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

Facebook’s blacklist of 4,000 dangerous individuals and groups is leaked

POLICY - BY JAMES FARRELL - 5 YEARS AGO

Facebook Inc. keeps a blacklist of 4,000 people and groups it deems a threat to national security, according to a report published by The Intercept today. What it contains has so far remained mostly a secret. The list of “Dangerous Individuals and Organizations,” now seen by The Intercept, seems to be in line with U.S. ...

Facebook says it will ‘nudge’ teens away from harmful content

POLICY - BY JAMES FARRELL - 5 YEARS AGO

Nick Clegg, Facebook’s vice president of global affairs, said Sunday that in an effort to make Instagram a safer place for teens, the company will implement some changes to the app. The move comes after an avalanche of criticism following whistleblower Frances Haugen’s leak of internal documents, her subsequent appearance on TV and her date ...

Google says it will invest $1B in Africa over the next five years

INFRA - BY JAMES FARRELL - 5 YEARS AGO

Google LLC announced today that it plans to invest $1 billion in the continent of Africa in an effort to give more people access to fast and cheap internet while investing some of the money in startups. Nitin Gajria, managing director for Google in Africa, said the subsea cable will link Africa and Europe and ...

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg denies his company favors growth over safety

POLICY - BY JAMES FARRELL - 5 YEARS AGO

After a former Facebook Inc. executive blew the whistle on the company, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg emerged from the dust today to deny her accusations. Frances Haugen, a product manager on the civic integrity team at Facebook, had leaked a series of documents to the Wall Street Journal before she appeared on U.S. television to disclose ...

Facebook whistleblower says company prioritizes growth over safety

POLICY - BY JAMES FARRELL - 5 YEARS AGO

A former Facebook Inc. executive turned whistleblower just revealed her identity after sharing several controversial documents with the Wall Street Journal over the last few weeks. Frances Haugen (pictured), 37, was a product manager on the civic integrity team at the company before she decided to become a whistleblower. Prior to revealing her identity, she ...

Zero tolerance: YouTube blocks all anti-vaccine accounts

POLICY - BY JAMES FARRELL - 5 YEARS AGO

Google LLC-owned YouTube today announced that it is no longer messing around and will ban all anti-vaccination accounts, including some very popular ones. The company said that while accounts will be taken down, so will any posts which express unfounded concerns about vaccines or falsely state that some vaccines cause autism or cancer or something ...

Facebook responds to leaked documents about exploring the kids’ market

POLICY - BY JAMES FARRELL - 5 YEARS AGO

Leaked documents published by The Wall Street Journal today show how Facebook Inc. spent a lot of time exploring how children use social media, forcing it to respond to more criticism once again. Just yesterday, Facebook announced that it was putting its plan on hold to develop Instagram Kids, a version of the app for ...

Instagram Kids put on hold after mental health backlash

POLICY - BY JAMES FARRELL - 5 YEARS AGO

Facebook Inc.-owned Instagram announced today that it’s pausing the development of a version of the app aimed at children. For months now, Facebook has been drowned in a deluge of criticism for developing an Instagram app for children under the age of 13. That criticism has come from all sides, from child health experts to ...

Big tech sues Texas over social media censorship law

POLICY - BY JAMES FARRELL - 5 YEARS AGO

Two trade groups representing some of the world’s largest tech companies filed a lawsuit against the state of Texas today concerning a law that would inhibit social media companies from censoring users for their political views. NetChoice and the Computer and Communications Industry Association filed the lawsuit against HB 20, a law that would prevent ...

Facebook’s Oversight Board asks for more transparency in VIP moderation program

POLICY - BY JAMES FARRELL - 5 YEARS AGO

Facebook Inc.’s Oversight Board said today that it thinks the public deserves to know more information about how the company’s “cross-check” system works. After a report by the Wall Street Journal earlier this month, it came to light that Facebook has been giving millions of users a certain kind of immunity when it comes to ...