Dealing with constant harassment online can be incredibly distressing. Not only does it make you feel helpless, but it can also make you hyper-exposed when your social media account is under attack. Block Party gives users more control when dealing with online harassment. The app uses protections to filter out abuse from troll accounts, which tend to be new accounts without a profile photo or a page with less than 100 followers. The latest update allows users to record their reasons for blocking an account, so they don’t have to
In his first move as Twitter’s owner, Elon Musk has ousted its CEO Parag Agrawal. After months of back and forth, Musk has closed the $44 billion deal to purchase Twitter. Wasting no time, Musk fired Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal as well as chief financial offer Ned Segal, and general counsel Sean Edgett. Chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde, who reportedly played a key role in Trump’s Twitter ban, has also been fired. Read: Musk’s Twitter Layoffs Take A Hammer To Diversity And Inclusion Efforts Sources reported seeing at least one of the fired executives
25-year-old Iddris Sandu is a technologist and founder of Spatial Labs (sLabs) an organization committed to reshaping the future of commerce, Blockchain technology, and fashion. The technologist, born in Accra, Ghana, moved to Los Angeles when he was three years old. After teaching himself how to code and partaking in a range of internships and consultancy programs, Sandu set his sights on reshaping the way technology exists in the world. Additionally, he stuck to his word and became one of the youngest founders to enter Black Enterprise’s 40 under 40 list. The
Black visionary Gianni O’Connor is on a mission to unleash the true power of technology. Through artificial intelligence, O’Connor is working to build a one-of-a-kind AI personality that will make it easier for users to converse with their game console – sound strange? We’re officially stepping into the future. Who is Gianni O’Connor? Gianni O’Connor’s entrepreneurial journey began in 2012 when he launched the music social media site Micsu (later Mozrt). The 29-year-old UK-based entrepreneur then founded the social trading app Trad3r and, most recently, Go Games. “I love being
Are Black and Latinx neighborhoods more prone to experiencing slower internet services? According to a recent study by The Markup, the households that suffered from slower internet service were based in prominently lower-income areas with fewer white residents. Despite the service being a lot slower than the other household, both are paying the exact same price for their internet services – meaning the slower internet speed doesn’t come at a cheaper price. Racial Digital Divide In the study, The Markup gathered and analysed more than 800,000 internet services from AT&T,
Annie Jean-Baptiste, head of product inclusion and equity at Google, is on a mission to make product inclusion and equity a critical part of tech. Who is Annie Jean-Baptiste? After 10 years at Google, Jean-Baptiste now leads the diversity, inclusion, and equity (DEI) team, pushing the tech giant to take marginalized users into account when building its products. According to Jean-Baptiste, the idea to focus on product inclusion came about after she noticed that many things like culture and representation were internally important but were forgotten about when designing new
Ye, also known as Kanye West, has announced his acquisition of Parler, an American alt-tech microblogging social networking service that labels itself as a “free speech network.” What is Parler? Parler, founded in 2018 by John Matze Jr, is a right-wing social media site that provides an alternative for conservatives who have left social sites like Facebook and Twitter due to increased censorship. Parler’s parent company, Parlement Technologies, is headed up by George Farmer, husband of right-wing activist Candace Owens. Farmer is also the son of Michael Farmer, the former treasurer
EvenScore, co-founded by Johnnie Turnage and Averett Barksdale, is on a mission to revolutionize voters’ experience by making a system that creates an “even score” when it comes to fundraising for political or non-profit candidates. What is EvenScore? EvenScore’s app aims to “bring more transparency to donations.” Voters can rank campaigns and keep across the different movements they have contributed to. EvenScore also makes it easier for political candidates to share their campaigns online. Voters on the app will also be able to see donor profiles, a photo of the candidate, and more
South Africa will become the latest country to join Google Cloud as the tech giant’s first cloud region on the continent. On October 5th, 2022, Google announced plans to follow in the footsteps of competitors by launching its premier African cloud region. Cloud regions in Africa This comes years after major cloud providers Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services established their South African cloud regions in 2019 and 2020, respectively. In addition, earlier this year, Oracle, another competing cloud service, set up its data center in Johannesburg, making Google the
It’s a universally acknowledged truth that social media can do more harm than good. Even though we know to watch out for disinformation or the insidious effects of constant comparison with other people’s best moments, most of us can’t quit scrolling. Even Facebook’s own studies showed a link between Instagram and teenagers suffering from mental health issues. Because of this, a new social media app called Inpathy wants to create a healthier experience online. Their answer? Asking users to post their real emotions in real-time. The unwritten rules of social
