Techmeme
January 9, 2020, 6:00 PM

Top News

Mike Isaac / New York Times:
Facebook says it won't back down from allowing lies in political ads but will give users the option to see fewer political ads in their feed and in Instagram  —  The company was under intense pressure to adjust its policies.  But in this presidential election year, no big changes are planned.
Emma Williams / Microsoft 365 Blog:
Microsoft says it will roll out Teams features aimed at deskless workers, like Walkie Talkie, SMS sign-in, and shared device sign-out, later this quarter  —  Companies at the forefront of digital transformation recognize how critical it is to enable all of their people with the right technology and tools.
Kia Kokalitcheva / Axios:
Lime says it is laying off about 14% of its workforce, roughly 100 employees, and shuttering operations in 12 markets as it seeks to become profitable this year  —  Scooter company Lime is laying off about 14% of its workforce (roughly 100 employees) and shuttering operations in 12 markets …
Mark Zuckerberg:
Zuckerberg extends his annual personal challenge to decade-long themes, listing a new private social platform, AR/VR, and new forms of community governance  —  Every new year of the last decade I set a personal challenge.  My goal was to grow in new ways outside my day-to-day work running Facebook.
Joseph Cox / VICE:
Brochure shows a surveillance vendor is offering spying capabilities to local police via hidden cameras in tombstones, vacuum cleaners, and baby car seats  —  A surveillance vendor that works with U.S. government agencies, such as the FBI, DEA, and ICE, is marketing spying capabilities …
Thomas Brewster / Forbes:
MalwareBytes: an Android phone offered free by Assurance Wireless as part of the US Lifeline Assistance program comes pre-installed with Chinese malware  —  For years, low-income households have been able to get cheap cell service and even free smartphones via the U.S. government-funded Lifeline Assistance program.
Louise Matsakis / Wired:
Amazon warned holiday shoppers that Honey, a browser extension for comparison shopping and rewards acquired by Paypal for $4B in November, was a “security risk”  —  The retail giant warned holiday shoppers that Honey, a popular browser extension, was a “security risk.”  Honey denies the claim.
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Verizon eliminates bundles and contracts for Fios line of TV, broadband, and phone services, will now sell them as standalone products via “Mix & Match on Fios”  —  Verizon — feeling the pain of customer cancellations over high pay-TV prices — is killing off bundles …
Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:
Mozilla patches an actively exploited Firefox zero-day flaw that could allow attackers to take control of computers by accessing sensitive memory locations  —  Flaw allows attackers to access sensitive memory locations that are normally off-limits.  —  Mozilla has released a new version …
David Gilbert / VICE:
Facebook moderators in Ireland say company policies, including tracking toilet breaks and setting unrealistic quality standards, add to their trauma  —  Want the best of VICE News straight to your inbox?  Sign up here.  —  DUBLIN — When Valera Zaicev began working in Dublin …
Bloomberg Law:
Docs: Lyft has offered to pay NY ride-share drivers about $100-$600 each to settle a lawsuit alleging it misclassified them as contractors instead of employees  —  Lyft Inc. has offered to pay New York ride-share drivers about $100 to $600 each to settle a lawsuit alleging the company misclassified …
Lauren Feiner / CNBC:
Google starts selling Android search privileges to the highest bidder in EU in a quarterly auction; Bing will appear only in UK between March 1 and June 30  —  - Android users in the EU will soon be able to choose their default search engine from a list of four options, including Google, when setting up their new phones or tablets.
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Reddit bans the impersonation of an individual or entity in a misleading or deceptive manner, but impersonation that's satire will still be allowed  —  But impersonation that's satire will still be allowed  —  Today, Reddit updated its policies about impersonation to no longer allow impersonation …
More: Input

Sponsor Posts

Clay:
Turn any GTM idea into reality  —  Clay helps GTM teams combine AI agents, enrichment, and intent data to move faster and turn insights into action.
Soxton:
AI-powered 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!
Zoho:
Your website, your brand: A website building guide for tech partners  —  In a competitive market, trust is what makes businesses choose you and stay with you.  As a tech partner, you can take steps to build …
IDrive:
Geometric Grand Unification — Solving the Hubble Tension & Proton Mass  —  Physics solved?  AI verifies model unifying gravity & particles by deriving constants from vacuum geometry.  Identifies void-driven topology.

Featured Podcasts

Big Technology Podcast:
Software In Shambles, OpenAI vs. Anthropic Super Brawl, Amazon's Struggles
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:
Elon Musk's Mega-Merger + We Test Google's Project Genie + What's Next for Moltbook Creator
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.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
Jeff Bezos Used To Be In Love with The Washington Post. What Happened?
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
Cheeky Pint:
Elon Musk on Space GPUs, AI, Optimus, and his manufacturing method
Stripe cofounder John Collison interviews founders, builders, and leaders over a pint.
Subscribe to Cheeky Pint.
Great Chat:
Is building in public over?
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:
Special Edition: Key findings from the Microsoft AI Diffusion Report
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.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 6:00 PM ET, January 9, 2020.

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.

More News

Earlier Picks

Joseph Cox / VICE:
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Devindra Hardawar / Engadget:
Will Oremus / OneZero: