Today's Liberal News

Facebook Whistleblower to Congress: Regulate Big Tech. Silicon Valley Can’t Be Trusted to Police Itself

Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen testified to Congress Tuesday, denouncing the company for prioritizing “astronomical profits” over the safety of billions of users, and urging lawmakers to enact strict oversight over Facebook. Haugen’s testimony gave a rare glimpse into the secretive tech company, which she accused of harming children, sowing division by boosting hateful content, and undermining democracy.

“Blah, Blah, Blah”: Youth Climate Activists Slam Political Inaction at U.N. Summit Ahead of COP26

Thousands of youth climate activists marched through the streets of Milan last week demanding world leaders meet their pledges to the Paris Climate Agreement and keep global temperatures from rising by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius. The protest came at the end of a three-day youth climate conference, ahead of the United Nations’ COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.

Bans Off Our Bodies: Planned Parenthood Pres. on Abortion Bans, Bills in Congress & the Supreme Court

After thousands of people marched in hundreds of rallies across the United States to protest against tightening abortion restrictions, we speak with Planned Parenthood President Alexis McGill Johnson, who says the weekend actions represent “a movement moment” for reproductive rights. “More than 80% of Americans believe that Roe should be the law of the land,” she says.

News Roundup: Facebook makes money sowing discord; debt limit stalemate

In the news today: There’s still no plan for keeping the United States from defaulting on its debts by mid-October in the face of unanimous Senate Republican opposition to allowing an alternative. A whistleblower confirms that Facebook knows it’s sowing social discord and violence, and that those are the posts that make it the most money.

Black homecoming king says he was called racial slur during game. He, not opponents, was suspended

Just about the only thing students should have to worry about when going to school is learning. That’s an ideal scenario, but not all students are given the resources and support to live. School is an especially contentious subject given that we’re still facing the novel coronavirus pandemic and that both parents and community members are still raging about mask mandates.

Americans Had It Easy During the Facebook Outage

Before WhatsApp went dark yesterday, the last messages I sent were to my editor in London, my doctor here in Mexico City, and to the family group chat, asking whether my father—recovering from COVID-19 back home in Pakistan—had finally tested negative. For me, WhatsApp is as much a verb as Google, and the platform is the engine that fuels my personal and professional lives.

PA attorney general announces slew of environmental charges against pipeline developer

Pennsylvania’s attorney general, the man behind the explosive investigation into the Catholic Church’s decades-long cover-up of sexual abuse of over 1,000 children, and who took Postmaster Louis DeJoy to court, arguing that DeJoy’s cuts could damage citizens’ trust and confidence in the mail, announced a slew of environmental charges against a notorious energy company on Tuesday.

Rivian Wants to Be the Apple of Electric Pickup Trucks

This is an excerpt from The Atlantic’s climate newsletter, The Weekly Planet. Subscribe today.Many fights about climate policy have been raging, basically unbroken, for the past 40 years. But something that sets this moment apart is that a subset of people who care about climate change, and who have founded companies to fight it, is becoming extremely wealthy.On Friday, the electric-car start-up Rivian filed for its initial public offering.

What Happened When Facebook Became Boomerbook

Sometimes it’s hard to remember that Facebook is only 17 years old: If it were a person, it could drive but not drink. If Facebook were a person, it would also be fabulously wealthy, incredibly successful, and exhaustingly argumentative. And it probably wouldn’t use Facebook.The disclosures in The Wall Street Journal’s “Facebook Files,” leaked by a whistleblower named Frances Haugen, are incendiary.

Pandora Papers: Massive Leak Exposes How Elite Shield Their Wealth & Avoid Taxes in Colonial Legacy

The Pandora Papers, described as “the world’s largest-ever journalistic collaboration,” have revealed the secret financial dealings of the world’s richest and most powerful people. “We’ve uncovered a system that benefits a few at the expense of the many,” says Ben Hallman, senior editor at the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, who details some of the project’s main revelations so far.

“Appalling and Unacceptable”: Leak Shows Facebook Knew Its Algorithms Spread Hate & Harmed Children

An unprecedented leak at Facebook reveals top executives at the company knew about major issues with the platform from their own research but kept the damning information hidden from the public. The leak shows Facebook deliberately ignored rampant disinformation, hate speech and political unrest in order to boost ad sales and is also implicated in child safety and human trafficking violations.