I remain as hungry as I have ever been to pursue deeply, consequential journalism. Please send any job openings, freelance opportunities, or news tips to naomi.nix.writes1@gmail.com or Signal at naominixwrites.66
I’m proud of the ambitious stories we pursued from major investigations that spurred congressional action to source-driven scoops that led the tech news cycle. There were narrative stories about laid-off workers' lives, fact-checkers on the front lines of war, and the juicy origin story of Threads.
After almost four years at The Washington Post, my role was eliminated this week along with hundreds of other talented journalists. It’s a cliche to say but this job was a dream come true. Thanks to my brilliant reporter friends and talented editors who made the stories stronger and banter funnier.
What’s it like to be a whistleblower? @naominix.bsky.social talks with tech whistleblowers, including @yaeleisenstat.bsky.social, about what life looks like after speaking truth to power.
In our latest newsletter 👇
citizensreunited.substack.com/p/new-year-n...
By focusing on teens, Meta was fighting for cultural relevancy for its buzziest social network. Not getting a foothold in that generation would hurt the company's longterm growth. IG hoped to achieve 0% growth y/y for teens in developed markets by the end of 2024.
Instagram's strategies included installing a “living museum” in its offices to help employees internalize the lifestyles of teenagers. It also sought to elevate teen friendly influencers and tweak the platform to help them connect with friends-- the app's main draw for Gen Z and Gen Alpha.
New: Instagram pursued a yearslong strategy to win teens back even after critics said it wasn’t safe, according to records recently reviewed by the Washington Post. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
New: After exposing the harms of Big Tech, many whistleblowers say they faced poorer job prospects and professional exile in Silicon Valley. They have no regrets.
www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
New: To compete with OpenAI's Pulse, Meta is testing a new product that would give Facebook users a personalized, AI-powered information briefing www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
New: TikTok posts on Israel-Gaza war are overwhelmingly pro-Palestinian but that doesn't mean they get more traction online. Analysis @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
Both Republicans and Democrats have long sought to "work the refs" at social media companies that decide which speech should stay up or be taken down. See this oldie but goodie on jawboning /w @cqzakrz.bsky.social
www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
The docs show Meta employees had warned the company for years that kids were bypassing age restrictions to use their VR products. And Meta did not create parental controls for “tween” VR users until after the Federal Trade Commission began investigating its compliance with COPPA.
In one notable exchange, a Meta lawyer told a UX researcher he should avoid collecting data that showed children were using their devices “due to regulatory concerns.”
We analyzed thousands of pages of internal docs turned over to Congress by whistleblowers, who say Meta deployed its legal team to screen, edit and sometimes veto research about youth safety in VR.
A teen told Meta researchers his brother, then under 10, had been sexually propositioned through Meta's VR headsets multiple times. Their boss told them to delete the evidence, they said.
That's one example in our new investigation about Meta's crack down on internal research.
His custom cancer therapy is in an NIH freezer. He may not get it in time. How a metastatic cancer patient became collateral damage in federal workforce cuts www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025...
New(ish): Meta agreed to pay $14.8B for a 49% stake in the artificial intelligence data firm Scale AI, per person familiar. We are confirming reports in NYT, Bloomberg and The Information. Deal could be announced as soon as today. /w
@nitasha.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
As the Trump administration posts through its mass deportation push, viral images from protests and raids are amping up outrage on both sides. W @drewharwell.com and @naominix.bsky.social
New: A tighter job market for tech and lower corporate tolerance for employee activism have stifled the once boisterous worker-led movements in Silicon Valley on everything from AI safety to the Israel-Gaza war. /w @nitasha.bsky.social & Trisha Thadani
www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
Pulitzer winner @anntelnaes.bsky.social "resigned in early January after a top editor rejected one of her cartoons — a depiction of Post owner Jeff Bezos, along with other business moguls, bowing before a statue of Trump, offering up bags of money" www.washingtonpost.com/style/media/...
the coverage was led by our climate team's @bradydennis.bsky.social, brianna sacks and @byscottdance.com on the ground in NC, w/ assists from @samueloakford.bsky.social in visual forensics and my tech colleagues @gerritd.bsky.social & @jeremybmerrill.com et al www.washingtonpost.com/weather/inte...
not a big Prize Guy but proud to have played a role on the @washingtonpost.com team that was named a Pulitzer finalist in National Reporting today for our coverage of Hurricane Helene, including the social media-fueled storm of lies that followed in its wake www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2024...
A belated thank you to everyone who is putting up with Media Tour Faiz this week. I assure you regular programming will resume soon. But as a special treat, you may now see the cover of the Italian edition, which is out now!!
This post appeared under this Techmeme headline:
You can read the story here: www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
The OSB was scheduled to release this ruling along with several others NEXT WEEK. After I reached out to OSB for comment on the story on Friday (including the outcome of ruling), I was told they would get back to me by EOD Tues. Instead, they pushed up the release of their rulings to this morning.
Meanwhile, the financially vulnerable Oversight Board was facing political criticism that it was too liberal, which incentivized their desire to pick a case like this in the first place.
They had a good reason to say that. While OSB doesn't name the account holders in this case, sources say they belong to Libs of TikTok.
Today, we report Meta's top policy officials Nick Clegg and Joel Kaplan told the board last year that its gender identity case was particularly sensitive given current politics.
