James Farrell

James Farrell is the former editor-in-chief of Chiang Mai CityNews, where he wrote and managed daily news, features, op-eds and blogs on a diverse range of topics. Prior to this, in the same city of Northern Thailand where he lives, he was the longstanding deputy editor of the monthly magazine Citylife. He has written on culture, politics, travel, tech, business, human rights, for local, national, and international news services and magazines. He has a keen interest in the role technology is playing in the transformation of society, culture and politics, especially in developing nations. This is reflected in his not-so-successful first novel.

Latest from James Farrell

Meta’s Oversight Board to become faster about the decisions it makes

POLICY - BY JAMES FARRELL - 4 YEARS AGO

Meta Platforms Inc.’s Oversight Board couldn’t exactly be called speedy in how it deals with controversial cases, but today the board said that’s all going to change. It has been two years since Meta, then Facebook Inc., announced that it would introduce a third-party board to oversee how it makes moderation decisions – some of ...

Study finds data brokers are selling Americans’ mental health data

POLICY - BY JAMES FARRELL - 4 YEARS AGO

A study released today explains that data brokers in the U.S. are selling long lists of people who suffer from various mental health conditions. The study, which was undertaken by Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy, states that these shady brokers have been compiling lists of Americans who suffer from ailments such as anxiety, ...

Ukraine airs disappointment as SpaceX says Starlink technology is not for offensive purposes

POLICY - BY JAMES FARRELL - 4 YEARS AGO

Ukrainian officials today were far from pleased after being told that Starlink’s satellite internet service was not to be used for its military drones, a service that has so far been indispensable in the war with Russia. Elon Musk’s company had earlier said that its satellite communications were never supposed to be “weaponized.” Gwynne Shotwell, ...

UK government says Microsoft Activision Blizzard acquisition could harm millions of gamers

POLICY - BY JAMES FARRELL - 4 YEARS AGO

The United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority said today that Microsoft Corp.’s $69 billion acquisition of gaming behemoth Activision Blizzard Inc. could harm competition in the U.K. gaming market. The CMA said in its provisional findings that Microsoft’s largest-ever acquisition might result in steeper prices for gamers and fewer choices in the U.K. market while ...

Britain’s beleaguered Royal Mail held to ransom by hackers

SECURITY - BY JAMES FARRELL - 4 YEARS AGO

The ransomware group LockBit has claimed responsibility for the January Royal Mail cyberattack and today is making threats to Britain’s centuries-old service. After the attack happened on Jan. 12, the Royal Mail said it had to close down international shipping because of “severe service disruption.” At the time, it was speculated that LockBit, which may have ...

TikTok updates safety policies as US scrutiny continues

POLICY - BY JAMES FARRELL - 4 YEARS AGO

As ByteDance Ltd.-owned TikTok stares down the barrel of a shotgun in the U.S., the company announced today that it’s introducing new moderation policies for creators and users. Julie de Bailliencourt, TikTok’s global head of policy, said in a blog post that the company will now have a strike system for people who violate community ...

Look out, Google: Microsoft is looking to integrate GPT-4 with Bing search engine

AI - BY JAMES FARRELL - 4 YEARS AGO

In an effort to compete with Google LLC’s search engine, Microsoft Corp. will integrate ChatGPT with its Bing search engine. That’s according to Semafor, which said it spoke to people familiar with the matter. They said Microsoft will use OpenAI LLC’s latest iteration of the bot, GPT-4. The one currently being used by much of ...

Instagram creators have launched an AI-driven news aggregation app

APPS - BY JAMES FARRELL - 4 YEARS AGO

Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger told the world today what they’ve been doing in the four years since they walked away from their creation. The answer is working on various next-generation social apps, including the one they released today – or at least said people can join an invitation list to sign up ...

TikTok CEO will speak with Congress in March about US national security concerns

POLICY - BY JAMES FARRELL - 4 YEARS AGO

As security fears over ByteDance Ltd.’s popular app TikTok swirl around the corridors of U.S. government buildings, Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew is set to speak with Congress in March to attempt to placate those concerns. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers confirmed today that the meeting will take place March 23. ...

BuzzFeed’s stock price soars as company announces AI content push

AI - BY JAMES FARRELL - 4 YEARS AGO

BuzzFeed Inc.’s shares just rose by as much as 150% as the digital media company announced today that it will start producing a lot more content with OpenAI LLC’s tool, ChatGPT. ChatGPT has taken the world by storm since it was released in 2022. Countless artists, philosophers and technologists have weighed in on what kind ...