Techmeme
July 8, 2020, 8:35 AM

Top News

Free Press:
After meeting between leaders of Facebook, ADL, Free Press, NAACP, and Color Of Change, boycott organizers are unconvinced meaningful change will occur  —  WASHINGTON — On Tuesday afternoon, leaders of four of the organizations coordinating the #StopHateForProfit advertising boycott met …
Mike Isaac / New York Times:
An independent audit commissioned by Facebook harshly criticizes the company, arguing that some of its decisions were “significant setbacks for civil rights”  —  An independent audit faulted the social network for “vexing and heartbreaking decisions” that affect its users — and potentially the November elections.
Filipe Espósito / 9to5Mac:
Code in the second developer beta of iOS 14 reveals a hidden and unannounced feature in the Wallet app that would allow payments with QR codes using Apple Pay  —  Apple today released the second developer beta of iOS 14 with some small changes across the system.
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:
Samsung announces its next Galaxy Unpacked event for August 5, to be held virtually, where the Galaxy Note 20 lineup and Galaxy Fold's successor are expected  —  Time for a new Galaxy Unpacked event  —  Samsung has announced that its next Galaxy Unpacked event will take place on Wednesday, August 5th, at 10AM ET.
Richard C. Moss / Ars Technica:
A retrospective on a nearly 25-year history of Flash, as Adobe prepares to officially end support and distribution of Flash Player in December 2020  —  Before Flash Player sunsets this December, we talk its legacy with those who built it.  —  Few technologies have yielded such divisive and widespread passion as Flash.
Tom Simonite / Wired:
A look at how AI companies like Synthesia are creating corporate-friendly uses for deepfakes, like creating multilingual, personalized training videos  —  Coronavirus restrictions make it harder and more expensive to shoot videos.  So some companies are turning to synthetic media instead.
Diane Bartz / Reuters:
Sources: FTC and Justice Department are looking into allegations TikTok failed to live up to a 2019 agreement to protect children's privacy  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Justice Department are looking into allegations that popular app TikTok failed …
Arjun Kharpal / CNBC:
Paul Mozur / New York Times:
Facebook, Telegram, Google, and Twitter say they have suspended requests for user data from Hong Kong police, following a new national security law by China  —  The social network said it would review the city's punitive new national security law, a rare public questioning of Chinese policy by a large American tech company.
The Guardian:
Nick Statt / The Verge:
Instagram will start letting users pin up to three comments on their posts, after testing the feature in May  —  To help users highlight positive replies and better moderate abusive ones  —  Instagram on Tuesday started the official rollout of its pinned comment feature …
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Unacademy acquires PrepLadder, which offers medical education courses online, for $50M, as Unacedemy and Byju's eye edtech consolidation in India with more M&A  —  Indian online learning platform Unacademy said on Tuesday it has acquired Chandigarh-based startup PrepLadder for $50 million …
Carolyn Said / San Francisco Chronicle:
Uber drivers in Southern California and Sacramento can now set their own fares, higher or lower than Uber's existing rates, in response to AB5 state law  —  Uber is letting drivers in Southern California and Sacramento set their own fares, a feature it will soon bring to the Bay Area and the entire state.
Taylor Soper / GeekWire:
A group of best-selling authors is teaming up with Amazon in filing a lawsuit against Kiss Library, which they claim sold unauthorized ebooks of their work  —  A group of best-selling authors is teaming up with Amazon in a lawsuit that aims to bring down an alleged counterfeit e-book …
More: TorrentFreakThanks:@toddbishop
Apple:
Apple expands its Independent Repair Provider Program to hundreds of new locations in the US and opens up to businesses in Europe and Canada  —  Independent Repair Provider Program also opens to businesses across Europe and Canada  —  Apple is expanding its Independent Repair Provider Program …
More: 9to5Mac
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Comcast plans to invest $2B in Peacock by 2021, expects it to generate $2.5B in revenue by 2024 with 30M-35M users, says users gravitate to its curated channels  —  In September 2019, Steve Burke, then NBCUniversal chief executive, called Matt Strauss, with a question: Would he take the wheel of the Peacock project?

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Featured Podcasts

Big Technology Podcast:
OpenAI's Potential, Google's Speedy Model, Copilot Hits Turbulence
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
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Hard Fork:
Why Roomba Died + Tech Predictions for 2026 + A Hard Forkin' Xmas Song
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.
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Access:
Betting on reality with Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
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Lenny's Podcast:
The new AI growth playbook for 2026: How Lovable hit $200M ARR in one year | Elena Verna (Head of Growth)
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
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Channels with Peter Kafka:
"Neither Side Is Used to Losing." Lucas Shaw on What's Next for Netflix and Paramount in the Battle for Warner Bros.
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.
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Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Ted Sarandos: Netflix and how tech changed storytelling
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.
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More News

Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:

Earlier Picks

Michael del Castillo / Forbes:
Casey Newton / The Verge:
Jason Del Rey / Vox:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Abdi Latif Dahir / New York Times: