The Morning After: Instagram reportedly served up child-sexualizing Reels to followers of teen influencers

It’s apparently a known problem, internally.

NurPhoto via Getty Images

According to an experiment conducted by The Wall Street Journal, Instagram’s Reels video service would serve “risqué footage of children as well as overtly sexual adult videos” to its test accounts that exclusively followed teen and preteen influencers, usually young gymnasts and cheerleaders.

While these tests don’t represent real user experiences (as tech companies tend to counter with), aggregating child sexualization content was apparently a known problem internally, according to current and former Meta employees interviewed by the Journal.

Meta told its advertising clients it was investigating and that it “would pay for brand-safety auditing services to determine how often a company’s ads appear beside content it considers unacceptable.”

— Mat Smith

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ByteDance's latest layoffs have reportedly gutted the publisher of Marvel Snap

Restructuring may affect around 700 employees.

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TMA (ByteDance)

According to Reuters and Bloomberg, TikTok's parent company ByteDance is winding down its gaming arm, including the Nuverse brand, with “hundreds” of jobs likely to be affected. Nuverse, acquired by ByteDance in 2017, is the publisher of notable titles Marvel Snap, Ragnarok X: Next Generation and One Piece: Blood Routes. Despite the apparent success of these games, ByteDance CEO Liang Rubo had reportedly criticized the gaming arm for a lack of focus.

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Tesla sues Sweden for blocking license plate deliveries during labor strike

A district court sided with the automaker in an interim decision.

Tesla sued Sweden’s transportation agency and postal service over a union strike blocking the company’s license plate deliveries in the country. The workers are striking to demand the non-unionized automaker sign a collective bargaining agreement, a standard practice mechanics’ union IF Metall describes as “the backbone of the Swedish model.” However, the Swedish Transport Agency says it already received an interim decision from a district court, ordering it to consent within seven days to Tesla’s request to collect license plates or face hefty fines.

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The best gifts for photographers and videographers

These are our favorite cameras, bags, tripods and more that make great gifts.

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TMA (Engadget)

There’s never been a better time to own a new camera, as the latest technology means better photos and video than ever. But with all the models out there, let alone the numerous accessories, like backpacks, memory cards, tripods and more, where do you start? Fortunately, we’ve done all the research and found cameras and peripherals at a wide range of prices.

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