News In Brief For the Week of August 31st

McDonalds Hit with Racial Discrimination Lawsuit

Over fifty Black former franchisees of  fast food giant McDonalds have filed suit in federal court, saying the company treated Black partners differently, provided misleading data and steered them toward worse locations. Average annual sales of Black-run McDonald’s franchises was $700,000 below the national average, and the number of Black franchisees has decreased by about half since 1998 even as the number of global stores doubled. The current suit seeks up to $5 million per plaintiff to account for lost revenue and accrued debt. 

Algorithm question complicates TikTok sale

Sale negotiations for TikTok’s U.S. operations have been complicated by the key question of whether the app’s core algorithms can be included as part of a deal, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. Those algorithms decide what videos users see without first requiring them to follow other users or specify their preferences. The Journal report stated the algorithms were considered part of the deal negotiations up until Friday.

CDC to issue order temporarily halting some evictions 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans to issue an order temporarily halting residential evictions until Dec. 31 to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the White House announced on Tuesday. One estimate last month found that 23 million Americans are at risk of eviction. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday that any landlord shall not evict any “covered person” from any residential property for failure to pay rent.