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

Jack Dorsey defends Twitter employees amid ‘Twitter Files’ controversy

POLICY - BY JAMES FARRELL - 4 YEARS AGO

Co-founder and former Twitter Inc. Chief Executive Jack Dorsey today aired his views regarding what has been going on since his friend Elon Musk took over and later started to criticize how Twitter had been moderated. The former boss said, first and foremost, that Twitter is not the company he had in mind when he ...

The war over semiconductor chips between the US and China is heating up

POLICY - BY JAMES FARRELL - 4 YEARS AGO

China has suffered another blow in its ongoing trade war with the U.S., with Bloomberg reporting today that Japan and the Netherlands have both agreed not to export much-needed chipmaking technology to China. Earlier this year, the U.S. introduced new rules which would make it near impossible for companies to sell China key chips and ...

Apple’s move to full iCloud data encryption hasn’t impressed the snoops

POLICY - BY JAMES FARRELL - 4 YEARS AGO

Apple Inc. announced Wednesday that it will offer full encryption for data in its cloud storage system worldwide, which not surprisingly has been met with consternation from some and joy from others. The move means that all content, chats, photos and videos, will have end-to-end encryption under Apple’s Advanced Data Protection feature. For the average consumer, ...

Texas joins other states and bans the use of TikTok on government-issued devices

POLICY - BY JAMES FARRELL - 4 YEARS AGO

Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced today that amid security concerns, government-issued devices should not have TikTok installed. Since TikTok took off in the U.S., politicians and other government officials, have talked about how the app is a threat to national security. Former president Donald Trump wanted to ban TikTok completely, accusing it of being spying software ...

Meta’s Oversight Board wants to see radical changes to the company’s VIP moderation system

POLICY - BY JAMES FARRELL - 4 YEARS AGO

Meta Platforms Inc.’s Oversight Board said today that it’s time to change the moderation system in which certain high-profile users on Facebook and Instagram receive preferential treatment. During the time Meta was being taken through the wringer last year when the company was accused of putting profits before the common good, it was revealed that ...

Elon Musk says Neuralink brain implants will be tested on humans in 2023

EMERGING TECH - BY JAMES FARRELL - 4 YEARS AGO

Elon Musk said Wednesday that his company Neuralink will start testing human brain implants within the next six months. Musk, who said he was willing to be one of the first humans to try out a brain-chip interface, said his company has already written the necessary documents to submit to the Food and Drug Administration ...

Mark Zuckerberg slams App Store policies but Musk makes up with Apple

POLICY - BY JAMES FARRELL - 4 YEARS AGO

Meta Platforms Inc. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg told a crowd at the DealBook Summit today that Apple Inc.’s status as the gatekeeper of its app marketplace isn’t good for anyone but Apple. “If you look at all the major competing platforms that have existed — iOS, Android, Windows — Apple stands out,” Zuckerberg (pictured) explained. ...

Elon Musk is backed by Republican politicians after spat with Apple

POLICY - BY JAMES FARRELL - 4 YEARS AGO

After new Twitter Inc. owner Elon Musk said this week that Apple Inc. was threatening to remove Twitter from the App Store, a group of GOP lawmakers came to his aid and warned that Apple had gone too far. On Monday, Musk took to Twitter to inform people that Apple had threatened to “withhold” Twitter ...

Amid protests, Chinese Communist Party wrestles with social media

POLICY - BY JAMES FARRELL - 4 YEARS AGO

As large parts of the Chinese population protest against China’s strict zero-COVID policies, the government has found itself struggling to keep up its notorious firewall. Today, reports stated that Chinese people are being stopped in the streets and at train stations, with the local cops searching phones for any sign of banned social media apps ...

Twitter’s ‘amnesty’ on banned accounts has caused a conflagration of criticism

POLICY - BY JAMES FARRELL - 4 YEARS AGO

Twitter Inc.’s Elon Musk managed to generate widespread ire again when today he announced that the platform would reinstate banned accounts that had previously been kicked off for transgressions such as indulging in harassment and spreading misinformation. Musk has in the past talked about how he’s a “free speech absolutist” and said he wants Twitter ...