Techmeme: EU antitrust regulators again extend their decision deadline on the Google/Fitbit merger, now Jan. 8, 2021; meanwhile Fitbit keeps hemorrhaging market share (Dan Primack/Axios)

Top News

Jem Aswad / Variety:

Apple launches Apple Music TV, a free 24-hour curated livestream of popular music videos, available in the US on Apple's Music and TV apps — Apple has launched Apple Music TV, a free 24-hour curated livestream of popular music videos that will also include “exclusive new music videos and premiers …

Ben Thompson / Stratechery:

Twitter blocking NY Post's story, driven by unfair blaming of tech for the media's 2016 mistakes, undermined its role as a facilitator for information sharing — Manage your Stratechery subscription. — On September 8, 2004, longtime CBS anchor Dan Rather presented four documents …

More: New York Times, New York Times, New York Magazine, Washington Examiner, and Vanity Fair

Tweets: @benyt, @stratechery, @ericbauman, @carnage4life, @mathewi, @rabois, @alecstapp, @mantzarlis, and @kylegriffin1

See also Mediagazer

Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:

DOJ charges six Russian GRU officers linked to Sandworm APT for allegedly being behind NotPetya, BlackEnergy blackouts in Ukraine, French election cyberattacks — The US Department of Justice has unsealed today charges against six GRU officers believed to be members of Sandworm …

More: Wired, The Guardian, and TechCrunch

Tweets: @a_greenberg, @rosenbergerlm, @brooklynmarie, @dnvolz, @dnvolz, @thekenyeung, and @campuscodi

BBC:

EU is investigating Instagram's handling of children's personal data, after complaints that contact information on business accounts was publicly visible — Instagram is being investigated by Ireland's Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) over its handling of children's personal data on the platform.

More: Telegraph, Business Insider, TechCrunch, Forbes, Micky, EURACTIV.com, Silicon Republic, Crunchbase News, Neowin, Tech Xplore, and Engadget

Tweets: @_andyburrows and @jamestitcomb

Andrew Tarantola / Engadget:

Facebook announces an open source AI model that can translate directly between 100+ languages without first translating to English — Whether you're logging on from the US, Brazil, Borneo, or France, Facebook can translate virtually any written content published on its platform …

More: GitHub, About Facebook, SiliconANGLE, ZDNet, VentureBeat, and TechSpot

Tweets: @schrep, @terrortola, and @neilperkin

Reuters:

Japan's Fair Trade Commission says the country will join US and Europe in challenging market abuses by Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon — TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan will join forces with the United States and Europe to take on any market abuses by the four Big Tech companies …

More: Android Authority, VentureBeat, MacRumors, CyberNews, 9to5Mac, AppleInsider, MacDailyNews, TechSpot, coinspeaker.com, and PYMNTS.com

Avery Hartmans / Business Insider:

Survey of 3,023 employees at tech firms by anonymous workplace app Blind: 68% feel more burned out by WFH, including 79% at Google and 81% at Facebook — - Silicon Valley's workforce is reporting feeling more burned out than before the pandemic. — A new survey from anonymous workplace …

More: GeekWire and Wall Street Journal

Paul Sawers / VentureBeat:

Facebook expands its Messenger API to Instagram, letting developers and businesses integrate messaging from Instagram into other apps — Facebook is expanding its Messenger API to support Instagram messaging, enabling developers and businesses to integrate messaging from Instagram into other business applications.

More: TechCrunch, Developer News, Engadget, and Messenger News

Larry Dignan / ZDNet:

Juniper announces intent to acquire 128 Technology for $450M, to boost AI-based features across Juniper's networking products — The purchase adds more to Juniper's AI platform and networking portfolio. — Juniper Networks said it will acquire 128 Technology for $450 million in a move …

More: Juniper Networks and Light Reading

Manish Singh / TechCrunch:

Pakistan says it is lifting the ban on TikTok after assurances that it would moderate content in accordance with societal norms and laws — Pakistan Telecommunication Authority said on Monday it has lifted the ban on TikTok, 11 days after the South Asian nation's telecom authority blocked …

More: The Verge, CNN, Agence France-Presse, New York Times, Forbes, MediaNama, Reuters, and International Business Times

Will Oremus / OneZero :

As Trump sags in polls, Facebook's recent moderation decisions, like banning QAnon, could be preparation for a Biden admin expected to push for more regulation — How the prospect of a “blue wave” is changing content moderation. — until two weeks ago, Facebook was a place …

Tweets: @willoremus and @hypervisible

Alex Konrad / Forbes:

Profile of Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam and ex-Sequoia partner Matt Huang, whose VC firm Paradigm moved all $400M of its initial capital into Bitcoin in 2018 — Covering venture capital, software and startups — An aggressive Bitcoin trade got crypto VC shop Paradigm flying out of the gate.

More: AVC. Tweets: @alexrkonrad, @forbes, @nic__carter, and @arjunblj. Thanks:@alexrkonrad

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