April Glaser
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Senior Research Fellow at Harvard @ShorensteinCtr. previously: investigative reporter @NBCNews. California by way of Tennessee.
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Articles by April Glaser
Tips for Newsrooms to Support Journalists Targeted by Online Harassment
Journalists have always been the target readers’ ire. Until around fifteen years ago, critics of reporters voiced their distaste in the form of hate mail sent to the newsroom address, calls to editors, reporters or the front desk, occasional emails, complaints submitted as letters to the editor, posts on low-traffic blogs, message boards or in more extreme cases, mail sent to a journalist’s’ home.
Viral Instances of Recontextualized Media in Russia’s War on Ukraine
As Russia’s war on Ukraine continues, the Technology and Social Change team at Harvard’s Shorenstein Center is tracking media circulating about the conflict online. As we gather evidence of misinformation, disinformation, media manipulation, and social media mitigation, one of the most pervasive forms of false and confusing content we’ve seen across all internet platforms is the use of recontextualized media.
A U.S.-built biometric system sparks concerns for Afghans Original
A biometric system containing the personal information of millions of Afghans is sparking concern among human rights advocates who worry it could be used by the Taliban to identify and potentially harm people who worked with the U.S.-backed Afghan government or international organizations that promoted women’s rights.
Some Taliban websites go offline amid broader tech crackdown
Five websites operated by the Taliban went offline Friday, as many tech companies move to limit the group’s digital reach following its takeover of Kabul Sunday as the group moves to assume power over the government in Afghanistan. The websites were central to how the group relayed messages to people inside and outside Afghanistan, as the Taliban continue to control over the country after their siege of Kabul on Sunday.
Taliban violence drives Afghans to wipe social media profiles Original
As the Taliban maintain control of Kabul, residents across Afghanistan are racing to delete photos from their mobile phones and social media accounts that could somehow link them to people from Western nations, international human rights groups, the Afghan military or the recently collapsed Afghan government.
Facebook unveils tools to help Afghan people fearful of Taliban violence Original
New security features are meant to help Afghans quickly lock accounts and minimize their social media footprints. Facebook Inc. headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., on April 21.David Paul Morris / Bloomberg via Getty Images file Aug. 19, 2021, 10:27 PM UTC / Updated Aug.
Amazon to require warehouse workers to wear masks
Some other companies with large workforces have recently instituted similar policies. A worker loads boxes onto a pallet at an Amazon fulfillment center in Raleigh, N.C., on June 21, 2021.Rachel Jessen / Bloomberg via Getty Images Aug. 6, 2021, 9:22 PM UTC / Updated Aug.
Amazon violated U.S. labor law in Alabama union election, labor official finds
The National Labor Relations Board has determined that Amazon violated labor law after workers at its Bessemer, Alabama, warehouse tried to join a union, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Workers Union said Monday. Workers at the Alabama warehouse voted against forming a union in April. The outcome was immediately challenged by representatives of the union on the grounds that Amazon engaged in illegal interference with employees’ votes to discourage them from unionizing.
1 in every 169 U.S. workers is now employed by Amazon
Amazon has revealed for the first time the number of people it employs in the U.S., putting the figure at 950,000, according to the e-commerce giant's quarterly earnings call on Thursday. While the headcount was boosted by an additional 64,000 people hired in the second quarter, it does not include the thousands of contractors such as drivers whom Amazon depends on to run its Amazon Prime delivery operations.
1 in every 169 U.S. workers is now employed by Amazon
Amazon has revealed for the first time the number of people it employs in the U.S., putting the figure at 950,000, according to the e-commerce giant's quarterly earnings call on Thursday. While the headcount was boosted by an additional 64,000 people hired in the second quarter, it does not include the thousands of contractors such as drivers whom Amazon depends on to run its Amazon Prime delivery operations.
Google mandates vaccines for all employees returning to offices Original
Google said Wednesday it is requiring all employees returning to offices to get vaccinated, the first major tech company to make such an announcement. "Anyone coming to work on our campuses will need to be vaccinated.
Amazon's mixed message to workers: Cases are up, testing is over and masks are optional
As the nation faces a fourth wave of Covid-19, Amazon warehouse workers say the company is notifying them of a rising number of cases among employees. At the same time, the company is relaxing its mask policies and shutting down on-site free testing at the end of the month.
They helped create California's unattainable housing market. Now they can't afford to buy.
Dennis Mo, a 34-year-old engineer, paid $200,000 over the list price for his four-bedroom, two-bathroom, single-story 1960s ranch house in West San Jose in Silicon Valley at the end of September. For three months, he and his wife, Christine, who also works in tech, viewed 81 properties, often eight to 10 in a single weekend, and made five unsuccessful offers. “I was relieved,” he said of winning his sixth bidding war with a $2 million offer.
Amazon workers petition and two quit over anti-LGBTQ book sales
At least two Amazon employees have resigned in recent weeks to protest the company’s decision to continue to sell a book they say frames young people who identify as transgender as mentally ill. The resignations come after a complaint posted to the company’s internal message board in April drew the support of over 467 Amazon corporate employees, according to a copy obtained by NBC News.
Incarcerated at home: The rise of ankle monitors and house arrest during the pandemic
In Alameda County, young people on ankle monitors are required to charge them daily between 7 and 9 p.m. They must get permission 48 hours in advance from their probation officer to leave their house or go to non-pre-approved locations, making it difficult to attend after-school activities, pick up extra shifts at work, exercise or go to the drug store for a quick errand.
Amazon primed: How new CEO Andy Jassy can follow in Jeff Bezos' footsteps
As Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos prepares to leave the planet in the coming weeks in a rocket built by his spaceship company, he's handing the reins of his e-commerce business — the country's second-largest employer — to Andy Jassy, 53, a loyal lieutenant who spent 24 years by his side. Jassy, the former head of Amazon Web Services, began his first day as Amazon's CEO on Monday.
Teamsters launch massive nationwide effort to unionize Amazon workers
The Teamsters, one of the largest labor unions in the United States, is launching a national effort to unionize Amazon workers in an official resolution that will be put to a vote among union members later this week. The resolution, first obtained by Motherboard and reviewed by NBC News, describes the Teamsters' plan to create and fund a dedicated Amazon division to help workers in its logistics business organize and demand better working conditions.
NBC News: ‘Farmers turned into renters’ as Bill Gates becomes the ‘nation’s largest farmland owner’ - Uses ‘shell companies…a web of at least 22 limited liability shell companies’ - McDonald’s french fries come from Gates farmland | Climate Depot
They own the soil where the potatoes in McDonald’s french fries grow, the carrots from the world’s largest producer and the onions that Americans sauté every night for dinner. But they’re far better known for their work in tech and in trying to save the climate. Bill and Melinda Gates, who recently announced they’re getting divorced and are dividing their assets, are deeply invested in American agriculture.
Bill Gates uses farmland as an investment outlet buying up potato, carrot and onion farms
All that farming has led to large water withdrawals from Florida's aquifer system and requires fertilizer, which leaches through the ground into waterways, emptying nitrogen that has led to destructive algae blooms and severe loss of fish and marsh habitats. He hoped Gates would have invested in different farming techniques that could help turn around the ecological damages from big agriculture. "Well, you'd think, if you're looking for somebody with enough capital to try that, he would go first.
Latest anti-vaccine memes linking COVID shots to infertility go viral. Here’s how that happened
The GLP Needs Your Help It is easier than ever for advocacy groups to spread disinformation on pressing science issues, such as the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. No, vaccines are not harmful. Yes, the use of biotechnology, GMOs or gene editing to develop antigens for treatments including vaccines are part of the solution. To inform the public about what’s really going on, we present the facts and challenge those who don't. We can’t do this work without your help.
Amazon shareholders demand end to pollution hitting people of color hardest
An internal petition signed by 640 Amazon tech and corporate employees is asking the company to raise its emissions goals and address the disproportionate environmental harms its logistics empire leaves on Black, Latino, Indigenous and immigrant neighborhoods where its warehouses are often concentrated.
Distancing from the vaccinated: Viral anti-vaccine infertility misinfo reaches new extremes Original
Yehuda Goldberg, owner of Brothers Butcher Shoppe in Ontario, updated the Covid-19 guidelines for people visiting his meat shop this month. He posted on Instagram that he would ask vaccinated people not to come in to protect his female customers.
Blind people, advocates slam company claiming to make websites ADA compliant
Throughout the pandemic, as blind people, like everyone else, became increasingly dependent on websites to purchase goods, one of the fastest-growing companies that works with clients like Oreo cookies and Energizer batteries to make their websites more accessible has been engulfed in an increasingly contentious relationship with blind people. Many blind people say its product is making it harder for them to navigate the web.
'Treated like sacrifices': Families breathe toxic fumes from California's warehouse hub
April 27, 2021, 10:01 AM UTC By Olivia Solon and April Glaser On a recent weekend, when Ana Gonzalez was driving through Rialto, California, where she has lived for 23 years, she saw a disturbing and increasingly familiar sight. Dozens of 18-wheel diesel trucks idled outside an Amazon warehouse, spewing fumes not far from a high school and homes. It made Gonzalez so angry that she took out her phone to broadcast the scene to her Facebook page.
In a major win for Amazon, warehouse workers in Alabama vote not to unionize
BESSEMER, Ala. — Amazon warehouse workers here voted overwhelmingly against forming a union Friday after a monthslong campaign in which labor had hoped to make inroads into the sprawling company. © Provided by NBC News As of Friday morning, 1,798 employees voted against unionizing, compared to 738 in favor. If it had been approved, the union would have been the first for Amazon, the country's second-largest employer, in the United States.
Early vote counts show Amazon warehouse workers not likely to unionize in Alabama
Amazon warehouse workers in Bessemer, Alabama, were voting overwhelmingly against forming a union Friday after a monthslong campaign in which labor had hoped to make inroads into the sprawling company. As vote-tallying paused for the night, 1,100 employees had voted against unionizing, compared with 463 in favor. The tally presented a nearly insurmountable climb for union supporters to obtain the 1,608 votes needed to win.
Fired, interrogated, disciplined: Amazon warehouse organizers allege year of retaliation
"Amazon will work to destroy your character and try to keep you from talking about what’s actually going on,” Bailey said. “And it’s all so that Jeff Bezos can make more dollars.” Bailey’s complaint is one of at least 37 charges filed to the NLRB against Amazon, America’s second-largest employer, across 20 cities since February 2020, when news of the pandemic began to spread, according to an analysis of NLRB filings by NBC News.
Google offered therapy for workers' racism and sexism complaints
© Provided by NBC News Benjamin Cruz, a former instructional designer in Google’s Cloud division, was caught off guard when a colleague told them that their skin was much darker than she expected. Cruz, who is Mexican American and prefers to be identified by the pronouns they/them, reported the incident to human resources in 2019 where personnel told them they should “assume good intent,” Cruz recalled in an interview.
Organizers hope Biden's support of Amazon unionization advances broader efforts
Labor organizers celebrated President Joe Biden’s announcement this week that he supports worker unionization, including in Alabama, where Amazon workers in Bessemer are in the midst of a historic vote to form a union. As the second-largest employer in the country, with workers at its fulfillment centers and its Whole Food stores, Amazon until now has successfully resisted attempts at union organizing.
Amazon can make deliveries in two days. Why can’t Big Tech speed up the vaccine rollout?
As the nation takes on one of the largest logistical challenges in history with the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccination program, many Americans have asked why Big Tech can't run the operation. If Amazon can deliver a phone charger in two days, why can’t it use its logistical prowess to speedily vaccinate a nation? With all of the data that Google collects about its users, why can’t it track down and identify who needs a vaccination?
Shakeup at the top won't ripple down, Amazon workers say
The news that Jeff Bezos was stepping down as Amazon chief executive and passing the baton to longtime colleague Andy Jassy gave plenty for the company’s 1.3 million workers to chat about this week. But more than a dozen workers interviewed at different levels of the company had different takes on the changing of the Amazon guard.
The apps to use if you want to keep your messages private
How secure are your private messages? At a time when data breaches are at an all-time high, that’s a question worth thinking about. Hackers, particularly state-sponsored hackers, have shown a willingness to go after big, established tech companies like Yahoo and Google. These big platforms often hold users’ personal information — or in some cases, users’ private correspondence — on their servers.
Biden picks Jessica Rosenworcel as acting FCC chief Original
President Joe Biden has picked Jessica Rosenworcel to run the Federal Communications Commission as its acting chair, making the 49-year-old lawyer and podcast host from West Hartford, Connecticut, the second woman to be appointed to that role in the commission’s 96-year history. The job involves such daunting tasks as helping millions of Americans get reliable access to the internet.
Trump’s press secretary lied his first day on the job and became a viral meme
Sean Spicer lied at his first press conference as the new White House spokesman yesterday, where he took to the lectern to blame outdoor floor coverings for giving the appearance of low attendance at Trump’s inauguration ceremony. “This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the globe,” Spicer told reporters.
Who decides when there are helicopters? Experts weigh in on National Guard monitoring protests Original
It was not lost on many Americans — including President-elect Joe Biden — that after a violent mob of President Donald Trump's supporters broke into the Capitol in Washington, D.C., the delayed use of National Guard troops was far different than it was during the Black Lives Matter protests last year. In late May, governors called on 43,000 troops nationwide. The nation hasn’t deployed National Guard troops at a comparable scale since the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
Second top Black female Google employee says she was ousted this month Original
On Monday night, April Christina Curley, a diversity recruiter at Google, announced on Twitter that she had been fired in September. She started at Google in 2014, helping the company improve its relationships with historically Black colleges and universities.
Customers fight surprise charges as online subscriptions surge Original
When Jolene Stewart placed an order online for lingerie from Rihanna's line, Fenty X Savage, this year, she unwittingly signed up for a subscription that charged her bank account every month in exchange for credits to buy more bras and underwear. "It was part of a deal, and I guess I didn't read the fine print close enough," said Stewart, 22, a recent college graduate.
Robert Scoble’s blog post is everything you shouldn’t do when publicly accused of sexual assault.
Technology The famous tech blogger just showed us everything you shouldn’t do when you’re accused of sexual assault. Robert Scoble presents the Google Glass on April 24, 2013, at NEXT in Berlin. Ole Spata/AFP/Getty Images Last Thursday, former Microsoft spokesman and well-known blogger Robert Scoble became the latest of the many, many men in the technology industry who have been publicly accused of sexual harassment this year.
Anti-gay nonprofits, businesses applied for Covid aid. They received millions, data shows.
© Provided by NBC News A number of organizations, schools and businesses with either a history of anti-LGBTQ advocacy or policies that explicitly discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer individuals have received millions in pandemic relief funding, according to an NBC News analysis of data released last week by the Small Business Administration.
Accused hate groups receive pandemic aid
Dec. 9, 2020, 3:45 PM UTC By April Glaser and Olivia Solon Fourteen organizations designated as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center or the Anti-Defamation League have received funding from the Paycheck Protection Program totaling $4.3 million, according to data released last week by the Small Business Administration, revealing who benefited from the pandemic federal relief funds.
Accused hate groups receive pandemic aid
Fourteen organizations designated as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center or the Anti-Defamation League have received funding from the Paycheck Protection Program totaling $4.3 million, according to data released last week by the Small Business Administration, revealing who benefited from the pandemic federal relief funds. Those organizations include the New Century Foundation, known for publishing the white supremacist website and now-discontinued magazine American Renaissance.
Google workers mobilize against firing of top Black female executive
Nearly 800 Google employees have joined a solidarity campaign in support of one of the company’s top female executives, a known advocate for diversity in the industry who said she was fired after what her boss described as a dispute over a research paper.
Frustrated by internet service providers, cities and schools push for more data
Months into the school year, the one thing many families have learned is how much they rely on a functioning internet connection to access remote classrooms. So education equality experts who are trying to chip away at the many challenges families are struggling with through the pandemic are starting by simply trying to identify which students aren't connected to make sure those households have access to affordable packages.
In Florida, Spanish-language misinformation pushes misleading Election Day claims Original
MIAMI — After Joe Biden became president-elect, disinformation and conspiracy theories in Spanish of voter fraud and claims that Democrats have robbed Pres. Donald Trump of a victory have intensified among many Latinos. A well-known former candidate for state office in Florida posted an impassioned video in Spanish on Facebook boosting the baseless claim that the election is being stolen from President Donald Trump.
Latino voters targeted by abortion misinformation campaigns Original
In the final days before the election, Spanish-language misinformation about Joe Biden's and running mate Kamala Harris' positions on abortion is specifically targeting religious Latinos on Facebook and its messaging service, WhatsApp. Several of the memes about their positions on abortion that are circulating are false.
With days left, Black voters face orchestrated efforts to discourage voting Original
At Joe Biden’s town hall meeting on Thursday, Cedrick Humphrey, a young Black man from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, asked a question central to some of the most recent misinformation tactics at play in the election. “Many people believe that the true swing demographic in this election will be Black voters under the age of 30, not because they’ll be voting for Trump, but because they won’t vote at all,” he said, adding that he shared this sentiment.
Amazon Ring call center workers in Philippines 'scared' to go to work during pandemic Original
Oct. 15, 2020, 2:16 PM UTC By Olivia Solon and April Glaser Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, call center workers in the Philippines who are contracters for Amazon's Ring home security division have been required to report to the office. At first, employees said, they had no choice but to sleep at work so they could respond to the calls of Amazon Ring's customers in American time zones.
Thousands of Amazon workers demand time off to vote Original
Thousands of Amazon tech workers Tuesday signed an internal petition urging the company to offer paid time off for its workforce to vote on or before Election Day. While Amazon is the second largest employer in the country, with 1,372,000 U.S. workers including Whole Foods employees, it does not offer paid time off to participate in federal elections. More than 1,500 Amazon tech workers added their support to the petition one hour after it was launched internally Tuesday morning.
Lack of oversight and transparency leave Amazon employees in the dark on Covid-19 Original
On the evening of Sunday, Aug. 9, workers at the MKE1 Amazon fulfillment center in Kenosha, Wisconsin, received an alert from the company via text message: More of their colleagues had tested positive for the coronavirus and they needed to maintain social distancing. They’d received about three of these notifications a week in the preceding four weeks. The next day, the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for the county.
Wireless charging could keep drones in the air for much longer
Most hobby and commercial drones can fly for only about 20-30 minutes max. That’s because batteries eventually die. And the larger and more powerful the battery, the heavier the craft, which in turn needs more battery power to fly. But there are a number of projects taking off now aiming to keep drones in the air much longer by harnessing solar energy, as well as a technology known as wireless energy transfer. If drones don’t need to recharge, they won’t have to land.
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