The task of introducing a vaccine for the coronavirus faces an uphill struggle in Africa, where a flood of online misinformation is feeding on mistrust of Western medical research.

Tanzania says it has received its first shipment of Madagascar's self-proclaimed, plant-based "cure" for coronavirus, despite warnings from the World Health Organisation that its efficacy is unproven.

Virgin Atlantic Airways has put advisers on standby to handle a potential administration as it races to secure a £500m rescue that would enable Sir Richard Branson’s flagship company to survive the coronavirus pandemic.

More than 2,100 nightclubs, hostess bars and discos in South Korea's capital have been shut after 18 new coronavirus cases - with all but one linked to a 29-year-old man.

Another 346 people have died in the UK after testing positive for COVID-19, bringing the total to 31,587.

Domino's plans to start delivering pizzas using an autonomous, unmanned vehicle. The announcement is the latest example of technology companies using robots to deliver food.

A newly opened Delaware seafood restaurant has a unique item on its menu: robot servers. The machines are the latest example of intelligent machines working in the restaurant industry.

Loon — an Internet-providing balloon service owned by Alphabet, Google’s parent company — will give “mountain villagers” in Kenya the opportunity to purchase 4G service.

Amazon, the global e-commerce giant, will ask electronic scooter manufacturers to make clear in their online listings that their devices cannot be used on public roads.

In Ann Arbor, Mich., the creators of a new autonomous vehicle have designed their robot to operate on local streets — but more so like a bicycle than a car.

After nearly eight months of knowledge-gathering street tests and thousands of successful deliveries, Amazon has announced that its delivery robots have begun delivering packages to customers in Irvine, Calif.

A team of researchers at the University of California at San Diego have created a soft robotic lens that responds to eye movements.

The goal, researchers say, was to create a robot that learns the way humans do — through trial and error. Eventually, those robots could be used to complete tasks — in a warehouse or perhaps on the surface of a new planet — with more autonomy.

Fordham University business students are using virtual reality to prepare them for boardrooms.

For months now, Nuro’s robotically piloted vehicles have been quietly delivering groceries to restaurants and homes around Houston, the vehicles’ sensors mapping the city as they go.

Ford Motor has unveiled the Mustang Mach-E, an all-electric sport utility vehicle that the company claims will have a range of at least 230 miles.

Walmart, the nation's largest employer, announced a partnership with Nuro, a Silicon Valley startup called this week. The two companies will begin delivering groceries to customers in Houston this year using autonomous vehicles.

The Vikings will face off against the 3-0 Los Angeles Rams, which normally would trigger an automatic sit for any passing attack, but the Rams, on short rest, will be without cornerbacks Aqib Talib and Marcus Peters.

Quarterbacks have won 10 of the past 11 MVP awards, and the six rushers who have won over the past 30 years have been historically good, either establishing a record for touchdowns or rushing for more than 2,000 yards in a season.

Giants' offensive line is allowing an adjusted sack rate of over eight percent, the eighth-worst in the NFL.

Since 2002, the year the league expanded to 32 teams, favorites playing on Thanksgiving are 28-12 against the spread.

Cousins's next opponent, the Seattle Seahawks, has been kind to fantasy quarterbacks of late, surrendering at least 21 fantasy points in each of the last four contests.

The 49ers are 1-9 straight up in their last 10 divisional games.

The NCAA tournament could be more entertaining than usual, if only because seedings may be less accurate than in past years.

The Patriots quarterback has been sensational for years, but with everything on the line for your fantasy season in Week 16, he's a liability.

• While ride-hailing has suffered from the impact of COVID-19, Uber is in a good position to survive the crisis, three analysts who cover the company told Business Insider.
• Uber is in no danger of running of out money anytime soon, said Mark Mahaney, a managing director at RBC Capital Markets.
• And a series of cost-cutting moves should make the company profitable by next year, said Dan Ives, a managing director of equity research at Wedbush Securities.
• Uber's food-delivery service, Uber Eats, gives the company an advantage over ride-hailing competitors, since it allows homebound consumers to keep using its app, said Tom White, a senior research analyst at DA Davidson.
• Are you a current or former Uber employee? Do you have an opinion about what it's like to work there? Contact this reporter at mmatousek@businessinsider.com. You can also reach out on Signal at 646-768-4712 or email this reporter's encrypted address at mmatousek@protonmail.com.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The ride-hailing industry has taken a major hit from COVID-19 as potential customers remain confined to their homes, but Uber is in a good position to survive the crisis, three analysts who cover the company said.

"Their business model will be intact on the other side of this," said Dan Ives, a managing director of equity research at Wedbush Securities.

A strong cash reserve will help. After ending the first quarter with $9 billion in cash and short-term investments, Uber has the resources to survive a scenario in which the prevalence of COVID-19 and its effect on consumer behavior last for the next two years, said Mark Mahaney, a managing director at RBC Capital Markets.

On Thursday, Uber disclosed its first-quarter financial results, reporting an adjusted loss of $2.9 billion on revenue of $3.5 billion during the first three months of this year. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said on a call with analysts that the ride-hailing company would cut $1 billion in fixed costs. The company has recently removed its food-delivery service — Uber Eats — from eight unprofitable markets, folded its electric bike and scooter business into Lime (Uber recently led a $170 million investment round in the company), and announced it will lay off about 14% of its workforce.

Those moves should help Uber become profitable in 2021 (the company predicted in February that it would turn a profit by the end of this year), Ives said. Uber's management, which had struggled in the wake of the company's 2019 IPO, has performed well in the current crisis by being transparent with investors and quickly moving to reduce expenses, Ives said. Investors signaled their approval of the company's strategy by sending shares up as much as 8% in after-hours trading on Thursday.

Uber Eats was one of the highlights of the company's first-quarter results, said Tom White, a senior research analyst at DA Davidson, as gross bookings grew 52% from the first quarter of 2019 to $4.7 billion. Eats gives Uber an advantage over ride-hailing competitors that don't have a similar service, as it allows the company to keep homebound consumers using its app, White said. Even after the toll of COVID-19 begins to subside, demand for online food delivery could see continued growth, he added.

But there are still challenges ahead for Uber. The company said rides fell by as much as 80% in April, and Ives projects that 30% of the customers for gig-economy companies like Uber, Airbnb, and Lyft won't use a ride-hailing service until there's a vaccine for COVID-19. Yet the pandemic could leave Uber better off in the long run, White said.

"I saw and heard enough [during Uber's first-quarter earnings call] that makes it harder and harder for me to think that these guys don't emerge from this pandemic probably in a stronger competitive position and a healthier and leaner operating position," he said.

Are you a current or former Uber employee? Do you have an opinion about what it's like to work there? Contact this reporter at mmatousek@businessinsider.com. You can also reach out on Signal at 646-768-4712 or email this reporter's encrypted address at mmatousek@protonmail.com.

• Read more:
• Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi says drivers should receive tiered healthcare benefits based on how many hours they work, and that the company would pay for it
• SoftBank-backed companies laid off more than 3,700 people in 2020 and more than 7,000 in the past year
• Uber reveals first-quarter losses of $2.9 billion because of the coronavirus — but says business is starting to pick up again
• Lyft surges 17% after posting a narrower-than-expected quarterly loss as coronavirus hit the ride-hailing industry

SEE ALSO: Elon Musk's theater of the absurd is a sign of the times for tech

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Why Pikes Peak is the most dangerous racetrack in America

• A hospital in India is using robots to screen possible coronavirus patients.
• The humanoid robot, called Mitra, uses a handheld thermal camera to evaluate patients before sending them on to healthcare workers.
• Thermal imaging is being tested in other countries as a way to check for coronavirus symptoms. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

India is yet another country using robots to take some of the burden off of HealthCare workers, with a humanoid robot named Mitra that takes patients' temperatures using a thermal camera.

India's 1.3 billion residents have been under lockdown since March 24, and last week the orders were extended for at least another two weeks. "To save India and every Indian, there will be a total ban on venturing out of your homes," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said. In late April, some convenience stores were allowed to reopen, but specific rules vary by state.

The Indian government has also developed a controversial contact tracing app which shares residents' location constantly. More than 90 million people have reportedly already downloaded the app, and in at least one city, not having the app is punishable with six months in jail.

Meanwhile, these robots are being used in a hospital in Bangalore as the first screening for some patients who may have coronavirus. A pharmacy in Italy has implemented similar technology to screen customers for signs of infection. Here's how they work.

SEE ALSO: Stores in Italy are using robots to screen customers for mask wearing and high temperatures before they can go inside as the country reopens

The robots are a safer way for doctors to perform initial screenings of patients.

A tablet on one robot's chest allows doctors to video chat with patient without putting their own health at risk.

A thermal camera-equipped robot takes a patient's temperature without needing to touch them.

Using this information, healthcare providers can send patients to the appropriate specialist, and patients who are unlikely to have coronavirus won't be unnecessarily exposed.

After receiving a temperature reading, the robot gives the patient instructions for their next steps.

Some experts have suggested that temperature guns are not always accurate because they must be held at a specific distance, but the tablet mostly avoids that problem by instructing patients on where to stand.

Even the most accurate thermometers aren't a perfect measure to stop the virus, though. Infected people can go up to 14 days without showing symptoms, and some people never develop symptoms.

Source: Business Insider

• Facebook has been in negotiations for months to lease over 700,000 square feet at the Farley Building on Manhattan's West Side. 
• Office leasing activity in the city has plummeted, giving the blockbuster deal even more importance as a sign of life in a suddenly lethargic market.
• The coronavirus has spurred a deep downturn in the economy that is already being felt in the city's commercial real-estate market, prompting a big slowdown in leasing activity.  
• The rapid expansion of tech in recent years has propelled the city's office market. Real estate execs say that Facebook's big deal is a key barometer. 
• The crisis also raises questions whether tenants will ever occupy office space the same way as companies and their workforces around the world grow familiar with remote work. 
• Click here for more BI Prime stories.

Leasing activity in New York City's multi-billion-dollar commercial office market has dropped precipitously as the coronavirus has battered the market and raised questions of when — and even if — tenants can return to the workplace in a post-Covid world.

Amid the growing concerns the crisis will smother what had been robust demand for office space, eyes in the city's real estate industry have turned to a pending blockbuster deal on the West Side that could offer a signal of confidence to the market.

Facebook is in talks to take over 700,000 square feet of space in the Farley Building, a block-long property across Eighth Avenue from Penn Station.

"If that deal happens, then this market will be just fine," said Peter Riguardi, the New York area chairman and president of JLL. "If the deal happens but it's renegotiated, it will be fine, but it will be a trend that every tenant can follow. And if it doesn't happen, I would be very concerned about the market."

Read More: Inside the drama over control of the iconic Chrysler Building: A real-estate tycoon and a prestigious college are renegotiating a critical $150 million deal.

Facebook's NYC real-estate footprint

Last year, Facebook signed on for 1.5 million square feet in the Hudson Yards mega-development just west of the Farley Building, taking space in three new office towers at the project.

For months the $600 billion Silicon Valley-based social media giant has been in negotiations for even more space at the nearby Farley Building, whose interior landlord Vornado Realty Trust is redeveloping to include newly built office and retail space.

Vornado had originally expected to complete the deal with Facebook in early March, according to a source familiar with the negotiations. The talks have continued on as the virus pandemic has brought commerce and social life to a virtual halt. The source expected the lease, which will commit Facebook to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in rent for the space over the life of the lease, to soon be completed.

In a conference call with investors and analysts on Tuesday to discuss Vornado's first-quarter earnings, the company's CEO Steve Roth also hinted that the Facebook deal was still on track.

"There's another large tenant that has been rumored to be that we've been in dialogue with," Roth said, not directly naming the company. "That conversation is going forward aggressively and hopefully maybe even almost complete."

Rapid growth in Big Tech leasing before coronavirus

Recent real-estate decisions by Facebook and other tech companies have worried real-estate executives that they may reconsider their footprint after years of dramatic growth. Facebook on Thursday revealed that the bulk of its over 40,000-person workforce will be asked to work remotely for the remainder of the year, a timeline that appears to show the company is using caution in returning to its footprint.

Read More: Neiman Marcus just filed for bankruptcy, and it could mark a major blow to NYC's glitzy Hudson Yards — one of the most expensive mega-malls in US history. Here's why.

Real-estate executives have expressed concern that tenants may become accustomed to offloading a portion or even the bulk of their workforce to a remote-working model, leading them to drastically reduce their office commitments.

At a minimum, the economic upheaval has appeared to spur a newfound sense of caution in tech companies that have grown rapidly in recent years. Alphabet called off negotiations to expand its San Francisco offices by over 2 million square feet in recent weeks, according to a report from The Information.  

Tech has been a big driver of demand for office space

In recent years the tech industry had become one of the most voracious takers of space in the city, helping to push up commercial rents and spur the construction of new office space.

In 2019, tech firms accounted for 24.5% of the 31.6 million square feet of leasing activity in Manhattan, eclipsing the financial industry as the city's biggest space-taking sector for the first time, according to data from the real estate services and brokerage firm CBRE.

In 2010 tech leasing comprised just 4% of the 24.2 million square feet that was leased in the Manhattan market that year, CBRE said.

"Nothing has buoyed the confidence of landlords more in recent years than tech tenants," said Sacha Zarba, a leasing executive at CBRE who specializes in working with tech firms. "It didn't matter where your building was. If it was attractive to tech, you would stand a good chance to lease your space. If that industry retrenches a bit, it removes a big driver of demand."

The Manhattan office market has slowed rapidly in recent weeks as the virus crisis has battered the economy and shut down daily life.

About 844,000 square feet of space was leased in Manhattan in April, according to CBRE, 64% lower than the five-year monthly average. In the first four months of the year, nearly seven million square feet was leased, a decline of 30% for the same period a year ago. 

So far, however, there are signs that tech continues to snap up space.

After scuttling plans to develop a 25,000 person second headquarters space in Long Island City last year, Amazon purchased 424 Fifth Avenue, a former flagship department store for Lord & Taylor, for nearly $1 billion in March. That property totals about 660,000 square feet. Late last year, before the pandemic hit U.S. shores but had flared in China, Amazon also leased 335,000 square feet at 410 Tenth Avenue.

The commitments of major tech companies absorb millions of square feet in the city, but they also help fuel a larger ecosystem of tenants that occupies an even larger footprint. That means that a decrease in the real estate of just a few big tech players could be multiplied across the market as smaller players in the sector follow suit.

"Those big tech firms do a fantastic job of training and credentialing tech talent on the city," said Matt Harrigan, a co-founder of Company, a space incubator at 335 Madison Avenue that provides offices and community for both startups and more established tech firms. "Google and Facebook spin off talent who start or join other tech ventures that take space. That's what's so important about having the large presence of those companies here."

Have a tip? Contact Daniel Geiger at dgeiger@businessinsider.com or via encrypted messaging app Signal at +1 (646) 352-2884, or Twitter DM at @dangeiger79. You can also contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop.

SEE ALSO: What to expect when you're back in the office: 7 real-estate experts break down what the transition will look like, and why the workplace may never be the same

SEE ALSO: Major tenants are delaying big leases in NYC as they re-think their office space needs for the post-coronavirus world

SEE ALSO: As WeWork and flex-space rivals stumble, 18 million square feet of space in NYC is at risk. Here's what that means for the real-estate market.

SEE ALSO: BI Prime Edit in Viking Neiman Marcus just filed for bankruptcy, and it could mark a major blow to NYC's glitzy Hudson Yards — one of the most expensive mega-malls in US history. Here's why.

Join the conversation about this story »

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• Business Insider surveyed enterprise technology companies to determine who's still hiring amid the coronavirus pandemic.
• Companies like Amazon Web Services, Slack, Okta, Box, and Zoom are actively hiring, while others like Microsoft, Google, and SAP have slowed hiring to prioritize recruiting in key areas.
• Below is a list of 19 enterprise tech companies that are hiring, and the types of roles they are trying to fill.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

As companies across industries slow or stop hiring amid the public health and economic crisis caused by the coronavirus, Business Insider surveyed enterprise technology companies to find out who is still hiring, and the types of roles they're trying to fill.

The results include companies actively hiring — such as Amazon Web Services, Slack, Okta, Box, and Zoom — while others like Microsoft, Google, and SAP have slowed hiring to prioritize recruiting in key areas.

Responses come directly from companies, but be aware that hiring alone may not paint a complete picture of what's going on at each one. VMware, for example, told Business Insider that it's hiring, particularly in a few key areas related to its cloud business — but also told employees in an internal memo that it was freezing all salaries.

Oracle, Nvidia, and Palo Alto Networks declined to comment on whether they are still hiring. Workday, Adobe, IBM, Cisco, Stripe, Qualcomm and HP did not reply to requests for more information.

Here are 19 enterprise companies still hiring in some form amid the pandemic, and what they're looking for:

Amazon Web Services is actively hiring, with no hiring freezes in place, the company says. Amazon at large has more than 20,000 job postings in US corporate roles.

Slack is "actively hiring," in a range of positions including engineers, data scientists, designers and customer experience experts, a spokesperson told Business Insider.

The company has moved to a virtual hiring process – all interviews are conducted over video and onboarding happens remotely.

Slack has 213 open positions listed on its website at the time of this writing.

Box is "currently hiring," a spokesperson said, across roles in engineering, sales, marketing, customer success, finance, compliance, business operations, product and product design.

Box's website listed 76 open jobs at the time of this writing.

In additional to moving interviews online, the company has introduced new practices like virtual coffee chats with candidates and videos from employees to learn more about Box's culture. For new hires, the company has switched start dates to once per month and started a buddy system to help with onboarding.

Zoom is hiring across the US and internationally for positions including in sales, engineering, legal, and security.

"We did have an extremely ambitious hiring goal already for this year," Lynne Oldham, Zoom's chief people officer, recently told Business Insider. "So where we're seeing additional need is around the places that we touch the customer."

The company had 81 open positions listed on its website as of this writing.

DocuSign "has moved forward with its hiring as previously planned," a spokesperson said, and is hiring in roles across customer services, sales and business development, engineering and IT, marketing, finance, legal, and workplace teams.

The company is also continuing its internship program virtually and plans to bring on more than 100 interns this summer.

DocuSign had 338 positions listed on its careers website as of this writing.

Dell-owned VMware is still hiring, a spokesperson said, and has "hundreds of open roles across R&D, IT, sales, customer services and support, marketing, finance, HR, legal, and business administration."

But the company is also freezing salaries and suspending retirement matching, according to a memo obtained by Business Insider. A spokesperson confirmed that "there have been a number of cost management changes impacting the VMware workforce."

VMware interviews take place virtually.

Microsoft has frozen hiring for some roles, citing uncertainty related to the coronavirus crisis.

"We continue to seek industry-leading talent in a range of disciplines as we continue to invest in certain strategic areas," a Microsoft spokesperson told Business Insider last month. "However, in light of the uncertainties presented by COVID-19, we are temporarily pausing recruitment for other roles."

Microsoft declined to provide more information about for which positions it's still hiring, and which roles are seeing a pause in hiring.

Microsoft's subsidiaries include LinkedIn and GitHub.

German software giant SAP is still hiring in essential areas, but has pledged to reduce hiring and discretionary spending as "precautionary measures" during the pandemic.

The company "will continue to hire carefully selected people into roles that will rapidly contribute to our competitive edge,"a spokesperson said, which it said include in "essential areas" such as innovation, and research and development. 

SAP said its candidate selection has remained the same, but the interviews are conducted virtually. New hires are onboarded virtually and sent SAP-issued equipment to their private addresses so they don't have to go to the office.

Google is slowing down hiring for the remainder of the year, CEO Sundar Pichai told the company in an email seen by Business insider.

Pichai said the company is enacting a hiring freeze on all but a select few "strategic areas" for the remainder of 2020. He wrote in the email that the company needed to "carefully prioritize" recruiting employees to serve its "greatest user and business needs."

Dell Technologies is not "hiring broadly," but subsidiary companies like VMware and Secureworks still are, a Dell spokesperson told Business Insider.

Dell Technologies is still continuing its early-in-career programs and summer internships, although they've become remote. 

"We are constantly evolving our hiring strategy based on business needs," the spokesperson said.

Okta is still actively hiring, Okta's chief people officer Kristina Johnson confirmed to Business Insider.

"We're continuously evaluating what we need as a business during this time, listening to customers, and tailoring our hiring plans to meet those needs," Johnson said. "Okta is in a unique position during this uncertain time in that we had the right infrastructure in place from the get-go to make remote work and remote on-boarding fairly routine."

Okta's main hiring focus areas are in customer service, engineering, and sales, Johnson said. 

Dropbox has temporarily halted its recruiting efforts to figure out the process for onboarding people remotely.

"What we actually ended up doing was we took a pause to just take stock of our onboarding and our approach to onboarding because we wanted to make sure that we weren't bringing people on and that they actually weren't effectively able to onboard," Dropbox COO Olivia Nottebohm told Business Insider.

It's still hiring but has slowed down, only hiring for targeted roles, meaning it's up to managers to hire for key, business critical roles.

"We're trying to just be prudent and nd not get ahead of ourselves given the macro environment that we're in, but we are moving forward to hiring targeted roles," Nottebohm said.

While Dropbox plans to honor pending offers and ongoing interview processes, interviews for new applicants have been put on hold. The college internship program will also take place in the summer remotely.

"Fully remote recruiting and onboarding into a new company comes with unique challenges — bringing new hires into Dropbox takes a great deal of collaboration between many teams, including hiring managers, learning and development, IT, benefits, and recruiting," a Dropbox spokesperson told Business Insider.  

"In order to ensure we're onboarding new hires effectively and managing the strain on these teams during the shelter-in-place orders in effect across the globe, we've paused recruiting efforts temporarily," the spokesperson added.  

In April, ServiceNow promised not to lay off any of its 11,000 employees and also said it plans to keep hiring worldwide this year.

"With this new no layoffs pledge for its 11,000-plus global workforce, ServiceNow continues to take a leading role in how technology companies are responding to this health crisis by helping its own employees and customers get through these challenging and uncertain times," Shane Driggers, vice president of Global Talent Acquisition at ServiceNow, said in a statement to Business Insider.

The company expects to create and fill more than 1,000 new jobs in the US and more worldwide by the end of the year, Driggers says.

"We are leaning into hiring for engineering and sales roles as well as other functions across the business," Driggers said.

Splunk is still hiring for a number of positions across the organization, a spokesperson told Business Insider. Open roles include positions in engineering, sales, finance, accounting, and information technology.

Square is still hiring and focusing on roles like software engineering, data science, product design, sales, marketing, operations, and finance, a spokesperson told Business Insider.

"We are continuing to hire in the US and internationally, focusing on roles that we believe will be the most important to our customers and our business in the coming months," a Square spokesperson said. 

Currently, Square has over 100 open roles. 

Twilio is still hiring across the board and not slowing down, a company spokesperson told Business Insider. There are still open roles in engineering, services, sales, product, and more.

Intel has slowed down external hiring, a spokesperson said. "We have slowed external hiring, but we currently have approximately 1000 open positions that we are actively hiring for."

Atlassian is still hiring across the board, a spokesperson confirmed. This past March was its strongest month of hiring in its history, the company said, as it brought on about 200 new hires. At the end of March, Atlassian had 4,457 employees.

Zendesk is still hiring roles that are "key to our business," but "deprioritizing" the ones that are not as critical.

Zendesk is still hiring roles that are "key to our business," but "deprioritizing" the ones that are not as critical, a Zendesk spokesperson said.

"In response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, Zendesk has been focused on helping our employees, customers, and community at large navigate their immediate needs and plan for the future in this new world," the spokesperson told Business Insider.

The spokesperson said that Zendesk is continuously looking at how to manage its operations to become more efficient and productive, while minimizing disruption to customers. 

"This is standard for all businesses that are looking at their immediate and long-term strategies in order to position themselves for growth," the spokesperson said. "We believe in the strength of our business and our employees, and the resiliency of our customer base, and are in a good position to weather this crisis and emerge as a better, stronger company."

• Dating apps like Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge have reported increased use amid the coronavirus pandemic, while touting virtual dating alternatives for users instead of meeting up in person.
• Swaths of users are still encouraging matches to break quarantine to have sex and go on dates, despite social distancing guidelines and fines to comply with them.
• An illustrator on Instagram has been collecting screenshots of these situations, and told Business Insider that users will brand themselves as "badasses," dispute the effectiveness of isolating, and lash out in anger and hurl abusive language when they're rejected.
• Spokespeople for Grindr, Tinder and Bumble told Business Insider they've informed users to adhere to social-distancing guidelines, but did not respond to inquiries about actions they're taking against users in places where violating lockdown orders can be against the law.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

As millions remain confined to their homes to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the desire for human contact and connection has risen dramatically and led some to search for ways to break those social distancing rules.

Popular dating apps — including Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge — have reported significant increases during the outbreak of swiping activity, matches between users, and messages exchanged. It's also led to the introduction of a breed of users who are interested in shirking lockdown orders, and are encouraging their matches to join them in doing the same.

Dating app users have shared stories across social media, and recently with Mashable, about messages they've received from matches who ask them to come over or want to hook up. Artist Samantha Rothenberg, who uses the handle @violetclair on Instagram, has been collecting these screenshots from followers, and told Business Insider she's received close to a thousand of such stories.

"Because of how common it is, I can honestly say that anyone who is on a dating app right now has dealt with this," Rothenberg told Business Insider. "People are horny, and a lot of people are putting that ahead of the risk and the danger."

For dating platforms whose end goal is inherently to bring its millions of users together in real life, the coronavirus outbreak has put them in a curious predicament. Dating apps are forced to balance a desire to keep people on their platform for the sake of business, with a moral responsibility to discourage users to engage in behavior with potential life-or-death implications.

Since the start of the outbreak, apps have rolled out in-app virtual dating options and touted ways users can go on virtual dates. However, the prevalence of users who are trying to meet up in person, as documented by Rothenberg and screenshots across social media, raise questions about whether these dating platforms are doing enough to stymie such behavior in the time of coronavirus.

Rothenberg has long collected screenshots of users' horror stories from dating app interactions, which she often will depict in illustrations she posts to her Instagram account. But ever since the pandemic led states to instill lockdown orders starting in March, nearly all of the screenshots she's received have had to do with coronavirus.

These lockdown-violating users fall into a few general categories, according to Rothenberg. There's the users who try to paint themselves as "badasses" for breaking the rules, though Rothenberg says they're more like "a--holes." There are the matches who propose meeting up and, after getting rejected, reverse course to say they're were joking or "testing" you, she says. You'll also encounter the anti-quarantine user, whose reasoning is based on claims about herd immunity and the ineffectiveness of social distancing measures.

The last group is made up of users who react to "no" with anger and verbal abuse, Rothenberg told Business Insider. Women told Mashable recently about encounters with men on dating apps who badgered and harassed them after they turned down in-person meetings, going to the point of gaslighting.

These types of users are what led Rothenberg to launch a petition on Change.org to hold dating apps responsible for enforcing social distancing guidelines during the pandemic. She's also been active about calling out dating apps in her Instagram Stories she posts with screenshots she receives.

"People are angry, they tell me, 'can you believe this, this is disgusting, this is wrong,'" Rothenberg said. "Because I have this platform, I feel I have a bit of a responsibility to put these [stories] out in the open and share, and bring some light into what's going on out there to people who may not know."

In late March, platforms sent out various messages and alerts to their users that Rothenberg documented on Instagram. A message to Bumble users from CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd said: "Please don't meet your Bumble matches IRL for now." Hinge users were told to "stay safe and keep connected."

Tinder, arguably the most well-know dating app, also discouraged users to meet up in a platform-wide message sent March 26.

"We know there's a lot to stay to each other as we all do our best to stay healthy and prevent the spread of the coronavirus," the message from Tinder said. "We hope to be a place for connecting during this challenging time, but it's important to stress that now is not the time to meet IRL with your match."

Dating apps' responsibilities to pivot from IRL to TXT

As companies across industries adjust business to stay afloat, dating apps have transitioned to emphasize alternatives to in-person meetups. Although online dating success has long been measured by the amount of conversations that turn to real-life connections, platforms are forced to rethink their strategy as users continue turning to them en masse. A poll conducted by Hinge found that 70% of its users said they were open to going on dates on Zoom, FaceTime, and other video platforms.

Some dating brands have introduced new features amid the pandemic. Hinge launched "Date from Home" in April, where users can indicate to a match they're ready to move their conversation off-app. Plenty of Fish started rolling out a livestreaming feature in March to users in the U.S. to allow matches to go on short virtual dates. Tinder, relatively late to the game, announced this week it was launching a video chat feature by the end of June.

A spokesperson for Match Group — the parent company on Tinder, Hinge, Plenty of Fish, and other dating platforms — told Business Insider that it made updates to its products "to help users better navigate stay-from-home policies and date digitally via phone or video."

Other apps that already enabled video chat and voice call, like The League and Bumble, are pushing these features to their users more than ever. 

But while users on these dating apps are swiping and messaging at new highs, the transition to virtual-only hasn't been as seamless for those on Grindr, the most popular dating app for gay men. Steve, a 26-year-old living in Washington, D.C., told Business Insider that activity on Grindr is "completely dead." He said he doesn't check the app nearly as often any more, but messages he does get on the app are largely from people who say they want to meet up despite the quarantine.

Grindr, like other apps, has attempted to pivot to virtual dating: The platform recently introduced Circles, where groups of up to 20 users can join chats centered around certain topics and interests. However, Steve said he's seen these groups largely dissolve into "all d--k pics."

"I dont think Grindr has the ability to rebrand itself honestly at this point for something other than hookups," Steve said. "They tried to take the opportunity to rebrand itself as something else, and it just right away became sexual."

A Grindr spokesperson told Business Insider it had sent in-app notifications to all users asking them to "refrain from in-person meetings right now."Nonetheless, an app-wide message sent to users — and shared by users on Twitter — made no mention of asking users to social distance. 

For users across these dating apps who encourage the violating of social distancing guidelines, it's unclear how much responsibility platforms have to keep their users' indoors. In some states under lockdown, authorities have doled out fines and even arrested residents found failing to follow at-home guidelines.

Grindr, Bumble and Match Group — the parent company of Tinder, Hinge, Plenty of Fish and others — told Business Insider in statements they have encouraged users to adhere to coronavirus guidelines from the World Health Organization and the Center for Disease Control.

None of the companies responded to Business Insider's requests for comment about whether asking to violate social-distancing guidelines on the platforms is a breach of policy or would garner any ban or suspension on a user.

SEE ALSO: What you need to know about Grimes, the Canadian musician who just had a baby with tech billionaire Elon Musk

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• Facebook is taking a harder line on misinformation related to coronavirus than it has on other health topics in the past.
• This decision may increase the pressure on the company to act more decisively against other forms of harmful falsehoods that spread on its social networks.
• Facebook is banning events that promote flouting lockdown protests, and is removing the conspiracy theory video "Plandemic."
• But false claims that vaccines are dangerous still proliferate on Facebook — even though they contribute to the deaths of children.

Amid the pandemic, Facebook is taking a harder line on misinformation than it has in the past. That decision may come back to haunt it.

As coronavirus has wreaked havoc across the globe, forcing lockdowns and disrupting economies, false information and hoaxes have spread like wildfire on social media. Miracle cures, intentional disinformation about government policies, and wild claims that Bill Gates orchestrated the entire health crisis abound.

In the past, Facebook has been heavily criticised for failing to take action to stop its platform being used to facilitate the spread of misinformation. To be sure, coronavirus falsehoods are still easily found on Facebook — but the company has taken more decisive action than in previous years:

• For starters, Facebook is now displaying warning messages to people who have shared false information about COVID-19. They're imperfect — Stat reported that they may be too vague in their wording to have a major impact — but it's a step further than Facebook has taken on misinformation in the past.
• The company is also taking down event pages for events that reject mainstream science on coronavirus by calling on people to flout lockdown rules.
• And it is banning "Plandemic," a conspiratorial video about coronavirus that has been going viral on social media and contains numerous falsehoods.

But Facebook's actions to combat COVID-19 misinformation may backfire — in the sense that it has the potential to dramatically increase pressure on the company to take stronger action against other forms of misinformation.

The company has long struggled with how to handle fake news and hoaxes; historically, its approach is not to delete them, but to try to artificially stifle their reach via algorithmic tweaks. Despite this, pseudoscience, anti-government conspiracy theories, and other falsehoods still abound on the social network.

Facebook has now demonstrated that it is willing to take more decisive action on misinformation, when the stakes are high enough. Its critics may subsequently ask why it is so reticent to combat the issue when it causes harm in other areas — particularly around other medical misinformation.

One expected defence for Facebook? That it is focused on taking down content that causes "imminent harm," and while COVID-19 misinformation falls into that category, lots of other sorts of falsehoods don't.

However, using "imminence" as the barometer of acceptability is dubious: Vaccine denialism directly results in the deaths of babies and children. That this harm isn't "imminent" doesn't make it any less dangerous — but, for now, such material is freely posted on Facebook.

Far-right conspiracy theories like Pizzagate, and more recent, Qanon, have also spread on Facebook — stoking baseless fears of shadowy cabals secretly controlling the government. These theories don't intrinsically incite harm, but have been linked to multiple acts of violence, from a Pizzagate believer firing his weapon in a pizza parlour to the Qanon-linked killing of a Gambino crime boss. (Earlier this week, Facebook did take down some popular QAnon pages — but for breaking its rules on fake profiles, rather than disinformation.)

And Facebook is still full of groups rallying against 5G technology, making evidence-free claims about its health effects (and now, sometimes linking it to coronavirus in a messy web). These posts exist on a continuum, with believers at the extreme end attempting to burn down radio towers and assault technicians; Facebook does take down such incitements to violence, but the more general fearmongering that can act as a gateway to more extreme action remains.

This week, Facebook announced the first 20 members of its Oversight Board — a "Supreme Court"-style entity that will review reports from users make rulings as to what objectionable content is and isn't allowed on Facebook and Instagram, with — in theory — the power to overrule the company. It remains to be seen whether its decisions may affect the company's approach for misinformation, and it still needs to appoint the rest of its members and get up and running.

For now, limits remain in place as to what Facebook will countenance in its fight against coronavirus-specific misinformation.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company would immediately take down posts advertising dangerous false cures to COVID-19, like drinking bleach. It is "obviously going to create imminent harm," he said in March. "That is just in a completely different class of content than the back-and-forth accusations a candidate might make in an election."

But in April, President Donald Trump suggested that people might try injecting a "disinfectant" as a cure, which both has the potential to be extremely harmful, and will not cure coronavirus.

Facebook is not taking down video of his comments.

Do you work at Facebook? Contact Business Insider reporter Rob Price via encrypted messaging app Signal (+1 650-636-6268), encrypted email (robaeprice@protonmail.com), standard email (rprice@businessinsider.com), Telegram/Wickr/WeChat (robaeprice), or Twitter DM (@robaeprice). We can keep sources anonymous. Use a non-work device to reach out. PR pitches by standard email only, please.

SEE ALSO: Facebook announced the first 20 members of its oversight board that will decide what controversial content is allowed on Facebook and Instagram

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• The $400 iPhone SE stands out for its fast performance, compact design, and effective camera.
• Still, the iPhone SE is lacking some of the camera features found on similarly priced Android rivals.
• Overall, the phone is best suited for Apple loyalists upgrading from an older device like the iPhone 6S that want something affordable and familiar.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Apple's iPhone SE is unlike any iPhone Apple has released in the past two years. In fact, it looks a lot more like the the iPhone you probably remember from 2017 and earlier, back when iPhones still had home buttons and smaller-sized screens.

I switched from the $1,000 iPhone 11 Pro to Apple's new iPhone SE recently, and overall I've found it to be a solid option for Apple fans looking for a cheap, portable device. The smaller and lighter size is easy to manage and operate with one hand, and Touch ID brings some convenience that Face ID can lack. 

But of course, since it's significantly cheaper than the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro, it's lacking in some areas. It doesn't have an ultra-wide-angle camera or low-light photography capabilities, for example, even though similarly priced Android devices offer some of those features.

After spending a couple of weeks with Apple's cheapest iPhone, here are my favorite (and least favorite) things about it.  

SEE ALSO: Apple is expected to release a new Apple Watch this fall — here are the features we want to see

The iPhone SE runs on Apple's latest iPhone processor, which makes it feel snappy and fast.

The iPhone SE runs on Apple's A3 Bionic processor, the same chip that powers the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro. As a result, the iPhone SE feels snappy and fast in daily use.

I found this to be especially true when switching from my old iPhone 8 to the SE. In most cases, it was able to launch apps, render 4K video clips, and find surfaces more quickly in augmented reality than Apple's more-than-two-year-old iPhone 8.

That being said, the iPhone SE is pretty similar to the iPhone 8 in just about every other way, save for a few exceptions. It's best suited for those upgrading from an iPhone 7 or older. 

The A13 Bionic is the major advantage the iPhone SE has over similarly-priced Android phones, many of which may offer more sophisticated cameras but run on less powerful processors. 

It's small and compact, which means it's easier to use with one hand and fit into pockets.

The iPhone SE is the most compact iPhone Apple has released in years. It has a 4.7-inch screen just like the iPhone 8, and weighs noticeably less than the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro.

The iPhone SE weighs 5.22 ounces, while the iPhone 11 weighs 6.84 ounces and the iPhone 11 Pro weighs 6.63 ounces. 

It's also the only iPhone Apple sells that comes with a Touch ID home button.

Although I've grown accustomed to swiping up from the home screen to return home and unlocking my phone just by looking at it, I've really appreciated having Touch ID again.

Apple's fingerprint sensor sometimes works a bit faster than Face ID in my experience when unlocking my phone. And since Face ID works best when held directly in front of your face, I often have to physically pick up my phone to unlock it when using the iPhone 11 Pro. 

With the iPhone SE, by comparison, I can unlock my phone just by resting a finger on the home button without having to move the device. It's a small convenience, but one that I've come to appreciate.

The camera quality is good for the price.

The iPhone SE has a single 12-megapixel camera that supports Portrait Mode and all six lighting effects that go with it. Overall, the camera system is very similar to the one found on Apple's iPhone XR from 2018.

You won't get the more advanced photography features found on Apple's newer iPhone models, but you won't be disappointed by the SE's camera either. During my time with the phone, I've found that it takes sharp, crisp images that may not be as vibrant as the ones taken on the iPhone 11 Pro, but are in some cases an improvement over the iPhone 8.

But the camera is lacking compared to some similarly priced Android phones.

Given its cheap price, it's reasonable to think that the iPhone SE wouldn't come with all of the capabilities of the iPhone 11 or 11 Pro.

But that hasn't stopped some Android phone makers from bringing features like low-light photography, multi-lens camera systems, and ultra-wide-angle lenses to their devices. Google, Samsung, and TCL all offer compelling smartphones with more feature-rich photography capabilities at similar price points as the iPhone SE.  

The iPhone SE's design also feels a bit antiquated compared to modern smartphones.

While I appreciate the portability of the iPhone SE's design, its appearance does feel a bit outdated compared to other modern smartphones. Other affordable Android phones, like the $400 Samsung Galaxy A51 and $400 Google Pixel 3a, still offer screens with much smaller bezels for around the same price.  

And the battery life leaves me wanting more.

I usually get roughly one full work day out of the iPhone SE, which is acceptable given its low price. But when switching from a more expensive phone like the iPhone 11 Pro, I often found myself scrambling to plug in my phone after work hours.

Battery life will always vary depending on how you use your phone. During the workday, I tend to take a lot of phone calls, leave my screen on for long periods of time to avoid missing work notifications, and record audio frequently. All of these tasks will drain your battery faster than usual, which is why I tend to get more battery life out of the SE on the weekends.

The bottom line is: If you're a power user that's frequently recording video or audio, or running graphics-heavy games, you may want to make sure you have a charger handy or opt for a phone with longer battery life.

So is it right for you?

The iPhone SE is a reliable, affordable choice for Apple fans that want something that feels familiar and won't break the bank. 

You shouldn't expect to get all of the benefits you'd find on a much more expensive phone like the iPhone 11 Pro. But the SE's A13 Bionic chip offers fast performance for the price, and should provide some reassurance that you're phone won't quickly feel outdated in terms of speed. 

• Elon Musk says Tesla may leave its Palo Alto headquarters and Fremont, California factory. 
• In a tweet Saturday morning, the chief executive continued his outrage against shelter-in-place orders that have forced most non-essential businesses to close. 
• Last week, Musk likened the rules to fascism, and urged leaders to "give people their goddamn freedom back." 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

After a week of decrying coronavirus shelter-in-place orders that have left Tesla's main factory shuttered and unable to produce vehicles, Elon Musk says the company may move its factory out of the state.

"Tesla is filing a lawsuit against Alameda County immediately," the chief executive said on Twitter Saturday morning. "The unelected & ignorant 'Interim Health Officer' of Alameda is acting contrary to the Governor, the President, our Constitutional freedoms & just plain common sense!"

That was followed up with a threat to move Tesla's headquarters outside the state.

"Frankly, this is the final straw," he replied. "Tesla will now move its HQ and future programs to Texas/Nevada immediately. If we even retain Fremont manufacturing activity at all, it will be dependent on how Tesla is treated in the future. Tesla is the last carmaker left in CA."

It wasn't immediately clear if a suit had yet been filed, or in which court Tesla will file the lawsuit. Most state and federal courts are closed on weekends and do not allow filing. In a subsequent Tweet, Musk alsourged shareholders to file a class action suit for damages caused by shutdown. 

Tesla's press relations department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Alameda County did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Alameda County — the East Bay locale which includes Fremont, California, and Tesla's gigafactory about 30 miles southeast of San Francisco — extended its shelter-in-place order on April 29 "until further notice." Local authorities have not allowed Tesla to reopen the factory, and all manufacturing remains prohibited under the order.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Tesla was planning to resume some manufacturing operations at the factory as soon as last Wednesday, May 6. Local officials said it did not have permission to do so.

"Right now, the same health order is in place so nothing has changed," Fremont Police Department spokeswoman Geneva Bosques told Business Insider at the time. "Operating the assembly line was determined early on to be a violation."

Last week, following Tesla's first-quarter earnings announcement, Musk decried the shutdowns as a substantial risk to the company's financials.

"Frankly, I would call it forcible imprisoning of people in their homes against all of, their constitutional rights, in my opinion," he said on a conference call. "It's breaking people's freedoms in ways that are horrible and wrong and not why they came to America or built this country. What the f---. Excuse me. Outrage. Outrage."

"If somebody wants to stay in their house, that's great and they should be able to," he continued. "But to say they cannot leave their house and that they will be arrested if they do, that's fascist. That is not democratic — this is not freedom. Give people back their goddamn freedom."

Some states, including Texas, Georgia, and others, have begun to slowly allow certain businesses to re-open in recent weeks.

Musk praised counties neighboring Alameda, like San Joaquin for what he said were more "reasonable" responses. In a podcast released May 7, he told Joe Rogan that the company had learned from the coronavirus in China, where it briefly forced Tesla to close its Shanghai factory — a claim he repeated on Twitter Saturday. 

"Our castings foundry and other faculties in San Joaquin have been working 24/7 this entire time with no ill effects. Same with Giga Nevada," Musk said. "Tesla knows far more about what needs to be done to be safe through our Tesla China factory experience than an (unelected) interim junior official in Alameda County." 

As Musk began to complain about factory shutdowns in April, workers at Tesla's Fremont factory told Business Insider that the comments made them anxious.

"I'm for going back to work, but only if it is safe for me, my family, coworkers," said one production employee. "I don't feel like I'm being forced to stay home or that my freedom has been taken away. It's for the good of California."

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HOUSE OF THE WEEK | Former mayor Tom Rust knew what he wanted to build and where he wanted to build it.

Unlike most D.C. galas where the political powerhouses steal the spotlight, drag queens reigned supreme at this shindig.

The former first lady and her A-list friends triumphed over late-night host James Corden and his squad.

In a string of tweets, the actor apologized for retweeting an anti-Semitic meme.

The reality TV star is a wizard at keeping the spotlight exactly where she wants it.

The couple ran Oz, an Australian-themed eatery in Clarendon.

The former press secretary is reportedly writing a book about her tenure — adding to a growing list of White House advisers with stories to sell.

“The transition happens so quickly; it’s like you don’t even get to move your furniture out until the new president takes the oath of office,” Obama told Gayle King in an interview at Essence Festival.

The reality TV star wrote that she and her husband, real estate developer Michael Darby, are "savoring every moment."

The "Alias" actor was diagnosed with the disease as a child.

Despite the potential of, um, awkwardness among the diplomatic core and official Washington, elbows were ripe for rubbing at the French ambassador’s residence.

The reality star and her husband, Kanye West, tapped some high-ranking friends to help the rapper, who has been detained in Sweden.

The "Father of the Bride" star spent two days meeting with lawmakers to press for foreign assistance funding.

President Trump and first lady Melania Trump will host the event in September.

The former first daughter and her spouse welcomed a son on Monday.

The “Saved by the Bell” star later apologized for stirring controversy in a resurfaced interview with conservative Candace Owens.

The NBC personality introduced baby Henry Harold to the world on Monday.