Yup, Facebook and Mark are evil. Facebook reportedly ignored its own research showing algorithms divided users An internal Facebook report presented to executives in 2018 found that the company was well aware that its product, specifically its recommendation engine, stoked divisiveness and polarization, according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal. Yet, despite warnings about the effect this could have on society, Facebook leadership ignored the findings and has largely tried to absolve itself of responsibility with regard to partisan divides and other forms of polarization it directly contributed to, the report states. The reason? Changes might disproportionately affect conservatives and might hurt engagement, the report says. “Our algorithms exploit the human brain’s attraction to divisiveness,” one slide from the presentation read. The group found that if this core element of its recommendation engine were left unchecked, it would continue to serve Facebook users “more and more divisive content in an effort to gain user attention & increase time on the platform.” A separate internal report, crafted in 2016, said 64 percent of people who joined an extremist group on Facebook only did so because the company’s algorithm recommended it to them, the WSJ reports. FACEBOOK FOUND THAT ITS ALGORITHMS WERE PUSHING PEOPLE TO JOIN EXTREMEST ORGANIZATIONS Leading the effort to downplay these concerns and shift Facebook’s focus away from polarization has been Joel Kaplan, Facebook’s vice president of global public policy and former chief of staff under President George W. Bush. Kaplan is a controversial figure in part due to his staunch right-wing politics — he supported Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh throughout his nomination — and his apparent ability to sway CEO Mark Zuckerberg on important policy matters. Kaplan has taken on a larger role within Facebook since the 2016 election, and critics say his approach to policy and moderation is designed to appease conservatives and stave off accusations of bias. Kaplan, for instance, is believed to be partly responsible for Facebook’s controversial political ad policy, in which the company said it would not regulate misinformation put forth in campaign ads by fact-checking them. He’s also influenced Facebook’s more hands-off approach to speech and moderation over the last few years by arguing the company doesn’t want to seem biased against conservatives. The Wall Street Journal says Kaplan was instrumental in weakening or entirely killing proposals to change the platform to promote social good and reduce the influence of so-called “super-sharers,” who tended to be aggressively partisan and, in some cases, so hyper-engaged that they might be paid to use Facebook or might be a bot. Yet, Kaplan pushed back against some of the proposed changes — many of which were crafted by News Feed integrity lead Carlos Gomez Uribe — for fear they would disproportionately affect right-wing pages, politicians, and other parts of the user base that drove up engagement. One notable project Kaplan undermined was called Common Ground, which sought to promote politically neutral content on the platform that might bring people together around shared interests like hobbies. But the team building it said it might require Facebook take a “moral stance” in some cases by choosing not to promote certain types of polarizing content and that the effort could harm overall engagement over time, the WSJ reports. The team has since been disbanded. In a statement, a Facebook spokesperson tells The Verge, “We’ve learned a lot since 2016 and are not the same company today. We’ve built a robust integrity team, strengthened our policies and practices to limit harmful content, and used research to understand our platform’s impact on society so we continue to improve. Just this past February we announced $2M in funding to support independent research proposals on polarization.”

Apple debuts new Apple Watch Sport Bands and silicone iPhone cases for summer Today’s new releases come after Apple debuted two new Apple Watch Pride Edition Sport Bands last month. In total, Apple has released four new colors for the Apple Watch Sport Band: linen blue, seafoam, vitamin C, and coastal gray. All four of the new colors are available to order from Apple’s Online Store today in 40mm and 44mm sizes for $49 Apple has also released new silicone cases for the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max. The new cases are available in three new colors: seafoam, vitamin C, and linen blue.

Smartphones are bad for you. We need to go back to the good old rotary phones! Earlier this year, Justine Haupt revealed a custom cellphone she built that eschewed unwanted battery-killing distractions like a touchscreen. In its place was an old-school rotary dial for placing calls, and while it looked antiquated, there were apparently enough people as fed up with the state of modern smartphones that Haupt has created a new version that she will actually build and sell. Haupt’s original rotary cellphone was created with an open source design that allowed anyone to build their own, with firmware, build notes, and even the 3D models for printing the custom housing made available for download on their website. To make the build easier, Haupt created a starter kit offering the 3D printed housing for $50 (straight out of the 3D printer) as well as the cellphone’s mainboard for $90. But there were still lots of additional components that needed to be sourced to complete the build, including the dial that Haupt salvaged from a slim Western Trimline telephone. Realizing the appeal of a distraction-free cellphone that excels at actually making calls (just look at the size of that antenna) extends well beyond hardware hackers and tinkerers, Haupt is currently developing a “mark 2" version of the design that will be available as a ready-built device for those who don’t know the first thing about soldering. In addition to an upgrade from 3G to 4G which ensures the right networks will be active for at least another 10 years, the new version will include a larger electronic paper display, newly manufactured rotary dial parts instead of old salvaged hardware, and an SD card slot allowing a contact list to be added by just uploading a text file full of names and numbers. Haupt is also teasing, “another VERY cool feature but won’t announce it until I’m sure I can do it” for their new rotary cellphone which remains a complete mystery for the time being. But a listing for the device on the website for Haupt’s new robotics company called Sky’s Edge claims it could be available as early as September. You can’t pre-order it yet, and it’s safe to assume the pandemic will probably result in some minor delays, but if you’re interested you can subscribe to updates on the project’s development, and notifications for when it’s finally available.