Maya Shwayder
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Author/Co-Author of 139 articles
I'm a multimedia journalist currently based in New England. I previously worked for DW News/Deutsche Welle as an anchor and on-air correspondent, based in Berlin and the US East Coast, where I covered politics, culture, and everything in between. I've reported on the attacks in Charlottesville, North Carolina, Hurricane Florence, ​the Detroit Auto Show, the immigrant experience in the US and in Germany, and much more.
Scammers find a new target: Teens on TikTok
Scams promising fast, easy money or fake diet pills have proliferated. Tik Tok's audience skews especially young, leaving them particularly vulnerable.
Microsoft announces new software to combat deepfakes
Microsoft announced new "Video Authentication" software to detect fake media.
USPS’ blockchain patent won’t solve our mail-in voting problems, experts say
The USPS filed a patent to create a system of mail-in voting that would involve blockchain security. Sounds fancy, but it's not a silver bullet, experts say.
TikTok beware: Legacy tech owners can spell trouble for trendy sites
Some of the most popular platforms suffered massive devaluations, stagnation, or even death when big legacy companies purchased them.
ByteDance CEO confirms U.S. will force TikTok sale
Addressing employees, the CEO of ByteDance said a U.S. entity told it to divest from Tik Tok. Security questions have long swirled around the Chinese company.
Big Tech CEOs’ showdown with Congress: The antitrust hearing that wasn’t
All eyes were on Capitol Hill to see if Congress could muster up the focus to press Big Tech CEOs on their monopolistic practices. They couldn't do it.
And the brands played on: How the Facebook ad boycott fizzled out
Despite a reported 1,000 advertisers taking ads off the platform, including major names, Facebook largely shrugged in the face of this boycott.
Facebook ad boycotters to Congress: Don’t let Zuckerberg off easy
Activists behind July's advertiser boycott of Facebook want Congress to grill CEO Mark Zuckerberg on the social network's control of the ad market.
Small business owners call on Congress to grill Amazon’s Bezos
Activists want Congress to call out Amazon’s monopoly in the online retail space. CEO Jeff Bezos is scheduled to testify before the House on July 27.
10 years after Stuxnet, the most powerful cyberweapon is now social media
Stuxnet was scary for its level of sophistication and targeting, but cost-prohibitive to develop. Bad actors can now lean on a more efficient tool: Facebook.
Harvard’s remote learning plans leave some students struggling
Some Harvard students are struggling with poor internet connections, unsafe homes, and more as classes remain online this fall due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Should you delete TikTok? Only if you’re also going to delete Facebook
Despite security concerns about TikTok, experts say that TikTok's privacy policies are no more or less invasive when compared with other social media apps.
WhatsApp will halt processing of Hong Kong police requests for user data
China's controversial National Security Law, which has raised the hackles of pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong, seems to also have given WhatsApp pause.
Amazon warehouse workers say $500 coronavirus bonus is a joke
They compared it to the $1,200 checks that the Trump administration sent Americans: it's not nothing, but it also isn't going to help with risking their lives every day.
Social media giants finally treat Trump like the rest of us
Twitter’s move to flag President Trump's tweets may have given Big Tech the cover it needed to do what they want to do. Is tech finally taking Trump seriously?
Hackers say voting machines are vulnerable. But that’s not the real problem
While a lot of attention has been focused on the vulnerability of voting machines, the more imminent danger is the electronic infrastructure around elections.
Workers say Amazon lied about COVID-19 cases at Minnesota warehouse
Amazon workers allege bosses purposefully downplayed the presence of the COVID-19, at one point even playing videos to convince people there was no threat.
Major security vulnerability could leave critical infrastructure defenseless
A wide range of bugs in a software firms code — which is used by many devices across several industries — would allow hackers easy access to control the devices.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey makes Juneteenth a company holiday
Juneteenth, which is celebrated as the day when slavery in the U.S. officially ended, will now be an official company holiday at tech giants Twitter and Square.
Researchers: Bots are spreading conspiracy theories about #blacklivesmatter
Almost half of the accounts tweeting about the BLM protests could be bots or cyborgs, according to experts, and they're spreading misinformation.
Police facial recognition tech could misidentify people at protests, experts say
Facial recognition algorithms are notoriously bad at identifying non-white and non-male people. But the tech may still be used today as protests roil the U.S.
Protesters sharing tech tips to stay safe, avoid arrest amid U.S. unrest
Protesters and activists have been sharing advice for how to treat injuries, avoid police detection, and stay safe during demonstrations over police brutality.
Trump threatens to shut down social media platforms
In response to a new Twitter feature that fact-checked the President for the first time, Trump tweeted a threat to shut down or regulate social media.
Hackers are stepping up attacks on health care facilities and researchers
February to March 2020 saw almost a 50% increase in the number of cyberattacks on health care systems and hospitals in the U.S. The Red Cross says "no more."
Google disputes report, says diversity programs aren’t being cut
Google has disputed an earlier report that the company had shut down its diversity training programs, telling Digital Trends the programs were still active.
Hamilton is headed to Disney+ more than a year ahead of schedule
A "live-capture" version of the Broadway musical Hamilton was slated for release in October 2021, but Disney+ has pushed up the release by more than 15 months.
The future of smart cities may mean the death of privacy
As smart cities evolve, cameras proliferate, and all of our data is continually collected, the question of how to maintain personal privacy becomes more urgent.
