10 things in tech you need to know today

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10 things in tech you need to know today
SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

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1. A third Facebook whistleblower has emerged. The anonymous former employee told The Washington Post that Facebook exempted right-wing outlet Breitbart from certain rules because it didn't want to "start a fight with Steve Bannon."

  • The new whistleblower also filed a complaint with the SEC, claiming Facebook enabled criminal activity, such as drug trades, within Groups. After raising the issues with the company, the whistleblower was reportedly told to "focus on the good."
  • Facebook's streak of bad press isn't over just yet. In an internal post obtained by Axios, Facebook's VP warned staff that worse coverage could be on the way: "We need to steel ourselves for more bad headlines in the coming days, I'm afraid."
  • Frances Haugen led a "meticulous" media rollout of her trove of Facebook documents. The New York Times outlined how the whistleblower offered to share more inside details from the tech company with 17 media outlets after a "boutique rollout" with the Wall Street Journal.

2. Elizabeth Holmes trial Week Seven recap: A juror was sent home for playing Sudoku, a former staffer testified he was told to change numbers to make test results seem normal, and there were plans for a $1 billion IPO. Here's what else you might have missed last week.

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3. Ex-employees are slamming Apple with lawsuits. Two former high-level employees have filed separate lawsuits accusing Apple of age and gender discrimination amid an unprecedented wave of worker activism within the company. We have the details on the lawsuits here.

4. A handwritten letter by Steve Jobs will go up for auction - and could sell for $300,000. The note, which will be auctioned on Nov. 3, features Jobs' thoughts on Zen Buddhism and his desire to travel to India. More on the letter, written by a teenage Jobs in search of "the meaning of life."

5. A Harvard freshman's social-networking app sparked a debate about facial recognition. The app, called "The FaceTag," lets users sign up, scan the face of another user, and exchange contact information - but it's sparked a debate online, with some people are saying the app is unethical, and that he shouldn't have made it at all.

6. Facebook and Google worked together to circumvent Apple's privacy measures. Twelve state attorneys general allege that Google worked with Facebook to undermine Apple's attempts to offer its users great privacy protections, according to an updated antitrust lawsuit against the search engine. What we know so far.

7. Twitter's algorithm shows bias toward right-wing politicians, internal researchers find. Research published last week found Twitter's algorithm amplifies right-wing political content more readily than similar left-wing content for users in the US. A look at what else the company's researchers discovered.

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8. Tesla just raised the prices of two models. Weeks after increasing prices on its most popular vehicles, Tesla has hiked the price on two more models - the Model X Long Range and Model S Long Range - by $5,000. Why Tesla's prices are going up.

9. We obtained YouTube's leaked org charts. The company's org charts outline the people who report to CEO Susan Wojcicki and her top three execs, revealing dozens of the most powerful people within YouTube's walls. These are the 49 most important people running YouTube.

10. Black founders and execs are investing in each other to create their own networks and wealth. Angel investing is on the rise among Black founders and execs who've found success in tech - and they're looking to back other up-and-coming founders who've often struggled to gain backing from VCs. Five angel investors share how they're building their investing networks.


Compiled by Jordan Erb. Tips/comments? Email jerb@insider.com or tweet @JordanParkerErb.

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