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

Tesla is under review by the DMV for claiming ‘full self-driving’ capability

AI - BY JAMES FARRELL - 5 YEARS AGO

The California Department of Motor Vehicles is reportedly investigating Tesla Inc.’s claims regarding its vehicles’ full self-driving capabilities. Regulators will try to ascertain if the company has falsely promoted the feature, possibly putting people’s lives at risk. The scrutiny comes after accidents in such vehicles, as well as people showing themselves in videos in their ...

Google gets hit with $123 million fine in Italy for anticompetitive behavior

POLICY - BY JAMES FARRELL - 5 YEARS AGO

Italy has slapped a 102 million euro ($123 million) fine on Google LLC for abusing its market dominance. The Italian Competition Authority said today that the company had violated Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union by preventing the release of an Italian-made app. “Google holds a dominant position allowing ...

Chinese firm Xiaomi exits the US government’s blacklist

POLICY - BY JAMES FARRELL - 5 YEARS AGO

Xiaomi Corp. and the U.S. government have made up and the company has now been taken off the blacklist, it was reported today. The Chinese electronics giant was accused during the Trump presidency of being “owned or controlled” by the Chinese military and therefore a threat. At the time, many U.S. pundits expressed surprise at ...

Agree to WhatsApp’s new privacy policy or else, says Facebook

POLICY - BY JAMES FARRELL - 5 YEARS AGO

Facebook Inc. announced today that WhatsApp users won’t lose their account completely if they don’t agree to its new privacy policy right away, but  the company has made many users an offer they might not be able to refuse. WhatsApp said on its FAQ page that users won’t have their accounts deleted on May 15 ...

Dozens of attorneys general tell Facebook to scrap plans to launch Instagram for kids

POLICY - BY JAMES FARRELL - 5 YEARS AGO

Forty-four state attorneys general have signed a letter urging Facebook Inc. not to go ahead with its plans to launch a version of Instagram for children under the age of 13. The letter, which was published online today, talked about the “detrimental” effects social media can have on young people, saying that children of that ...

Twitter introduces Tip Jar, a way to make money from tweets

APPS - BY JAMES FARRELL - 5 YEARS AGO

Twitter Inc. announced today that it’s now testing a tipping system called Tip Jar that will allow users to send money to the accounts that impress them with certain tweets. Earlier this year, Twitter laid out plans for a number of changes that would let people make money from their accounts. One of the ideas ...

Trump remains banned on Facebook after review, and he’s not happy

POLICY - BY JAMES FARRELL - 5 YEARS AGO

Former U.S. President Donald Trump will not be back on Facebook anytime soon after the social network giant’s Oversight Board decided today to uphold his suspension. However, the board criticized Facebook for handing down a ban that was wasn’t permanent but didn’t have a timeline. It called the ban an “indeterminate and standardless penalty,” giving Facebook ...

Twitter buys Scroll, and news aggregator Nuzzel is on its way out

APPS - BY JAMES FARRELL - 5 YEARS AGO

Twitter Inc. announced today that it’s acquiring web content reading platform Scroll, which will mean Scroll’s popular news aggregator service, Nuzzel, will be no more. Scroll charged users a $5-a-month subscription fee for delivering content that came without ads and any other distractions. Publishers in turn received cash from Scroll in an effort to get ...

Twitter Spaces, a rival to Clubhouse, is now available to users with 600+ followers

APPS - BY JAMES FARRELL - 5 YEARS AGO

Twitter Inc. announced today that Spaces is ready to go, mounting a challenge to a slew of similar apps such as Clubhouse that have taken off recently. The audio-based conversation feature can be used by both iOS and Android users not as a standalone app but built into the Twitter platform. The company has been ...

EU OKs law to make tech companies take down terrorist content in less than an hour

POLICY - BY JAMES FARRELL - 5 YEARS AGO

The European Union announced today that it has approved a law to require technology platforms to flag and take down terrorist-related within one hour or face hefty fines. “The new regulation will target content such as texts, images, sound recordings or videos, including live transmissions, that incite, solicit or contribute to terrorist offenses, provide instructions ...