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Fake news no whatsapp whatsapp lawsuit against indian government fake news on whatsapp whatsapp fake message news how to stop fake news on whatsapp fake news on whatsapp latest fake news on whatsapp fake news no whatsapp how to find fake news in whatsapp whatsapp fake news policy whatsapp fines whatsapp fishing
WhatsApp fights fake news with Indian newspaper ads
WhatsApp fights fake news with Indian newspaper ads
WhatsApp took out newspaper ads to combat fake news in India on Tuesday, after rumors sparked the lynching of five men.
WhatsApp
The full-page ads, which ran in English, Hindi and other languages in daily papers, include tips for spotting fake news messages on WhatsApp.
Readers are advised to check if a message has been forwarded -- WhatsApp is rolling out a new feature to help people identify forwarded messages. Beyond that, the ad urges readers to double check facts, links and photos. There's also a warning about viral messages.
"Do not pay attention to the number of times you receive the message," it reads. "Just because a message is shared many times, does not make it true."
"This morning we are starting an education campaign in India on how to spot fake news and rumors. Our first step is placing newspaper advertisements across the country in English, Hindi, and several regional languages. We will build on these efforts going forward," a spokesperson for WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook, said a statement.
India is WhatsApp's largest market, with more than 200 million users sending a billion encrypted messages each day.
Five people were lynched in the western city of Dhule on July 1, after WhatsApp was used to spread a rumor that they were child kidnappers.
Last week, India's justice and information technology minister of India, Ravi Shankar Prasad, tweeted that WhatsApp must focus on "security related aspects" of its operations in the country.
Updated Tuesday 11 July at 00:28 a.m. PST: Adds WhatsApp comment.
WhatsApp, fake news and gadgets : 5 interesting trends in digital news.
Fake news on WhatsApp provokes lynchings in India : Five men murdered when a village thinks a video warning against child abduction shows a real kidnapping.
India's Ratan Tata takes slice of phone maker Xiaomi
India's Ratan Tata takes slice of phone maker Xiaomi
Xiaomi CEO says the investment from Ratan Tata (above) "is an affirmation of the strategy we have undertaken in India so far." Harold Cunningham/Getty Images
One of the most prominent businesspeople in India now owns a small stake in one of the hottest smartphone makers in the world.
Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, the holding company for India-based conglomerate Tata Group, has made an investment in Xiaomi, the China-based handset maker announced Monday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Xiaomi closed a $1.1 billion funding round in December at a $45 billion valuation. Given the valuation, it's unlikely that Tata's investment was sizable enough to give him a large equity stake in the company.
"Xiaomi is one of the fastest-growing companies in the world," Ratan Tata said in a statement. "It has brought its innovative business model and high-quality products to India with huge success."
His investment could be more important from a public relations perspective than from a cash perspective. Indeed, Xiaomi founder and CEO Lei Jun eschewed all mention of what the company would do with the cash, saying instead that Tata's investment "is an affirmation of the strategy we have undertaken in India so far."
Last week, Xiaomi unveiled a flagship smartphone for India, called the Mi 4i. The device, which comes with a 5-inch screen and octa-core processor, is widely viewed as a key first step in Xiaomi's self-professed plan to become the most dominant smartphone maker in the emerging India market. At the end of the fourth quarter, Xiaomi was ranked the fifth-largest smartphone maker in India. Samsung was tops.
The Tata name carries significant weight in India, and having Ratan Tata on Xiaomi's side could help the company and its smartphone gain more traction in the country.
Tata Group, which had $103.3 billion in revenue last year, is a massive conglomerate. The company, which has over 581,000 employees, competes in a range of industries, including communications, technology, engineering, steel and chemicals. It's one of the most well-known companies in India and a prominent player in several industries globally.
India is a crucial country for nearly all handset makers. It has a fast-growing middle class and is adopting technology at a rapid rate. With the potential to target hundreds of millions of people, India represents a massive opportunity for all companies, including those like Xiaomi that have been successful in emerging markets where there is an appetite for higher-end devices priced at a level that budget-conscious shoppers would find appealing.
Even before the Tata announcement was made, Xiaomi attracted customers to its Mi 4i. Xiaomi said in a statement Monday that over 225,000 India customers have registered to buy the Mi 4i. The device launched last week, but due to excessive demand for its products, Xiaomi often uses a registration model to provide customers products on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Whatever the company is doing, it's working. Xiaomi said in January that its pre-tax sales in 2014 topped 74.3 billion yuan ($12.1 billion), up 135 percent from 2013. Xiaomi sold 61 million handsets in 2014, an increase of 227 percent compared to the prior year. Xiaomi is now the third-largest smartphone maker in the world behind Apple and Samsung, despite only selling to a relatively small number of markets, including China, Indonesia and India.
The Best Netflix Documentaries You Absolutely Need to Watch
The Best Netflix Documentaries You Absolutely Need to Watch
Netflix has the best documentaries in the business. Hands down. It might be the best part of the service. But the choice is almost overwhelming. That's why we've made this list: our picks for the best documentaries on Netflix.
Here's how we're breaking things down. We're starting with the latest and best up top, then the rest listed by genre.
Good luck and happy watching!
The Best Documentaries on Netflix
Netflix
Trainwreck: Woodstock '99
Following in the very promising footsteps of Netflix documentaries being leaner, tighter and... better, Trainwreck: Woodstock '99 is a truly horrifying look at what really went on at the notorious Woodstock '99 festival. Quick content warning: Expect to see some truly grotesque discussion of human behavior including rape, looting and arson. This is a truly terrifying watch.
Netflix
Untold (2021)
Untold is the latest from the folks behind Wild Wild Country.
It's a sports documentary series, with each episode going in-depth on controversial sports topics. The first episode focuses on Malice at the Palace, the notorious basketball match where Ron Artest waded into the crowd and wailed on fans back in 2004.
Untold is now in its second season and it is absolute must watch stuff. The new episodes are arguably better than the stellar first season. Maybe the best sports documentary series on Netflix
Netflix
The Most Hated Man on the Internet
Netflix has been on fire with its documentaries lately, and The Most Hated Man on the Internet is the latest. From the producers of Tinder Swindler and Dont F**k with Cats, it's a three-part documentary that tells the story of Hunter Moore, one of the most notorious purveyors of "revenge porn." Definitely worth watching this one.
Netflix
The Girl in the Picture
The Girl in the Picture is the latest true crime documentary from Netflix. It's up there with the service's absolute best work.
It feels like, after a period of needlessly bloated multiepisode documentaries, Netflix has started trimming the fat, releasing lean, incredibly compelling documentaries again. First Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey and Our Father, now this.
The Girl in the Picture tells the story of a young girl, murdered at age 20. To say too much would spoil the impact, but this is a layered, brutal documentary with endless twists. It needs to be seen to be believed.
Netflix
Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey
There are a lot of Netflix documentaries about cults gone mad, but Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey might be the most disturbing of the lot. Unlike Murder Among the Mormons, which almost treated its topic like a screwball comedy, Keep Sweet is a very grim story about a grim human being in Warren Jeffs. It's a fantastic documentary, and among the best Netflix has produced, but it comes with a very hefty content warning.
Netflix
Our Father
As good as Netflix documentaries are, there's been a tendency to drag out true crime into these bloated multiepisode series. Thankfully Our Father is the opposite of that. It's a lean, perfectly executed documentary focused on Donald Cline, an Indiana fertility doctor who used his own sperm to inseminate a ridiculous number of women against their will.
This is an incredible piece, one of those stories that just escalates and escalates to the point where your jaw drops in disbelief.
Netflix
The Staircase (2018)
The true crime documentary genre is utterly saturated at this point, but The Staircase stands out.
Focusing on Michael Peterson and the death of his wife Kathleen, The Staircase is more than just a murder mystery. It's a drawn-out epic that takes place over literal decades, a documentary that follows Peterson and examines his every move, but somehow still remains objective.
It's a good time to watch or revisit this one, since HBO Max has just launched a drama miniseries based on it.
Netflix
Formula 1: Drive to Survive
The absolute gold standard for long-running sports documentaries. Drive to Survive is so good, and so popular, that it's inspired a whole new level of interest in Formula 1, especially in the US. This show is great at elevating the characters that occupy the sport. More shows like this, please.
Netflix
Icarus (2017)
This Oscar-winning documentary is an absolute belter.
Icarus starts out as an expose on the impact performance-enhancing drugs have on sports performance, but a sequence of events drags director Bryan Fogel into a web of geopolitics and conspiracies. To say more would spoil it, but Fogel ultimately has created a documentary that had a very real impact on our perception of sports as a whole. In that respect, Icarus is a literal game changer.
Netflix
Who Killed Little Gregory (2019)
Who Killed Little Gregory is a documentary focused on the horrific murder of Grégory Villemin. It's arguably the best true crime documentary on Netflix. It's about a murder, and attempts to solve that murder, but it's also a lesson in media representation and the horrific sexism Grégory's mother had to face in the wake of her son's murder.
Netflix
The Last Dance (2020)
In 2020, in the midst of a pandemic, Netflix dropped this piece of sports doc perfection.
The Last Dance focuses on the Chicago Bulls during their '97-'98 NBA title-winning season, but really it's a jumping off point for a documentary that tells the life story of its central star, Michael Jordan.
As a result, many criticized it for being a little too Jordan-focused, but The Last Dance was an event documentary that lived up to the hype.
True crime
Netflix
The Keepers (2017)
I've watched plenty of true crime documentaries on Netflix, but nothing has come close to The Keepers. A staggering story, told across generations, that's respectful of the victims, yet compelling throughout.
It's a story about the unsolved murder of Catherine Cesnik, a nun who taught at a Catholic school in Baltimore, but The Keepers goes further than you might expect and exposes a potential coverup of sex abuse allegations.
Michael Putland/Getty Images
Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story
It's almost impossible to overstate how famous Jimmy Savile was in the UK -- particularly in the 1980s. He was beyond a household name, in many ways he felt like an eccentric uncle to the nation.
Which made revelations that he had sexually assaulted hundreds of underage girls and boys all the more horrific. This was a person the whole of Britain had invited into their homes.
Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story does a great job of going through the archives, combining footage that is utterly bizarre in hindsight, and adding fantastic interviews with some of the major players in British TV during Savile's heyday. A fascinating, albeit disturbing documentary. Be warned: This is a difficult watch.
Netflix
The Tinder Swindler (2022)
A documentary focused on Shimon Hayut, aka the "Tinder Swindler," a conman who used dating apps to defraud multiple women across Europe to fund a lavish lifestyle.
A slightly different topic compared to most true crime documentaries on Netflix. Definitely worth a gander.
Netflix
House of Secrets: The Burari Deaths (2021)
One of the more recent true crime documentaries from Netflix, this is a good one.
Focusing on the bizarre deaths of 11 family members in one house in Burari, Delhi, India in 2018, House of Secrets delves into the theories behind of the strangest suicide/murder cases in recent memory. Unmissable stuff.
Netflix
This Is a Robbery (2021)
This Is a Robbery is about Netflix as it gets. A four-part series focusing on the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, this is essentially a documentary about an art heist. Remember Evil Genius? (Which is also on this list.) This Is a Robbery is very much in that style. The first episode takes a while to get going, but be patient -- this one has a payoff.
Netflix
Murder Among the Mormons (2021)
Some of Netflix's more recent true crime documentaries have been a bit bloated and... sorta bad?
Thankfully Murder Among the Mormons is a return to form. Definitely watch this one.
Netflix
American Murder: The Family Next Door (2020)
There are a lot of true crime documentaries out there (and on this list) but American Murder: The Family Next Door sticks out.
It tells the story of Chris Watts, a seemingly regular guy who murdered his wife and children. The access to footage is staggering and it's edited and produced in a unique way, using text messages and social media posts to tell the story. It's a horrific reminder of the banal, incredibly common existence of domestic violence.
Netflix
Making a Murderer (2015-2018)
With the swath of true crime documentaries and podcasts that came in its wake, it's easy to forget that the world once lost its collective mind over Making a Murderer. In a lot of ways it created the template that many Netflix documentaries now follow. A real original.
Sports
Netflix
Athlete A (2020)
Athlete A is a great feature length expose on Larry Nassar, the team doctor of USA Gymnastics, who had been sexually abusing female athletes for decades.
Be warned: This one is harrowing.
Netflix
14 Peaks (2021)
14 Peaks tells the story of the Nepalese mountaineer Nimsdai Purja and his goal of climbing all 14 mountains above the height of 8,000 meters (26,000 feet) in one year. It's incredible. Must-watch stuff.
Netflix
Bad Sport (2021)
Netflix might have burned the true crime documentary into the ground, but it's on fire when it comes to sports. Bad Sport is the latest entry into this burgeoning subcategory, and it's awesome. Focusing on strange controversies in sports history, Bad Sport is less about major players doing major things, it's about what happens when sport goes bad, gets down in the dirt. All of these episodes are great. Hoping for a season 2.
Netflix
The River Runner (2021)
The River Runner is sorta like Free Solo for kayaking. Consider that a compliment.
Focusing on Scott Lindgren, a kayaking legend who was a pioneer of the sport, this is a traditional story of an extreme sports star overcoming odds, but it runs a little deeper than that. Fighting against a brain tumor and his own personal demons, Lindgren is a compelling case study. Must watch stuff.
Netflix
Naomi Osaka (2021)
Naomi Osaka has become one of the most famous and talked-about athletes on the planet. This fascinating documentary explores different phases of her career and offers incredible access into the life of a young woman struggling with the pressures of sport and fame. A must-watch.
Netflix
The Speed Cubers (2020)
If you're looking for a slightly more uplifting documentary, you could do far worse than The Speed Cubers, a look at the world of competitive... Rubik's Cubers? It's short, but packs an incredible emotional punch. Prepare yourself, this one might break you.
Nature/science
Netflix
Seaspiracy (2021)
Seaspiracy follows in the footsteps of multiple documentaries focused on the impact of meat eating on the environment. This time the global fishing industry is in the crosshairs. As expected this one has stirred up a bit of controversy from all stakeholders -- PETA, Greenpeace and conservation groups can't seem to agree if Seaspiracy is accurate or fair. Watch it and make up your own mind.
Netflix
My Octopus Teacher (2020)
My Octopus Teacher follows Craig Foster, a filmmaker who spent a year snorkeling and interacting with an octopus off the coast of South Africa. It's a nature film, sure, but it's simultaneously a documentary designed to inspire awe in the viewer. In short, octopuses are incredible. Little aliens on Earth, essentially. This is the story of a relationship between humans and nature, but it's also an inspiring call to action: Don't ignore the wonder that exists all around you.
Netflix
Our Great National Parks
Barack Obama is making a beeline for David Attenborough's job. And we don't hate the idea!
Our Great National Parks is a world-class nature documentary in the style of great BBC shows like Planet Earth. They've nailed it here. If you're a fan of that type of show, this is completely unmissable.
Netflix
Our Planet (2019)
David Attenborough nature documentaries are so pervasive, they're vulnerable to self parody, but Our Planet is -- I believe -- the high watermark. Only Planet Earth, another Attenborough doc, comes close. But I prefer this one.
Netflix
Tiger King (2020-21)
Time may dull its impact, but when Tiger King was first released on Netflix, the entire world couldn't stop talking about it.
Tiger King explores the strange underbelly of big cat breeding, focusing on a cast of unforgettable (and ultimately dangerous) characters. It drags its audience to weird places. Season 2 is now available and while the show has lost a lot of its bite, it's intriguing to catch up with this cast of wild human beings doing wild, completely outlandish things.
Politics/history
Netflix
13th (2016)
13th by Ava Duvernay is a staggering documentary that tells the story of American slavery and its long-lasting impacts, many of which still resonate today.
In the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement, this should be mandatory viewing.
Netflix
The Great Hack (2019)
In the wake of the Capitol siege, the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica controversy almost feels like ancient history, but that doesn't make this documentary any less important. If you haven't seen it, then watch it.
Netflix
Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal (2021)
Recently released, Operations Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal has a name as long as some of Netflix's recent documentaries. Thankfully, this isn't as bloated as, say, the recent Cecil Hotel doc, but it could still use some trimming.
Operation Varsity Blues focused on the FBI investigation into college admissions that put actress Felicity Huffman into jail. Its director, Chris Smith, previously worked on the Fyre Festival documentary. This isn't quite as compelling, but is still well worth watching.
Sundance
Knock Down the House (2019)
Regardless of your views on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Knock Down the House is an incredible underdog story that cannot be missed. Focusing on progressive female candidates during the 2018 congressional primary campaigns, it's an insightful look at the democratic process. It's an inspiring reminder that we need to fight in order to make the voices of ordinary people count.
Netflix
What Happened, Miss Simone? (2015)
Not gonna say much here. Nina Simone is a legend and this is maybe one of the best documentaries I've ever seen.
Netflix
Wild Wild Country (2018)
Overlong and bloated, Wild Wild Country is nevertheless one of the most fascinating documentaries I've ever watched on Netflix.
It tells the story of Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, who attempted to build a gigantic sprawling commune, for what was essentially a sex cult, in the United States. It's a strange story that somehow becomes stranger with age. Much like Tiger King, the story plumbs depths you won't believe. At times it's a slog, but Wild Wild Country is absolutely worthwhile.
Netflix
Five Came Back (2017)
I absolutely adore this documentary. Five current acclaimed directors (including Steven Spielberg and Francis Ford Coppola) help tell the story of five famous movie directors from the '30s and '40s who did frontline work during the Second World War. It wraps their legacies alongside the impact of the war itself into a truly compelling story of Hollywood's golden age.
Netflix
American Factory (2019)
An Oscar winner for Netflix, this documentary is the first produced by Barack and Michelle Obama's Higher Ground Productions team.
American Factory tells the story of Fuyao, a Chinese company that built a factory in Ohio that inhabits a now-closed General Motors plant. You have to watch this movie.
Netflix
Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich (2020)
By this point we all have some sort of understanding of Jeffrey Epstein's story but Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich does itself a great service by focusing on the stories of the survivors of his abuse.
The Cinemart/Hulu
Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened (2019)
Hulu also has a great Fyre festival documentary, but I prefer this Netflix one. Unlike many Netflix documentaries, which are stretched and bloated into multipart episodes, this documentary is sharp, direct and solid gold the entire way through.
Pegasus Spyware and Citizen Surveillance: Here's What You Should Know
Pegasus Spyware and Citizen Surveillance: Here's What You Should Know
For digital spying technology, it's a doozy of a case. Security researchers have revealed evidence of attempted or successful installations of Pegasus, software made by Israel-based cybersecurity company NSO Group, on phones belonging to activists, rights workers, journalists and businesspeople. They appear to have been targets of secret surveillance by software that's intended to help governments pursue criminals and terrorists, and as the months go by, more and more Pegasus infections are emerging.
The most recent revelation is that Pegasus infected the phones of at least 30 Thai activists, according to a July report from Citizen Lab, a Canadian security organization at the University of Toronto. Apple warned those with infected phones in November.
To try to thwart such attacks, Apple has built a new Lockdown Mode into iOS 16, its iPhone software update due to arrive later in 2022, and into its upcoming MacOS Ventura.
The US government is one of the most powerful forces unleashed against Pegasus — even though the CIA and FBI were Pegasus customers, as reported by The New York Times in January. The US Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation, The Guardian said in February, after a whistleblower said NSO Group offered "bags of cash" for sensitive mobile phone data from a US tech firm, Mobileum. The spyware was found on the phones of at least nine State Department officials who were either based in Uganda or involved in matters associated with the African country, Reuters and The New York Times reported in December.
Pegasus is the latest example of how vulnerable we all are to digital prying. Our phones store our most personal information, including photos, text messages and emails. Spyware can reveal directly what's going on in our lives, bypassing the encryption that protects data sent over the internet.
Pegasus has been a politically explosive issue that's put Israel under pressure from activists and from governments worried about misuse of the software. In November, the US federal government took much stronger action, blocking sale of US technology to NSO by putting the company on the government's Entity List. NSO has suspended some countries' Pegasus privileges but has sought to defend its software and the controls it tries to place on its use. NSO Group didn't respond to a request for comment, and the Justice Department declined to comment.
Here's what you need to know about Pegasus.
What is NSO Group?
It's an Israel-based company that licenses surveillance software to government agencies. The company says its Pegasus software provides a valuable service because encryption technology has allowed criminals and terrorists to go "dark." The software runs secretly on smartphones, shedding light on what their owners are doing. Other companies provide similar software.
Hulio co-founded the company in 2010. NSO also offers other tools that locate where a phone is being used, defend against drones and mine law enforcement data to spot patterns.
NSO has been implicated by previous reports and lawsuits in other hacks, including a reported hack of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in 2018. A Saudi dissident sued the company in 2018 for its alleged role in hacking a device belonging to journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who had been murdered inside the Saudi embassy in Turkey that year.
New Yorker coverage details some of NSO Group's inner workings, including its argument that Pegasus is similar to military equipment that countries routinely sell to other countries, the company's tight ties to the Israeli government and its recent financial difficulties. It also revealed that NSO employees posted on the wall a detailed Google analysis of one Pegasus attack mechanism that concludes its NSO's abilities "rival those previously thought to be accessible to only a handful of nation states."
In the case of the Thai activists, NSO Group didn't comment specifically but told the Washington Post, "Politically motivated organizations continue to make unverifiable claims against NSO."
What is Pegasus?
Pegasus is NSO's best-known product. It can be installed remotely without a surveillance target ever having to open a document or website link, according to The Washington Post. Pegasus reveals all to the NSO customers who control it — text messages, photos, emails, videos, contact lists — and can record phone calls. It can also secretly turn on a phone's microphone and cameras to create new recordings, The Washington Post said.
General security practices like updating your software and using two-factor authentication can help keep mainstream hackers at bay, but protection is really hard when expert, well-funded attackers concentrate their resources on an individual. And Pegasus installations have employed "zero click" attacks that take advantage of vulnerabilities in software like Apple Messages or Meta's WhatsApp to silently install software.
Pegasus isn't supposed to be used to go after activists, journalists and politicians. "NSO Group licenses its products only to government intelligence and law enforcement agencies for the sole purpose of preventing and investigating terror and serious crime," the company says on its website. "Our vetting process goes beyond legal and regulatory requirements to ensure the lawful use of our technology as designed."
Human rights group Amnesty International, however, documents in detail how it traced compromised smartphones to NSO Group. Citizen Lab said it independently validated Amnesty International's conclusions after examining phone backup data and since 2021 has expanded its Pegasus investigations.
In September, though, Apple fixed a security hole that Pegasus exploited for installation on iPhones. Malware often uses collections of such vulnerabilities to gain a foothold on a device and then expand privileges to become more powerful. NSO Group's software also runs on Android phones.
Why is Pegasus in the news?
Forbidden Stories, a Paris journalism nonprofit, and Amnesty International, a human rights group, shared with 17 news organizations a list of more than 50,000 phone numbers for people believed to be of interest to NSO customers.
The news sites confirmed the identities of many of the individuals on the list and infections on their phones. Of data from 67 phones on the list, 37 exhibited signs of Pegasus installation or attempted installation, according to The Washington Post. Of those 37 phones, 34 were Apple iPhones.
The list of 50,000 phone numbers included 10 prime ministers, three presidents and a king, according to an international investigation released in mid-July by The Washington Post and other media outlets, though there's no proof that being on the list means an NSO attack was attempted or successful.
The episode hasn't helped Apple's reputation when it comes to device security. "We take any attack on our users very seriously," Federighi said. The company said it'll donate $10 million and any damages from the lawsuit to organizations that are advocating for privacy and are pursuing research on online surveillance. That's a drop in the bucket for Apple, which reported a profit of $20.5 billion for its most recent quarter, but it can be significant for much smaller organizations, like Citizen Lab.
Whose phones did Pegasus infect?
In April, Citizen Lab also revealed that Pegasus infected the phones of at least 51 people in the Catalonia region of Spain. NSO Group Chief Executive Shalev Hulio told The New Yorker, which covered the hacks in depth, that Spain has procedures to ensure such use is legal, but Citizen Lab said Pegasus attacks targeted the phone of Jordi Solé, a pro-independence member of the European Parliament, digital security researcher Elies Campo and Campo's parents, according to the New Yorker. Catalonia is seeking political independence from Spain, but Spanish police have cracked down on the independence movement.
In addition to Mangin, two journalists at Hungarian investigative outlet Direkt36 had infected phones, The Guardian reported.
A Pegasus attack was launched on the phone of Hanan Elatr, wife of murdered Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi, The Washington Post said, though it wasn't clear if the attack succeeded. But the spyware did make it onto the phone of Khashoggi's fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, shortly after his death.
Seven people in India were found with infected phones, including five journalists and one adviser to the opposition party critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, The Washington Post said.
And six people working for Palestinian human rights groups had Pegasus-infected phones, Citizen Lab reported in November.
What are the consequences of the Pegasus situation?
The US cut off NSO Group as a customer of US products, a serious move given that the company needs computer processors, phones and developer tools that often come from US companies. NSO "supplied spyware to foreign governments" that used it to maliciously target government officials, journalists, businesspeople, activists, academics and embassy workers. These tools have also enabled foreign governments to conduct transnational repression," the Commerce Department said.
Apple sued NSO Group in November, seeking to bar the company's software from being used on Apple devices, require NSO to locate and delete any private data its app collected, and disclose the profits from the operations. "Private companies developing state-sponsored spyware have become even more dangerous," said Apple software chief Craig Federighi. That suit came after Meta's WhatsApp sued NSO Group in 2019.
French President Emmanuel Macron changed one of his mobile phone numbers and requested new security checks after his number appeared on the list of 50,000 numbers, Politico reported. He convened a national security meeting to discuss the issue. Macron also raised Pegasus concerns with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, calling for the country to investigate NSO and Pegasus, The Guardian reported. The Israeli government must approve export licenses for Pegasus.
Israel created a review commission to look into the Pegasus situation. And on July 28, Israeli defense authorities inspected NSO offices in person.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said if the allegations are verified, that Pegasus use is "completely unacceptable." She added, "Freedom of media, free press is one of the core values of the EU."
The Nationalist Congress Party in India demanded an investigation of Pegasus use.
Edward Snowden, who in 2013 leaked information about US National Security Agency surveillance practices, called for a ban on spyware sales in an interview with The Guardian. He argued that such tools otherwise will soon be used to spy on millions of people. "When we're talking about something like an iPhone, they're all running the same software around the world. So if they find a way to hack one iPhone, they've found a way to hack all of them," Snowden said.
What does NSO have to say about this?
NSO acknowledges its software can be misused. It cut off two customers in recent 12 months because of concerns about human rights abuses, according to The Washington Post. "To date, NSO has rejected over US $300 million in sales opportunities as a result of its human rights review processes," the company said in a June transparency report.
However, NSO strongly challenges any link to the list of phone numbers. "There is no link between the 50,000 numbers to NSO Group or Pegasus," the company said in a statement.
"Every allegation about misuse of the system is concerning me," Hulio told the Post. "It violates the trust that we give customers. We are investigating every allegation."
In a statement, NSO denied "false claims" about Pegasus that it said were "based on misleading interpretation of leaked data." Pegasus "cannot be used to conduct cybersurveillance within the United States," the company added.
Regarding the alleged infection of State Department phones, NSO Group didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. But it told Reuters it canceled relevant accounts, is investigating, and will take legal action if it finds misuse.
NSO will try to reverse the US government's sanction. "We look forward to presenting the full information regarding how we have the world's most rigorous compliance and human rights programs that are based the American values we deeply share, which already resulted in multiple terminations of contacts with government agencies that misused our products," an NSO spokesperson said.
In the past, NSO had also blocked Saudi Arabia, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and some Mexican government agencies from using the software, The Washington Post reported.
How can I tell if my phone has been infected?
Amnesty International released an open-source utility called MVT (Mobile Verification Toolkit) that's designed to detect traces of Pegasus. The software runs on a personal computer and analyzes data including backup files exported from an iPhone or Android phone.
Facebook-owned WhatsApp launches new WhatsApp Business app
Facebook-owned WhatsApp launches new WhatsApp Business app
WhatsApp is king of the messenger apps, with over a billion daily users. Now, the Facebook-owned company looks to better expand its reach to businesses.
WhatsApp Business is a free Android app released Thursday in the US, UK, Mexico, Italy and Indonesia, with more countries coming soon. WhatsApp did not state when or if an iOS version would be available.
The app is for businesses to download -- the customer side will be integrated into the existing WhatsApp app. Business has a suite of features that makes it easier for small businesses to communicate with customers, including the ability to get verified business profiles, set up frequently asked questions, a quick reply feature and more. It'll also have desktop support.
WhatsApp Business could be a big boon in developing nations, where more informal platforms, like WhatsApp, are used by small businesses to advertise, liaise and sell to customers. WhatsApp, pointing to a study done by Morning Consult, said over 80 percent of small businesses in India and Brazil use the app to help them grow their businesses.
WhatsApp is the second biggest messanging app in the world -- second only to Facebook Messenger, which had 1.2 billion users as of late April.
WhatsApp has been contacted for information on when an iOS app will be released.
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How the mining industry is using Minecraft to get into kids' heads
How the mining industry is using Minecraft to get into kids' heads
In the UK, "Tufty" the squirrel taught kids about road safety. In the US, McGruff the Crime Dog encouraged children to "take a bite out of crime" by locking their doors.
Cute mascots have always been useful educational tools, teaching life skills in an easily digestible manner. But in 2014, children in the Mackay region of Queensland, Australia, were confronted by an eldritch horror abomination of a mascot: Hector, the human-size lump of coal.
Hector, with his hard hat, yellow hi-vis and gap-toothed smile, was the brainchild of Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal, a company responsible for exporting 60 million tons of Australian coal in 2013.
Hector attended sports events and visited schools and libraries like regular mascots. He also had his own TV slot on one of Australia's major free-to-air stations, teaching kids how to save energy, water and -- crucially -- how to most effectively brush their teeth.
He was part of an attempt by the mining industry to weave itself into the consciousness of school children in Queensland, a state with a mining industry worth nearly $28 billion. School trips, sponsorship of local sports teams, after-school programs... the mining industry has tried it all. The short-term goal is branding, but the mining industry was also playing the long game: Children who grew up brushing their teeth with Hector the lump of coal could end up working in the mining industry.
But nowadays, mascots aren't going to cut it. Thanks to a growing resentment of the fossil fuel industry and its part in the climate crisis, the mining industry is in the throes of a potentially damaging labor shortage.
A younger generation of students, inspired by Greta Thunberg, are pounding the pavement in school strikes. In October, more than 3,000 students marched for the cause in Brisbane, Queensland's capital city. These young people don't want to work for industries they believe contribute to one of the planet's biggest existential threats.
"The youth climate movement is very genuinely freaking out the fossil fuel industry in Australia," says climate analyst Ketan Joshi.
The mining industry's solution? Video games.
Starting this year, the Minerals Council of Australia -- the mouthpiece for the mining industry in Australia -- has gotten into video games. In August, it announced two games designed and built for the school curriculum. Games designed to "build awareness of opportunities in the modern technology-driven Australian minerals industry."
"We are unashamed of our ambition to employ more Australians and promote careers in mining to all Australians," Tania Constable, CEO of the Minerals Council, said in a statement sent to CNET. She said the Australian mining industry employed 256,000 people, with wages 54% higher than the industry average.
Supported by Australian mining company BHP, one of the planet's biggest polluters, with 9.8 billion tons of carbon dioxide emitted since 1965, a pilot program using these games is running in 57 primary and secondary schools across Australia. BHP didn't respond to multiple requests for comment.
The effort is more subtle than an adult-size lump of coal in a hard hat, but the goal is the same: Embed the mining industry in the minds of children as early as possible and potentially plant the seeds of skills required to counter an ever-expanding labor shortage.
Others believe it's the proverbial canary in the coal mine. A last-gasp gambit to convince a growing generation of young people that the mining industry has any part to play in a future where limiting the effects of climate change is top priority.
Old as Dirt
Google any derivative of "mining + young people" and you'll be bombarded with think piece after think piece, reflecting an anxiety surrounding a looming skills shortage in the mining industry.
"Young people increasingly don't believe fossil fuels are part of their future," Ian Davies, director of the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association and CEO of Senex Energy, said at a conference in 2019.
And he's right.
A recent survey by the Red Cross indicated that 80% of people ages 10 to 24 were either concerned or extremely concerned about the threat of climate change. When asked for potential solutions, transitioning from fossil fuels to clean energy was top of the list. In a recent poll by the UN, 69% of people ages 14 to 18 agreed that climate change is a global emergency. One global study reported that two-thirds of young people reported feeling sad, anxious and afraid about climate change.
A climate protest, in Melbourne, in November while the COP26 conference was taking place.
William West/AFP via Getty Images
In other words, children and teenagers have developed an increasingly negative perception of mining, particularly when it comes to coal or any type of fossil fuel. To the next generation of young people coming into the workforce, the industry is part of the problem.
The mining industry is hoping video games can sway the tide. Two games, to be precise.
The first is Resource, Respond, Rescue, a game built using the Minecraft Education Edition platform, targeting 11- to 12-year-olds. The second is Old as Dirt, a game designed to explain the "pit to port journey of iron ore" to 13- to 14-year-olds in high school.
(Microsoft, which purchased the Minecraft intellectual property for $2.5 billion in 2014, declined to comment on this story.)
Should industry bodies like the Minerals Council of Australia have this kind of access to children through the school curriculum? Jeremy Moss, a professor at UNSW Sydney and a co-author of the book Climate Justice and Non-State Actors, says no. He believes campaigns like this are "egregious."
"I really don't think the education department should be approving this kind of thing," he says.
'I don't think this is about STEM'
When reached for comment, education departments across Australia were mostly tight-lipped. The ones that did respond spoke not of promoting mining, but science and engineering.
"We are supportive of schools using programs that encourage students to take an interest in STEM subjects from an early age," says Martin Clery, executive director of statewide services in Western Australia's Department of Education.
School staff made decisions about the resources used in teaching and used tools and programs that best suit the needs of their students, he says.
The Minerals Council used similar language, stating that its ultimate goal was the promotion of STEM subjects in schools across Australia.
Minecraft, one of the most popular video games ever made, is used extensively in education.
Mojang
"It is hoped that students will select STEM subjects in later years of study to preserve pathways to high-paying and highly secure STEM careers," says Constable, the Mineral Council's CEO.
Moss thinks otherwise. He says projects like this have little to do with the promotion of STEM and everything to do with the promotion of the mining industry, which is in increasingly desperate need of future employees.
"Last time I checked, they already taught science and maths at school," he says. "And I'm sure they already do a good job.
"I don't think this is about STEM. This is really about promoting the mining industry."
Documents reviewed by CNET show the mining industry is wrestling with a problematic labor shortage. Young people are showing less and less interest in mining as a career path. The number of graduates in mining engineering subjects has declined from a high of 333 in 2015 to 104 in 2020.
In a submission to an Australian curriculum review in July, the MCA openly railed against proposed changes to the Earth sciences curricula it believed would impact "the future success of the minerals sector."
In that document, it revealed plans to fund video games designed for Australian schools to help stem the tide and, in the long term, drive university graduates back to mining. It openly discussed a strategy that involved school trips to mines to "demonstrate the contribution of the resources sector to the Australian economy, local communities, and the importance of extracted minerals to everyday life."
According to Ketan Joshi, the climate analyst, initiatives like these are absolutely about fixing the skills shortage. "Graduates from fossil fuel-focused subjects are dropping, and they are desperate to try and reverse this," Joshi says.
But even if students study the relevant subjects required to fill the skills gap, young people simply don't want to work in the fossil fuels industry.
"Teenagers nowadays want to work in tech," says Dan Gocher, director of climate and environment for the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility. "It's just more exciting."
'Don't be scared'
Scott Morrison, the prime minster of Australia, has been a huge target for young protesters.
William West/AFP via Getty Images
When it comes to the fossil fuel industry, Australia isn't necessarily like other countries.
This is a country where the prime minister, Scott Morrison, once brought a literal lump of coal into Parliament and waved it at fellow members, proclaiming "don't be scared."
A country where Gina Reinhardt, a mining magnate and Australia's richest woman, with an estimated wealth of $22 billion, can make speeches at Australian schools and tell students to guard themselves against the "propaganda" of climate change.
A country where Morrison's chief of staff is John Kunkel, formerly the deputy CEO of the Minerals Council of Australia. The same Minerals Council that's funded, developed and created mining-focused video games for the Australian school curriculum.
In Australia, the government and the mining industry are uniquely connected in multiple problematic ways. From 1999 to 2019, Moss said, the mining industry donated over $130 million to Australian political parties.
"These groups not only donate substantial funds to political parties, but there is also a revolving door of appointments," Moss says.
"If I was the Minerals Council and someone asked me, 'Am I happy with the representation of the mining industry in government?' I would be delighted. I would be orgasmic."
After the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, in November, when China and India controversially forced a coal-related language change from "phase out" to "phase down," elected representative Matt Canavan -- whose Twitter profile features a photo of his face smeared with coal -- appeared on national television, in front of a screen saying "GLASGOW: A HUGE WIN FOR COAL."
He called the language change a "green light" for Australia to build "more coal mines."
In the context of Australia's inextricable links between the mining industry and government, do video games even matter? Not really, says Gocher, from the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility. The ease with which the Minerals Council was able to inject video games it funded into the school curriculum is the real issue. And that issue has deep roots in the foundational culture of Australia as a nation.
"That's more dangerous than the Minecraft stuff," he says.
Ultimately, both Gocher and Moss are optimistic. Not because of the situation, not because of the minor progress made at conferences like COP26, but because of the resilience of the audience the Minerals Council of Australia is targeting with these video games. Both were resolute: Regardless of any efforts to sway public opinion, the next generation of workers is far too savvy and too invested in the future well-being of this planet to be impacted by something as simple as a video game.
"I don't think it'll work," Moss says. "I think it's a rather desperate attempt to change the overwhelmingly negative perception of the fossil fuels section of the mining industry.
"That is something that, really, they're fighting an uphill battle against."
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The Best Netflix Documentaries You Absolutely Need to Watch
The Best Netflix Documentaries You Absolutely Need to Watch
Netflix has the best documentaries in the business. Hands down. It might be the best part of the service. But the choice is almost overwhelming. That's why we've made this list: our picks for the best documentaries on Netflix.
Here's how we're breaking things down. We're starting with the latest and best up top, then the rest listed by genre.
Good luck and happy watching!
The Best Documentaries on Netflix
Netflix
Trainwreck: Woodstock '99
Following in the very promising footsteps of Netflix documentaries being leaner, tighter and... better, Trainwreck: Woodstock '99 is a truly horrifying look at what really went on at the notorious Woodstock '99 festival. Quick content warning: Expect to see some truly grotesque discussion of human behavior including rape, looting and arson. This is a truly terrifying watch.
Netflix
Untold (2021)
Untold is the latest from the folks behind Wild Wild Country.
It's a sports documentary series, with each episode going in-depth on controversial sports topics. The first episode focuses on Malice at the Palace, the notorious basketball match where Ron Artest waded into the crowd and wailed on fans back in 2004.
Untold is now in its second season and it is absolute must watch stuff. The new episodes are arguably better than the stellar first season. Maybe the best sports documentary series on Netflix
Netflix
The Most Hated Man on the Internet
Netflix has been on fire with its documentaries lately, and The Most Hated Man on the Internet is the latest. From the producers of Tinder Swindler and Dont F**k with Cats, it's a three-part documentary that tells the story of Hunter Moore, one of the most notorious purveyors of "revenge porn." Definitely worth watching this one.
Netflix
The Girl in the Picture
The Girl in the Picture is the latest true crime documentary from Netflix. It's up there with the service's absolute best work.
It feels like, after a period of needlessly bloated multiepisode documentaries, Netflix has started trimming the fat, releasing lean, incredibly compelling documentaries again. First Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey and Our Father, now this.
The Girl in the Picture tells the story of a young girl, murdered at age 20. To say too much would spoil the impact, but this is a layered, brutal documentary with endless twists. It needs to be seen to be believed.
Netflix
Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey
There are a lot of Netflix documentaries about cults gone mad, but Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey might be the most disturbing of the lot. Unlike Murder Among the Mormons, which almost treated its topic like a screwball comedy, Keep Sweet is a very grim story about a grim human being in Warren Jeffs. It's a fantastic documentary, and among the best Netflix has produced, but it comes with a very hefty content warning.
Netflix
Our Father
As good as Netflix documentaries are, there's been a tendency to drag out true crime into these bloated multiepisode series. Thankfully Our Father is the opposite of that. It's a lean, perfectly executed documentary focused on Donald Cline, an Indiana fertility doctor who used his own sperm to inseminate a ridiculous number of women against their will.
This is an incredible piece, one of those stories that just escalates and escalates to the point where your jaw drops in disbelief.
Netflix
The Staircase (2018)
The true crime documentary genre is utterly saturated at this point, but The Staircase stands out.
Focusing on Michael Peterson and the death of his wife Kathleen, The Staircase is more than just a murder mystery. It's a drawn-out epic that takes place over literal decades, a documentary that follows Peterson and examines his every move, but somehow still remains objective.
It's a good time to watch or revisit this one, since HBO Max has just launched a drama miniseries based on it.
Netflix
Formula 1: Drive to Survive
The absolute gold standard for long-running sports documentaries. Drive to Survive is so good, and so popular, that it's inspired a whole new level of interest in Formula 1, especially in the US. This show is great at elevating the characters that occupy the sport. More shows like this, please.
Netflix
Icarus (2017)
This Oscar-winning documentary is an absolute belter.
Icarus starts out as an expose on the impact performance-enhancing drugs have on sports performance, but a sequence of events drags director Bryan Fogel into a web of geopolitics and conspiracies. To say more would spoil it, but Fogel ultimately has created a documentary that had a very real impact on our perception of sports as a whole. In that respect, Icarus is a literal game changer.
Netflix
Who Killed Little Gregory (2019)
Who Killed Little Gregory is a documentary focused on the horrific murder of Grégory Villemin. It's arguably the best true crime documentary on Netflix. It's about a murder, and attempts to solve that murder, but it's also a lesson in media representation and the horrific sexism Grégory's mother had to face in the wake of her son's murder.
Netflix
The Last Dance (2020)
In 2020, in the midst of a pandemic, Netflix dropped this piece of sports doc perfection.
The Last Dance focuses on the Chicago Bulls during their '97-'98 NBA title-winning season, but really it's a jumping off point for a documentary that tells the life story of its central star, Michael Jordan.
As a result, many criticized it for being a little too Jordan-focused, but The Last Dance was an event documentary that lived up to the hype.
True crime
Netflix
The Keepers (2017)
I've watched plenty of true crime documentaries on Netflix, but nothing has come close to The Keepers. A staggering story, told across generations, that's respectful of the victims, yet compelling throughout.
It's a story about the unsolved murder of Catherine Cesnik, a nun who taught at a Catholic school in Baltimore, but The Keepers goes further than you might expect and exposes a potential coverup of sex abuse allegations.
Michael Putland/Getty Images
Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story
It's almost impossible to overstate how famous Jimmy Savile was in the UK -- particularly in the 1980s. He was beyond a household name, in many ways he felt like an eccentric uncle to the nation.
Which made revelations that he had sexually assaulted hundreds of underage girls and boys all the more horrific. This was a person the whole of Britain had invited into their homes.
Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story does a great job of going through the archives, combining footage that is utterly bizarre in hindsight, and adding fantastic interviews with some of the major players in British TV during Savile's heyday. A fascinating, albeit disturbing documentary. Be warned: This is a difficult watch.
Netflix
The Tinder Swindler (2022)
A documentary focused on Shimon Hayut, aka the "Tinder Swindler," a conman who used dating apps to defraud multiple women across Europe to fund a lavish lifestyle.
A slightly different topic compared to most true crime documentaries on Netflix. Definitely worth a gander.
Netflix
House of Secrets: The Burari Deaths (2021)
One of the more recent true crime documentaries from Netflix, this is a good one.
Focusing on the bizarre deaths of 11 family members in one house in Burari, Delhi, India in 2018, House of Secrets delves into the theories behind of the strangest suicide/murder cases in recent memory. Unmissable stuff.
Netflix
This Is a Robbery (2021)
This Is a Robbery is about Netflix as it gets. A four-part series focusing on the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, this is essentially a documentary about an art heist. Remember Evil Genius? (Which is also on this list.) This Is a Robbery is very much in that style. The first episode takes a while to get going, but be patient -- this one has a payoff.
Netflix
Murder Among the Mormons (2021)
Some of Netflix's more recent true crime documentaries have been a bit bloated and... sorta bad?
Thankfully Murder Among the Mormons is a return to form. Definitely watch this one.
Netflix
American Murder: The Family Next Door (2020)
There are a lot of true crime documentaries out there (and on this list) but American Murder: The Family Next Door sticks out.
It tells the story of Chris Watts, a seemingly regular guy who murdered his wife and children. The access to footage is staggering and it's edited and produced in a unique way, using text messages and social media posts to tell the story. It's a horrific reminder of the banal, incredibly common existence of domestic violence.
Netflix
Making a Murderer (2015-2018)
With the swath of true crime documentaries and podcasts that came in its wake, it's easy to forget that the world once lost its collective mind over Making a Murderer. In a lot of ways it created the template that many Netflix documentaries now follow. A real original.
Sports
Netflix
Athlete A (2020)
Athlete A is a great feature length expose on Larry Nassar, the team doctor of USA Gymnastics, who had been sexually abusing female athletes for decades.
Be warned: This one is harrowing.
Netflix
14 Peaks (2021)
14 Peaks tells the story of the Nepalese mountaineer Nimsdai Purja and his goal of climbing all 14 mountains above the height of 8,000 meters (26,000 feet) in one year. It's incredible. Must-watch stuff.
Netflix
Bad Sport (2021)
Netflix might have burned the true crime documentary into the ground, but it's on fire when it comes to sports. Bad Sport is the latest entry into this burgeoning subcategory, and it's awesome. Focusing on strange controversies in sports history, Bad Sport is less about major players doing major things, it's about what happens when sport goes bad, gets down in the dirt. All of these episodes are great. Hoping for a season 2.
Netflix
The River Runner (2021)
The River Runner is sorta like Free Solo for kayaking. Consider that a compliment.
Focusing on Scott Lindgren, a kayaking legend who was a pioneer of the sport, this is a traditional story of an extreme sports star overcoming odds, but it runs a little deeper than that. Fighting against a brain tumor and his own personal demons, Lindgren is a compelling case study. Must watch stuff.
Netflix
Naomi Osaka (2021)
Naomi Osaka has become one of the most famous and talked-about athletes on the planet. This fascinating documentary explores different phases of her career and offers incredible access into the life of a young woman struggling with the pressures of sport and fame. A must-watch.
Netflix
The Speed Cubers (2020)
If you're looking for a slightly more uplifting documentary, you could do far worse than The Speed Cubers, a look at the world of competitive... Rubik's Cubers? It's short, but packs an incredible emotional punch. Prepare yourself, this one might break you.
Nature/science
Netflix
Seaspiracy (2021)
Seaspiracy follows in the footsteps of multiple documentaries focused on the impact of meat eating on the environment. This time the global fishing industry is in the crosshairs. As expected this one has stirred up a bit of controversy from all stakeholders -- PETA, Greenpeace and conservation groups can't seem to agree if Seaspiracy is accurate or fair. Watch it and make up your own mind.
Netflix
My Octopus Teacher (2020)
My Octopus Teacher follows Craig Foster, a filmmaker who spent a year snorkeling and interacting with an octopus off the coast of South Africa. It's a nature film, sure, but it's simultaneously a documentary designed to inspire awe in the viewer. In short, octopuses are incredible. Little aliens on Earth, essentially. This is the story of a relationship between humans and nature, but it's also an inspiring call to action: Don't ignore the wonder that exists all around you.
Netflix
Our Great National Parks
Barack Obama is making a beeline for David Attenborough's job. And we don't hate the idea!
Our Great National Parks is a world-class nature documentary in the style of great BBC shows like Planet Earth. They've nailed it here. If you're a fan of that type of show, this is completely unmissable.
Netflix
Our Planet (2019)
David Attenborough nature documentaries are so pervasive, they're vulnerable to self parody, but Our Planet is -- I believe -- the high watermark. Only Planet Earth, another Attenborough doc, comes close. But I prefer this one.
Netflix
Tiger King (2020-21)
Time may dull its impact, but when Tiger King was first released on Netflix, the entire world couldn't stop talking about it.
Tiger King explores the strange underbelly of big cat breeding, focusing on a cast of unforgettable (and ultimately dangerous) characters. It drags its audience to weird places. Season 2 is now available and while the show has lost a lot of its bite, it's intriguing to catch up with this cast of wild human beings doing wild, completely outlandish things.
Politics/history
Netflix
13th (2016)
13th by Ava Duvernay is a staggering documentary that tells the story of American slavery and its long-lasting impacts, many of which still resonate today.
In the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement, this should be mandatory viewing.
Netflix
The Great Hack (2019)
In the wake of the Capitol siege, the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica controversy almost feels like ancient history, but that doesn't make this documentary any less important. If you haven't seen it, then watch it.
Netflix
Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal (2021)
Recently released, Operations Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal has a name as long as some of Netflix's recent documentaries. Thankfully, this isn't as bloated as, say, the recent Cecil Hotel doc, but it could still use some trimming.
Operation Varsity Blues focused on the FBI investigation into college admissions that put actress Felicity Huffman into jail. Its director, Chris Smith, previously worked on the Fyre Festival documentary. This isn't quite as compelling, but is still well worth watching.
Sundance
Knock Down the House (2019)
Regardless of your views on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Knock Down the House is an incredible underdog story that cannot be missed. Focusing on progressive female candidates during the 2018 congressional primary campaigns, it's an insightful look at the democratic process. It's an inspiring reminder that we need to fight in order to make the voices of ordinary people count.
Netflix
What Happened, Miss Simone? (2015)
Not gonna say much here. Nina Simone is a legend and this is maybe one of the best documentaries I've ever seen.
Netflix
Wild Wild Country (2018)
Overlong and bloated, Wild Wild Country is nevertheless one of the most fascinating documentaries I've ever watched on Netflix.
It tells the story of Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, who attempted to build a gigantic sprawling commune, for what was essentially a sex cult, in the United States. It's a strange story that somehow becomes stranger with age. Much like Tiger King, the story plumbs depths you won't believe. At times it's a slog, but Wild Wild Country is absolutely worthwhile.
Netflix
Five Came Back (2017)
I absolutely adore this documentary. Five current acclaimed directors (including Steven Spielberg and Francis Ford Coppola) help tell the story of five famous movie directors from the '30s and '40s who did frontline work during the Second World War. It wraps their legacies alongside the impact of the war itself into a truly compelling story of Hollywood's golden age.
Netflix
American Factory (2019)
An Oscar winner for Netflix, this documentary is the first produced by Barack and Michelle Obama's Higher Ground Productions team.
American Factory tells the story of Fuyao, a Chinese company that built a factory in Ohio that inhabits a now-closed General Motors plant. You have to watch this movie.
Netflix
Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich (2020)
By this point we all have some sort of understanding of Jeffrey Epstein's story but Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich does itself a great service by focusing on the stories of the survivors of his abuse.
The Cinemart/Hulu
Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened (2019)
Hulu also has a great Fyre festival documentary, but I prefer this Netflix one. Unlike many Netflix documentaries, which are stretched and bloated into multipart episodes, this documentary is sharp, direct and solid gold the entire way through.
