NewsBytes Briefing: Amazon caught stealing tips from employees, and more
What's the story
Amazon is known to routinely work its employees to death, but it gets worse. The American technology giant has been caught stealing tips from drivers working under the Flex program. A two-and-half-year long FTC investigation has concluded with Amazon being forced to pay a $61.7 million settlement to the employees it has wronged. Here's what else happened today in the technology space.
Dumped
Parler CEO reveals he has been fired by the board
While absolutely no one at Amazon resigned over that, Parler has unceremoniously cast away its outspoken CEO John Matze. The decision was taken by the board controlled by noted political donor Rebekah Mercer, allegedly days before the free-speech platform could be restored. For the uninitiated, the Big Tech effectively nipped Parler in the bud just as it was becoming a serious competitor.
Big Tech hypocrisy
Twitter is trying to pull a Parler in India
This needs some context. Parler was nuked off the internet by the Big Tech because it: (1) encouraged election fraud conspiracy theories. (2) didn't prevent the US Capitol incident. Now, in India we have Twitter: (1) actively encouraging conspiracy theories accusing Modi of planning genocides. (2) ...thankfully we don't have a US Capitol-like incident here. Yet. Does that mean Amazon will de-platform Twitter now?
Fire control
Pornhub to verify uploaders' IDs to moderate illegal content
Who would have thought serving as the platform distributing content sexually exploiting non-consenting women and children would get you in trouble? Well, certainly not Pornhub, which is now in fire control mode after having nuked a whopping 80 percent of its digital footprint. Speaking of removing things, the next one fit in quite nicely.
Apple Car
Apple is coming for your steering wheels and pedals
After eliminating the CD drive, headphone jack, and bundled chargers, Apple is now going for the steering wheel. The iPhone maker is close to finalizing a deal with Hyundai and Kia that will allow it to make a fully driverless car. Although, Apple hasn't officially confirmed the development, the cat is all but out of the bag.