Concerns have been raised over the safety of workers at factories used by Google were exposed to harmful chemicals amid hundreds of safety violations. Workers at an unidentified factory were routinely exposed to reproductive toxin N-Methylpyrrolidone (NMP), the company admitted. NMP is legal, but classified as a restricted chemical in Europe owing to side-effects including birth defects in children, serious eye, skin and respiratory irritation caused by inhaling or splashing a droplet on the...

Google is ending a controversial tax structure that allowed it to delay paying taxes on its international profits amid a global avoidance crackdown. Alphabet, Google's parent company, said it would no longer use an intellectual property licensing scheme in anticipation of more stringent tax avoidance regulation planned by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and G20 for next year along with changes to US and Irish laws. The scheme allowed companies like Google to shift...

Google's ousted human rights chief has accused the company of ditching its "Don't be evil" mantra and has slammed it for racism, a poor human rights record and concerning relationships with China and Saudi Arabia. Ross LaJeunesse, Google’s head of international relations until 2019, said the company’s commitment to human rights had been superseded by executives’ desire to “chase bigger profits and an even higher stock price”, in an online post published on Thursday. Google is battling a...

Thousands of messages threatening retribution for the killing of Iran’s top intelligence commander have flooded social media in a “coordinated” propaganda campaign. More than 21,000 Instagram posts used the hashtag #hardrevenge on Friday, along with almost 7,000 unique Twitter accounts, following the death of Qassim Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force, by an American drone strike. The accounts shared repetitive images of coffins draped in American flags, heroic depictions of Soleimani and...

Sonos is suing Google for allegedly stealing its wireless speaker technology while undercutting its prices to conquer the market. The audio company, which pioneered cable-free speakers, filed a lawsuit against Google in two federal US court systems on Tuesday and is seeking undisclosed financial damages. It also requested a US-wide ban on sales of Google's laptops, smartphones and home speakers from the International Trade Commission. Sonos claimed that Google infringed five of its wireless...