Techmeme
February 18, 2021, 8:01 AM

Top News

William Easton / About Facebook:
Ahead of proposed media law, Facebook bans Australians from sharing or viewing news and all users from sharing and viewing news on Australian news Pages  —  In response to Australia's proposed new Media Bargaining law, Facebook will restrict publishers and people in Australia from sharing …
More: Facebook, The Guardian, 9News, Associated Press, CNN, The Guardian, The Guardian, Financial Times, news.com.au, MacRumors, AppleInsider, ABC, BBC, Axios, The Guardian, Insider, Wall Street Journal, ABC, NBC News, Variety, Benedict Evans, Telecoms.com, OneZero , iMore, NPR, Sky News, Sydney Morning Herald, CNBC, The Irish Times, Australian Financial Review, TechCrunch, Reuters, Forbes, CNBC, BGR India, Ubergizmo, Digiday, MUO, The Next Web, Financial Times, Firstpost Tech, Reuters, ZDNet, New York Post, TIME, and Herald Sun
Tweets: @joshfrydenberg, @caseybriggs, @emilybell, @mikeisaac, @max_fisher, @campbell_brown, @mathewi, @maxchalm, @davidcicilline, @issielapowsky, @katecrawford, @campbell_brown, @jameeljaffer, @kurtwagner8, @mattnavarra, @kurtwagner8, @emilybell, @benedictevans, @matthewstoller, @maxchalm, @caseynewton, @mmasnick, @rmac18, @antoniogm, @matthewstoller, @normative, @yaeleisenstat, @mattburgess1, @matthewstoller, @kenklippenstein, @paulfletchermp, @evelyndouek, @mikeisaac, @andrewlawton, @caseynewton, @mathewi, @martynmcl, @shanehuntley, @karaswisher, @daveleeft, @vindugoel, @caseynewton, @emilybell, @kevinroose, @kurtwagner8, @slpng_giants, @gerritd, @mrkrudd, @akivamcohen, @imusing, @bergmayer, @kevinroose, @bergmayer, @akivamcohen, @senatorshoshana, @tonyromm, @gaberivera, @bernardkeane, @matthewstoller, @johnbattelle, @nickbryantny, @campbell_brown, @carolecadwalla, @brooklynmarie, @mattyglesias, @emilybell, @mikeisaac, @halsinger, @cselley, @hacks4pancakes, @jeffjarvis, @bendreyfuss, @gerritd, @tonyromm, @withmeaa, @emilybell, @matthewstoller, @karissabe, @bergmayer, @emilybell, @max_fisher, @bonerman_inc, @damiancollins, @marklangham2, @mattyglesias, @robinberjon, @chillmage, @karaswisher, @imusing, @kashhill, @paulg, @benedictevans, @wilkiemp, @caseynewton, @emilybell, @domp, @wvessna, @bergmayer, @zaidjilani, @jeffreyatucker, @sarafischer, @3awneilmitchell, @campbell_brown, @chrismessina, @wongmjane, @parismarx, @benedictevans, @banditelli, @karissabe, @mmasnick, @markdistef, @pkafka, @joshgnosis, @carlfranzen, @bdsams, @caseynewton, @markdistef, and @kantrowitz
ABC:
Australian authorities in public health, weather, and other areas say Facebook has removed posts from their feeds following Facebook's news ban  —  Facebook has restricted access to news in Australia, and so far the tech giant seems to have taken a pretty broad definition of news.
Casey Newton / Platformer:
Banning Australian news makes sense for Facebook and may prompt people to visit news sites directly; Google's payoffs, though, will invite global shakedowns  —  But Google gives in.  What's next?  —  Yesterday, I wrote that Australia's News Media Bargaining Code threatened to splinter the internet.
News Corp:
News Corp announces a multi-year, global partnership with Google to provide content from its news sites “in return for significant payments by Google”  —  Long-term Deal Involves Payment For Premium Content For Google News Showcase;  —  Will Yield Substantial Benefits For Journalism And Society
Noam Bardin:
Former Waze CEO reflects on his time at Google and the impact of the acquisition on autonomy, the brand, hiring and firing, distribution, compensation, and more  —  It's been two weeks since I left Google and I keep getting asked “why did I leave now”?  I think the better question is “why did I stay for so long”?
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Google launches over 50 new features for its education products, including Classroom, Meet, and Workspace, with a focus on meeting educators' and admins' needs  —  Google today introduced a suite of updates for its online education tools whose adoption and further development have been accelerated …
Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge:
Google Maps now lets users pay for public transportation and parking by integrating Passport and ParkMobile services into its app, available in 400+ US cities  —  Fill your meter or get a train ticket  —  Google Maps is adding a couple of new useful features: the ability to pay for parking or buy a train ticket right from the app.
Bloomberg:
Sources: Google will restructure its Responsible AI teams to centralize them under a single Black executive, Marian Croak, in wake of Timnit Gebru's departure  —  - Company seeks to stabilize department amid internal rancor  — Responsible AI teams to be centralized under single executive
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Job listings show Apple is looking to hire engineers to start work on 6G, indicating it wants to be a leader in the technology  —  - Company wants to rely less on others for new technology  — Job listings posted for positions in San Diego, Silicon Valley
More: MacRumors
Karl Bode / VICE:
FCC launches the Broadband Data Task Force to collect data and develop more precise maps of US broadband availability, which currently rely on ISP-provided data  —  You can't fix a problem you don't understand.  And for decades the US has refused to accurately measure the full scope of US broadband market failure.
Josh Eidelson / Bloomberg:
How the success of California's Prop 22, driven by gig economy companies, is affecting negotiations between unions and businesses across the US  —  The tower of aging Manila envelopes, stacked in a corner of Rome Aloise's cluttered Bay Area home office, is a monument to five years of failure.
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Artie, a startup pivoting from AR avatars to mobile games playable inside social media apps without any additional app downloads, raises $10M seed  —  Artie has raised $10 million to make instant mobile games that can be played directly inside social media, video and messaging platforms …
Balaji S. Srinivasan:
India banning crypto is technically, socially, and politically infeasible; instead, India should use its remittance-friendly regulations to legalize crypto  —  India already has a regulatory regime for crypto.  It's called the Foreign Exchange Management Act.  —  Previously, I detailed why India should buy Bitcoin.
Sean Burch / The Wrap:
Triller CEO now says the company never inflated user numbers and that Triller should even be valued at over $10B based on claims made in a Billboard report  —  CEO Mike Lu said the company has “never” padded its user count, one day after Billboard said the app had half the 50 million users it claimed
More: Music Ally

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