Last week, Minority-Serving Institutions received over $175 million to improve access to affordable, reliable, and high-speed internet. The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) recently announced it awarded more than $175 million to 61 colleges and universities as part of the Connecting Minority Communities (CMC) Pilot Program. The funding comes from the Internet for All initiative which aims to ensure all Americans can access affordable, reliable, high-speed internet. The initiative includes funds for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI), Minority Serving Institutions, and
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,
TikTok’s African moderators are calling out the platform for forcing them to review hundreds of disturbing and graphic videos with little to no psychological help. According to a report by Business Insider, moderators spent hours reviewing graphic videos for less than $3 an hour. From viewing horrific child-abuse material to explicit videos of people dying by suicide, moderators undergo psychological distress because of their jobs. “The devil of this job is that you get sick slowly – without even noticing it. You think it’s not a big deal but it
“We were made to look like fools,” one creator said. Content creators are calling out TikTok’s rival, Triller, for recruiting Black talent and not committing to paying them on time or sometimes not at all. According to The Washington Post, more than two dozen creators, talent managers, and former company staff have anonymously decided to speak out against the platform. Many recalled their experiences of being forced to cope with uncertain payments, a demanding posting schedule, and vague requirements throughout their partnership with the platform. In 2021, the video-sharing app
Instagram has launched a user survey in partnership with YouGov to understand better how people from different communities experience the app. The initiative, which highlights the company’s efforts to build a more “fair and equitable” platform, will prompt users to participate in an optional survey about their race and ethnicity. According to Instagram, information from the survey will help them better understand different communities’ experiences with the app. The survey will show up at the top of users’ feed and will lead directly to a YouGov survey. According to the
The parents of two young girls are suing TikTok after the children, aged eight and nine years old, died attempting the “Blackout Challenge.” The families say the video-sharing platform’s “dangerous” algorithm is what led the children to an early death. The life-threatening challenge, which became popular over the past few weeks, encourages users to choke themselves until they pass out. Parents of Lalani Erika Renee Walton and Nylah Anderson say TikTok’s algorithm “intentionally” pushed videos of the dangerous trend onto the children’s For You page, which is why the young
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) can now track and identify cryptocurrency users using a new software program, Coinbase Tracker. The software, offered on a subscription basis, allows the government and private sectors to trace incoming and outgoing funds made through various digital currencies, including Bitcoin, Ether, and Tether. Last year, Intercept revealed that Coinbase had sold its analytics software license to ICE for $29,000. The analytics program, which provides ICE with crypto users’ “historical geo-tracking data,” is one of several small contracts between Coinbase and the U.S. government. In April 2021,
Black-owned tech firm, Eminent Future, known for providing software development, project management, and analytics services to a range of businesses, has been awarded over $13 billion in a defense contract with the US Airforce and US Spaceforce. Eminent Future, co-founded by José Risi and Isaac Barnes in 2009, has grown into one of Virginia’s fastest-growing companies. The tech firm, which led software development teams for both President Obama and President Trump’s administrations, uses AI technology to build the framework of their products. The platform, which “prioritizes people over technology,” works directly with organizations to help
A Facebook-backed subsea communications cable is set to become the world’s longest – directly connecting three continents — Africa, Europe, and Asia. On Tuesday, the major tech firm announced that the 2Africa cable would now extend more than 45,000 kilometers (27,960 miles) once it’s completed. The 8,000-kilometer extension will see 2Africa become the most extended subsea cable system in the world upon completion, Facebook said. This means it will also beat the current record set by the SEA-ME-WE 3 line that stretches 39,000 km and connects 33 countries across South East Asia,
