Techmeme
February 12, 2021, 10:40 AM

Top News

Kate Klonick / New Yorker:
A look at the making of Facebook's Oversight Board, its members, Zuckerberg's rationale for its existence, and criticisms of the endeavor  —  The company has created a board that can overrule even Mark Zuckerberg.  Soon, it will decide whether to allow Trump back on Facebook.
Taylor Hatmaker / TechCrunch:
Facebook's Oversight Board co-chair says if the project is a success, other platforms and tech companies would be “more than welcome” to work with the board  —  The Facebook Oversight Board has only been operational for a short time, but the nascent project is already looking ahead.
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:
Google adds some of its Pixel-exclusive photo editing features to Google Photos, but they are paywalled behind Google One  —  Previously Pixel-exclusive features are coming to other devices — for a price  —  Google is adding some of its fancy, Pixel-exclusive editing features …
Bloomberg:
Sources: US investigators say hardware and firmware of Supermicro servers were tampered with an extra chip loaded with backdoor code to send data to China  —  In 2010, the U.S. Department of Defense found thousands of its computer servers sending military network data to China …
Neil Cybart / Above Avalon:
According to an estimate Apple Watch reached 100M users in December, 30M of which came in 2020; 35% of US iPhone users wear an Apple Watch  —  More than 100 million people wear an Apple Watch.  Based on my estimates, Apple surpassed the important adoption milestone this past December.
William Turton / Bloomberg:
Some Black medical professionals who are voluntarily countering misinfo on Clubhouse about COVID-19 and its vaccine say they have been harassed and bullied  —  - Conspiracies flourish on app including about vaccines and 5G  — 'Hey, I was skeptical too, but here's where I am now'
Alex Kantrowitz / Big Technology:
Will Oremus / OneZero :
Zac Hall / 9to5Mac:
Apple launches its first standalone Apple TV+ AR app, with a For All Mankind backstory and exclusive content for the latest iPad Pro and iPhone 12 Pro models  —  Apple's rumored augmented reality experience for Apple TV+ has arrived in the form of For All Mankind: Time Capsule.
Sarah Whitten / CNBC:
Disney says it now has 94.9M Disney+ subscribers  —  - Disney+ now has more than 94.9 million subscribers.  — Last quarter, the company said its streaming service will have 230 million to 260 million subscribers by 2024.  —  Disney announced Thursday that its streaming platform surpassed 94.9 million subscribers.
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Microsoft President Brad Smith says the US and other countries should adopt Australia's proposed media rules, which require tech firms to pay for news content  —  Microsoft President Brad Smith told Axios in an interview that the U.S. and other countries should consider adopting media rules …
Mariella Moon / Engadget:
Facebook says it is limiting the distribution of all content posted by Myanmar's military, which has been using the platform to spread misinformation  —  detailed how it's handling the political situation Myanmar in a new post, where it has revealed that it's limiting the distribution of all content posted by the country's military.
Jessica Bursztynsky / CNBC:
Bumble closes up 63.5% on its first day of trading, giving it a valuation of about $13B, after raising $2.15B in its IPO  —  - Shares of Bumble, which operates a dating app under the same name, began trading Thursday.  — The company's stock started trading up nearly 77% at $76 per share.
Kim Lyons / The Verge:
Twitter changes its position and says it will add labels to the personal accounts of heads of state starting next week  —  It's also adding more specificity to the text in the labels that identify such accounts  —  Beginning next week, Twitter will add labels to the personal accounts …
Stephanie Chan / Sensor Tower Blog:
Global consumer spending in top 100 non-game subscription apps grew 34% in 2020 to $13B; spending in App Store grew 32% to $10.3B, Play Store grew 42% to $2.7B  —  Consumer spending in mobile apps reached new heights in 2020, as did revenue generated from in-app subscriptions.
Jenny Leonard / BloombergQuint:
Biden administration says it is working to address the global chip shortage; Biden is expected to sign an EO directing a supply chain review in the coming weeks  —  (Bloomberg) — The Biden administration is working to address the global semiconductor shortage that has caused auto manufacturers …
Juli Clover / MacRumors:
US House Committee on Energy and Commerce sent a letter to Apple raising concerns over reports that App Privacy labels offer “misleading and false information”  —  The U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce this week sent a letter to Apple [PDF] inquiring about the accuracy …

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More News

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Earlier Picks

Kerry Flynn / CNN:
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Diep Tran / Backstage:
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Daniel Goldblatt / The Wrap: