Meta has banned accounts linked to seven entities for conducting ‘surveillance-for-hire’ operations in opposition to some 50,000 customers. One of many purged corporations is the Israeli-run Black Dice, employed by disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein. ...

Scandal-hit funding platform Robinhood has revealed that the non-public knowledge of hundreds of thousands of its clients was uncovered by a “knowledge safety incident” after an extortionist “socially engineered” a buyer assist staffer final week. ...

Heroin is nearly unimaginable to get in North America, the place it has been nearly changed by fentanyl, Vice Information says – main some sarcastic commenters to surprise if this implies the CIA will ask Congress for more cash for coups. ...

US fintech big PayPal is reportedly exploring the concept of launching its personal platform for buying and selling particular person shares. Information that the corporate is setting its sights on the booming enterprise sector despatched its shares hovering. ...

The ‘actuality czars’ at Reuters and USA As we speak have been fast on the scene to pour chilly water on the notion that Friday would see the return of former president Donald Trump to the White Home. QAnon was blamed – or was it trolls? ...

Fb has launched a brand new function permitting customers to request prayers – an replace that has been roundly mocked and skewered by critics, who say Fb has far bigger points to concentrate on. ...

A brand new e book on Fb’s rise is meant to make readers outraged. However what is actually ugly is the authors’ technologically determinist misanthropy which sees folks as manipulatable infants, preyed upon by a rapacious monopoly. ...

Harsh doping guidelines have seen sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson banned from the Olympics over leisure hashish use similtaneously a weightlifter born as a person is competing towards girls. It makes a mockery of the Video games. ...

US fintech large PayPal has introduced it’s planning to permit customers to withdraw cryptocurrency holdings on its platform and transfer them to third-party wallets. ...

Twitter has relaunched its verification program, and can permit clout-chasing customers to use for the coveted (in some circles) blue checkmark. Customers who’ve damaged Twitter’s guidelines, nevertheless, shouldn’t waste their time. ...