REDDIT

Thousands of Reddit communities went dark this week in protest of upcoming API changes, which include a controversial policy that will charge some third-party apps for continued use.

Reddit is facing an ongoing blackout from some of its most active users after it revealed plans to charge some third-party apps for data access.

Thousands of Reddit communities have gone dark this week in protest of upcoming API changes, which include a controversial policy that will charge some third-party apps for continued use.

A rally in GameStop has been rare since it fell back to earth early this month. GameStop was an extreme example because some of its shares had been sold short multiple times. Gust Kepler, CEO of stocks and options platform BlackBoxStocks, said that he became aware around 3:30 EST Wednesday of “aggressive buying” of call options on GameStop shares. Speaking at the annual meeting of Los Angeles Daily Journal Wednesday, the Berkshire Hathaway vice chairman pinned the GameStop stock frenzy on small investors that he said were gambling on the stock market. One Redditor posted a chart in the forum showing the spike in GameStop's shares, adding: “TAKE THAT CHARLIE MUNGER.”___Associated Press writer Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, contributed to this report.

(House Financial Services Committee via AP)WASHINGTON – The CEO of Robinhood defended the trading platform to Congress Thursday for its actions during the GameStop trading saga, while apologizing to customers for restricting their ability to trade at the height of the frenzy. AdTenev said Robinhood imposed the trading restrictions because regulators had increased capital requirements tenfold due to the spike in trading volume. Gill earned a handsome profit and a legion of online followers for making the case for GameStop shares on Reddit and YouTube long before the big price surge in January. Beyond Robinhood’s actions during the GameStop frenzy, lawmakers raised concern about its business model generally and possible downsides of its “democratization” of stock trading. The company offers commission-free trading, but critics say customers pay another, hidden price because Robinhood provides their data on buying and selling to Wall Street firms.

Pedestrians pass a GameStop store on 14th Street at Union Square, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, in the Manhattan borough of New York. GameStop stock has rocketed from below $20 to more than $400 this month as a volunteer army of investors on social media challenged big institutions who has placed market bets that the stock would fall. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)A Minnesota man has cashed in on his GameStop investment. GME is the symbol for GameStop stock. He’s comfortable on Reddit, the home of the online forum called Wall Street bets, that helped propel GameStop stock to its dizzying heights.

Shares of Pan American Silver surged about 12%, First Majestic Silver rose 22% and Hecla Mining spiked 28%. In the process, they've done heavy damage to those hedge funds in a stunning reversal of financial power on Wall Street. AdSome of these smaller traders believe the hedge funds that were pillaged last week are behind the surge in silver. Meanwhile, GameStop shares dropped 28% to $233 but the stock price has been tremendously volatile of late. Even so, hedge funds' exposure to the stock market remains close to record levels.

Melvin Capital is also exiting GameStop, with manager Gabe Plotkin telling CNBC that the hedge fund was taking a significant loss. Last week they gave us the Great GameStop Stock Uprising. Online spaces are being used to radicalize people toward extremism, to plan hate crimes and attacks," she said. It’s the same thing as when Jim Cramer gets on CNBC smashing buttons.”AdIn 2017, the hashtag “MeToo" began going viral as women — and some men — shared their experiences of sexual assault on social media. Social media also helped Black Lives Matter activists organize rallies, record police violence and communicate during the marches sweeping the U.S. and other countries following the death of George Floyd last summer.

WASHINGTON – Federal regulators are ordering Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, TikTok’s parent and five other social media companies to provide detailed information on how they collect and use consumers’ personal data and how their practices affect children and teens. The other five companies are Reddit, Snap, Discord, WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook, and Google’s YouTube. Regulators and lawmakers are increasingly weaving their concerns over data power and privacy into their investigations of Big Tech companies' market dominance. Facebook, the largest social network, gets the bulk of its revenue — which reached $70.7 billion last year — from online ads. They said the planned study “will lift the hood on the social media and video streaming firms to carefully study their engines."

OAKLAND, Calif. – Facebook said it will ban groups that openly support QAnon, the baseless conspiracy theory that paints President Donald Trump as a secret warrior against a supposed child-trafficking ring run by celebrities and “deep state” government officials. The company said Tuesday that it will remove Facebook pages, groups and Instagram accounts for “representing QAnon” — even if they don’t promote violence. Mentions of QAnon in a group focused on a different subject won't necessarily lead to a ban, Facebook said. It said it would only remove QAnon groups if they promote violence. Reddit, which began banning QAnon groups in 2018, was well ahead, and to date it has largely avoided having a notable QAnon presence on its platform.