Techmeme: Leaked Facebook emails reveal intense internal discussion over an anti-Semitic Instagram post by Alex Jones before it was taken down a day after being flagged (Jake Kanter/INSIDER)

Top News

Russell Brandom / The Verge:

US Department of Housing and Urban Development files charges against Facebook, saying the company's ad targeting tools enable violations of Fair Housing Act — 'Facebook is discriminating against people based upon who they are and where they live,' says HUD secretary

Tracy Jan / Washington Post:

Sources: HUD alerted Twitter and Google last year that it is scrutinizing their ad targeting practices for possible housing discrimination

More: The Hill, Recode, The Daily Caller, Vanity Fair, and Seeking Alpha

Tweets: @tracyjan and @hshaban

Adam Satariano / New York Times:

UK's review of Huawei's telecommunications equipment finds “significant” security problems but does not call for an outright ban — LONDON — A British review of Huawei found “significant” security problems with the Chinese company's telecommunications equipment …

Michael Potuck / 9to5Mac:

Twitter expands dark mode options for iOS users with a pure black Lights Out mode and an Automatic Dark Mode — Twitter has announced today that it is expanding its dark mode options for iOS users. Adding to the blue/gray dark mode theme that the platform has offered for a while …

More: Engadget, Android Authority, 9to5Google, TechCrunch, The Verge, CNET, Fortune, Android Central, Droid Life, iDownloadBlog.com, iPhone Hacks, Neowin, App Store, and Mashable

Tweets: @twitter, @twittersupport, @caseynewton, and @oneunderscore__

Stefan Etienne / The Verge:

LG says G8 ThinQ, its latest flagship, will be available on April 11 from all major US carriers starting at $820; pre-orders available on March 29 — You'll get the best deal from T-Mobile — LG's latest flagship, the G8 ThinQ, will be released in the US beginning on April 11th.

More: PR Newswire, Thurrott, Cell Phones, Engadget, XDA Developers, 9to5Google, AT&T, Android Police, BetaNews, and Android Beat

Jon Porter / The Verge:

Spotify is testing Premium Duo, a discounted subscription for two for €12.49 a month, that includes a playlist based on both users' listening habits — Includes a new playlist based on both your listening habits — Spotify is testing a new subscription called Premium Duo that offers …

More: Spotify, 9to5Mac, Android Authority, Thurrott, Engadget, Gizmodo, BGR, Digital Trends, iPhone in Canada Blog, KnowTechie, TechCrunch, TechSpot, XDA Developers, Cult of Mac, SlashGear, Neowin, MacRumors, and CNET

Jason Koebler / Motherboard:

Leaked Apple documents outline a support program for third-party repairs that seems to comply with requirements of right-to-repair bills proposed in 20 states — A leaked internal document obtained by Motherboard outlines a program that looks almost exactly like the requirements of right …

More: CNET, Fast Company, iDownloadBlog.com, iFixit, iPhone Hacks, and Cult of Mac. Tweets: @nproctor

Chris Welch / The Verge:

Verizon rolls out a free version of Call Filter, its $3/month spam and robocall protection service — Now you don't have to pay extra money to battle against spam and robocalls — Verizon is taking new steps to combat the unrelenting nuisance of spam calls.

More: Verizon Fios & Custom TV, CNET, XDA Developers, MacRumors, App Store, TechSpot, iPhone Hacks, and Droid Life. Tweets: @db

Sarah Krouse / Fox News:

FTC has secured $1.5B worth of fines from robocallers through court judgments since 2004 and has collected $121M or 8% of that amount — America's telecommunications watchdogs have levied hefty financial penalties against illegal robocallers and demanded that bad actors repay millions to their victims.

More: CNET and Boing Boing

Tweets: @marcelolprince, @trevornoren, @felixsalmon, @pkedrosky, @tepingchen, and @wwcummings

Adi Robertson / The Verge:

FTC says it has shut down and settled lawsuits with four robocalling companies responsible for “billions” of US calls

More: Federal Trade Commission, CNET, Geek.com, RCR Wireless News, Mashable, Newser, Digital Trends, Gizmodo, SlashGear, TechSpot, Engadget, and Boing Boing

Tweets: @ftc and @subinukta

Faiz Siddiqui / Washington Post:

Twitter's policy head Vijaya Gadde says it is experimenting with adding a “label” to notable tweets that break its standards explaining why they weren't removed — Vijaya Gadde, Twitter's head of legal, policy and trust & safety, made the revelation on stage at a Washington Post-sponsored event in San Francisco.

More: Neowin, The Daily Caller, The Wrap, and The Hill. Tweets: @terri_rupar

Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch:

Microsoft granted US court order to take control of 99 websites the company says are linked to Iranian hacking group Phosphorus and host them on its own servers — Microsoft has won a restraining order in a U.S. court in order to take control of domains used by an Iranian hacker group.

More: Microsoft on the Issues, ZDNet, New York Times, Thurrott, Security Boulevard, Softpedia News, MSPoweruser, WinBuzzer, Mashable, The Hill, SecurityWeek, Bloomberg, and BleepingComputer

Tweets: @siarotterdam, @msftissues, and @zackwhittaker

Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:

Kong, the open source API management platform company previously known as Mashape, raises $43M Series C led by Index Ventures — Kong, the open core API management and lifecycle management company previously known as Mashape, today announced that it has raised a $43 million Series C round led by Index Ventures.

More: KongHQ, Going Long, Index Ventures, VentureBeat, and SiliconANGLE

Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:

Microsoft expands its Azure IP Advantage program to include IoT companies and donates 500 patents to the LOT Network, to protect against patent trolls — Microsoft today announced a major expansion of its Azure IP Advantage program, which provides its Azure users with protection against patent trolls.

More: SiliconANGLE, Microsoft on the Issues, The Official Microsoft Blog, OnMSFT.com, Dark Reading, ZDNet, PYMNTS.com, and Microsoft

Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer:

Office Depot and tech support vendor Support.com to pay the FTC $35M for allegedly persuading customers to buy computer repair services using fake malware scans — Office Depot and Support.com, Inc, a tech support software provided from California, will pay $35 million and $10 million respectively …

More: Ars Technica, Federal Trade Commission, The Verge, Federal Trade Commission, Engadget, TechSpot, CyberScoop, Boing Boing, The Register, KIRO, MarketWatch, and Financial Times

Tweets: @cstross, @onejarednewman, and @tomgara

Bloomberg:

A profile of Wang Xing, CEO of Meituan, which has 600K delivery people serving 400M customers a year in 2,800 Chinese cities and a market value of $36B — In China, Meituan has reshaped city life—and heightened a rivalry with a certain competitor. — In Beijing, it's often cheaper to have food delivered than to get it yourself.

Tweets: @venkatananth, @luluyilun, and @pelstrom. Thanks:@pelstrom

Jake Kanter / INSIDER:

Leaked Facebook emails reveal intense internal discussion over an anti-Semitic Instagram post by Alex Jones before it was taken down a day after being flagged — - Business Insider has seen a lengthy Facebook email chain in which executives discuss Alex Jones' future on Instagram and removing an inflammatory post.

Juli Clover / MacRumors:

Apple releases watchOS 5.2 with support for the second-generation AirPods, extends ECG functionality to Hong Kong, the UK, and 18 other countries in Europe — Apple today released watchOS 5.2, the fifth update to the watchOS operating system that runs on modern Apple Watch models. watchOS 5.2 comes …

More: Apple, iMore, CNET, 9to5Mac, The Next Web, Engadget, Neowin, ZDNet, Apple Must, Inquirer, MacStories, SlashGear, Macworld, TmoNews, Telegraph, Thurrott, TechCrunch, and iPhone Hacks. Tweets: @viticci

Jeff John Roberts / Fortune:

As market for facial recognition software heats up, concerns about how and when facial data is collected remain largely unaddressed due to lack of regulations — While you weren't looking, tech companies helped themselves to your photos to power a facial recognition boom. Here's how.

Thanks:@jeffjohnroberts

M.G. Siegler / 500ish Words:

Apple's “It's show time” event was weird, with very little tech, a focus on content and star power, and Oprah basically pitching others to sign up with Apple — Some thoughts on Apple's truly bizarre “It's Showtime” event — Note: this preamble was adapted from my newsletter published yesterday.

Tweets: @stevecheney

C4ADS:

Analysis of GPS data finds 9,800+ GPS spoofing instances since 2016, likely to protect sensitive military and VIP travel areas in the Russian Federation — EXECUTIVE SUMMARY GPS and other Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) are used in everything from cellular communication networks …

More: Dark Reading and Axios

Tweets: @c4ads, @malachybrowne, @c4ads, and @jack_mrgln

Sponsor Posts

Soxton:

Fast, affordable law for startups — Soxton automates startup legal so founders can move faster and sleep better. We handle incorporation, advisor, employment and commercial contracts. Join the waitlist for early access!

F5:

Accelerate AI Adoption at F5's AI Virtual Summit — Learn how to architect, secure, and scale AI for production with real-world insights from industry leaders on June 23. Register now to save your spot.

Zoho:

Website traffic analytics: How to read your data and take action — Traffic is up. Sessions look healthy. The dashboard is full of green arrows and yet — conversions are flat, revenue targets are slipping, and the leads coming through aren't closing.

IDrive:

Protecting your Cloud Applications Data — Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Sponsor Techmeme

Featured Podcasts

Lenny's Podcast:

Father of the iPod and iPhone on building taste, judgment, and creativity in the AI era | Tony Fadell

Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.

Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.

Big Technology Podcast:

Will Apple (Finally) Get AI Right At WWDC?, Anthropic's Worry, Microsoft vs. OpenAI

The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.

Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.

Hard Fork:

Hot I.P.O Summer + What Is A.I. Doing to Math? + HatGPT

The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.

Subscribe to Hard Fork.

The Upstarts Podcast:

Vanta's Christina Cacioppo: The Underdog Turning 'Nonsense' Compliance Into A $4.2B Security Standout

Veteran tech reporter Alex Konrad sits down with breakout entrepreneurs taking on the status quo to shake up their fields in AI, design, nuclear energy, space, and more.

Subscribe to The Upstarts Podcast.

Great Chat:

Who are the billboards for?

A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.

Subscribe to Great Chat.

Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:

AI's Mythos Moment: Rishi Sunak on preparing governments for AI

Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.

Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.

Add your podcast here

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 4:50 PM ET, March 28, 2019.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.