CNN – Social Media/Technology

By Catherine Thorbecke Fitbit is recalling 1.7 million smartwatches due to a potential burn hazard, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said Wednesday. The voluntary recall exclusively involves Fitbit Ionic smartwatch models, which contain a lithium-ion battery that can potentially overheat and pose a burn hazard to consumers, according to the CPSC. The agency said the

By Sara Ashley O’Brien, CNN Business In recent years, Ukraine has increasingly positioned itself as a tech hub, with a number of global companies leveraging its formidable IT outsourcing industry or setting up their own operations in the country. But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has forced companies to scramble to get workers out. Some tech

By Brian Fung, CNN Business As hacking by nation-states has grown more pervasive in recent years, Microsoft has long called for the creation of a new Geneva Convention governing cyberspace. But now, for the first time, the tech giant appears to be suggesting that cyberattacks tied to the war in Ukraine could potentially be considered

By Brian Fung, CNN Business Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are all taking tougher stances on content from Russian state media amid intensifying pressure from European officials for the Big Tech platforms to act against pro-Russian propaganda and address the escalating information war in Ukraine and across the internet. But there are concerns that cracking down

By Jennifer Korn, CNN Business Airbnb is offering free short-term housing for up to 100,000 Ukrainians who have been displaced by the war with Russia, the company announced Monday. The stays will be funded by donations to the Airbnb.org Refugee Fund as well as with help from hosts on the platform. Brian Chesky, Airbnb’s cofounder

By Sara Ashley O’Brien, CNN Business Amazon will no longer require its US warehouse employees to wear face masks in states where local laws do not require them, regardless of whether the employees are vaccinated or not. The company informed workers of the updated policy over the weekend, according to an internal memo viewed by

By Brian Fung, CNN Facebook’s parent Meta said Monday it has caught dozens of fake, pro-Russian accounts, groups and pages across its platforms trying to spread anti-Ukrainian propaganda as the war in Ukraine continues to rage. Meta’s takedown of the influence campaign also coincided with what company officials described as a separate, intensified push by

By Clare Duffy and Brian Fung, CNN Business Ukraine’s official Twitter account wants @Russia to be removed from the platform. YouTube is facing scrutiny for allowing a Russian broadcaster who is widely viewed as part of the country’s propaganda machine to continue making money from ads on the video site. And TikTok, a service that

By Jennifer Korn, Pete Muntean and Gregory Wallace, CNN The Russian invasion of Ukraine has already killed hundreds, sent thousands of refugees fleeing, and sent ripples throughout the entire world. With closed airspaces in and around the conflict leaving some stranded and flights rerouted, impending fuel price jumps, airlines and countries cutting off Russia and

By Brian Fung, CNN Business The Russian government moved to “partially restrict” Facebook access in the country on Friday after Russia’s ministry of communications accused the social network of unlawful censorship. In a statement, ministry officials said Facebook had committed human rights violations and “violated the rights and freedoms of Russian citizens” when the social

By Sara Ashley O’Brien, CNN Business In the early days of the pandemic, as households around the country went into lockdown, shoppers for Instacart had a seemingly limitless amount of grocery orders to fulfill. Their earnings were, at times, bolstered significantly by generous tips in recognition of the personal health risk workers were taking. But

By Brian Fung, CNN Google is relaxing Covid-19 policies at its headquarters and other offices in the San Francisco Bay Area and bringing back some of its famous office perks as it fully opens some of its facilities. Gone are Google’s mask mandates in all Bay Area offices, except for those in Santa Clara County,

By Rachel Metz, CNN Business The Internal Revenue Service will continue using controversial facial recognition software for the rest of the current tax-filing season to verify taxpayers’ identities before they can log on to its website. But after facing a backlash, the agency is now offering an alternative, too. The IRS announced Monday that people

By Jennifer Korn and Vanessa Yurkevich, CNN The fire on board the large car-carrying cargo ship Felicity Ace could soon be extinguished because there might not be anything left to burn. The 656 foot-long Felicity Ace roll-on/roll-off car-carrying ship caught fire in the North Atlantic last Wednesday as it carried around 4,000 vehicles, including Porsches,

By Clare Duffy, CNN Business Slack went down for many users Tuesday morning, throwing off companies that rely on the popular workplace communication platform just as workers returned from the extended holiday weekend. “We’re investigating the issue where Slack is not loading for some users,” the company said on its status page around 9:30 am

By Samantha Murphy Kelly, CNN Business Twenty years after 3G was first introduced in the United States, paving the way for a new generation of mobile apps, the network is officially being phased out. AT&T is set to pull the plug on its 3G network Tuesday, with other major US carriers expected to follow suit

By Jennifer Korn, CNN Business Eviation, the company behind what is supposed to be the world’s first all-electric passenger airplane, has undergone an unexpected change in leadership just before the plane’s projected first flight — and the company and the now-former CEO are offering different takes on the situation. Eviation, an Israel-based company, has said

By Clare Duffy, CNN Business Google plans to develop new privacy measures that remove the ability to track users across apps on Android devices, potentially rattling digital advertising-based businesses like Facebook that have already been disrupted by app tracking changes introduced by Apple last year. Google said Wednesday that it is launching a multi-year effort