Techmeme
February 14, 2020, 2:39 PM

Top News

Makena Kelly / The Verge:
Facebook to allow influencers to produce sponsored content for US politicians and political campaigns, if the posts are clearly identified as paid partnerships  —  Bloomberg's bad memes might just be the beginning  —  Facebook will allow influencers to produce sponsored content …
Takashi Mochizuki / Bloomberg:
Sources: Sony PlayStation 5's manufacturing costs may be around $450 per unit due to scarce components  —  - May wait for Microsoft's Xbox group to make first pricing move  — New PlayStation VR headset also planned after PS5 launch  —  Scarce components have pushed the manufacturing costs …
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
DOJ has charged the owner of Helix, a dark web Bitcoin mixer service operating from 2014-2017, for allegedly laundering bitcoins worth $300M+ at the time  —  This is the first case the DOJ has brought against a Bitcoin mixer.  —  US authorities have arrested and charged an Ohio man for running a …
Andy Greenberg / Wired:
Behind Signal's push to go mainstream by adding features like iPad support, ephemeral images and video, downloadable customizable stickers, and emoji reactions  —  The encryption app is putting a $50 million infusion from WhatsApp cofounder Brian Acton to good use, building out features to help it go mainstream.
Benjamin Mullin / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Google is in talks with publishers, mostly outside the US, about paying a licensing fee for content that would be in a premium news product  —  The search giant is in talks with some publishers about paying a fee for content that would be part of a premium news product
Bloomberg Law:
California Supreme Court rules that Apple violated CA law by not paying employees at its stores for time spent on mandatory bag and iPhone searches  —  Listen  —  Apple Inc. violated California law when it failed to pay employees for time they spend waiting for mandatory bag and iPhone searches …
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Google has removed 500+ malicious Chrome extensions from its Web Store, likely affecting millions of users, that were part of a long-running ad fraud network  —  A network of malicious Chrome extensions was injecting malicious ads in millions of Chrome installs.
Danny Crichton / TechCrunch:
DOJ announces a 16-count superseding indictment against Huawei and its CFO Meng Wanzhou that includes charges of racketeering and conspiracy to steal IP  —  Ratcheting up its pressure campaign against Huawei and its affiliates, the Department of Justice and the FBI announced today …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Facebook's NPE Team releases Hobbi, a photo and video sharing app designed for documenting personal projects and hobbies  —  Facebook is adding another app to its group of experimental projects from the NPE Team, an initiative it announced last year focused on rapidly trying out new ideas in social to see how users react.

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Social Science One:

Earlier Picks

Annie Palmer / CNBC:
Kim Zetter / VICE:
Theodore Schleifer / Vox: