Rob Lever

Front pages of Australian newspapers are displayed featuring stories about Facebook in Sydney, Feb. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

February 19, 2021, 3:38 am

Shockwaves worldwide as Facebook turns off the news for Australia

Analysts say social media giant’s power over users’ news intake threatens online information ecosystem, with one calling move ‘a conspiracist’s fantasy’

By Rob Lever

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos speaks at the the Amazon re:MARS convention in Las Vegas, June 6, 2019. (John Locher/AP)

February 3, 2021, 8:39 am

Jeff Bezos to step down as CEO of Amazon, focus on philanthropy instead

Entrepreneur, who over three decades built online retailer from scratch to become one of world’s most valuable companies, will hand over to Andy Jassy, head of firm’s web services

By Rob Lever

In this file photo US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo leaves the White House after visiting with family December 11, 2020, in Washington, DC (Brendan Smialowski / AFP)

December 19, 2020, 7:58 am

Pompeo: Russia ‘pretty clearly’ behind massive US cyberattack

Top US envoy says hack was ‘very significant effort’; Microsoft says roughly 80% of affected customers are in US, with victims also in Israel, UAE, Britain, Canada, Mexico, Spain

By Rob Lever

President Donald Trump arrives to speak in the East Room of the White House, early Wednesday, November 4, 2020, in Washington. (AP/Evan Vucci)

November 4, 2020, 8:20 pm

Twitter flags Trump tweets on election fraud as battle spills onto social media

Online platforms limit reach of president’s ‘misleading’ claim of ballot irregularities during vote-counting process

By Rob Lever

Residents show their support for President Donald Trump before a campaign rally appearance by Vice President Mike Pence, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2020, in The Villages, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

October 12, 2020, 6:28 am

US election campaigns use new methods to sidestep Cambridge Analytica crackdown

Facebook barred apps which scraped data on users and their contacts after revelations about the now-defunct British consulting group, but that hasn’t deterred many

By Rob Lever

Social media applications of WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Periscope, September 18, 2015. (HStocks/Istock by Getty Images)

August 7, 2020, 9:32 am

Social media giants take fresh steps to curb US election manipulation

Twitter says it’ll work to curb reach of ‘state-affiliated media’ on platform, while Facebook removes users in Romania posing as American supporters of Trump

By Glenn Chapman and Rob Lever

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks via video conference during the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law hearing on Online Platforms and Market Power in the Rayburn House office Building, July 29, 2020 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.

July 30, 2020, 2:54 pm

Congress pummels Facebook’s Zuckerberg, other big Tech CEOs at antitrust hearing

Several lawmakers appear intent on revising US laws, which currently give them no role in antitrust enforcement

By Rob Lever and Glenn Chapman

A woman runs to exercise past posters promoting community spirit, erected during the novel coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, in Manchester, northern England on June 2, 2020. (Paul ELLIS / AFP)

June 7, 2020, 5:23 am

US researchers eye tech wearables as virus early warning system

Scientists say they’ve developed app that uses artificial intelligence to forecast the onset of COVID-19 symptoms with over 90% accuracy

By Rob Lever

People cast their votes for US president, November 8, 2016, at Centreville High School, in Centreville, Virginia. (AFP Photo/Paul J. Richards)

September 22, 2019, 8:08 am

Digital threats multiply ahead of 2020 US elections

Next round of elections expected to see more attempts at manipulating voters as well as assaults on aging voting machines, after widespread misinformation on social media in 2016

By Rob Lever

This photo from January 3, 2013, shows Google's headquarters in Mountain View, California. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)

June 4, 2019, 8:11 am

US gears up for antitrust battles with Big Tech

Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission carve out investigations of Google, Amazon and Facebook; House Judiciary Committee announces its own probe of digital market

By Rob Lever

A photo from March 22, 2018, shows WhatsApp logos on a screen in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (Manan Vatsyayana/AFP)

May 14, 2019, 11:27 pm

WhatsApp patches security flaw after suspected Israeli spyware injection

Facebook subsidiary urges users to download latest version of app; NSO Group reported to have been behind breach

By Rob Lever

US President Donald Trump, right, gets into a heated exchange with CNN chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta, center, during a post-election press conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, November 7, 2018. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP)

November 14, 2018, 10:20 pm

Fox and other media friends back CNN over White House access

Trump administration claims ‘broad discretion’ to restrict admission to the president, with lawyers arguing the US leader could choose to never hold another press briefing again

By Rob Lever

US President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office at the White House on August 27, 2018 in Washington,DC (AFP PHOTO / Mandel NGAN)

August 29, 2018, 12:37 am

Trump warns tech giants to be ‘careful,’ steps up claims of ‘bias’

Comments come after US president complains Google, Facebook suppressing conservative voices

By Rob Lever

This photo taken on July 26, 2018, shows the exterior of Twitter headquarters in San Francisco, California. Twitter shares took a pounding Friday as a warning of a shrinking user base overshadowed news of a third straight quarterly profit. ( AFP PHOTO / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / JUSTIN SULLIVAN)

July 28, 2018, 12:48 am

Twitter shares plunge more than 20% in black week for social media

Monthly users fall by one million amid purge of fake accounts; woes come a day after Facebook lost an unprecedented $120 billion in market value

By Rob Lever

Facebook co-founder, Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies before a combined Senate Judiciary and Commerce committee hearing in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill April 10, 2018 in Washington, DC (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP

July 26, 2018, 11:56 pm

Facebook shares tumble 19% in worst-ever single-day loss for a company

Social network sheds some $100 billion of its value on Wall Street after posting disappointing quarterly earnings

By Rob Lever