Jason Wood, the chief executive officer of a Florida-based digital marketing company, resigned Friday after his racist rant at a Fresno tavern went viral on social media. "Due to recent events, Actionable Insights is announcing the resignation of Mr. Jason Wood as our Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately," the company...
Tranquillity High Ag Science Teacher: ‘Tired of Hearing About Black Lives Matters’
A woman identified as an agriculture science teacher at Tranquillity High School in western Fresno County made racist comments about Black people and the Black Lives Matter movement in a conversation that sparked outrage after it was publicly posted on Facebook. "Tired of Black this black that ... why dont...
CEO Spews Racist Vitriol at Fresno Bar Server. She Caught It on Video.
Rebecca Hernandez has been working in customer service jobs for more than 10 years, but her shift Tuesday night at a Fig Garden Village tavern was her "No. 1 worst day ever" when she had to contend with an apparently intoxicated customer who assaulted her with racial slurs and profanity...
Madera South Student Under Investigation for ‘Hateful’ Social Media Post
A Madera South High School student is under investigation after a "hateful" post surfaced on social media on the Fourth of July, district spokesman Babatunde Ilori said Monday. "Any kind of discriminatory or hateful speech is completely unacceptable," said Ilori, the district's executive director of accountability and communications. A racist,...
Virus Misinformation Flourishes in Online Protest Groups
CHICAGO — Hundreds, sometimes thousands, of posts fly in the new Facebook groups daily. The coronavirus numbers are fake, some of the social media videos claim. “Social distancing is the new way to control you, your family and your behavior,” another commenter warns. Others say the pandemic is an overblown hoax. The...
Report: Russian Social Accounts Sow Election Discord – Again
Four years after Russia-linked groups stoked divisions in the U.S. presidential election on social media platforms, a new report shows that Moscow's campaign hasn't let up and has become harder to detect. The report from University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Young Mie Kim found that Russia-linked social media accounts are posting about the...
Facebook Reverses on Paid Political Messages That Aren't Ads
SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook decided Friday to allow a type of paid political message that had sidestepped many of the social network's rules governing political ads, in a reversal that highlights difficulties tech companies and regulators have in keeping up with the changing nature of paid political messages. Its policy...
Celebs Donate Millions to Help Australia Wildfire Efforts
LOS ANGELES — Elton John and Chris Hemsworth are among the celebrities donating big bucks for relief efforts as wildfires engulf Australia. Hemsworth, the Australian actor who plays Thor in the Marvel movie franchise, took to social media Monday to share that he will donate $1 million and asked his millions of...
Video Edited to Suggest Biden Made Racist Remark
A video of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden that was selectively edited to falsely suggest he made racist remarks during a recent speech made the rounds Thursday on social media, raking in more than a million views on one tweet alone. Experts have been warning about the dangers of selectively...
Cheers, Tears, Prayers for 2020: A New Decade Is Ushered In
Revelers around the globe are bidding farewell to a decade that will be remembered for the rise of social media, the Arab Spring, the #MeToo movement and, of course, President Donald Trump. A look at how the world is ushering in 2020: Australia More than a million people descended on...