Investigations - The Markup

Amazon’s Advantage

Amazon Puts Its Own “Brands” First Above Better-RatedProducts

The online giant gives a leg up to hundreds of house brand and exclusive products that most people don’t know are connected to Amazon

October 14, 2021 08:00 ET

Illustration of several abstract characters standing in a maze of stairs. Location pins and coins are scattered throughout the piece.

Privacy

There’s a Multibillion-Dollar Market for Your Phone’s Location Data

A huge but little-known industry has cropped up around monetizing people’smovements

September 30, 2021 08:00 ET

Citizen Browser

Germany’s Far-Right Political Party, the AfD, Is Dominating Facebook This Election

Ahead of a national vote this month, Citizen Browser data shows that posts promoting the AfD party appeared more than three times as often as rivals'

September 22, 2021 08:00 ET

Illustration of jumbled Facebook like icons, blue clouds, squiggles, and junk code. Disparate eyes, ears and magnifying glasses are scattered throughout the art.

Citizen Browser

Facebook Rolls Out News Feed Change That Blocks Watchdogs from Gathering Data

The tweak, which targets the code in accessibility features for visually impaired users, drew ire from researchers and those who monitor the platform

September 21, 2021 08:00 ET

Ben Shapiro speaking at the 2018 Conservative Political Action Conference

Citizen Browser

How The Daily Wire Uses Facebook’s Targeted Advertising to Build Its Brand

The social media giant's powerful targeting tools appear to be part of Ben Shapiro’s success in growing his audience on the platform

August 10, 2021 08:00 ET

Cynthia Norman stands against a brick wall, sunglasses on, with her hands folded below her breasts.

Working for an Algorithm

Uber And Lyft Drivers Are Being Carjacked at Alarming Rates

The Markup confirmed 124 carjackings and attempted carjackings of ride-hail drivers across the country. Drivers say the companies are doing little to help

July 22, 2021 08:00 ET

Facebook-like thumb with images of Black people and culture

Citizen Browser

Facebook Got Rid of Racial Ad Categories. Or Did It?

Our Citizen Browser project found an array of proxies through which advertisers can target Black Facebook users, among otherdemographics

July 9, 2021 08:00 ET

Citizen Browser

After Repeatedly Promising Not to, Facebook Keeps Recommending Political Groups to Its Users

The company announced the policy as a way to stop spreading divisive content

June 24, 2021 08:00 ET

An illustration of a school classroom split in two by a massive line chart

News

NYC’s School Algorithms Cement Segregation. This Data Shows How

New numbers show how many students are locked out by the system

May 26, 2021 08:00 ET

An illustration of a needle with an angry facebook emoji with hand pushing back

Citizen Browser

Facebook Said It Would Stop Recommending Anti-Vaccine Groups. It Didn’t

As COVID-19 surged, the social media company pointed users to all sorts of anti-vaccine and anti-maskgroups

May 20, 2021 08:00 ET