ReportWire

Tag: Facebook

  • Meta AI edits your camera roll for better Facebook posts

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    Your phone is full of photos you’ve never posted, moments you meant to share but never got around to. That’s exactly what Facebook wants to change. It now uses Meta AI to spot hidden gems in your camera roll, polish them, and create simple collages you can share. You take the pictures, and Facebook helps turn them into easy, ready-to-share memories. No design skills required.

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    Why Meta created this AI photo feature

    Many people take photos but then don’t share them because they feel the image isn’t “post-worthy,” or they simply don’t have time to make it look good.  Meta’s logic: if those moments are sitting unseen in your phone, screenshots, receipts, random snaps, they might still matter to you. So the tool helps you rediscover and share them. From Meta’s perspective, this also fits its bigger push into artificial intelligence-driven features across its apps.

    LEAKED META DOCUMENTS SHOW HOW AI CHATBOTS HANDLE CHILD EXPLOITATION

    New AI tool scans your camera roll to find and polish images for quick sharing. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

    Behind the scenes, Meta AI analyzes photo details, like lighting, people and events, to group similar moments and create polished collage layouts automatically. It can suggest captions or filters, but users can edit or reject any suggestion before posting.

    How to enable the Facebook AI feature

    Here’s how to turn this feature on in Facebook (and how to disable it if you prefer).

    • Open the Facebook app on your phone (iOS or Android).
    • Tap your profile picture or the menu icon.
    • Go to Settings & Privacy.
    • Click Settings.

    META STRENGTHENS TEEN SAFETY WITH EXPANDED ACCOUNTS

    Instructions for Meta.

    Meta aims to revive old memories with Facebook’s AI-powered collage creator. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

    • Scroll to Preferences (or something similar) and find Camera Roll Sharing Suggestions and tap on it.
    • Toggle on ‘Get creative ideas made for you by allowing camera roll cloud processing’ (or similar wording). You may be prompted to allow “cloud processing,” whereby Facebook uploads photos from your device to its servers so Meta AI can analyze them.

    INSTAGRAM FRIEND MAP FEATURE SPARKS PRIVACY QUESTIONS

    Camera roll instructions.

    Users can now let Facebook’s AI curate camera roll highlights automatically. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

    • Confirm the opt-in and accept any permission prompts. Once enabled, Meta claims that only you see suggestions, and you decide if you save or share them.

    META DELETES 10 MILLION FACEBOOK ACCOUNTS THIS YEAR, BUT WHY?

    Camera roll instructions for Facebook.

    Facebook rolls out AI photo suggestions to make sharing easier than ever. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

    You’ll also receive optional notifications when new collage suggestions are ready, giving you the chance to preview and edit them before sharing.

    Steps to disable or opt out

    • Follow the same path: Facebook app → Settings & Privacy → Settings → Preferences → Camera Roll Sharing Suggestions.
    • Toggle the feature off or disable “cloud processing.”
    • For extra privacy, you can also revoke Facebook’s access to your camera roll in your phone’s OS settings.

    If you’ve already uploaded photos for analysis, Meta says you can delete that data by turning off the feature and clearing saved files under “Your Facebook Information” in Settings.

    What this means for you

    Here’s how Facebook’s new AI photo feature could change the way you share, save and see your favorite moments online.

    • More sharing without the effort. You capture the moment, Facebook helps polish it. The barrier of “this photo isn’t good enough” gets lowered.
    • Greater visibility for memories. That vacation scrapbook photo or family snap buried in your camera roll might now get a second life.
    • Full control remains. You decide whether to share the suggested edit or keep it private. Meta emphasizes that the suggestions are shown only to you unless you choose to share.
    • Privacy considerations. Even though Meta says your photos won’t be used to train AI unless you edit or share them, they do get uploaded to Meta’s cloud when you opt in and may be stored for some time. Meta confirms that the uploaded photos aren’t used for ad targeting or facial recognition, but they may be stored temporarily for processing before being deleted.
    • Limited rollout. At present, U.S. and Canada only; international users may need to wait.

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    Kurt’s key takeaways

    This move by Facebook addresses a common pain point (photos that don’t get shared) and leverages AI to make sharing more effortless. If you’re an active Facebook user who takes many photos and wants to share more of them, this feature could be a welcome boost. But if you’re cautious about how your private media may be handled, the opt-out path is important and worth using. Either way, it reflects how AI is quietly reshaping everyday apps.

    Will you turn on Facebook’s AI-powered photo suggestion feature or keep your camera roll private just the way it is?  Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.

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    Copyright 2025 CyberGuy.com.  All rights reserved.

    Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on “FOX & Friends.” Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.

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  • Clip shows Indian doctor, not Egyptian diplomat, visiting Ethiopia’s Tigray region

    Ethiopia recently accused Eritrea of collaborating with rebels from the northern Tigray region amid increasing instability in the Horn of Africa and neighbouring countries. A clip widely circulating in Ethiopia claims to show a diplomat from Egypt visiting Tigray after entering the region from Eritrea, suggesting collaboration between Ethiopia’s diplomatic rivals. However, the claim is false: the video shows an Indian surgeon who visited Tigray to provide medical training and treatment.

    The post contains text in Amharic that claims an “Egyptian Ambassador entered Mekelle via Eritrea”.

    The purported ambassador is not identified, nor is the country where he is supposedly posted.

    Mekelle is the capital of the Tigray region. Tigray shares borders with Eritrea, a country that gained its independence from Ethiopia in 1993.

    Screenshot of the false post, taken on October 22, 2025

    The clip was posted on Facebook on October 16, 2025, and has been shared more than 600 times.

    The 8-second video shows leaders of the Tigray region, including its President Tadesse Werede and others, standing in a group and speaking with an individual who appears to be a foreigner.

    An arrow in the video points to the individual, designating him as the “Egyptian ambassador”.

    In the background, a man is seen wearing a vest with the words “Dejen Hospital Security” on the back.

    Similar posts were also shared here and here on Facebook.

    Mounting tensions 

    Tensions between Ethiopia and Egypt remain high following the inauguration of Ethiopia’s Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on September 9, 2025, which drew protests from its downstream neighbour (archived here).

    AFP also reported that the Ethiopian government recently accused the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) of collaborating with Eritrea to actively prepare for war against Ethiopia (archived here).

    Ethiopia’s federal army and the TPLF fought a bloody two-year war that claimed up to 600,000 lives before it ended with a peace deal in November 2022 (archived here).

    Eritrea dismissed the latest accusation and condemned Ethiopia for “provocative sabre-rattling” (archived here).

    The clip was shared as alleged evidence of secret cooperation between Tigrayan leaders, Eritrean officials, and an Egyptian diplomat illegally visiting Mekelle without approval from Ethiopia’s federal government.

    However, the claim is false.

    Indian doctor 

    AFP Fact Check used InVID-WeVerify to conduct reverse image searches on keyframes from the video.

    The search provided numerous results, including a post in Tigirinya and English on X indicating that the individual seen in the clip is an Indian doctor named Arvind Verma Jangid (archived here).

    A keyword search for Arvind Verma Jangid shows he is listed on several medical websites, such as here and here (archived here and here).

    These describe him as an orthopaedic surgeon in the city of Indore in west-central India.

    Jangid shared multiple photos from his trip to Mekelle on Facebook here and here (archived here and here).

    He wrote: “I am delighted to share that I have successfully completed 109 complex Ilizarov surgeries — all on patients who had previously undergone multiple unsuccessful operations — here in Ethiopia, Africa.”

    Ilizarov surgery is an orthopaedic procedure that uses an external fixator device to lengthen, reshape, or reconstruct bones.

    Although the clip shared in the false post was filmed from a side angle, the individual’s appearance and clothing clearly match photos from Jangid’s own posts.

    <span>Screenshots of the false post (left) and a photo shared on Jangid’s Facebook page, taken on October 23, 2025 </span>

    Screenshots of the false post (left) and a photo shared on Jangid’s Facebook page, taken on October 23, 2025

    Ayder Hospital at Mekelle University also shared a similar report on its official Facebook page, stating that the university hosted basic Ilizarov and limb reconstruction training to strengthen orthopaedic expertise in Ethiopia (archived here).

    The report further stated that the programme featured Jangid, “a renowned limb lengthening and reconstruction surgeon” from India, who conducted training and provided specialised surgical care at Dejen Hospital in Mekelle.

    Again, the photos included in Ayder Hospital’s report correspond to the same individual seen in the clip.

    <span>Screenshots of the false post (left) and a photo shared on Ayder Hospital’s Facebook page, taken on October 23, 2025 </span>

    Screenshots of the false post (left) and a photo shared on Ayder Hospital’s Facebook page, taken on October 23, 2025

    In the hospital’s photos, Jangid is dressed differently, but his features more clearly match the person shown in the clip.

    AFP Fact Check contacted Jangid, who confirmed that the person in the clip was him.

    “Yes, it is me,” Jangid told AFP Fact Check, adding, “We were discussing the treatment of injured patients with Tigray leaders”.

    He further confirmed the location where the clip was recorded. “The video was captured at Dejen Hospital, Mekelle, during the launching ceremony for the limb reconstruction campaign.”

    He said that he provided surgical care for patients and trained local doctors.

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  • EU charges Meta and TikTok over failures to tackle illegal content

    The European Commission has found that Meta and TikTok had violated rules under the Digital Services Act (DSA) and is now giving them the chance to comply if they don’t want to be fined up to 6 percent of their total worldwide annual turnover. According to the Commission, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok have “put in place burdensome procedures and tools” for researchers who want to request access to public data. This means they’re stuck with incomplete or unreliable information if they want to do research on topics like how minors are exposed to illegal or harmful content online. “Allowing researchers access to platforms’ data is an essential transparency obligation under the DSA,” the Commission wrote.

    In addition, the Commission is charging Meta over the lack of a user-friendly mechanism that would allow users to easily report posts with illegal content, such as child sexual abuse materials. The Commission explained that Facebook and Instagram use mechanisms that require several steps to be able to flag posts, and they use dark interface designs that make reporting confusing and dissuading. All those factors are in breach of DSA rules that require online platforms to give EU users easy-to-use mechanisms to be able to report illegal content.

    Under the DSA, users must also be able to challenge social networks’ decisions to remove their posts or suspend their accounts. The Commission found that neither Facebook nor Instagram allow users to explain their sides or provide evidence to substantiate their appeals, which limits the effectiveness of the appeal process.

    Meta and TikTok will be able to examine the Commission’s investigation files and to reply in writing about its findings. They’ll also have the opportunity to implement changes to comply with DSA rules, and it’s only if the Commission decides they’re non-compliant that they can be fined up to 6 percent of their global annual turnover. Meta disagreed that it had breached DSA rules, according to Financial Times. “In the European Union, we have introduced changes to our content reporting options, appeals process, and data access tools since the DSA came into force and are confident that these solutions match what is required under the law in the EU,” it said in a statement. Meanwhile, TikTok said it was reviewing the Commission’s findings but that “requirements to ease data safeguards place the DSA and GDPR in direct tension.” It’s asking regulators for guidance on “how these obligations should be reconciled.”

    Mariella Moon

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  • Meta expands teen accounts to Facebook and Messenger, critics say more needs to be done – WTOP News

    Meta is expanding teen accounts to Facebook and Messenger. The company said the move is part of its ongoing effort to keep kids safer online.

    One year after launching teen accounts for Instagram, Meta is expanding the program to Facebook and Messenger. The company said the move is part of its ongoing effort to keep kids safer online.

    With teen accounts, users under 18 are automatically enrolled with built-in protections.

    Meta says 97% of teens under 16 are staying within those restrictions.

    The company also highlights features such as sleep mode and supervision tools, which let parents set daily time limits and monitor activity.

    “Teen accounts are really meant to respond to some of the top concerns that we’ve heard from parents,” Jennifer Hanley, Meta’s North American head of safety policy, told WTOP in September.

    The accounts ensure teens under 16 need their parents’ permission to change the restrictions, according to Hanley. Among the offerings are tools that keep kids from engaging on the platforms for long periods.

    “After 60 minutes, a teen in the teen account gets a notification encouraging them to leave the platform,” Hanley said.

    But not everyone is convinced to tools are helping. A report from Cybersecurity for Democracy labeled 64% of the safety tools “red” because they fell short.

    The report’s authors, which included a former Facebook employee, said the tools were rated that way because they were either “no longer available or ineffective.”

    The report also warned that teens still encounter harmful “rabbit holes,” including imagery of self-harm.

    Hanley said Meta disagrees with the report and pushed back on the findings.

    “We’ve been overwhelmingly hearing great things from parents,” she said. “We know that teens are spending less time on our platforms, they’re seeing less sensitive content and they’re having less unwanted contact as a result of being in teen accounts.”

    Meta said it remains open to feedback and continues to improve its safety tools.

    “We’re always open to constructive feedback,” Hanley said.

    PG-13 content guidelines introduced

    After the September interview with WTOP, Meta announced an update to teen accounts.

    The tech company said Instagram will now guide teen content using PG-13 movie ratings by default. That means content seen by teens will be similar to PG-13 movies and teens won’t be able to opt out without a parent’s permission, according to Meta.

    Parents who want more control can choose a stricter setting, Meta said, and they’ll also have new ways to report content they think teens shouldn’t see.

    In a blog post, Meta called this “the most significant update” since teen accounts launched, saying it was shaped by feedback from thousands of parents worldwide.

    The company also said it will use age prediction technology to place teens into protections even if they lie about their age when signing up.

    Meta acknowledged in the post that “no system is perfect,” but said it’s committed to improving and keeping age-inappropriate content away from teens.

    Support for schools added

    Hanley also said Meta is expanding its efforts to help schools.

    Through its School Partnership Program, middle and high schools in the U.S. can sign up to get educational resources and tools to report harmful content more easily. Schools that enroll receive a verified badge and access to expedited content review.

    Meta said educators are often in the best position to spot issues such as bullying, and the program is designed to help them flag and address those concerns more effectively.

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    © 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

    Mike Murillo

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  • Fact Check: Israeli Prisoner Alexander ‘Turbanov’ Did NOT Make a Statement About Captors’ Kindness — Wrong Name And Made-Up Quote

    Did Alexander Turbanov, an Israeli man who was held prisoner by Hamas, make a statement sympathizing with his captors upon his release? No, that’s not true: This made-up quote went viral on Feb. 15, 2025 and resurfaced in Oct. 2025. The man in question is not named Turbanov, his name is Alexander Troufanov. The quote attributed to Troufanov was posted on X by social media influencer Khaled Safi, who clarified in a follow-up post that he wrote these words “on his behalf”.

    The made-up quote appeared in a post (archived here) published on Facebook on Feb. 16, 2025 by the page Towards Understanding Islam. The post begins:

    A MUST READ!!

    Today, the Israeli prisoner Alexander Turbanov, who was released, made a statement that shocked the occupying Israel:

    “Your kindness has been engraved in my conscience forever. During the 498 days I lived among you, despite the aggression and crimes you endured, I learned the true meaning of manhood, pure heroism, and respect for humanity and values.

    This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:

    Image source: Lead Stories screenshot from facebook.com/share/p/1Chr9PtU8c.

    Alexander Turbanov is not the name of the hostage who was released on Feb. 15, 2025. A photo of the exchange ceremony for the three hostages appears in a US News & World Report article (archived here) titled, “Israel and Hamas Complete Their Latest Exchange as Ceasefire’s First Phase Has Just 2 Weeks Left”. Troufanov is pictured wearing a red hoodie. The photo caption reads:

    Israeli hostages Iair Horn, 46, left, Sagui Dekel Chen, 36, center left, and Alexander Troufanov, 29, right, are escorted by Hamas and islamic Jihad fighters as they are handed over to the Red Cross in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

    alexanderrelease.jpg

    Image source: Lead Stories screenshot from usnews.com/news/world/articles/2025-02-14/hamas-is-set-to-free-3-more-israeli-hostages-after-dispute-threatened-to-reignite-war-in-gaza.

    On Feb. 15, 2025 Khaled Safi @KhaledSafi made a post (archived here) on X in Arabic (pictured below left). The post included an 8-second video clip showing Troufanov in the same setting as the photo above- escorted by two armed fighters. Although not identical, the auto-translation of Safi’s post to English (pictured below right) follows the structure and sentiment of the quote included in the Facebook post.

    Your beauty is etched in my conscience, for during the 498 days I lived among you, I learned the true meaning of manhood, pure heroism, and respect for humanity and values, despite the aggression and crimes you were subjected to.
    You were the besieged yet free, while I was the captive, and you were the guardians of my life. You cared for me like a compassionate father cares for his children, preserving my health, dignity, and elegance. You did not allow hunger or humiliation to touch me, even though I was in the hands of men fighting for their land and their stolen rights, against the government of my country, which perpetrates the most heinous genocide against a besieged people.

    alexsafiquote.jpg

    Image source: Lead Stories screenshot from x.com/KhaledSafi/status/1890679402943393905.

    Many people replied to Safi asking for clarification. He responded on Feb. 15, 2025 (archived here):

    Notice and clarification: These are not the words of the captive, but rather I wrote them on his behalf, describing his condition, his gratitude, his thanks, and his bowing to the men of the resistance.

    safireply.jpg

    Image source: Lead Stories screenshot from x.com/KhaledSafi/status/1890820463833612646.

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  • Facebook’s latest AI feature can scan your phone’s camera roll

    A Facebook feature that scans your phone’s photo library to make AI collages and edits is now available in North America. Meta tested it earlier this year. It’s an opt-in feature, but the company may train its models on your media if you use its AI editing or share the results.

    From a user experience perspective, the idea is to help you find “hidden gems” in your library and turn them into something shareable. After scanning your photo library (with your permission), it will cough up suggestions. For example, it might recommend a collage based on a vacation, a recap of a graduation party or simply spruce up some photos with AI. For better or worse, it’s another step in the direction of automating creativity and skill.

    Zooming out to Meta’s business motives, it’s easy to imagine this is a move for more AI training data. The company says it won’t train its AI on your camera roll “unless you choose to edit this media with our AI tools, or share.” If you find it useful enough to use, your media may help train Meta’s AI models.

    The company says the feature’s suggestions are private to you until you choose to share them. Its permissions state, “To create ideas for you, we’ll select media from your camera roll and upload it to our cloud on an ongoing basis, based on info like time, location or themes.” However, Meta says your media won’t be used for ad targeting.

    Fortunately, it’s opt-in, so you can safely ignore this altogether without privacy worries. If you grant it permission, you’ll see its suggestions (visible only to you) in Stories and Feed. And should you activate it but change your mind later, you can turn it back off through Facebook’s camera roll settings.

    The feature is available now in the US and Canada. Meta says it will soon begin testing it in other countries.

    Will Shanklin

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  • Facebook’s AI can now suggest edits to the photos still on your phone | TechCrunch

    A Facebook feature that gives Meta AI the ability to suggest edits to photos stored on your phone’s camera roll but haven’t yet been shared is now rolling out to all users in the U.S. and Canada. The company announced on Friday that users can choose to opt in to receive these sharing suggestions, which will then prompt them to post photos to their Facebook Feed and Stories with the AI edits.

    First launched as a test over the summer, Facebook’s app pops up a permission dialog box requesting access to “allow cloud processing” so users can get “creative ideas made for you from your camera roll.” This box explains that the feature could offer ideas like collages, recaps, AI restyling, birthday themes, and more for the end user.

    Image Credits:screenshot of Facebook’s app, June 2025

    For the AI to work, Facebook’s app would upload images from your device to its cloud on an ongoing basis. This allows Meta’s AI to make its suggested edits. Meta says users’ media will not be used for ad targeting purposes, and it won’t use the media to improve its AI systems, unless the user takes the step of editing the media or sharing the edited photos with friends or others on its social network.

    The feature can be disabled at any time.

    Though Meta may not train its AI on all your photos, when you agree to Meta’s AI Terms of Service, you permit your media and facial features to be analyzed by AI. The terms say that, by processing your photos, Meta has the ability to “summarize image contents, modify images, and generate new content based on the image.”

    The company also uses the date and presence of people or objects in your photos to craft its creative ideas, giving Meta a lot more information about you, your relationships, and your life.

    Plus, giving Meta access to photos you haven’t yet shared on Meta’s platforms could give the company an advantage in the AI race by providing a wealth of user data, behavioral insights, and ideas for new AI features.

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    Image Credits:screenshot of Facebook’s app, June 2025

    Settings for the feature are found under the Preferences section of Facebook’s Settings. On the “Camera roll sharing suggestions” page, there are two toggles. The first lets Facebook suggest photos from your camera roll when browsing the app. The second is where you could enable or disable the “cloud processing,” which lets Meta make AI images using your camera roll photos.

    Meta has been leveraging its position as a dominant social network to improve its AI technology and had previously announced it would train its image recognition AI on publicly shared data, including posts and comments on Facebook and Instagram. (EU users had until May 27, 2025, to opt out.) Last year, it also said it would train its AI on images that Ray-Ban Meta users asked the device to analyze.

    Sarah Perez

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  • Meta is shutting down its desktop Messenger app

    Meta is shutting down its Messenger app for macOS and Windows and pushing users to the web. Meta confirmed over email to Engadget that the app will be fully shutdown on December 15, after which the easiest ways to access Messenger chats when you’re not on your phone will be the Facebook app on Windows, or the Facebook and Messenger websites.

    The company hasn’t provided an explanation for why it’s abandoning its desktop Messenger apps, but Meta’s support article does say that users will receive a notification informing them of the shutdown, and will be blocked from accessing the app after December 15.

    In order for your chats to be saved going forward, the company says you’ll have to turn on secure storage and add a pin code to your account. To make sure your chats will be archived:

    1. Click on the gear icon above your profile picture.

    2. Click on Privacy & Safety, and then End-to-end encrypted chats.

    3. Click on Message storage, and then make sure Turn on secure storage is toggled on.

    Meta officially cut Messenger out of Facebook in 2014 to create a focused messaging experience separate from the tangle of features the social media platform offered at the time. The company later tried to connect Messenger and Instagram Direct Messaging into one communication platform, but backed away from the idea in 2023. Rather than Meta’s interest in messaging suddenly waning, abandoning the desktop apps likely reflects the fact that most people prefer to use the company’s mobile apps or websites.

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  • Meta removes ICE-sightings group after DOJ outreach

    Meta, Facebook’s parent company, is the latest tech firm the Justice Department (DOJ) has successfully pressured into removing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent-tracking content from its platforms.

    On Tuesday, Attorney General Pam Bondi posted on social media that “Facebook removed a large group page that was being used to dox and target [ICE] agents in Chicago” after her agency reached out to the company. Bondi plans to “continue engaging tech companies to eliminate platforms where radicals can incite imminent violence against federal law enforcement.” 

    The Facebook group, ICE Sighting-Chicagoland, shared information about ICE agent sightings and was growing in popularity since the beginning of “Operation Midway Blitz,” the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign currently unfolding in Chicago. The page had reached nearly 80,000 members before being pulled. 

    Meta spokesman Francis Brennan told The New York Times that the group was removed for “violating our policies against coordinated harm.” The Coordinating Harm and Promoting Crime policy at Meta bans “outing the undercover status of law enforcement, military, or security personnel.”

    Of course, ICE operations have been no secret, and its agents have hardly been undercover, since President Donald Trump took office. Since January, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has spent at least $51 million on an ad campaign “warning undocumented immigrants to either exit the country or be ‘hunted down,’” according to The New Republic. The agency has also supersized the production of social media recruitment campaigns and flashy videos showing arrests.

    The move comes just a couple of weeks after the Justice Department asked Apple and Google to remove ICE-tracking apps, like ICEBlock, from their respective app stores for “[putting] ICE agents at risk for doing their jobs,” according to Bondi. But while the DHS claims that assaults against ICE officers have risen 1,000 percent, little evidence has been brought forth connecting these assaults to online tracking apps or social media groups. 

    Proponents of the apps and groups argue that the technology is protected speech, despite the potential for a user to use the information provided nefariously. “ICEBlock is no different from crowd-sourcing speed traps, which every notable mapping application… implements as part of its core services,” ICEBlock creator Joshua Aaron told 404 Media after his app was removed from the Apple Store. “This is protected speech…we are determined to fight this with everything we have.” 

    But private companies like Apple, Google, and Meta aren’t limited in the same way as the federal government when it comes to infringing on users’ speech. Many companies’ user policy agreements regulate far more speech than would be permissible under the First Amendment, in part, because using these platforms is voluntary. There is even a chance these ICE-tracking apps and groups would’ve been taken down for violating certain policies without any prompting from the Justice Department. Regardless, it is very concerning that tech companies are being pressured to conform to the Justice Department’s wishes—rather than those of their consumers, who have broken no law. 

    Unfortunately, Facebook users have seen this before. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Biden administration pressured companies to censor content that questioned the pandemic’s origins, something Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says he regrets succumbing to. “I believe the government pressure was wrong, and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it,” Zuckerberg wrote in an August 2024 statement. “I feel strongly that we should not compromise our content standards due to pressure from any administration in either direction—and we’re ready to push back if something like this happens again.” 

    In the wake of Tuesday’s events, it seems clear that Zuckerberg isn’t actually ready to push back against the federal government’s pressure.

    Autumn Billings

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  • Border Patrol Posts Instagram Propaganda Video Featuring Antisemitic Slurs

    A U.S. Border Patrol video featuring antisemitic lyrics went viral on X on Tuesday after far-right users discovered it had been posted to Facebook and Instagram. The video, which included the lyrics “Jew me” and “kike me,” was deleted from the platforms on Wednesday morning, though it’s not clear whether the offensive content was taken down by Border Patrol or Meta.

    The 13-second video appears to have been posted to Instagram in August, but was pinned in the Reels section of the official Border Patrol page, making it more visible to a wider audience. The video only gained widespread attention late Tuesday on X, where far-right extremists celebrated a signal that was clearly intended for them. The Instagram video had 4.3 million views when Gizmodo viewed it Tuesday night.

    The audio used in the clip comes from Michael Jackson’s controversial 1996 song “They Don’t Care About Us.” The song includes the lyrics “Jew me, sue me, everybody do me/ Kick me, kike me, don’t you black or white me.”

    The lyrics were criticized at the time for being antisemitic, though Jackson defended his words, insisting he didn’t intend for them to be offensive. The singer, who died in 2009, issued an apology and later released an edited version of the song.

    The antisemitic Border Patrol video

    The video starts with footage of someone adjusting a bodycam before viewers see Border Patrol agents walking around with guns. Another shot shows a truck hauling Border Patrol dune buggies, and then a shot in the desert where a dune buggy kicks up dust behind it.

    Gizmodo saved a copy of the Border Patrol video before it was taken down from Instagram and Facebook.

    The video is very short, making it clear that the choice of lyrics was the intentional focus. Viewers are obviously meant to hear the antisemitic aspects, since it’s more or less the only audio in the 13 seconds being presented. DHS didn’t respond to questions from Gizmodo on Wednesday morning.

    Comments on Instagram included people who clearly understood the message of the video as antisemitic. One commenter replied, “based song choice,” which was liked by the Border Patrol account. Another commenter wrote, “if you know, you know.”

    Border Patrol Instagram video comments, captured Oct. 14, 2025. Screenshot: Instagram

    Comments from the far-right on X were even more explicit, including “This deserves 6 million likes and shares,” a reference to the number of Jews who died in the Holocaust.

    Other commenters on X marveled at how mainstream their far-right and antisemitic ideas were becoming, with one person writing, “This movie is taking a strange turn. It’s strange to me because I never thought I’d see this in the mainstream—it was always underground.”

    And while it’s accurate to describe the shift as “strange,” it was entirely predictable after President Donald Trump was inaugurated for a second time in January. Billionaire Elon Musk really kicked off the tone of the era with two Nazi-style salutes. Musk later denied he was making Nazi gestures, but many of his supporters clearly took it as a sign that they could drop the mask. Steve Bannon, a former top advisor to Trump, made the same salute not long after.

    Trump himself has also said some extremely antisemitic things, including when he used the term “shylock” at a rally in July.

    In fact, there’s an entire Wikipedia page devoted to collecting examples of Trump’s antisemitism.

    None of this is new

    U.S. Border Patrol is part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which has been posting far-right extremist content since Trump took office for a second time. In a tweet on Tuesday, DHS posted just one word, “Remigrate,” a term more popular in Europe among the far-right that refers to ethnic cleansing through deporting non-white people.

    DHS also posted a video that included the words “Save America” in a typeface that’s clearly meant to evoke Nazi-era imagery.

    DHS has frequently posted fascist propaganda using copyrighted material without permission, something that sometimes gets the content removed from the major social media platforms.

    The people of DHS often know they’re the bad guys, like when they responded to questions from John Oliver’s HBO show by talking about the “heroism” of Darth Vader. The late-night host was asking about a video posted by Gregory Bovinot—the new face of anti-immigrant operations in the U.S., with his frequent appearances on TV—where Vader is destroying rebel forces labeled with things like “gang member,” and “fake news.”

    Is a lot of this trolling? Sure, that’s one defense of it. But at some point, you own the words and images that you push into the world. And if you spend all day, every day saying racist and antisemitic things, people have to start taking you at your word.

    Not to mention the fact that DHS has real power in the world to upend lives and has no business joking or “trolling” the American people. Agencies under DHS, like ICE, are currently harassing and arresting people for looking Latino. And that often includes American citizens.

    The consequences

    Ironically, DHS said back in April that social media would be screened for “antisemitism” by any foreign nationals in the country. In reality, DHS was looking for anyone who opposed the war in Gaza, falsely equating such a position with antisemitism. The U.S. State Department announced Tuesday it had canceled the visas of six people who had written negative things about Charlie Kirk.

    Antisemitism runs deep in the modern Republican Party. Politico published leaked texts from the Young Republicans on Tuesday, which included messages like “I love Hitler.” Vice President JD Vance defended the texts and dismissed criticism as “pearl-clutching.” And guys like Vance know their audience. They can be dismissed as shitposters, but they’re some of the most vile racists on the planet, and they’re becoming normalized in ways that would’ve been unthinkable even a decade ago.

    No Kings

    Americans who are opposed to Trump plan to stage nationwide protests on Saturday, Oct. 18, for what’s being dubbed another No Kings rally. Republicans have tried to characterize the upcoming protests as hate marches, falsely insisting they would be full of “Hamas supporters.”

    Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC on Wednesday that the reason the government hasn’t opened yet is because of the upcoming demonstrations, a claim that makes no sense whatsoever.

    “This crazy No Kings rally this weekend, which is gonna be the farthest left, the hardest core, the most unhinged in the Democratic Party, which is a big title. No Kings equals no paychecks,” said Bessent.

    Bessent: “This crazy No Kings rally this weekend, which is gonna be the farthest left, the hardest core, the most unhinged in the Democratic Party, which is a big title. No Kings equals no paychecks.”

    [image or embed]

    — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) October 15, 2025 at 6:20 AM

    The No Kings rally, which is likely to include a wide variety of Americans who are opposed to Trump’s fascist takeover of the country, has a website that allows people to find their nearest demonstration. It won’t just be the “hardest core,” as Bessent puts it, if past protests are any guide.

    Matt Novak

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  • Storm totals: Here’s how much rain and snow has fallen in Northern California

    Storm totals: Here’s how much rain and snow has fallen in Northern California

    It’s a great start to the water year.

    METEOROLOGIST KELLY CURRAN HERE NOW WITH DETAILS. YES, WE ARE STILL SEEING SOME SHOWERS OUT THERE, MAINLY IN THE SIERRA. WE SEE A LITTLE RAIN AROUND RENO. WE’VE SEEN A FEW SNOW SHOWERS AROUND TRUCKEE AND SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, BUT NOW THAT EVERYTHING IS WINDING DOWN, WE CAN FINALLY GET A LOOK AT JUST HOW MUCH RAIN AND SNOW WE’VE RECEIVED. AND FOR THAT, WE’RE GOING TO HEAD OVER TO METEOROLOGIST OPHELIA YOUNG WITH SOME OF THOSE TOTALS. OPHELIA. YEAH, KELLY, OUR FIRST MAJOR WIDESPREAD STORM OF THE SEASON. AND BOY, IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT. BUT GETTING THOSE TOTALS WAS A LITTLE CHALLENGING BECAUSE THE STORM WAS SO EARLY AND A LOT OF THE SKI RESORTS WHERE TOTALS ARE COLLECTED ARE STILL CLOSED. ALSO, SOME OF THE SNOW MELTED INTO THE WARMER GROUND, BUT I DID DIG AROUND SOME OF THE SNOTEL SITES AND THIS IS WHAT THEY’RE REPORTING. MORE THAN A HALF FOOT AT ECHO PEAK AND PALISADES, BUT MORE THAN A FOOT IN MOUNT ROSE AND HEAVENLY AND EBBETTS PASS A FOOT AND A HALF. STILL, A FEW SHOWERS LINGERING SO THESE NUMBERS COULD GO UP. BUT I THINK IN THE VALLEY AND FOOTHILLS WE’RE DONE WITH WET WEATHER. SACRAMENTO DID THE BEST, CLOCKING MORE THAN AN INCH AND A HALF. STOCKTON ALSO ABOUT AN INCH AND A HALF NOW MODESTO MORE THAN AN INCH. THEY SET A NEW DAILY RECORD RAIN YESTERDAY, RAIN TOTAL. AND IN AUBURN, 0.48. YUBA CITY REGISTERING 0.88. NOW THESE ARE JUST TOTALS FROM A FEW LOCAL AIRPORTS. THE ENTIRE REGION GOT SOMETHING MEASURABLE AND NOW WE’RE GETTING READY FOR QUIETER AND NICER REST OF THE WEEK FOR THAT. KELLY I’M GOING TO SEND IT BACK TO YOU. YEAH THAT’S RIGHT. THINGS FINALLY STARTING TO QUIET DOWN AS WE TAKE THIS LIVE. LOOK OUTSIDE IN STOCKTON SEEING JUST MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES OUT THERE FOR US RIGHT NOW. TEMPERATURES IN THE LOW 50S FOR BOTH SACRAMENTO VALLEY AND THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY FOOTHILLS STILL IN THE MID 40S AND STILL AROUND FREEZING IN THE SIERRA WITH STILL A FEW OF THOSE SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS OUT THERE. NOW THOSE ARE ABOUT TO WIND UP. THEN WE’LL SEE DECREASING CLOUDS FOR THE REST OF THE DAY. IN THE SIERRA 48 FOR THE HIGH IN TRUCKEE, ONLY 50 TODAY IN POLLOCK PINES, THE FOOTHILLS, LOOKING AT MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES NOW, BUT WE’LL SEE PARTLY TO MOSTLY SUNNY SKIES LATER. 58 DEGREES FOR THE HIGH TODAY IN AUBURN. PLACERVILLE ONLY 6056. THE DELTA IN THE BAY AREA WILL SEE INCREASING SUNSHINE AS WE GET INTO THE AFTERNOON. 65 DEGREES IN FAIRFIELD, 67. IN CONCORD, THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY ALSO EXPECTING TO SEE A LITTLE BIT MORE SUNSHINE AS WE GET LATER INTO THE DAY. BUT TEMPERATURES REMAINING COOL 66 FOR THE HIGH TODAY IN STOCKTON AND IN SACRAMENTO TODAY, THAT HIGH 65 STILL BELOW NORMAL, BUT CERTAINLY WARMER THAN YESTERDAY’S 56 DEGREES. WE’RE GOING TO TALK ABOUT T


    Meteorologist/Climate Reporter

    Northern California’s early October storm brought significant rainfall totals to the Valley.As of Wednesday morning, the Sacramento, Stockton and Modesto areas have benefited the most from the rain.Here’s a list of some rain totals from Monday through Wednesday at 6:30 a.m.:Sacramento: 1.58″Stockton: 1.47″Modesto: 1.11″Auburn: 0.48″Yuba City: 0.88″It’s very early in the water year, which began on Oct. 1. But already Sacramento is at 668% of the average, Stockton is 855% and Modesto is 700%. Sacramento passed the half-inch rainfall mark Monday evening. That made Monday the earliest that Executive Airport had reached that threshold during the water year since 2011. The first half inch of rain came on Oct. 10 that year. Snow TotalsThe KCRA 3 weather team takes snow reports from ski resorts throughout the Sierra. Most resorts report snowfall early in the morning. Below are the snow totals as of 6:30 a.m. Wednesday.Echo Peak: 8 inchesEbbetts Pass: 18 inchesMt. Rose: 13 inchesHeavenly: 15 inchesPalisades Tahoe: 9 inchesREAL-TIME TRAFFIC MAPClick here to see our interactive traffic map.TRACK INTERACTIVE, DOPPLER RADARClick here to see our interactive radar.DOWNLOAD OUR APP FOR THE LATESTHere is where you can download our app.Follow our KCRA weather team on social mediaMeteorologist Tamara Berg on Facebook, Instagram and X.Meteorologist Heather Waldman on Facebook, X, Instagram and TikTok.Meteorologist Kelly Curran on X, Facebook and Instagram.Meteorologist Dirk Verdoorn on Facebook.Meteorologist Ophelia Young on Facebook, X and Instagram.Watch our forecasts on TV or onlineHere’s where to find our latest video forecast. You can also watch a livestream of our latest newscast here. The banner on our website turns red when we’re live.We’re also streaming on the Very Local app for Roku, Apple TV or Amazon Fire TV. See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

    Northern California’s early October storm brought significant rainfall totals to the Valley.

    As of Wednesday morning, the Sacramento, Stockton and Modesto areas have benefited the most from the rain.

    Here’s a list of some rain totals from Monday through Wednesday at 6:30 a.m.:

    • Sacramento: 1.58″
    • Stockton: 1.47″
    • Modesto: 1.11″
    • Auburn: 0.48″
    • Yuba City: 0.88″

    It’s very early in the water year, which began on Oct. 1. But already Sacramento is at 668% of the average, Stockton is 855% and Modesto is 700%.

    Sacramento passed the half-inch rainfall mark Monday evening. That made Monday the earliest that Executive Airport had reached that threshold during the water year since 2011. The first half inch of rain came on Oct. 10 that year.

    Snow Totals

    The KCRA 3 weather team takes snow reports from ski resorts throughout the Sierra. Most resorts report snowfall early in the morning.

    Below are the snow totals as of 6:30 a.m. Wednesday.

    • Echo Peak: 8 inches
    • Ebbetts Pass: 18 inches
    • Mt. Rose: 13 inches
    • Heavenly: 15 inches
    • Palisades Tahoe: 9 inches

    Northern California snow totals as of 6:30 a.m. Oct. 15, 2025

    REAL-TIME TRAFFIC MAP

    Click here to see our interactive traffic map.
    TRACK INTERACTIVE, DOPPLER RADAR
    Click here to see our interactive radar.
    DOWNLOAD OUR APP FOR THE LATEST
    Here is where you can download our app.
    Follow our KCRA weather team on social media

    Watch our forecasts on TV or online
    Here’s where to find our latest video forecast. You can also watch a livestream of our latest newscast here. The banner on our website turns red when we’re live.
    We’re also streaming on the Very Local app for Roku, Apple TV or Amazon Fire TV.

    See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

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  • Meta scraps Facebook page tracking ICE agents in Chicago after Justice Dept. asked it to

    Meta has removed a Facebook page used to track the presence of immigration agents in Chicago at the request of the Department of Justice, the company confirmed on Tuesday.

    Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a post on X that “following outreach” from the DOJ, Facebook removed a “large group page” that was being used to target Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the city.

    In the post, Bondi said the page was part of an effort to “dox and target” the ICE agents.

    Attorney General Pam Bondi during a press conference on August 25, 2025.

    Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images


    Some 200 ICE agents are there as part of President Trump’s immigration enforcement drive. Doxxing is the sharing of personal information about people online.

    Meta said in a statement that the group “was removed for violating our policies against coordinated harm.”

    Meta is the latest tech company to restrict tools used to track ICE agents on its platform. Earlier this month, Apple and Google blocked downloads of phone apps that flag sightings of U.S. immigration agents, just hours after the Trump administration demanded that one particularly popular iPhone app be taken down.

    Bondi has said such tracking puts ICE agents at risk. But users and developers of the apps say it’s their First Amendment right to capture what ICE is doing in their neighborhoods, and they maintain that most users turn to these platforms in an effort to protect their own safety as Mr. Trump steps up aggressive immigration enforcement across the country.

    While a Facebook group for ICE sightings in Chicago does appear to have been taken down, as of Tuesday evening, dozens of other groups, some with thousands of members, remained visible on Facebook.

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  • Sierra snow travel: Chain controls in effect on Interstate 80, Highway 50

    Sierra snow travel: Chain controls in effect on Interstate 80, Highway 50

    LIVE AT 10 P.M. WE BEGIN WITH THE SECOND NIGHT OF WET WEATHER HERE IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, INCLUDING HEAVIER SNOW IN THE SIERRA. THIS IS A LOOK AT CONDITIONS ALONG I-80 NEAR KINGVALE. THIS WAS EARLIER TONIGHT WHERE PEOPLE WERE FORCED TO TAKE SOME EXTRA TIME ON THE ROADS. THANK YOU FOR JOINING US HERE AT TEN. I’M ANDREA FLORES AND I’M KURTIS MING. WE WANT TO SHOW YOU A LIVE LOOK AT I-80. NOW, THIS IS NEAR DONNER SUMMIT TONIGHT. RIGHT NOW, CHAINS ARE REQUIRED FROM KINGVALE TO THE DONNER LAKE INTERCHANGE. CHAIN CONTROL IS LIKELY TO STAY IN EFFECT UNTIL TOMORROW MORNING. AND HERE’S A LOOK AT CONDITIONS ALONG HIGHWAY 50. THIS IS AT MEYERS. CHAINS ARE REQUIRED ON HIGHWAY 50 FROM THREE MILES EAST OF KYBURZ TO MYERS IN EL DORADO COUNTY. AND WE’RE TRACKING THE SNOW FALLING ACROSS THE SIERRA TONIGHT. ANDRES VALLE IS STANDING BY ON INTERSTATE 80. BUT WE WANT TO START WITH KCRA 3 METEOROLOGIST. HEATHER WALDMAN. SO, HEATHER, WHERE IS THE STORM SYSTEM RIGHT NOW? YEAH, THAT SNOW HAS BEEN FALLING STEADILY FOR THE LAST FEW HOURS, AND WE’VE ACTUALLY BEEN WATCHING THE SNOW LEVEL COME DOWN. ALL THE WHILE, IT’S JUST BEEN SOGGY IN THE FOOTHILLS ALL DAY, AND THE VALLEY HAS BEEN IN AND OUT OF SOME OF THAT LIGHT RAIN AND DRIZZLE. LET’S GO NORTH TO SOUTH HERE. QUINCY, PORTOLA, LA PORTE, SEEING THAT LIGHT RAIN. BUT IT IS CHILLY. TEMPERATURES TODAY IN THE 40S AT BEST. UP THERE IN THE MOUNTAINS. HIT AND MISS. RAIN SHOWERS FROM YUBA CITY DOWN TOWARDS ARBUCKLE AND ESPARTO AND WINTERS JUST ENOUGH TO WET THE ROADS. WE’RE ONLY PICKING UP A FEW HUNDREDTHS OF AN INCH OF RAIN OUT OF ANY OF THIS, BUT THOSE SHOWERS EXTEND DOWN INTO THE EAST BAY. A LITTLE BIT OF WET WEATHER LEFT OVER THERE IN FAIRFIELD. IT’S BEEN RELATIVELY DRY FROM STOCKTON TO ESCALON INTO MODESTO AND PATTERSON FOR MOST OF THIS EVENING. BUT YOU GO UP THE HILL INTO SONORA JACKSON, ANGELS CAMP THAT’S WHERE YOU’RE SEEING SOME OF THAT LIGHT RAINFALL. THIS IS ECHO SUMMIT RIGHT NOW. THAT’S A FREEZE FRAME, BUT YOU CAN SEE SOME SNOW BUILT UP ON THE ROADS. WE DO HAVE CHAIN CONTROLS AND YOU SEE THE DELAYS HERE, ESPECIALLY ON THE EASTBOUND LANES, THE YELLOWS REPRESENTING SOME OF THAT SLOWER TRAFFIC AREAS IN RED. THAT’S WHERE CARS LIKELY HAVING TO STOP, PULL OVER, PUT THE CHAINS ON AND KEEP GOING. NOT SEEING MUCH IN THE WAY OF SNOW AT LAKE LEVEL AROUND TAHOE. MAYBE SOME WET SNOW JUST BARELY REACHING THE GROUND, BUT IT’S NOT REALLY STICKING. HERE’S WHERE YOU’RE GOING TO GET YOUR DELAYS FROM KINGVALE UP OVER DONNER SUMMIT AND INTO TRUCKEE. EVERYBODY’S IN THE RED IN THE EAST AND THE WESTBOUND LANES. THERE’S ONE MORE LOOK AT DONNER SUMMIT FOR YOU, AND THAT’S WHY THINGS ARE SLOW GOING AT THE MOMENT. ADDITIONAL SNOWFALL TONIGHT LOOKING AT 4 TO 8IN OVER DONNER SUMMIT. SIMILAR TOTALS OVER ECHO SUMMIT UP TO AN ADDITIONAL FOOT OVER EBBETTS PASS AND SONORA PASS. WE’LL TALK ABOUT ADDITIONAL RAINFALL, AND OF COURSE WE’LL LOOK AHEAD TO WHEN THINGS DRY OUT IN A FEW MINUTES. SOUNDS GOOD. HEATHER, THANK YOU SO MUCH. AND AS HEATHER JUST MENTIONED, THAT SNOW IS MAKING SIERRA TRAVEL TOUGH. KCRA 3’S ANDRES VALLE IS IN THE SIERRA TRACKING THE CONDITIONS FROM INSIDE. LIVE TRACKER THREE. YEAH GUYS. SO WE’RE CURRENTLY HERE IN I-80 AT KINGVALE. WE’RE ACTUALLY TRYING TO LOOP OUR WAY BACK ONTO THOSE WESTBOUND LANES, BUT IT’S REALLY SLOW MOVING. SO THIS IS THE AREA WHERE A LOT OF CALTRANS CREWS ARE STOPPING PEOPLE MAKING SURE THEY HAVE CHAINS, AND IF THEY DON’T, THEY TURN THEM AROUND TO GO DOWN THE HILL DOWN TO A LOWER ELEVATION. SO RIGHT NOW WE’RE ABOUT 6000FT, AS YOU CAN SEE, RIGHT IN FRONT OF US IS A SEMI TRUCK. THE ROADS ARE COMPLETELY SNOW COVERED AS OF RIGHT NOW. WE TAKE IT OVER TO OUR ROOF CAMERA. YOU CAN SEE HOW MUCH SNOW IS BUILT BEHIND US AND ALSO THE SEMI TRUCKS. ALSO HAVING TO TURN AROUND AS WELL. BUT AS WE TAKE YOU BACK OVER TO THOSE, WHAT WE’RE SEEING RIGHT IN FRONT OF US, THERE IS A LONG LINE ON THOSE WESTBOUND LANES HEADING OVER THE HILL RIGHT NOW. AND SO THIS IS AN AREA WHERE CALTRANS IS AGAIN CHECKING THOSE PEOPLE IN CASE THEY HAVE THOSE CHAINS. BUT LET’S SHOW YOU VIDEO THAT WE GATHERED FROM EARLIER THIS AFTERNOON. THIS THIS EVENING, I SHOULD SAY FROM WHEN THE TRAFFIC WAS A LOT SLOWER ON INTERSTATE 80. THIS IS WHEN CHAIN CONTROLS OFFICIALLY WENT UP RIGHT AROUND 7:30 P.M. THERE WAS A LONG LINE OF VEHICLES BEING STOPPED ON THE EASTBOUND LANES OF I-80 AT KINGVALE AND CALTRANS. CREWS WERE STATIONED ALONG THE SHOULDER OF THE INTERSTATE, WARNING DRIVERS OF ICY ROAD CONDITIONS AND TO TAKE IT SLOW. NOW, MANY DRIVERS HAD TO STOP AT THE SHELL GAS STATION TO BUY CHAINS BEFORE CONTINUING ON THE INTERSTATE. NEXT IS BY SOME CHAINS AND INSTALL THEM REAL QUICK AND THEN HOPEFULLY BE ON OUR WAY. NOPE. I’M KIND OF SURPRISED. I THOUGHT IT WAS GOING TO BE RAIN. SO THIS IS AWESOME. WE WERE WE WERE TRYING TO BEAT IT, BUT WE GOT HELD UP IN SACRAMENTO. BUT IT’S FINE ADVICE GOING INTO, YOU KNOW, THIS WINTER SEASON, I GUESS JUST DRIVE, DRIVE SLOWLY. AND YOU KNOW, WATCH OUT FOR THE TRUCK DRIVERS. AND YOU DON’T NEED TO CARRY CHAINS. WE SELL THEM RIGHT HERE. AND YEAH SO THAT SHELL GAS STATION ACTUALLY STAYS OPEN LATE WHEN CHAIN CONTROLS ARE IN EFFECT. BUT AS YOU CAN SEE RIGHT NOW IT IS SLOW MOVING ON THOSE WESTBOUND LANES OF INTERSTATE 80, AS WELL AS THOSE EASTBOUND LANES OF INTERSTATE 80. SO THAT’S THE LONG LINE THAT YOU SEE ALONG THOSE STREETS, ALL THOSE CARS AND TRUCKS STOPPED RIGHT NOW AS CALTRANS CREWS ARE CHECKING FOR THOSE CHAINS. LET’S SHOW YOU THAT ROOFTOP CAMERA AS WELL. AS YOU CAN SEE, A LOT OF THESE SEMI TRUCKS HAVE PULLED OVER ALONG THE WESTBOUND LANES OF INTERSTATE 80 AS WELL. SO WE KNOW SO FAR THAT CHAIN CONTROLS WILL MORE THAN LIKELY BE IN EFFECT THROUGHOUT THE REST OF TONIGHT. WE’VE SEEN CALTRANS CREWS TREATING THOSE ROADWAYS, PLOWING THE SNOW AS WELL OUT OF THE INTERSTATE. BUT FOR THE MOST PART, AGAIN, THINGS ARE LOOKING REALLY SLOW RIGHT NOW. IF YOU’RE TRAVELING IN AND OUT OF THE SIERRA, IF YOU ARE COMING UP HERE, BRING THOSE CHAINS WITH YOU. INSTALL THEM, OF COURSE, AT THOSE CHAIN CONTROL LOCATIONS, IF YOU DON’T HAVE THEM, YOU CAN BUY THEM AT THAT SHELL GAS STATION AT KINGVALE. BUT AGAIN, IT’S GOING TO TAKE YOU QUITE A BIT OF TIME BECAUSE A LOT OF THE TRAFFIC IS STOPPED. AND REMEMBER, THE SPEED LIMIT IS ALSO ONLY 30MPH, WHEN CHAIN CONTROLS ARE IN EFFECT. WE’RE LIVE HERE IN LIVE TRACKER THREE ON THE KCRA THREE NEWS. YEAH, AND YOU CAN SEE SOME ISSUES WITH THE LANE DISTINCTION DUE TO THAT SNOW ON THE HIGHWAY. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT. LOOK AT THE INTERSTATE AND TURNING AGAIN TO CONDITIONS ON HIGHWAY 50. THIS WAS EARLIER TONIGHT IN EL DORADO COUNTY. CALTRANS WAS OUT EARLY CLEARING THE ROADS AFTER WHAT WAS MOSTLY A PRETTY RAINY DAY ALONG HIGHWAY 50. AND DRIVERS ARE TAKING IT EASY. IT’S A LITTLE TOUGH DRIVING SOMETIMES, AND THEN IT MAKES A HAZARDOUS TRIP FOR EVERYBODY ELSE. GOING BOTH WAYS. HEADING INTO THE SEASON, YOU DEFINITELY WANT, YOU KNOW, ALL WHEEL DRIVE, FOUR WHEEL DRIVE, AND NOT JUST THAT YOU’D WANT, YOU KNOW, CHAINS OR SNOW TIRES. NOW TO HIGHWAY FOUR IN CALAVERAS COUNTY. IT WAS SNOWING THERE PRETTY MUCH ALL DAY LONG. WE CAPTURED THESE IMAGES IN TAMARACK. FAMILIES WERE SHOCKED TO SEE HOW MUCH SNOW FELL TODAY. I JUST THOUGHT IT WAS A LOT, ESPECIALLY FOR OCTOBER. IT’S IT’S A LITTLE EARLY IN THE SEASON TO BE SNOWING THIS HARD. SO HELP US SHOW THE WEATHER. SHARE YOUR PHOTOS AND VIDEOS OF THE STORMS. IT COULD END UP ON TELEVISION LIKE CLAUDETTE JUUL WHO SHARED THIS PHOTO OF THE CLOUDS AND WOODLAN NOT RAINING AT THE TIME, BUT THE ROADS THERE WERE WET. AND CHECK OUT THIS PHOTO FROM PAM GOODLEY. THIS IS THE FRESH SNOW AT THE ROYAL GORGE CROSS COUNTRY SKI AREA. WE’D LIKE TO SEE YOUR PHOTOS AND VIDEOS TOO. YOU CAN SHARE THEM WITH US DIRECTLY. SCAN THE QR CODE ON YOUR SCREEN. IT WILL TAKE YOU RIGHT TO OUR UPLOAD PAGE, OR YOU CAN ALSO GO TO KCRA.COM/UPLOAD WILL WORK TO SHAR

    Sierra snow travel: Chain controls in effect on Interstate 80, Highway 50

    Updated: 11:12 PM PDT Oct 14, 2025

    Editorial Standards ⓘ

    Rain has been the headliner for the start of Northern California’s winter storm, but snow is picking up in the Sierra.The largest amounts are expected in the afternoon and the evening. The heaviest snow will be south of Donner Summit, Meteorologist Dirk Verdoorn said. (Video above: Winter storm updates Tuesday at 10 p.m.)Below is the latest information on chain controls. 11:00 p.m.: Reporter Andres Valle was in Livetracker 3 and showed that I-80, around 6,000 feet elevation, was covered in snow. The following chain controls remain in effect:Interstate 80: Chain controls are in effect eastbound from Cisco to Donner Lake Interchange and westbound from Donner Lake Interchange to 2.5 miles east of the junction for Highway 20 in Nevada County.Highway 50: Chains are required from three miles east of Kyburz to MeyersHighway 88: Chains are required from Ham’s Station to Picketts JunctionHighway 4: The highway is closed from 0.7 miles east of Lake Alpine to the junction of Highway 89 due to snow. Additionally, chains are required from Camp Connell to the Mt. Reba turnoffHighway 89: Chains are required on all vehicles from Picketts Junction to 2.7 miles south of the junction with Highway 50 in El Dorado County. Additionally, chains are required on vehicles from Bliss State Park to Tahoe City. 10:30 p.m.: Chain controls remain in effect in portions of I-80 in the Sierra, causing some drivers to buy chains for their tires before they can continue on their travels.”We were trying to beat it, but we got held up in Sacramento,” said one traveler, Tracy Lent. “I thought it was going to be rain, so this is awesome.”Chain installers are ready to help those who don’t have any chains already.”You don’t need to carry chains. We sell them right here,” Bowles said. He also urged drivers to take it slow and watch out for trucks. 7:30 p.m.: Interstate 80: Just before 7:30 p.m., chain controls went into effect on I-80 between Rainbow and the Donner Lake Interchange, according to the Caltrans Quickmap.7:00 p.m.: Highway 4: Chains are required on all vehicles except 4-wheel-drive vehicles from half a mile east of Camp Connell to the Mt. Reba turnoff.Watch Livetracker 3 video from Tuesday evening:6:30 p.m.: Highway 88: Chains are required on all vehicles except 4-wheel-drive vehicles with snow tires on all 4 wheels from Ham’s Station to Picketts Junction3 p.m.: Chain controls are up on Highway 50 and Highway 88. Highway 50: Chains are required on all vehicles except 4-wheel-drive vehicles with snow tires on all 4 wheels from Twin Bridges to Meyers.Highway 88: Chains are required on all vehicles except 4-wheel-drive vehicles with snow tires on all 4 wheels from 4 miles east of Ham’s Station to Silver Lake.| MORE | See the latest rain and snow totals here. Track the latest California highway road conditionsHere is where you can search Caltrans road conditions by highway and see if chain controls are in effect.Real-time traffic mapClick here to see our interactive traffic map.Track interactive, Doppler radarClick here to see our interactive radar.Download our app for the latestHere is where you can download our app.Here are key websites to prepare for and track California power outages.Preparing for power outages: Ready.gov explains how to prepare for a power outage and what to do when returning from one here.Keeping informed when you’ve lost power and cellphone service: How to find a National Weather Service radio station near you.Here is how to sign up for CalAlerts emergency alert notifications for any county in California.Track PG&E power outages here.Track SMUD outages here.Track power outages across all California counties.Follow our KCRA weather team on social mediaMeteorologist Tamara Berg on Facebook, Instagram and X.Meteorologist Heather Waldman on Facebook, X, Instagram and TikTok.Meteorologist Kelly Curran on X, Facebook and Instagram.Meteorologist Dirk Verdoorn on Facebook.Meteorologist Ophelia Young on Facebook, X and Instagram.Watch our forecasts on TV or onlineHere’s where to find our latest video forecast. You can also watch a livestream of our latest newscast here. The banner on our website turns red when we’re live.We’re also streaming on the Very Local app for Roku, Apple TV or Amazon Fire TV.Send us your photos and videosShare your weather photos and videos at kcra.com/upload.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

    EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. —

    Rain has been the headliner for the start of Northern California’s winter storm, but snow is picking up in the Sierra.

    The largest amounts are expected in the afternoon and the evening. The heaviest snow will be south of Donner Summit, Meteorologist Dirk Verdoorn said.

    (Video above: Winter storm updates Tuesday at 10 p.m.)

    Below is the latest information on chain controls.

    11:00 p.m.: Reporter Andres Valle was in Livetracker 3 and showed that I-80, around 6,000 feet elevation, was covered in snow.

    The following chain controls remain in effect:

    • Interstate 80: Chain controls are in effect eastbound from Cisco to Donner Lake Interchange and westbound from Donner Lake Interchange to 2.5 miles east of the junction for Highway 20 in Nevada County.
    • Highway 50: Chains are required from three miles east of Kyburz to Meyers
    • Highway 88: Chains are required from Ham’s Station to Picketts Junction
    • Highway 4: The highway is closed from 0.7 miles east of Lake Alpine to the junction of Highway 89 due to snow. Additionally, chains are required from Camp Connell to the Mt. Reba turnoff
    • Highway 89: Chains are required on all vehicles from Picketts Junction to 2.7 miles south of the junction with Highway 50 in El Dorado County. Additionally, chains are required on vehicles from Bliss State Park to Tahoe City.

    10:30 p.m.: Chain controls remain in effect in portions of I-80 in the Sierra, causing some drivers to buy chains for their tires before they can continue on their travels.

    “We were trying to beat it, but we got held up in Sacramento,” said one traveler, Tracy Lent. “I thought it was going to be rain, so this is awesome.”

    Chain installers are ready to help those who don’t have any chains already.

    “You don’t need to carry chains. We sell them right here,” Bowles said. He also urged drivers to take it slow and watch out for trucks.

    7:30 p.m.: Interstate 80: Just before 7:30 p.m., chain controls went into effect on I-80 between Rainbow and the Donner Lake Interchange, according to the Caltrans Quickmap.

    7:00 p.m.: Highway 4: Chains are required on all vehicles except 4-wheel-drive vehicles from half a mile east of Camp Connell to the Mt. Reba turnoff.

    Watch Livetracker 3 video from Tuesday evening:

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    You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

    6:30 p.m.: Highway 88: Chains are required on all vehicles except 4-wheel-drive vehicles with snow tires on all 4 wheels from Ham’s Station to Picketts Junction

    3 p.m.: Chain controls are up on Highway 50 and Highway 88.

    • Highway 50: Chains are required on all vehicles except 4-wheel-drive vehicles with snow tires on all 4 wheels from Twin Bridges to Meyers.
    • Highway 88: Chains are required on all vehicles except 4-wheel-drive vehicles with snow tires on all 4 wheels from 4 miles east of Ham’s Station to Silver Lake.

    | MORE | See the latest rain and snow totals here.

    Track the latest California highway road conditions

    Here is where you can search Caltrans road conditions by highway and see if chain controls are in effect.

    Real-time traffic map

    Click here to see our interactive traffic map.

    Track interactive, Doppler radar

    Click here to see our interactive radar.

    Download our app for the latest

    Here is where you can download our app.

    Here are key websites to prepare for and track California power outages.

    Follow our KCRA weather team on social media

    Watch our forecasts on TV or online

    Here’s where to find our latest video forecast. You can also watch a livestream of our latest newscast here. The banner on our website turns red when we’re live.

    We’re also streaming on the Very Local app for Roku, Apple TV or Amazon Fire TV.

    Send us your photos and videos

    Share your weather photos and videos at kcra.com/upload.

    See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

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  • Facebook removes Chicago-area page dedicated to ICE sightings after Justice Department intervenes

    A Facebook group that shared information on sightings of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the Chicago area was taken down by Meta following pressure from the Justice Department, according to Attorney General Pam Bondi.

    Lauryn Azu

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  • Meta removes Facebook Group for tracking ICE agents after DOJ pressure

    Attorney General Pam Bondi posted on X that the Department of Justice contacted Facebook in order to have a group removed that she claimed “was being used to dox and target” US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents operating in Chicago. We reached out to Meta for confirmation and a representative said, “This Group was removed for violating our policies against coordinated harm,” however they did not confirm the name of the group or whether the DOJ was involved in the action. 

    Officers for the immigration agency have reportedly been moving through Chicago with facial coverings, no name tags and sometimes in vehicles with no license plates, although a US District Judge ruled that all ICE agents who are not undercover are required to display visible identification while operating in the Chicagoland area. 

    The Department of Justice has demanded that other tech companies remove content the current administration has deemed critical of its immigration policies and practices. At the start of the month, Apple removed ICEBlock, an app for tracking the movements of immigration agents, from the App Store following similar pressure from Bondi. “Capitulating to an authoritarian regime is never the right move,” ICEBlock developer Joshua Aaron said in an interview following the action. “Our mission has always been to protect our neighbors from the terror this administration continues to reign down on the people of this nation.”

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  • Facebook Removes ICE-Tracking Group Under Pressure From Trump Regime

    Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Tuesday that the U.S. Justice Department had succeeded in getting Facebook to remove a group on the platform that allowed people in Chicago to alert their neighbors when ICE was in the area.

    “Today following outreach from @thejusticedept Facebook removed a large group page that was being used to dox and target @ICEgov agents in Chicago,” Bondi wrote on X.

    “The wave of violence against ICE has been driven by online apps and social media campaigns designed to put ICE officers at risk just for doing their jobs,” Bondi continued. “The Department of Justice will continue engaging tech companies to eliminate platforms where radicals can incite imminent violence against federal law enforcement.”

    Right-wing influencer Laura Loomer tweeted about a Facebook group called “ICE Sighting-Chicagoland” on October 8, which appears to be the group that was removed. Loomer claimed on Monday that she had been informed by a source at the Department of Justice that the agency had contacted Facebook’s parent company, Meta, about the page.

    “DOJ source tells me they have seen my report and they have contacted Facebook and their executives at META to tell them they need to remove these ICE tracking pages from the platform,” Loomer tweeted. “We will see if they comply. There are DOZENS of pages like the one below that endanger the lives of @ICEgov agents.”

    In an emailed statement to Gizmodo, Meta didn’t confirm the name but said a group “was removed for violating our policies against coordinated harm.” Meta didn’t respond to follow-up questions about what kind of specific activity was taking place that violated the policy. But the policy does note that it’s against the Facebook rules to out the undercover status of “law enforcement, military, or security personnel if the content contains the agent’s name, their face or badge.”

    It’s completely legal to share information about where police are operating. In fact, the idea that sharing such information should be illegal is only common in authoritarian countries. But Bondi and the Department of Justice have declared war on anyone sharing such basic information, characterizing it as dangerous or violent. And it is against Facebook’s policies for anyone to share information about the secret police that are currently roaming American streets, abducting people. It’s not clear, however, that “doxxing” is what led to the group being removed. That’s just the suggestion from the tech giant.

    ICE agents in the U.S. have been criticized for their lack of identification and their frequent use of masks while kidnapping people off the streets. Free countries typically don’t have masked agents of the state refuse to identify themselves, and experts have warned that the practice is just one more step in America’s descent into fascism. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, it should be noted, has become quite chummy with President Trump over the past year.

    Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, during a dinner with Donald Trump in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025. © Photographer: Will Oliver/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images

    ICE is currently engaging in a campaign of terror against residents of Chicagoland, and the stories that have been emerging are sometimes hard to believe. For example, the Chicago Tribune reported on Monday that a 44-year-old woman getting off a double shift at a bar downtown earlier this month was suddenly grabbed by three federal agents who zip-tied her hands. They questioned her for an hour, simply because she looked Latina, and didn’t believe her passport was real.

    From the Chicago Tribune:

    Greeley, who was born at Illinois Masonic hospital and is adopted, carries a copy of her passport just in case she runs into federal agents.

    “I am Latina and I am a service worker,” Greeley said. “I fit the description of what they’re looking for now.”

    During the encounter, Greeley said they told her she “doesn’t look like” a Greeley.

    “They said this isn’t real, they kept telling me I’m lying, I’m a liar,” Greeley recalled. “I told them to look in the rest of my wallet, I have my credit cards, my insurance.”

    When the agents let her go, Greeley got home and screamed when she saw the shadow on her door. Days after the incident, Greeley said, it’s still “terrifying.”

    Another recent story from the Chicago Sun-Times explained how a raid on an apartment building saw people trying to protect their neighbors from getting kidnapped on Sept. 30. One resident hid a mother and her 7-year-old daughter for three days in a way that many have compared to the story of Anne Frank.

    There are countless stories like that emerging from the Chicago area, which makes it that much more galling when Bondi insists that sharing information about ICE is somehow creating a danger for the ICE agents.

    Apple also recently removed apps that allowed people to share the location of federal agents spotted in their neighborhoods. Bondi took credit for pressuring Apple to disappear the apps. The removals are eerily similar to what happened during pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong in 2019, where Apple also removed an app that allowed users to see Hong Kong police movements via crowdsourced information.

    Is the U.S. becoming more and more like China with each passing day? Even the Wall Street Journal seems to think so. And when Bondi calls Americans who don’t like to see their neighbors abducted “radicals,” you know we’re in a very bad place as a country.

    Matt Novak

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  • My Younger Employees Only Want to Communicate by Text

    Inc.com columnist Alison Green answers questions about workplace and management issues—everything from how to deal with a micromanaging boss to how to talk to someone on your team about body odor.

    Here’s a roundup of answers to three questions from readers.

    1. My younger employees prefer communicating by text

    I manage a team of five younger professionals, all between the ages of 25 to 30. I have noticed that each of them prefers to communicate with me almost exclusively by text message or through the chat feature in our collaboration software. Conversations by phone, video, or in-person only happen when I initiate them.

    When I initiate an in-person conversation or phone call, my employees don’t seem opposed and typically are very engaged, but if left up to them it seems like all of the interaction with me would be via text or chat. In my own career, I’ve always valued being able to talk one-on-one with my manager, whether it’s during a formal meeting or impromptu. Is the preference my employees show for engaging with me by text or chat generational or should this be a warning sign that my team does not view me as approachable, or doesn’t place much value in one-on-one time with me as a manager?

    Green responds:

    I’m not a fan of broad statements about generations because people are individuals…but in general there has been a cultural shift away from phone calls and toward other methods of communication. Not just among 20-somethings, but more broadly. And since your employees’ entire time in the workforce has been since that shift started, it makes sense that you’d see it reflected in them.

    Since they’re very engaged when you initiate calls or talk in-person, I wouldn’t worry that they don’t find you approachable or don’t value their time with you. Those communication methods just aren’t their go-tos. If you want, you could always ask them about it; maybe it’ll turn out that they think of calling or stopping by in-person as more of an interruption to you, and think they’re respecting your time by not doing it. But lots of people of all ages have just fallen into this particular set of preferences, and that’s likely all it is.

    2. Screening out bigots in interviews

    A member of our team was recently fired. There had been numerous problems with this teammate, including various remarks made to women and gay men that were not acceptable. So now the search is on to find a replacement.

    How do we ensure we don’t hire another bigot? I can’t flat out ask, “Are you comfortable working with women? How about gay men?” Can I? As a gay man myself, one thought I’ve had is to say, “I’m [name], and I live in the [part of town] of [city] with my husband and dog. [more basic personal info].” If they make a face or seem taken aback, red flag. Is this a reasonable approach or is there a better way?

    Green responds:

    Sharing information about yourself is fine to do. But you’re more likely to get a better sense if you ask about these issues more directly. For example, you could ask, “To what extent have you worked on teams with a broad diversity of race, gender, and sexual orientation, and what have you learned from those experiences?” If this person will be managing anyone, you could ask, “Can you tell me about a time that you had particular success in building an equitable and inclusive team with a variety of demographics, or when you faced an obstacle in doing that? What happened and how did you approach it?” (These questions also signal something about your culture to your candidates, which is useful.)

    3. How to unfriend someone I have to fire

    A few years back, I started at a new company in a mid-level role. During that time, I accepted Facebook friend requests from a few coworkers, all at my level. Generally speaking, I’m fine being friends with coworkers on Facebook as I don’t share anything I wouldn’t want the entire world to see. However, since then I was promoted to the director of our department. I am still friends with coworkers, because I’m comfortable with the content I share being appropriate for the workplace.

    However, I am in the process of terminating an employee on my team, who I am still friends with on Facebook. I understand that they most likely won’t want to remain social media friends with a boss who just let them go. I don’t want to put this employee in any more of an uncomfortable position, knowing how stressful and upsetting losing a job already is. Do I unfriend them prior to letting them go, unfriend them when we finalize the termination, or just see what happens and let them decide if they want to disconnect?

    Green responds:

    Definitely don’t unfriend the person right before letting them go; if they notice, it’ll look ominous and awfully cold. Frankly, doing it right afterwards will look pretty cold too! You’re better off leaving it in their hands; they can unfriend you if they want, block your posts, or whatever they’re comfortable with.

    For what it’s worth, ideally you would have disconnected from anyone you managed on Facebook when you became the director, because this is only the first of a bunch of awkward situations that could come up. It’s not enough that you’re not concerned about what you might post; being connected to them means you might see things they’d rather their boss not see or think about (their politics, health, family, whatever it might be) — and it’s less fraught for you to take the lead on fixing that than it is for them. And if you disconnect from everyone at once, it’s easy to explain it’s not personal and you just don’t want them to feel like you’re watching what they post.

    Want to submit a question of your own? Send it to alison@askamanager.org.

    The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

    Alison Green

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  • Old video of cable car accident falsely linked to new system in India’s Uttar Pradesh

    India’s first urban cable car system began trial runs in October, which is built in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home constituency, Varanasi, in Uttar Pradesh. Social media users have shared a clip with a false claim it showed an accident at the system’s debut trip. But the journalist who covered the actual event shown in the video told AFP it was filmed in Dongargarh in central India in April.

    “Modi built a four-kilometre (2.4-mile) ropeway in Varanasi at a cost of eight billion rupees ($95 million). The carriage broke and fell down during its debut trip — and interestingly, a BJP leader was also in it,” reads a Hindi-language Facebook post on October 1, 2025, referring to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

    The 26-second video shows a cable car setting off before cutting to a scene of a crashed gondola and injured passengers.

    Screenshot of the false Facebook post captured on October 8, 2025, with a red X added by AFP

    The clip appeared with similar claims on Instagram and X as trial runs of India’s first urban public transport ropeway began in Varanasi on October 2, the ANI news agency reported (archived link).

    Aimed at improving the city’s urban mobility, the 3.8-kilometre (2.36-mile) corridor will use 148 gondolas to transport up to 100,000 passengers a day.

    But the video actually shows a cable car accident in the neighbouring Chhattisgarh state.

    A reverse image search on Google using keyframes found the same video uploaded on Instagram on April 25, 2025 (archived link).

    The post captioned in Hindi reads in part: “Ropeway trolley broke in Dongargarh, BJP leader narrowly escaped, was brought to Rajnandgaon Sanjeevani Hospital.”

    Rajnandgaon district in Chhattisgarh is located 660 kilometres (410 miles) from Varanasi.

    <span>Screenshot comparison of the false post (L) and the Instagram video</span>

    Screenshot comparison of the false post (L) and the Instagram video

    The caption credits the report to Monaj Dewangan, a reporter with the local news outlet Correct News CG, who told AFP the footage was filmed in Chhattisgarh.

    “The ropeway suddenly crashed. The BJP leader, onboard along with other passengers, sustained injuries. The injured were rushed to a nearby hospital,” he said on October 8, 2025. 

    Local media outlets reporting the accident said a gondola carrying devotees to the Bamleshwari temple in Dongargarh detached from the cable and fell to the ground, injuring some BJP leaders among others (archived here, here and here).

    ANI published a clip on October 3 on a trial run on the Varanasi cable car system, which shows gondolas bearing a different livery from those seen in the false video (archived link).

    Uttar Pradesh police also dismissed the false claim in a post on its X account (archived link).

    AFP has previously debunked misinformation linked to Modi here.

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  • If You Can Read This, You’re About to Get Scammed

    Did you find this article by typing in the name of a website associated with Elon Musk? Did it sound like you could invest in SpaceX, Neuralink, or one of Musk’s AI ventures like Grok and xAI? It’s fake. It’s 100%, without a doubt, completely fake.

    I know you may not believe it, but please read on. Because this article could save you from losing a lot of money. Elon Musk is a very wealthy man. He’s worth $500 billion, according to Forbes, making him the wealthiest person on the planet. But Musk does not have a website dedicated to making other people rich.

    You may have seen an ad on Facebook or maybe a video on Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube. It may have even looked like Elon Musk was talking about some amazing investment opportunity. Maybe it looked like Elon was raising money for a sick child. You may have even been asked to send money through gift cards or a bitcoin ATM. But it was fake. You need to believe us. Because it’s true.

    Musk does not have a website selling cryptocurrencies. He doesn’t have a website for trading stocks. He doesn’t have a public website selling shares of his private companies like SpaceX, Neuralink, xAI, and X. The promotional video you saw is fake and probably used artificial intelligence tools to make it look like Elon Musk was saying something he never said.

    People are losing millions

    Did someone reach out to you on a social media site like Facebook or Instagram claiming to be Elon? Did they tell you to talk with them over Signal or Telegram or WhatsApp? That person is a scammer. Elon Musk does not reach out to people on websites and ask them for money. And if they haven’t already asked you to send money, that part is coming.

    Again, you might be skeptical. A lot of people want to believe that Elon Musk is offering ways for the average person to become rich. But he’s not. Among other reasons, he doesn’t have time.

    Here at Gizmodo, we’ve written about scammers impersonating Elon Musk for years.

    • There was the woman in Washington who lost $63,000 because she thought she was talking to Elon.
    • There was the man in North Carolina who drained his 401k of over half a million dollars.
    • There was the person who lost over $18,000 watching a video livestream they thought was for Tesla.
    • There was also the Florida principal who sent an Elon Musk scammer a check for $100,000.

    People have literally been losing millions of dollars to scammers over the years because they thought they were investing in something approved by Elon Musk. But it was all fake.

    Scam AI Videos

    It’s incredible what can be accomplished with AI these days. You can make people appear to say things they never said. For example, here’s an ad we spotted below. Elon never said any of that.

    Fake Elon Websites

    All of the websites below are scams. And while Gizmodo is often reluctant to advertise the web domains of scammers, because it risks inadvertently driving more people to scammy websites, using the names of the scams is the only way to help get the word out that these specific websites will steal your money.

    And this list only scratches the surface. These are some of the domains that have been reported to the FTC, but there are so many more out there.

    • ceomusk.org [SCAM]
    • elonbitcoin.fun [SCAM]
    • elonchristmas.com [SCAM]
    • fastmars.net [SCAM]
    • investmuskspace.icu [SCAM]
    • marshome.us [SCAM]
    • marsway.net [SCAM]
    • marsyox.com [SCAM]
    • marsvalue.net [SCAM]
    • myteslatoken.com [SCAM]
    • official2xMusk.com [SCAM]
    • shippingteslamail.com [SCAM]
    • tesla-clubs.com [SCAM]
    • tesla-prize-x.com [SCAM]
    • teslaminingprogram.com [SCAM]
    • teslaminingplatform.aphatrad.com [SCAM]
    • teslaoption.com [SCAM]
    • teslapresale.net [SCAM]
    • tesla.token-presale.org [SCAM]
    • teslatoken-presale.online [SCAM]
    • telsaxmarketing.com [SCAM]
    • tsla-marketspro.com [SCAM]
    • teslgets.com [SCAM]
    • tsl-xspace.pw [SCAM]
    • x-coin-platform.io [SCAM]

    Scam Names

    There are also scams that you may know by various names that aren’t dedicated websites, but are being spread through social media platforms. Some of the common ones we’ve seen are below.

    • Elon Musk Fan Page Membership Card
    • Elon Musk x Donald Trump Crypto Giveaway
    • Space Stock Mining
    • Tesla Bitcoin
    • Tesla Token
    • Tesla Mining
    • Neuralink Crypto Token
    • SpaceX Token

    Please believe us. It’s not real.

    Maybe someone sent you this article. Maybe you found it through Google. Please know that visiting these websites and “investing” in them will only lead you to heartache and pain.

    The people who’ve been scammed at these sites often feel foolish afterward. And we don’t want you to feel foolish. We want you to avoid just handing your money away for nothing.

    If you’re interested in investing, there are plenty of reputable places to do that. You can even invest in Musk’s company, Tesla, if you want to buy stock in that company through a reputable stockbroker. All investing involves risks, but the websites we’ve featured here aren’t just risks where you might make some money or you might lose some money.

    If you give any of these websites your money, you will only lose. We promise you.

    Have you been scammed and want to tell your story? You can email the author of this article at [email protected].

    Matt Novak

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  • Northern California storm forecast update: Soaking rain, high elevation snow starts Monday

    The KCRA 3 weather team continues to monitor a storm system that will bring rain and some high-elevation snow to Northern California at the start of next week.Monday and Tuesday are now KCRA 3 weather Impact Days. Precipitation is expected to start during the day Monday and it could be heavy at times through Tuesday.Leer en español. Rain forecastRain will be widespread for the Valley and Foothills. Places like Sacramento, Stockton and Modesto could pick up a half inch to an inch of rain Monday through Tuesday. The Foothills are now expected to see higher totals ranging between one and two and a half inches.These rain totals could lead to some ponding on roads, especially in areas where drains are blocked. Stream flooding is not currently expected. This rain will also put pause on fire season for much of the region. It is important to note that forecast models continue to shift as the storm approaches. The KCRA 3 weather team will provide updates as those changes come in. Snow forecastA Winter Storm Watch will go into effect Monday for places above 6,500 feet in the Sierra.Next week’s storm track is currently unfavorable for big snow totals around Lake Tahoe, there should still be enough accumulation for chain controls at times on Highway 50, Interstate 80 and Highway 88 Monday night through Tuesday. Bigger totals are expected in Alpine and Mono County. Caltrans has said that Monitor, Ebbetts and Sonora passes will be temporarily closed because of the snow between October 13th and 16th. Snow levels are expected to hover between 6,000 and 7,000 feet throughout the duration of the storm.The rest of next weekBeyond Tuesday, the forecast continues to look cooler than normal for mid-October. REAL-TIME TRAFFIC MAPClick here to see our interactive traffic map.TRACK INTERACTIVE, DOPPLER RADARClick here to see our interactive radar.DOWNLOAD OUR APP FOR THE LATESTHere is where you can download our app.Follow our KCRA weather team on social mediaMeteorologist Tamara Berg on Facebook and X.Meteorologist Dirk Verdoorn on FacebookMeteorologist/Climate Reporter Heather Waldman on Facebook and X.Meteorologist Kelly Curran on X.Meteorologist Ophelia Young on Facebook and X.Watch our forecasts on TV or onlineHere’s where to find our latest video forecast. You can also watch a livestream of our latest newscast here. The banner on our website turns red when we’re live.We’re also streaming on the Very Local app for Roku, Apple TV or Amazon Fire TV. See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. —

    The KCRA 3 weather team continues to monitor a storm system that will bring rain and some high-elevation snow to Northern California at the start of next week.

    Monday and Tuesday are now KCRA 3 weather Impact Days. Precipitation is expected to start during the day Monday and it could be heavy at times through Tuesday.

    Leer en español.

    Rain forecast

    Rain will be widespread for the Valley and Foothills. Places like Sacramento, Stockton and Modesto could pick up a half inch to an inch of rain Monday through Tuesday.

    The Foothills are now expected to see higher totals ranging between one and two and a half inches.

    rain

    Hearst Owned

    The KCRA 3 weather team has been increasing the expected rainfall totals for Monday and Tuesday. Ponding on roads and slow travel should be expected, especially Monday evening and Tuesday morning. 

    These rain totals could lead to some ponding on roads, especially in areas where drains are blocked. Stream flooding is not currently expected. This rain will also put pause on fire season for much of the region.

    It is important to note that forecast models continue to shift as the storm approaches. The KCRA 3 weather team will provide updates as those changes come in.

    Snow forecast

    A Winter Storm Watch will go into effect Monday for places above 6,500 feet in the Sierra.

    Next week’s storm track is currently unfavorable for big snow totals around Lake Tahoe, there should still be enough accumulation for chain controls at times on Highway 50, Interstate 80 and Highway 88 Monday night through Tuesday.

    snow

    Hearst Owned

    There will be enough snow for chain controls and long travel delays over Donner and Echo Summit next week. Ebbetts Pass, Sonora Pass and Monitor Pass will all be closed temporarily.

    Bigger totals are expected in Alpine and Mono County. Caltrans has said that Monitor, Ebbetts and Sonora passes will be temporarily closed because of the snow between October 13th and 16th.

    Snow levels are expected to hover between 6,000 and 7,000 feet throughout the duration of the storm.

    The rest of next week

    Beyond Tuesday, the forecast continues to look cooler than normal for mid-October.

    REAL-TIME TRAFFIC MAP
    Click here to see our interactive traffic map.
    TRACK INTERACTIVE, DOPPLER RADAR
    Click here to see our interactive radar.
    DOWNLOAD OUR APP FOR THE LATEST
    Here is where you can download our app.
    Follow our KCRA weather team on social media

    • Meteorologist Tamara Berg on Facebook and X.
    • Meteorologist Dirk Verdoorn on Facebook
    • Meteorologist/Climate Reporter Heather Waldman on Facebook and X.
    • Meteorologist Kelly Curran on X.
    • Meteorologist Ophelia Young on Facebook and X.

    Watch our forecasts on TV or online
    Here’s where to find our latest video forecast. You can also watch a livestream of our latest newscast here. The banner on our website turns red when we’re live.
    We’re also streaming on the Very Local app for Roku, Apple TV or Amazon Fire TV.

    See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

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