Naomi Nix
@naominix.bsky.social
I cover Meta and other social media companies for The Washington Post.
W/ @jonswaine.bsky.social. Gift link here: wapo.st/4phKQpS
Meta suppressed research on child safety, employees say
The company’s lawyers intervened to shape research that might have shed light on risks in virtual reality, four current and former staffers have told Congress. Meta denies the allegations.
wapo.st
September 8, 2025 at 2:21 PM
W/ @jonswaine.bsky.social. Gift link here: wapo.st/4phKQpS
The docs show Meta employees had warned the company for years that kids were bypassing age restrictions to use their VR products. And Meta did not create parental controls for “tween” VR users until after the Federal Trade Commission began investigating its compliance with COPPA.
September 8, 2025 at 2:21 PM
The docs show Meta employees had warned the company for years that kids were bypassing age restrictions to use their VR products. And Meta did not create parental controls for “tween” VR users until after the Federal Trade Commission began investigating its compliance with COPPA.
In one notable exchange, a Meta lawyer told a UX researcher he should avoid collecting data that showed children were using their devices “due to regulatory concerns.”
September 8, 2025 at 2:21 PM
In one notable exchange, a Meta lawyer told a UX researcher he should avoid collecting data that showed children were using their devices “due to regulatory concerns.”
We analyzed thousands of pages of internal docs turned over to Congress by whistleblowers, who say Meta deployed its legal team to screen, edit and sometimes veto research about youth safety in VR.
September 8, 2025 at 2:21 PM
We analyzed thousands of pages of internal docs turned over to Congress by whistleblowers, who say Meta deployed its legal team to screen, edit and sometimes veto research about youth safety in VR.
Reposted by Naomi Nix
the coverage was led by our climate team's @bradydennis.bsky.social, brianna sacks and @byscottdance.com on the ground in NC, w/ assists from @samueloakford.bsky.social in visual forensics and my tech colleagues @gerritd.bsky.social & @jeremybmerrill.com et al www.washingtonpost.com/weather/inte...
In North Carolina, there was before Helene. This is the after.
“A hundred years from now, they will be talking about this flood,” said one resident in Western North Carolina, where the extent of the disaster is only beginning to emerge.
www.washingtonpost.com
May 5, 2025 at 8:28 PM
the coverage was led by our climate team's @bradydennis.bsky.social, brianna sacks and @byscottdance.com on the ground in NC, w/ assists from @samueloakford.bsky.social in visual forensics and my tech colleagues @gerritd.bsky.social & @jeremybmerrill.com et al www.washingtonpost.com/weather/inte...
You can read the story here: www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
Anti-trans posts pass muster under Meta’s new hate-speech rules
Meta’s quasi-independent Oversight Board ruled early Wednesday that the social media platform is free to leave up two disparaging posts about trans people that include videos showing a trans woman usi...
www.washingtonpost.com
April 23, 2025 at 8:08 PM
You can read the story here: www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
The OSB was scheduled to release this ruling along with several others NEXT WEEK. After I reached out to OSB for comment on the story on Friday (including the outcome of ruling), I was told they would get back to me by EOD Tues. Instead, they pushed up the release of their rulings to this morning.
April 23, 2025 at 8:08 PM
The OSB was scheduled to release this ruling along with several others NEXT WEEK. After I reached out to OSB for comment on the story on Friday (including the outcome of ruling), I was told they would get back to me by EOD Tues. Instead, they pushed up the release of their rulings to this morning.
Meanwhile, the financially vulnerable Oversight Board was facing political criticism that it was too liberal, which incentivized their desire to pick a case like this in the first place.
April 23, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Meanwhile, the financially vulnerable Oversight Board was facing political criticism that it was too liberal, which incentivized their desire to pick a case like this in the first place.
They had a good reason to say that. While OSB doesn't name the account holders in this case, sources say they belong to Libs of TikTok.
April 23, 2025 at 8:08 PM
They had a good reason to say that. While OSB doesn't name the account holders in this case, sources say they belong to Libs of TikTok.
Today, we report Meta's top policy officials Nick Clegg and Joel Kaplan told the board last year that its gender identity case was particularly sensitive given current politics.
April 23, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Today, we report Meta's top policy officials Nick Clegg and Joel Kaplan told the board last year that its gender identity case was particularly sensitive given current politics.
Now, Matheson is focusing on Meta's mistakes in adapting to the mobile age. He shows Zuck a video of a 2012 interview he gave at a Techcrunch conference in which he says that one of the biggest mistakes they made was failing to write the code for native applications instead of using html5.
April 14, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Now, Matheson is focusing on Meta's mistakes in adapting to the mobile age. He shows Zuck a video of a 2012 interview he gave at a Techcrunch conference in which he says that one of the biggest mistakes they made was failing to write the code for native applications instead of using html5.