Facebook executive defends currency plan to senators

Under withering criticism from senators, a Facebook executive on Tuesday defended the social network giant's ambitious plan to create a digital currency and pledged to work with regulators to achieve a system that protects the privacy of users' data.

New redesigned Twitter starts rolling out globally

Twitter started rolling out a redesigned interface globally on Monday, which adds several new sections to the user interface – notably, an Explore and Bookmarks menu, and menus for Profile and Lists to the menu. 

Treasury chief: Facebook currency plan ripe for illicit use

The Trump administration came out strongly Monday against Facebook's ambitious plan to create a new digital currency, as the Treasury chief warned it could be used for illicit activity such as money laundering, human trafficking and financing terrorism.

Uber Comfort offers more legroom, less conversation for riders who pay more

Uber is letting passengers tell their driver in advance that they'd like a little less conversation, and more legroom, if they're willing to pay. The ride-hailing giant launched "comfort" rides Tuesday. Riders are guaranteed a minimum amount of legroom in cars less than five years old and can use the app to tell drivers they don't want to talk. Comfort rides cost 20% to...

Twitter to moderate tweets that express religious hate

The days when Twitter referred to itself as the "the free speech wing of the free speech party" are long gone. The Twitter Safety team on Tuesday expanded its moderation policies around hateful conduct to include language that dehumanizes others on the basis of religion.

Amazon, Microsoft wage war over the Pentagon's 'war cloud'

Amazon and Microsoft are battling it out over a $10 billion opportunity to build the U.S. military its first "war cloud" computing system. But Amazon's early hopes of a shock-and-awe victory may be slipping away.

Google launches program to teach kids how to code

For kids coming into in an increasingly software-driven world, learning to program is a crucial skill that sets them up for future success. Access to training resources isn’t readily available to everyone.  To address this gap, Google launched a new educational resource for school teachers to teach the basics of programming to students on Monday. Called ‘Code with...

Instagram is rolling out two features to curb online bullying

Internet platforms can often be a hostile space where some people say incredibly mean and abusive things, sometimes under pseudonymous profiles. Instagram said Monday it is rolling out a couple of changes on its platform to curb online bullying and make it more of a safe space for young people. These features were promised at Facebook’s F8 conference in late April 2019.