Techmeme
October 15, 2020, 3:00 PM

Top News

Casey Newton / Platformer:
Facebook and Twitter deserve some credit for rapidly restricting the New York Post hack-and-leak operation that made allegations about Hunter Biden  —  In a New York Post report, Facebook and Twitter smell a rat  —  I.  —  In the run-up to the 2020 election, platforms have been preparing for all manner of threats.
BuzzFeed News:
Facebook limits the distribution of a New York Post story that makes disputed claims about Hunter Biden, pending fact-check, while Twitter blocks sharing  —  Facebook and Twitter said they will be limiting the distribution of or blocking a New York Post story making unverified claims about former vice president Joe Biden.
More: Washington Post, New York Post, The Daily Beast, Mother Jones, Bloomberg, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Politico, The Intercept, Poynter, CNBC, Metacurity, The Atlantic, Protocol, VICE, Input, and The Daily Beast
@twittersafety:
[Thread] Twitter clarifies why it blocked the sharing of NY Post's Biden story, saying it contained private info and violated its Hacked Materials Policy  —  We want to provide much needed clarity around the actions we've taken with respect to two NY Post articles that were first Tweeted this morning.
Wall Street Journal:
Senate Republicans say the Judiciary Committee will issue a subpoena to Jack Dorsey about Twitter's blocking of a New York Post article  —  Move by GOP lawmakers on Judiciary Committee follows social-media platform's decision to limit sharing of New York Post report  —  Breaking News:
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Stripe acquires Nigerian startup Paystack, which enables integration of payments services using an API, sources say for $200M+  —  When Stripe announced earlier this year that it had picked up another $600 million in funding, it said one big reason for the funding was to expand its API-based payments services into more geographies.
NBC News:
YouTube bans conspiracy theory content, such as QAnon or Pizzagate, that justifies “real-world violence”, but stops short of banning QAnon content outright  —  YouTube said Thursday that it would no longer allow content that targets individuals and groups with conspiracy theories …
Matthew Leske / The Keyword:
Google says Chat will be available as a free service next year, both as a standalone app and integrated into Gmail; Google will remove Fi support in Hangouts  —  Over the past few years, we've invested in building helpful and secure products you can use to communicate and stay connected with the people in your life.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Xbox Series X preview: focus on basics that matter like being quiet and cool, high frame rates, faster load times, accessory support, and backward compatibility  —  I haven't been using my Xbox One as much recently, as it just feels outdated.  As someone who plays primarily on PC …
Jon Porter / The Verge:
Apple confirms an upcoming update will let HomePod, but not HomePod mini, output Dolby Atmos as well as 5.1 and 7.1 channel audio from Apple TV 4K  —  With new home cinema feature  —  Apple's HomePod is getting a lot more useful as a home cinema speaker for Apple TV 4K owners.
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Snapchat now lets iOS users add song clips from a curated catalog of music to their Snaps and Stories  —  Snapchat today is launching a new feature called Sounds — which, taking a page from TikTok, lets app users add song clips to their Snaps and Stories.  Currently, though, it's available only in the app for Apple's iOS.
Kieren McCarthy / The Register:
Barnes and Noble confirms it was hacked, says some users' personal information may have been stolen; some customers were unable to download purchased e-books  —  Nook, line and sinker: Servers restored from backups, punters unable to download purchased e-books
Mary Ann Azevedo / FinLedger:
Argyle, which allows businesses to access employment records via an API or a web interface, raises $20M Series A led by Bain Capital  —  Argyle, which is building a “gateway to access employment records,” announced Thursday a $20 million Series A funding round led by Bain Capital Ventures.
Taylor Lorenz / New York Times:
How “Among Us”, an online social deduction game from 2018, took off among people of all ages during social distancing; one Discord server has 98,000+ fans  —  YouTubers, influencers and streamers popularized the multiplayer game.  Then their fans started playing too.
David Pierce / Protocol:
Pew: 92% of all tweets since last November were made by 10% of users, 69% of whom were Democrats; Trump's was the most-mentioned account followed by YouTube's  —  In case you needed a reminder that Twitter isn't the real world, the Pew Research Center found that 10% of users produced 92% of all tweets since last November.
John Gruber / Daring Fireball:
Telegram says when Apple recently ordered it to delete specific posts, Apple demanded it not leave a notice explaining why, because such info was “irrelevant”  —  Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has been writing about a controversy that I think is fairly summarized as follows …
Noah Kirsch / Forbes:
Kasa Living, an Airbnb rival offering short-term rentals inside hotels and multi-family properties, raises $30M Series B, bringing its total raised to $50M  —  Kasa Living, a startup that offers short-term rentals inside hotels and multi-family properties, has raised $30 million in Series B funding …

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Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg:
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Lily Hay Newman / Wired: