U.S. lawsuit claims companies illegally refused to hire ex-cons
Since New York’s prison population was more than half black, the lawsuit argued, such policies served to keep many black people out of the workforce.
Read moreMTV goes looking for likes with its latest revamp
By Marie-Louise Gumuchian LONDON (Reuters) – MTV, the channel that revolutionized the music industry by playing artists’ videos on rotation, is reinventing itself again, opening up to its social-media-savvy audience by putting their videos on air. By using the hashtag #MTVBump, viewers can see their content from social media sites Instagram or Vine within two hours of its being posted, during the channel’s break windows.
Read moreU.S. presidential hopeful’s ‘done with Indian-American’ remark prompts Twitter storm
Louisiana Governor and U.S. presidential candidate Bobby Jindal caused a Twitter storm of jokes and insults in India on Thursday after he said he dislikes being called an Indian-American. Republican Jindal is the first person of Indian origin to join the U.S
Read moreThailand to teach journalists how to ask inoffensive questions
Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said on Thursday he was not afraid of the press, days before the government is to hold a meeting to teach journalists how to ask questions that won't offend him. Gaffe-prone Prayuth has had a love-hate relationship with the media during the year since he seized power, at one point saying he would probably “just execute” journalists that “did not report the truth”.
Read moreAs Amazon, eBay remove Confederate flags, Nazi items on sale
By Mari Saito SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc and eBay Inc sharply cut the number of Confederate flag products on their sites a day after vowing to remove them, but in a sign of the difficulty of removing controversial content, Nazi-era memorabilia are listed on both sites. EBay specifically bans their sale while Amazon bans the sale of “products that promote or glorify hatred, violence, racial, sexual or religious intolerance or promote organizations with such views.” It is difficult to enforce a complete ban on controversial products, analysts said, because of technological hurdles in flagging and pulling down banned items. Amazon, which on Tuesday had listed nearly 30,000 items in a search for “Confederate flag”, had almost nothing for sale with the flag late afternoon Wednesday
Read moreInternet firms should brief U.N. on tackling extremists: experts
By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Key Internet and social media companies should brief a United Nations Security Council sanctions committee on their efforts to stop al Qaeda, Islamic State and other extremist militants spreading their ideology online, U.N. experts said. Alexander Evans, coordinator of the team of experts, said such a briefing could stimulate a conversation among the 15-committee members on whether U.N
Read moreFacebook allows users to sign up for Messenger without account
By Yasmeen Abutaleb SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Facebook Inc has enabled users without an account to sign up for its Messenger app with a phone number, the social media company said on Wednesday, in another move to broaden the app's reach and make it a standalone platform. Earlier this year, Facebook opened up Messenger to developers, and Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said he wanted to connect users directly with retailers, restaurants and other businesses. With the latest update, users will be prompted by an option that says “Not on Facebook?” when they open the app
Read moreEU quizzes e-retailers on sanctions against cross-border online sales
By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS (Reuters) – EU antitrust regulators have asked e-commerce retailers to spell out the kind of sanctions imposed on them for going against digital content companies’ orders to restrict cross-border online sales, as part of a broad probe to root out anti-competitive online practices. The European Commission, which launched the investigation last month, is looking to overhaul the 28-country bloc’s digital market to boost growth and innovation and catch up with the United States and Asia.
Read moreHBO offers premiere episodes of two series on Facebook
(Reuters) – Television network HBO said it would offer the premiere episodes of two new comedy series on Facebook, underlining the growing popularity of the social networking site as a video platform. With about 1.44 billion monthly active users, Facebook has become a sough-after outlet for companies looking to market their products via online videos, the fastest growing category of Internet ads
Read moreU.S., European authorities investigate possible new leaker: sources
By Mark Hosenball LONDON (Reuters) – U.S. and European security authorities are investigating whether a previously unknown leaker provided sensitive intelligence documents to WikiLeaks about alleged U.S. spying on French politicians, according to sources familiar with the matter.
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