In the days after the US Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion, tech companies rushed to show their support for workers in states where the procedure is now banned. Meta promised to pay expenses for staff members who have to travel from their home state for an abortion. Alphabet, Google’s parent company, told employees they could apply to move out of states that prohibit abortion.
These companies haven’t given their users the same kind of support, amid growing concerns that a digital footprint — including websites visited, location data from a phone, or private messages on a social platform — could be used to build a criminal case against someone. looking for an abortion.
MIT Technology Review asked five major tech companies — Alphabet, Meta, Reddit, TikTok, and Twitter — how their policies that ban content promoting illegal activity will apply to posts advocating access to abortion or helping those now state to leave for the procedure. Their answers, when provided, were inconsistent. Read the full story.
—Abby Ohlheiser and Hana Kiros
The US only has 60,000 charging points for EVs. Here they are all.
The United States has about 150,000 gas stations to replenish its fleet of fossil fuel vehicles. Despite the rapid growth of electric vehicles in America, 400,000 were sold in 2021an increase of barely 10,000 in 2012– the country has only 6000 fast DC electric charging stations, the kind that can quickly charge a battery-powered car.
A look at the charging map of America reveals a plethora of charging deserts, especially outside the major cities. Logical, because electric vehicles still represent less than 3% of new car sales. But while it’s illustrative of how US charging infrastructure is lagging far behind what the entire country needs to transition to electric driving, there’s still time to catch up. Read the full story.
—Andrew Moseman
How green steel made with electricity can clean up a dirty industry
The news: Startup Boston Metal recently installed a new reactor at its headquarters, an important step in its effort to produce zero-emission steel. Since its foundation in 2013, the company has developed a process to make green steel. The new reactor, along with an upcoming fundraising round, represents the next leap for the company as it tries to scale.