy<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n \u201cWe are on a mission to help nature compete for our attention – and in the process, create daily connections with nature for as many people as possible,” explained Bird Buddy co-founder and CEO Franci Zidar, in a statement.<\/p>\n “That\u2019s why we\u2019re expanding the Bird Buddy app to offer a unique experience for those who may not have access to a backyard or feeder. This is our most exciting development to date, to truly unlock the magic that is the world of birds and their critical role in our ecosystems. To be able to bring joy 24\/7 is a privilege and we are grateful to our community who have been instrumental in helping us achieve this,” he added.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Bird Buddy<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n The company also debuted a subscription product, Bird Buddy Pro, that lets users mute or ignore species, add additional guest slots and introduces a new frenzy mode that maximizes bird detections. And later this fall, Bird Buddy plans to introduce its own seed subscription service to make sure its customers have easy access to the right food for their feeders.<\/p>\n To date, Bird Buddy customers have installed 150,000 feeders around the world, which are capable of recognizing more than 1,000 species of birds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Bird Buddy, the startup behind multiple AI-powered smart bird feeders, including the recently announced smart Hummingbird Feeder and Bird Bath, is today launching its latest product — and it’s not another bird feeder. Instead, the company is debuting a new digital product called Bird Buddy Explore, which allows anyone to browse feeds from Bird Buddy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":2601669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"941750c7-7301-3bf2-85d3-940923135273","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-18T15:01:04Z","apple_news_api_id":"d6a185e7-702f-47f8-8dc0-91ee73854ed9","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-18T16:55:11Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/A1qGF53AvR_iNwJHuc4VO2Q","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577047203,577051039,20429],"tags":[449557101,576959149,36845,77847,449557042],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nBird Buddy, the AI-powered bird feeder startup, now lets anyone use its app to birdwatch | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
\u201cWe are on a mission to help nature compete for our attention – and in the process, create daily connections with nature for as many people as possible,” explained Bird Buddy co-founder and CEO Franci Zidar, in a statement.<\/p>\n
“That\u2019s why we\u2019re expanding the Bird Buddy app to offer a unique experience for those who may not have access to a backyard or feeder. This is our most exciting development to date, to truly unlock the magic that is the world of birds and their critical role in our ecosystems. To be able to bring joy 24\/7 is a privilege and we are grateful to our community who have been instrumental in helping us achieve this,” he added.<\/p>\n
Image Credits:<\/strong> Bird Buddy<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n The company also debuted a subscription product, Bird Buddy Pro, that lets users mute or ignore species, add additional guest slots and introduces a new frenzy mode that maximizes bird detections. And later this fall, Bird Buddy plans to introduce its own seed subscription service to make sure its customers have easy access to the right food for their feeders.<\/p>\n To date, Bird Buddy customers have installed 150,000 feeders around the world, which are capable of recognizing more than 1,000 species of birds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Bird Buddy, the startup behind multiple AI-powered smart bird feeders, including the recently announced smart Hummingbird Feeder and Bird Bath, is today launching its latest product — and it’s not another bird feeder. Instead, the company is debuting a new digital product called Bird Buddy Explore, which allows anyone to browse feeds from Bird Buddy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":2601669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"941750c7-7301-3bf2-85d3-940923135273","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-18T15:01:04Z","apple_news_api_id":"d6a185e7-702f-47f8-8dc0-91ee73854ed9","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-18T16:55:11Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/A1qGF53AvR_iNwJHuc4VO2Q","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577047203,577051039,20429],"tags":[449557101,576959149,36845,77847,449557042],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nBird Buddy, the AI-powered bird feeder startup, now lets anyone use its app to birdwatch | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Image Credits:<\/strong> Bird Buddy<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n The company also debuted a subscription product, Bird Buddy Pro, that lets users mute or ignore species, add additional guest slots and introduces a new frenzy mode that maximizes bird detections. And later this fall, Bird Buddy plans to introduce its own seed subscription service to make sure its customers have easy access to the right food for their feeders.<\/p>\n To date, Bird Buddy customers have installed 150,000 feeders around the world, which are capable of recognizing more than 1,000 species of birds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Bird Buddy, the startup behind multiple AI-powered smart bird feeders, including the recently announced smart Hummingbird Feeder and Bird Bath, is today launching its latest product — and it’s not another bird feeder. Instead, the company is debuting a new digital product called Bird Buddy Explore, which allows anyone to browse feeds from Bird Buddy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":2601669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"941750c7-7301-3bf2-85d3-940923135273","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-18T15:01:04Z","apple_news_api_id":"d6a185e7-702f-47f8-8dc0-91ee73854ed9","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-18T16:55:11Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/A1qGF53AvR_iNwJHuc4VO2Q","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577047203,577051039,20429],"tags":[449557101,576959149,36845,77847,449557042],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nBird Buddy, the AI-powered bird feeder startup, now lets anyone use its app to birdwatch | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
The company also debuted a subscription product, Bird Buddy Pro, that lets users mute or ignore species, add additional guest slots and introduces a new frenzy mode that maximizes bird detections. And later this fall, Bird Buddy plans to introduce its own seed subscription service to make sure its customers have easy access to the right food for their feeders.<\/p>\n
To date, Bird Buddy customers have installed 150,000 feeders around the world, which are capable of recognizing more than 1,000 species of birds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bird Buddy, the startup behind multiple AI-powered smart bird feeders, including the recently announced smart Hummingbird Feeder and Bird Bath, is today launching its latest product — and it’s not another bird feeder. Instead, the company is debuting a new digital product called Bird Buddy Explore, which allows anyone to browse feeds from Bird Buddy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":2601669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"941750c7-7301-3bf2-85d3-940923135273","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-09-18T15:01:04Z","apple_news_api_id":"d6a185e7-702f-47f8-8dc0-91ee73854ed9","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-09-18T16:55:11Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/A1qGF53AvR_iNwJHuc4VO2Q","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577047203,577051039,20429],"tags":[449557101,576959149,36845,77847,449557042],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nBird Buddy, the AI-powered bird feeder startup, now lets anyone use its app to birdwatch | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Sarah has worked as a reporter for TechCrunch since August 2011. She joined the company after having previously spent over three years at ReadWriteWeb. Prior to her work as a reporter, Sarah worked in I.T. across a number of industries, including banking, retail and software.<\/p>","cbAvatar":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/lwzxxnshgj71bonwbik3.jpg.jpg","twitter":"sarahintampa","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users\/2414667"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users"}]}}],"author":[{"id":2414667,"name":"Sarah Perez","url":"","description":"","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/author\/sarah-perez\/","slug":"sarah-perez","avatar_urls":{"24":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5225bb627e112543aa03bf3b2958be3f?s=24&d=identicon&r=g","48":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5225bb627e112543aa03bf3b2958be3f?s=48&d=identicon&r=g","96":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5225bb627e112543aa03bf3b2958be3f?s=96&d=identicon&r=g"},"yoast_head":"\nSarah Perez, Author at TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Sarah has worked as a reporter for TechCrunch since August 2011. She joined the company after having previously spent over three years at ReadWriteWeb. Prior to her work as a reporter, Sarah worked in I.T. across a number of industries, including banking, retail and software.<\/p>","cbAvatar":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/lwzxxnshgj71bonwbik3.jpg.jpg","twitter":"sarahintampa","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users\/2414667"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users"}]}}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"id":2601669,"date":"2023-09-18T07:21:19","slug":"bird-buddy-explore","type":"attachment","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2023\/09\/18\/bird-buddy-the-ai-powered-bird-feeder-startup-now-lets-anyone-use-its-app-to-birdwatch\/bird-buddy-explore\/","title":{"rendered":"bird buddy explore"},"author":2414667,"license":{"person":"Bird Buddy"},"authors":[2414667],"caption":{"rendered":"
Pcb Printer Pricelist Bird Buddy Explore<\/p>\n"},"alt_text":"Bird Buddy Explore splash page","media_type":"image","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","media_details":{"width":1400,"height":800,"file":"2023\/09\/bird-buddy-explore.jpeg","filesize":166738,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"file":"bird-buddy-explore.jpeg?resize=150,86","width":150,"height":86,"filesize":166738,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/bird-buddy-explore.jpeg?w=150"},"medium":{"file":"bird-buddy-explore.jpeg?resize=300,171","width":300,"height":171,"filesize":166738,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/bird-buddy-explore.jpeg?w=300"},"medium_large":{"file":"bird-buddy-explore.jpeg?resize=768,439","width":768,"height":439,"filesize":166738,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/bird-buddy-explore.jpeg?w=1024"},"large":{"file":"bird-buddy-explore.jpeg?resize=680,389","width":680,"height":389,"filesize":166738,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/bird-buddy-explore.jpeg?w=680"},"tc-social-image":{"file":"bird-buddy-explore.jpeg?resize=1200,686","width":1200,"height":6