Techmeme
February 24, 2021, 1:40 PM

Top News

Nick Clegg / About Facebook:
Facebook defends its stance in Australia, says it invested $600M since 2018 to support the news industry and plans at least $1B more over the next three years  —  Last week, in a move that will have felt abrupt and dramatic to many, Facebook announced it was stopping the sharing of news on its service in Australia.
Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
Georgia Hitch / ABC:
Taylor Lyles / The Verge:
HP says it is acquiring gaming peripheral company HyperX for $425M, giving the company a major foothold in the gaming accessory market  —  The acquisition means HP owns the HyperX brand  —  HP has announced that it is acquiring gaming peripheral company HyperX for $425 million.
Nikkei Asia:
Sean Hollister / The Verge:
California's 2018 net neutrality law, SB 822, can go into effect after a California judge declined to grant the telecom industry a preliminary injunction  —  It survived challenges from Trump's DOJ, and now one from telecom industry too  —  Net neutrality died a horrible death in 2017 …
Todd Spangler / Variety:
YouTube to roll out a “supervised” account option in beta in the coming months in more than 80 countries, aimed at kids that are too old for YouTube Kids  —  YouTube is launching a PG version of the internet's biggest video service.  —  A new “supervised” YouTube account option …
New York Times:
Myanmar's draconian draft cybersecurity law follows a yearslong effort to build out Myanmar's surveillance capabilities, following cues from China  —  As the military seized power again, the generals moved quickly to take the country offline, criminalize online dissent and block social media.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft now lets Word for web and OneNote users embed Pinterest Pins into their documents as interactive content  —  Microsoft's Pinterest integration is aimed at students  —  Microsoft is now allowing Word for web and OneNote users to embed Pinterest Pins into their documents.
ProPublica:
Emails show how Facebook responds to requests by authoritarian governments to censor content, as happened in Turkey during its military offensive against Kurds  —  Amid a 2018 Turkish military campaign, Facebook ultimately sided with Turkey's demand to block the page of a mostly Kurdish militia.
Chris Welch / The Verge:
LG says that it will license its webOS software to other TV brands, such as RCA, Ayonz, and Konka; LG's redesigned webOS 5.0 version will not be included  —  The modern webOS is no longer exclusive to LG's TV lineup  —  LG tonight announced that the company's webOS smart TV platform will soon be found on TVs from other brands.
Selena Deckelmann / The Mozilla Blog:
Jane Wakefield / BBC:
Portland ends partnership with Sidewalk Labs to track mobility; Sidewalk spin-off Replica says it was unwilling to share granular data requested by the city  —  A smart city project started by Google's sister firm Sidewalk Labs to track mobility patterns in the US city of Portland has been shelved.
More: Insider
Kris Holt / Engadget:
Facebook says it is testing more tools to combat child exploitation on its platform, including a measure warning users of “non-malicious sharing” of viral memes  —  Facebook says it is testing more tools to help the social network prevent people from sharing content that  —  exploits children.
TechCrunch:
Sources: virtual events company Hopin is looking to raise ~$400M Series C at a $5B+ pre-money valuation, after raising $125M at a $2.125B valuation last year  —  Virtual events platform Hopin is hopin' for a mega valuation.  —  According to multiple sources who spoke with TechCrunch …
Stephen Warwick / iMore:
Some M1 Mac owners report a worryingly large number of writes to their Macs' SSDs, though in some cases it could be explained by faulty monitoring tools  —  “If this is accurate, some of these machines aren't going to last half a year”  —  What you need to know
Paul Sawers / VentureBeat:
Hubilo, which helps businesses host virtual and hybrid events with real-time analytics, raises $23.5M Series A led by Lightspeed Venture Partners  —  Hubilo, a platform that helps businesses of all sizes host virtual and hybrid events and gain access to real-time data and analytics …
Bloomberg:
Russian e-commerce giant Wildberries, which controls 14% of the market, has recently expanded into France, Germany, Italy, and Spain  —  Winston Churchill, it's often said, quipped that you should never let a good crisis go to waste.  Tatyana Bakalchuk would agree.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Google announces new features for Android, including a way to schedule texts and a Password Checkup tool to notify users of compromised credentials  —  Google today announced the next set of features coming to Android, including a new password checkup tool, a way to schedule your texts …

Sponsor Posts

Soxton:
Fast, affordable law for startups  —  Soxton automates startup legal so founders can move faster and sleep better.  We handle incorporation, advisor, employment and commercial contracts.  Join the waitlist for early access!
F5:
Accelerate AI Adoption at F5's AI Virtual Summit  —  Learn how to architect, secure, and scale AI for production with real-world insights from industry leaders on June 23.  Register now to save your spot.
Zoho:
Zoho RPA named a Leader in the 2026 RPA Technology Value Matrix by Nucleus Research  —  Zoho RPA has been named a Leader in the 2026 RPA Technology Value Matrix, published by Nucleus Research …
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Lenny's Podcast:
The hidden pattern behind successful products | Mark Pincus (founder of Zynga)
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
Big Technology Podcast:
SpaceX's IPO Triumph, Anthropic's Fable Fumble, OpenAI's Price War
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
Access:
A top iPhone app developer reacts to Apple's new Siri
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Hard Fork:
'Hard Fork' Live, Part 1: Satya Nadella and Cindy Cohn
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.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
The Upstarts Podcast:
TBC's Alex Ksendzovsky: The Neurosurgeon Using Brain Cells To Build Better AI
Veteran tech reporter Alex Konrad sits down with breakout entrepreneurs taking on the status quo to shake up their fields in AI, design, nuclear energy, space, and more.
Subscribe to The Upstarts Podcast.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
AI's Mythos Moment: Rishi Sunak on preparing governments for AI
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.
Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 1:40 PM ET, February 24, 2021.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

More News

Earlier Picks

Todd Bishop / GeekWire:
Josh Sisco / The Information:
Square - Investor Relations:
Tim Copeland / Decrypt: