Meta has a lot of work to do when it comes to limiting hate speech on its platforms. Now, its Oversight Board is looking into the company's decision to ban an account for, among other things, posting visual violent threats and harassment against a journalist — and it wants the public's advice. 

In the year prior to the ban, Meta referred five posts due to violations of its hateful conduct, bullying and harassment, violence and incitement and adult nudity and sexual activity community standards. In addition to the posts harassing the woman journalist, the user also shared "anti-gay slurs against prominent politicians and content depicting a sex act, alleging misconduct against minorities." 

Meta's internal review experts decided to permanently disable the account due to the consistent violations and calls for violence. This action was taken despite the number of strikes not reaching the ban threshold — Meta's guidance states that even seven strikes only get users a one-day ban. However, its account integrity page lays out examples of when it will disable accounts, including violating its community standards through "risk of imminent harm" to an individual. 

The Board is now looking for insight from the public until 11:59PM PT on Tuesday, February 3. The Board is specifically seeking comments from individuals who can "contribute valuable perspectives" on the following topics: 

• How best to ensure due process and fairness to people whose accounts are penalized or permanently disabled.

• The effectiveness of measures used by social media platforms to protect public figures and journalists from accounts engaged in repeated abuse and threats of violence, in particular against women in the public eye.

• Challenges in identifying and considering off-platform context when assessing threats against public figures and journalists.

• Research into the efficacy of punitive measures to shape online behaviors, and the efficacy of alternative or complementary interventions.

• Good industry practices in transparency reporting on account enforcement decisions and related appeals.

This instance marks the first time the Board has looked into Meta permanently disabling an account. It stated that this "represents a significant opportunity to provide users with greater transparency on Meta’s account enforcement policies and practices, make recommendations for improvement, and expand the types of cases the Board can review."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/metas-oversight-board-is-looking-into-transparency-around-disabling-accounts-145757717.html?src=rss

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© SOPA Images via Getty Images

In a strange twist of fate, a fire broke out this week at the Rad Power Bikes retail store warehouse in Huntington Beach, California, Electrek reports. The structural blaze came less than two months after the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) warned customers to "immediately stop" using and dispose of some of the company's e-bike batteries due to fire hazard. In December, Rad filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, stating it couldn't afford to recall the batteries. 

"We’re working with local authorities to review a thermal incident that occurred at our Huntington Beach store Sunday evening," a Rad Power Bikes spokesperson told Engadget. "The incident was contained and happened while the store was closed. The cause of the fire has not been confirmed."

The recent two-alarm fire hit a commercial complex with multiple businesses. Footage from the fire shows e-bikes outside of the warehouse as firemen fought the blaze. Engadget has reached out to Rad for more information on the fire's impact. 

The CPSC's November warning told of 31 reports of fire, with 12 of those involving property damage. In some cases, the battery was in storage, not being charged or used, yet still caught fire. The CPSC told customers to get rid of (in a safe, detailed manner) specific models of Rad's lithium-ion batteries. It claimed that the "hazardous" batteries were at risk of igniting or exploding, even more if wet or interacting with debris. 

Rad told the CPSC it couldn't recall the batteries as it couldn't afford to offer replacements and refunds. "Rad offered multiple good-faith solutions to address the agency’s concerns, including offering consumers an opportunity to upgrade to Safe Shield batteries (described below) at a substantial discount. CPSC rejected this opportunity," Rad Power Bikes said in a statement at the time. "The significant cost of the all-or-nothing demand would force Rad to shut its doors immediately, leaving no way to support our riders or our employees."

The company also said it disagreed with the CPSC's "characterization of certain Rad batteries as defective or unsafe." It also pointed to the incident rate being below one percent and stated that all lithium-ion batteries come with a risk when customers do things — such as improper charging and excessive exposure to moisture — that Rad cautions against. 

Update, January 20 2026, 11:08AM ET: This story has been updated to include a statement from Rad Power Bikes. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/rad-power-bikes-warehouse-catches-fire-following-flammable-battery-warnings-133056542.html?src=rss

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© Amy Skorheim / Engadget

The holiday season is fully in the rear view mirror and real life is here to stay. But that doesn't mean the time for gifts is over — especially ones for yourself. You can still take advantage of great January sales on some awesome tech products.

Take the Apple Mac mini M4, which is down to $500 from $599. The 17 percent discount gives you 16GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD for only about $20 more than the computer's Black Friday sale. Its beefier models are also on sale: opting for 512GB of SSD will cost you $690, down from $799, while also upping your RAM to 24GB is available for $890, dropping from $999.

We gave the Apple Mac mini M4 a 90 in our review thanks in large part to its powerful chip. The M4 works very fast despite being in such a small device. It also offers front-facing headphone and USB-C ports. You can further upgrade to the Apple M4 Pro chip for $1,270, down from $1,399 — a nine percent discount. The Pro model also has Thunderbolt 5 support. 

Check out our coverage of the best Apple deals for more discounts, and follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/get-100-off-apples-mac-mini-m4-desktop-141615926.html?src=rss

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© Devindra Hardawar for Engadget