Tag Archives: Society & Culture

The UK government will ‘look into’ Rockstar’s firing of union-organizing workers

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Rockstar Games may have to answer for what appears to be union-busting behavior. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, under pressure from parliament, said the government will "look into" the firing of 31 employees in October.

The sacked workers were all part of a private trade union chat group on Discord. The company claimed the firings were "for gross misconduct" and accused the workers of sharing confidential information outside of the company.

But based on what we know, it's hard to see that characterization as anything but union-busting in search of legal cover. The Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB) described the case as "the most blatant and ruthless act of union busting in the history of the games industry."

In November, IWGB issued legal claims against the Grand Theft Auto developer. The next day, over 200 staff at Rockstar North signed a letter condemning the firings and pressuring management to reinstate the workers. Earlier that month, the fired workers and their supporters protested outside Rockstar North's Edinburgh headquarters. Others picketed in Paris, London and New York.

People protesting and holding picket signs outside Rockstar North headquarters
Fired workers and supporters protesting outside Rockstar's headquarters
IWGB

“It’s clear to everyone close to this situation that this is a blatant, unapologetic act of vicious union busting,” one of the fired staffers said anonymously in a November statement. “Rockstar employs so many talented game developers, all of whom are crucial to making the games we put out.”

Edinburgh East and Musselburgh MP Chris Murray, who prompted Starmer's response, said in parliament that he recently met with Rockstar to discuss the case. "The meeting only entrenched my concerns about the process Rockstar used to dismiss so many of their staff members," he said. "I was not assured their process paid robust attention to UK employment law, I was not convinced that this course of action was necessary, and alarmingly, I did not leave informed on exactly what these 31 people had done to warrant their immediate dismissal."

Murray added that Rockstar initially refused entry to the MPs unless they signed a non-disclosure agreement. The company eventually relented on that front.

On Wednesday, Murray triggered Starmer's response in parliament. The MP asked the Prime Minister if he agreed that "all companies, regardless of profit size, must follow UK employment law and all workers have the right to join a union?"

Starmer replied that he found the case "deeply concerning." He added that "every worker has the right to join a trade union, and we're determined to strengthen workers' rights and ensure they don't face unfair consequences for being part of a union. Our ministers will look into the particular case the member raises and will keep him updated."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-uk-government-will-look-into-rockstars-firing-of-union-organizing-workers-174216696.html?src=rss

Russia blocks Roblox, citing ‘LGBT propaganda’ as a reason

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Russia has blocked the popular gaming platform Roblox, according to a report by Reuters. The country's communications watchdog Roskomnadzor accused the developers of distributing extremist materials and "LGBT propaganda." The agency went on to say that Roblox is "rife with inappropriate content that can negatively impact the spiritual and moral development of children."

This is just the latest move the country has taken against what it calls the "international LGBT movement." It recently pressured the language-learning app Duolingo into deleting references to what the country calls "non-traditional sexual relations."

Russian courts regularly issue fines to organizations that violate its "LGBT propaganda" law, which criminalizes the promotion of same-sex relationships. President Vladimir Putin has called the protection of gay and transgender rights a move "towards open satanism."

Roblox doesn't have a "LGBT propaganda" problem because there's no such thing, but the platform does have plenty of issues that Russia doesn't seem all that concerned about. It's a noted haven for child predators, which has caused other countries like Iraq and Turkey to ban the platform. To its credit, the company has begun cracking down on user-generated content and added new age-based restrictions.

Roblox is still one of the more popular entertainment platforms in the world. It averaged over 151 million daily active users in the third quarter of this year alone.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/russia-blocks-roblox-citing-lgbt-propaganda-as-a-reason-180757267.html?src=rss

2025 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade: How to watch today, start time, where to stream and more

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MACY'S THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE -- Downtown -- Pictured: The Radio City Rockettes -- (Photo by: Peter Kramer/NBC via Getty Images)
The Radio City Rockettes will be among the performers at this year's Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. Here's how to watch. (Peter Kramer/NBC via Getty Images)
NBC via Getty Images

Every holiday has corresponding must-watch TV associated with it, from It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown at Halloween, Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer at Christmas, and the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade airing on the last Thursday in November. 

This year marks the 99th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and the festivities begin at 8:30 a.m. ET this Thursday, Nov. 27. The parade will be broadcast on NBC and streams live – with a three-angle multi-view option – on Peacock. Performers will include Wicked's Cynthia Erivo, Lainey Wilson, Ciara, and more. Oh, and if you've got KPop Demon Hunters fans in your life, not only will there be balloons featuring Derpy and Sussie, the parade will feature a performance by EJAE, Audrey Nuna, and REI AMI, the singing voices of HUNTR/X. 

Here's everything you need to know about how to watch the 99th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade live this week, and how to catch the encore if you miss it.

The 2025 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is held this year – and every year – on Thanksgiving Day. This year, the parade is on Thursday, November 27, starting at 8:30 a.m. ET/5:30 a.m. PT. There will be an encore broadcast at 2 p.m. ET/PT. 

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will last roughly 3.5 hours, ending at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT. An encore broadcast will air on NBC at 2 p.m. ET/PT. 

The Macy's Thanksgiving Parade will air on NBC and stream on Peacock on Thanksgiving Day from 8:30 a.m. to noon in all time zones. An encore airing of the parade will also begin at 2 p.m. on NBC. If you have access to live TV, you may be able to watch NBC for free over the air. If not, here's what we recommend for how to watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Wicked star Cynthia Erivo will open the parade, which will also feature performances from Country artist Lainey Wilson, EJAE, Audrey Nuna, and REI AMI (the singing voices of HUNTR/X from Netflix's KPop Demon Hunters), Drew Baldridge, Matteo Bocelli, Colbie Caillat, Ciara, Gavin DeGraw, Meg Donnelly, Mr. Fantasy, Foreigner, Debbie Gibson, Mickey Guyton, Christopher Jackson, Jewel, Lil Jon, Kool & the Gang, Darlene Love, Roman Mejia, Taylor Momsen, Tiler Peck, the Radio City Rockettes, Busta Rhymes, Calum Scott, Shaggy, Lauren Spencer Smith, Luísa Sonza and Teyana Taylor.

There will also be performances from the Broadway casts of Buena Vista Social Club, Just in Time and Ragtime.

There will be 32 balloons, three "balloonicles," 27 floats, 33 clown groups, 11 marching bands and plenty of performances at the 2025 Macy's parade.

Six new floats are debuting at this year's parade: 

  • The Land of Ice & Wonder by Holland America Line

  • Brick-tastic Winter Mountain by The LEGO Group

  • Master Chocolatier Ballroom by Lindt

  • Upside Down Invasion: Stranger Things by Netflix 

  • Friends-giving in POPCITY by Pop Mart

  • The Counting Sheep's Dream Generator by Serta.

In 2025, there will be four new featured character balloons making their debut in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade:

  • Buzz Lightyear by Pixar Animation Studios

  • PAC-MAN by Bandai Namco Entertainment America, Inc.

  • Shrek's Onion Carriage from Universal Pictures' DreamWorks Animation; 

  • Mario by Nintendo. 

Derpy Tiger and Sussie from Netflix’s K-Pop Demon Hunters will also join the line-up as a mid-sized balloon and balloonicle.

Today's Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb and Al Roker of The Today Show will host NBC's broadcast of the Macy's Thanksgiving parade again this year. 

Want to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Thanksgiving football and more on live TV this holiday season for free? Here are a few platforms offering free trials around this time of year. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/2025-macys-thanksgiving-day-parade-how-to-watch-today-start-time-where-to-stream-and-more-124520090.html?src=rss

Tesla wins bid to decertify class action lawsuit alleging racial discrimination

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Tesla has secured a ruling to strip a 2017 lawsuit claiming a racist work environment of its class-action status, as reported by Reuters. California Superior Court Judge Peter Borkon, appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2021, ruled that the lawsuit could not proceed with class-action status because the plaintiffs' attorneys had failed to find 200 class members willing to testify. The judge said he could not assume that the experiences of a select group of workers could be applied to the entire class of would-be plaintiffs.

The 2017 lawsuit began with a single employee who filed suit alleging Tesla's Fremont production floor was a "hotbed for racist behavior," and that over 100 employees had experienced racial harassment.

In 2024, a lower court judge ruled the case could move forward as a class action, a decision that Tesla had been appealing since. A trial in the case was scheduled to begin in April, though now that the case has lost its class-action status, each plaintiff would have to bring their case against Tesla separately.

This is not the first time that Tesla has found itself in court over alleged racial misconduct. In 2023, the automaker was sued by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over allegations that Black employees were subjected to racial slurs and retaliation.

Last year, Tesla reached a confidential settlement with a single employee who said he faced discrimination at the same California plant, reporting that his coworkers left drawings of swastikas and racist figures on his workspace.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/tesla-wins-bid-to-decertify-class-action-lawsuit-alleging-racial-discrimination-191256294.html?src=rss

Five plead guilty to helping North Koreans pretend to be US-based IT workers

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The US Department of Justice has announced that five people have pleaded guilty to helping North Koreans defraud US companies by pretending to be US-based remote workers. North Korea has previously used fake identities and the direct manipulation of US cybersecurity workers to circumvent international sanctions and funnel money into the country.

In this case, the people knew they were helping North Koreans, the DOJ says, and "provided their own, false, or stolen identities" to help the remote workers get jobs. They also "hosted U.S. victim company-provided laptops at residences across the United States" to hide the workers' location. In the case of at least two "facilitators," they also took company drug tests on the workers' behalf.

Audricus Phagnasay, Jason Salazar and Alexander Paul Travis each pleaded guilty to one wire fraud conspiracy for their role in the scam. Travis was paid "at least $51,397" for participating, while Phagnasay and Salazar earned "at least $3,450 and $4,500, respectively." Another facilitator, Erick Ntekereze Prince, used his company to contract certified IT workers to other US companies, fully knowing the workers were using stolen identities. He earned "more than $89,000" for his participation in the scam and pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud conspiracy.

The final facilitator, Oleksandr Didenko, pleaded guilty for one count of wire fraud conspiracy and one count of aggravated identity theft for participating in an extensive identity theft operation. Didenko helped foreign IT workers fraudulently gain employment at 40 US companies, the DOJ says, and he's forfeiting $1.4 million as part of his plea.

"These prosecutions make one point clear: the United States will not permit the DPRK to bankroll its weapons programs by preying on American companies and workers," U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones said in the DOJ announcement. “We will keep working with our partners across the Justice Department to uncover these schemes, recover stolen funds, and pursue every individual who enables North Korea’s operations.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/five-plead-guilty-to-helping-north-koreans-pretend-to-be-us-based-it-workers-230831417.html?src=rss

Union files legal claims against Rockstar Games following alleged union busting

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The Independent Workers of Great Britain (IWGB) has issued formal legal claims against Rockstar Games, which it has accused of union busting. The Grand Theft Auto VI developer last month fired dozens of employees who were organizing.

The IWGB said in a statement it made several attempts to meet with Rockstar with the aim of resolving the situation through negotiations, but claimed the studio rebuffed the union. It’s now looking to take the matter before a court. “We have now issued formal legal claims against Rockstar on behalf of the claimants,” the IWGB said. It added that it believed the firings “amount to victimization and collective dismissal linked to trade union activity.” The union previously said that all of those who Rockstar fired were members of the members of an IWGB Game Workers Union Discord server.

Alex Marshall, the president of IWGB pledged that the union will “mount a full legal defense with our expert group of caseworkers, legal officers and barristers. Employers like Rockstar would do well to understand that private spaces such as trade union Discord servers have protections, and that their company’s contractual clauses do not supersede UK law.” Marshall added that the union will “not be intimidated.”

Rockstar claimed that it fired the more than 30 workers in question for “gross misconduct, and for no other reason” and it accused them of “distributing and discussing confidential information in a public forum.” Engadget has asked the company, which last week delayed GTA VI by a further six months, to comment on IWGB issuing legal claims against it.

People Make Games reported this week that a collective of workers called the Rockstar Games Workers' Union had recruited just over 10 percent of the company’s UK workforce to join. That’s one of the benchmarks needed to apply for statutory recognition in the country. If that were granted, the government would be able to force Rockstar to recognize the union. The Rockstar Games Workers' Union was said to be just weeks away from formally announcing its existence before Rockstar allegedly fired a majority of the organizing committee.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/union-files-legal-claims-against-rockstar-games-following-alleged-union-busting-165033747.html?src=rss

Google sues group running massive SMS scam operation

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Google has filed a lawsuit against a group of Chinese hackers running a platform called “Lighthouse” that sells phishing services for a monthly fee. The group offers clients its services to launch massive phishing and smishing (SMS phishing) campaigns. Google says the bad actors typically send out emails or text messages that link to fake websites pretending to be legitimate pages of established brands like USPS and E-Z Pass, in order to trick people into keying in their log-ins and other sensitive details. The company found at least 107 sign-in screen templates with Google branding, designed to steal people’s log-in information.

In its announcement, Google said that one million people from 121 countries have fallen victim to the online scams that used Lighthouse and that the bad actors have already stolen $1 billion. In the US alone, they’ve gotten their hands on between 12.7 million and 115 million credit card numbers. The most popular scheme involves pretending to be the USPS and telling victims that they’d have to pay for the redelivery of a package stuck at the post office.

As The Financial Times reports, Google cited data from cybersecurity company Silent Push in its lawsuit as an example, stating that Chinese criminal group “Smishing Triad” used Lighthouse earlier this year to create 200,000 fake websites. Those websites apparently received 50,000 visits a day and compromised millions of US credit cards within a 20-day period. The company is bringing claims under the US Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, the Lanham Act, and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. If the company wins, it would allow Google to work with carriers and website hosts to take down the operation’s domain and servers.

In addition to filing the lawsuit, Google is also backing bipartisan bills in Congress that take aim at foreign cybercriminals. One bill would enable state and local law enforcement to use federal grant funding to investigate financial fraud targeting retirees. Another aims to establish a task force to block foreign robocalls in the US. The last one targets scam compounds, or centers that serve as bases for scam operations, and intends to provide support to the survivors who were trafficked and forced to work for those centers.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/google-sues-group-running-massive-sms-scam-operation-133000168.html?src=rss

Texas AG Ken Paxton sues Roblox over alleged child safety lapses

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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against Roblox, accusing it of ignoring state and federal safety laws. In his announcement on X, Paxton said the children have been “repeatedly exposed to sexually explicit content, exploitation and grooming” on the online game platform, because it chose to prioritize “pixel pedophiles and corporate profit” over the safety of children. “Thank you,” Schlep posted in the comments of his announcement. Schlep was a popular Roblox user who was known for staging sting operations à la To Catch a Predator on the platform, which had led to multiple arrests. He was controversially banned from Roblox in August, because he violated the company’s new rule that prohibits “vigilante behavior.”

“We share Attorney General Paxton's commitment to keeping kids and teens safe online," the company said in a statement. "We are disappointed that, rather than working collaboratively with Roblox on this industry-wide challenge and seeking real solutions, the AG has chosen to file a lawsuit based on misrepresentations and sensationalized claims.”

Roblox has implemented several measures meant to protect children over the past few years. It blocked any user under 13 from being able to play, search or discover any unrated experiences on the platform, and it restricted DMs for that segment of users, as well. It also added an age estimation feature that requires a video selfie for a user to be able to prove that they’re 13 or older. The company intends to roll it out to everyone by the end of this year.

Texas isn’t the only state suing Roblox and accusing it of failing to protect children from predators, though: Kentucky and Louisiana had previously filed their own lawsuits against the company. Louisiana argued that the platform contains user-created experiences with troubling themes, such as “Escape to Epstein Island” and “Diddy Party,” despite the majority of its users being under 16. It also pointed out that it was possible to initiate voice chats within Roblox’s experiences, even between users who weren’t friends, until November 2024. In one instance, a man who was arrested for possession of child sexual abuse materials was discovered to have used voice altering software to pretend to be a young girl in order to exploit children on the platform.

“Roblox must do more to protect kids from sick and twisted freaks hiding behind a screen,” Paxton wrote. “Any corporation that enables child abuse will face the full and unrelenting force of the law.” To note, the Texas AG also previously sued TikTok, alleging that it has insufficient parental controls, as well as Meta and Character.AI for potentially misusing data collected from underage users.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/texas-ag-ken-paxton-sues-roblox-over-alleged-child-safety-lapses-131500288.html?src=rss

Rockstar Games accused of union busting in the UK

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Rockstar Games, developer of Grand Theft Auto VI, has been accused of deliberately laying off employees who were trying to unionize, Bloomberg reports. The Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) claims over 30 employees who were eliminated at the developer's offices in the UK and Canada were either already part of a union or attempting to organize.

"Rockstar has just carried out the most blatant and ruthless act of union busting in the history of the games industry," IWGB President Alex Marshall said in a blog post about the layoffs. "This flagrant contempt for the law and for the lives of the workers who bring in their billions is an insult to their fans and the global industry." 

Besides the disruption of having to find a new job, the union notes that several employees who were let go are particularly vulnerable. "Amongst the staff dismissed were those with visas sponsored by Rockstar and those with medical conditions who will lose access to essential workplace healthcare schemes," the union says. It adds that "all of those dismissed at Rockstar UK were members of the IWGB Game Workers Union discord channel, and appear to have been targeted for this reason." In response to the IWGB's claims, Rockstar's publisher and owner Take-Two Interactive told Bloomberg that the layoffs had nothing to do with union activity and instead were "for gross misconduct, and for no other reason."

Rockstar and Take-Two have come into conflict with employees in the past over their return-to-office policy. Take-Two also laid off staff across multiple studios in 2024 and 2025, potentially motivated by the decision to push back the release of Grand Theft Auto VI to 2026. The game is expected to be a massive hit for the company and the wider industry, which is part of the reason why the IWGB believes the layoffs are motivated by something other than financials.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/rockstar-games-accused-of-union-busting-in-the-uk-221004334.html?src=rss

Snap calls New Mexico’s child safety complaint a ‘sensationalist lawsuit’

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Snap has accused New Mexico's attorney general of intentionally looking for adult users seeking sexually explicit content in order to make its app seem unsafe in a filing asking the court to dismiss the state's lawsuit. In the document shared by The Verge, the company questioned the veracity of the state's allegations. The attorney general's office said that while it was using a decoy account supposed to be owned by a 14-year-old girl, it was added by a user named Enzo (Nud15Ans). From that connection, the app allegedly suggested over 91 users, including adults looking for sexual content. Snap said in its motion to dismiss, however, that those "allegations are patently false."

It was the decoy account that searched for and added Enzo, the company wrote. The attorney general's operatives were also the ones who looked for and added accounts with questionable usernames, such as "nudenude_22" and "xxx_tradehot." In addition, Snap is accusing the office of "repeatedly [mischaracterizing]" its internal documents. The office apparently cited a document when it mentioned in its lawsuit that the company "consciously decided not to store child sex abuse images" and when it suggested that it doesn't report and provide those images to law enforcement. Snap denied that it was the case and clarified that it's not allowed to store child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) on its servers. It also said that it turns over such materials to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

The New Mexico Department of Justice's director of communications was not impressed with the company's arguments. In a statement sent to The Verge, Lauren Rodriguez accused Snap of focusing on the minor details of the investigation in an "attempt to distract from the serious issues raised in the State’s case." Rodriguez also said that "Snap continues to put profits over protecting children" instead of "addressing... critical issues with real change to their algorithms and design features."

New Mexico came to the conclusion that Snapchat's features "foster the sharing of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and facilitate child sexual exploitation" after a months-long investigation. It reported that it found a "vast network of dark web sites dedicated to sharing stolen, non-consensual sexual images from Snap" and that Snapchat was "by far" the biggest source of images and videos on the dark web sites that it had seen. The attorney general's office called Snapchat "a breeding ground for predators to collect sexually explicit images of children and to find, groom and extort them." Snap employees encounter 10,000 sextortion cases each month, the office's lawsuit said, but the company allegedly doesn't warn users so as not to "strike fear" among them. The complaint accused Snap's upper management of ignoring former trust and safety employees who'd pushed for additional safety mechanisms, as well.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/snap-calls-new-mexicos-child-safety-complaint-a-sensationalist-lawsuit-140034898.html?src=rss