News - The Markup

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News

Pyramid Schemes Are Illegal. MLMs Are Not. What About the Tech That Powers Them?

Multi-level marketing companies have captured the public’s attention in recent years. Behind them is a little-known industry of software providers

August 24, 2023 08:00 ET

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News

AI Is Hurting the Climate in a Number of Non-Obvious Ways

Training and running AI models emits a vast amount of carbon—but AI is also being used to boost fossil fuel extraction and generate climate misinformation

July 6, 2023 06:45 ET

Photo collage of Long Van Nguyen (left) and Hai Nguyen (right). In the background is a YouTube thumbnail of one of Sonia Ohlala’s videos, featuring an image of Donald Trump.

News

Vietnamese YouTuber Is Filling Information Voids with Newsmax and Breitbart

How one Vietnamese community depends on YouTube for news, and what that tells us about the unmet needs of immigrant enclaves

June 9, 2023 12:00 ET

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News

How Big Tech Rewrote the Nation’s First Cellphone Repair Law

Documents reveal tech lobbyists revised a right-to-repair bill before New York's governor signed it

February 8, 2023 06:45 ET

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News

Washington State Looks to Become the Second, After California, Where Uber and Lyft Drivers Can’t Be Employees

The bill, backed by the two companies, would prevent drivers from receiving some employee benefits

March 9, 2022 12:00 ET

Photo of a car displaying an Uber and Lyft sticker on its window. A passenger is opening the rear door to enter.

News

Bill in Washington State Would Be First to Bar Uber and Lyft Drivers from Being Classified As Employees

The gig companies and a local Teamsters union helped shape the measure’s language

March 4, 2022 08:00 ET

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News

Why It’s So Hard to Regulate Algorithms

Governments increasingly use algorithms to do everything from assign benefits to dole out punishment—but attempts to regulate them have been unsuccessful

January 4, 2022 08:00 ET

Illustration of abstract diagram with resumes, stars and PDFs. In the middle are hexagons of people's profiles.

News

Public Agencies Are Buying Up AI-Driven Hiring Tools and “Bossware”

The Markup, through public records requests, found more than 20 public agencies using the sometimes-controversial software

December 23, 2021 08:00 ET

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News

The Shadows of Removed Posts Are Hiding in Plain Sight on Reddit

Offending posts—including sexually explicit images—linger in comment histories long after their removal from subreddits

December 16, 2021 08:00 ET

A masked woman stands behind a podium with her hand raised. People next to her are holding signs criticizing Amazon.

News

California May Be the First State to Legislate Amazon Warehouse Conditions

A bill headed to the governor’s desk aims to curb injuries in warehouse distribution centers run by a broad spectrum of employers and outlaw punishment for bathroom breaks

September 13, 2021 08:00 ET