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 will reportedly scrap its policy of special treatment for politicians

POLICY - BY JAMES FARRELL - 5 YEARS AGO

No longer will politicians get the VIP treatment from Facebook Inc. while the rest of us shmucks face the slings and arrows of the company’s content policies, according to a report in The Verge today. Facebook in the past had turned a blind eye to content posted by politicians even though it may have breached ...

Elon Musk twice violated court order not to tweet about Tesla without lawyer OK

POLICY - BY JAMES FARRELL - 5 YEARS AGO

Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk twice violated a court order that said his tweets should be vetted before he hit the button, The Wall Street Journal reported today. The Securities and Exchange Commission and the sometimes trigger-happy Musk (pictured) had made an agreement back in 2019 in which Musk agreed that any public communications ...

After report on high injury rate at Amazon warehouses, workers get a break on performance metric

POLICY - BY JAMES FARRELL - 5 YEARS AGO

Workers at Amazon.com Inc.’s warehouses are nearly twice as likely to suffer a serious injury as people working for other companies in the industry, according to a report published today. The Strategic Organizing Center wrote that while Amazon’s e-commerce business has boomed during the pandemic and ensuing lockdowns, it has come at a cost to ...

Amid Palestinian content suppression claims, Instagram makes algorithm changes

POLICY - BY JAMES FARRELL - 5 YEARS AGO

Following reports that Facebook Inc.-owned Instagram was censoring pro-Palestinian content, the company says it has tweaked its algorithm. The change, revealed today, comes after Facebook employees as well as Instagram users complained that content related to the recent Gaza conflict was biased against support for Palestine. For the most part, it’s believed the bias was ...

Twitter blasts Indian government for ‘intimidation tactics’

POLICY - BY JAMES FARRELL - 5 YEARS AGO

Twitter Inc. criticized the Indian government today over a freedom of speech issue just days after police turned up at the company’s offices. What elicited the criticism was law enforcement walking into Twitter’s Indian office and serving a notice to the company for the alleged transgression of mislabeling a post from the ruling Bharatiya Janata ...

Facebook announces big changes to suppress dubious news spreaders

APPS - BY JAMES FARRELL - 5 YEARS AGO

Facebook Inc. today announced two major changes to its social network, one to hide users who continually share misinformation and another an option for viewers to hide Like count on posts. Currently, if users share misleading content about crucial topics such as the COVID-19 pandemic or matters relating to national politics, that post will likely come ...

Amazon stung with antitrust lawsuit filed by Washington DC attorney general

POLICY - BY JAMES FARRELL - 5 YEARS AGO

A lawsuit was filed today by Washington DC Attorney General Karl Racine that accuses the company of anticompetitive practices. “Amazon’s online retail sales platform benefits from, and is protected by, Amazon’s anticompetitive business practices,” said the lawsuit. It claims that the company’s large market share of U.S. online sales leads to higher prices for the ...

Florida governor signs bill to block social media platforms from booting politicians

POLICY - BY JAMES FARRELL - 5 YEARS AGO

In a bid to prevent social media behemoths from banning politicians, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill today that will prevent them from doing so. Senate Bill 7072 is a response to former President Donald Trump being blocked from using the platforms of Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc., as well as Google-owned YouTube. Soon ...

Following an investigation, Twitter admits its image cropping algorithm is biased

APPS - BY JAMES FARRELL - 5 YEARS AGO

Twitter Inc. today revealed the results of an internal investigation into its image cropping algorithm, following accusations that it’s biased. In April this year, the company announced that it would conduct an analysis regarding its machine learning algorithms and whether they may cause unintentional harm. The investigation was called the “Responsible Machine Learning Initiative.” Part ...

Amazon still won’t make its facial recognition software available to police anytime soon

POLICY - BY JAMES FARRELL - 5 YEARS AGO

Amazon.com Inc. announced today that it’s extending a moratorium that forbids police from using the company’s controversial facial recognition software. Last year, Amazon place a one-year moratorium on police to block them from using the technology, coming at a time when other technology companies either said they wouldn’t sell their own similar product or stopped ...