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April 17, 2021, 10:20 AM
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Cristiano Lima / Politico:
Facebook Oversight Board, which had 90 days to review Trump's indefinite suspension, delays its decision to “the coming weeks”, citing immense public interest  —  Facebook suspended the former president's account in the wake of the Jan. 6 siege on the Capitol.
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Firefox and major Chromium browsers like Edge, Opera, Brave, and Vivaldi are not joining FLoC, Google's proposed ad technology to replace third-party cookies  —  Brave, Vivaldi, Edge, and Mozilla are all out  —  Google is going it alone with its proposed advertising technology to replace third-party cookies.
Annie Palmer / CNBC:
Sources detail Amazon's tactics during the Alabama union campaign, including “captive audience meetings”, as workers explain why the union was unconvincing  —  - Last week, workers at one of Amazon's Alabama warehouses overwhelmingly voted against joining the Retail …
Spencer Soper / Bloomberg:
Sources: Amazon is planning a furniture service that would require drivers to assemble items and take them back on the spot if the customer isn't satisfied  —  - Service expansion to appliances could target Home Depot, Lowes  — Online furniture sales grew 41% in pandemic to $36.1 billion
Alex Konrad / Forbes:
Interview with Initialized Capital's Garry Tan on the firm's seed investment in Coinbase, Ohanian's departure, building a presence on social media, and more  —  Covering venture capital, software and startups  —  In March 2012, Garry Tan received an email from the founder of a new startup called Bitbank, Brian Armstrong.
Rest of World:
Internet blackouts following a military coup have shut down swathes of the online economy in Myanmar, where internet penetration had surged to around 43%  —  Amid internet blackouts, economic isolation, and massive strikes, a decade of development is unwinding.
James Vincent / The Verge:
As the EU considers new regulations for AI, 60+ NGOs ask the EC to ban automatic gender recognition systems, which rely on outmoded understandings of gender  —  Dangers posed by facial recognition like mass surveillance and mistaken identity have been widely discussed in recent years.
The Information:
Source: Dapper Labs, maker of NFT-focused NBA Top Shot, is raising a new round at a $7.5B+ valuation, just a few weeks after raising $305M at a $2.6B valuation  —  The rush of enthusiasm for blockchain-based collectives is driving an extraordinary surge of investor interest in Dapper Labs …
Naaman Zhou / The Guardian:
Australian Federal Court rules Google misled Android users into thinking it would not collect their location data when they turned location history off  —  Google collected data on some Android and Pixel phones even when customers ticked ‘No’ or ‘Do not collect’
Shen Lu / Protocol:
How Weibo helps Chinese authorities quash the feminist movement by deleting activist accounts, while also profiting from their nationalist harassers  —  Prominent feminist activist Xiao Meili had never expected to find herself in the center of a nationalist storm.
Kristin Robinson / Variety:
As Spotify turns 15, a look at the ways in which it changed how people listen to music, like breaking down boundaries between genres through “mood playlists”  —  Ask any executive what the music business was like in the '00s and their face may take on an expression more commonly associated …
Jem Aswad / Variety:
Looking at payment per stream metrics for music streaming services can be misleading when considering artist pay, as many factors determine streaming royalties  —  Early Friday, Apple Music sent a carefully worded letter to artists, music labels and publishers that briefly explained …
Anne Steele / Wall Street Journal:
In a letter to artists, Apple says it pays a penny per stream, roughly double Spotify, which pays an average of about one-third to half a penny per stream
Patrick Howell O'Neill / MIT Technology Review:
A look at Positive Technologies, a Russian cybersecurity firm sanctioned by the US, which sources say provides hacking tools and ops support for Russian spies  —  Washington has sanctioned Russian cybersecurity firm Positive Technologies.  US intelligence reports claim it provides hacking tools and runs operations for the Kremlin.
Associated Press:
Microsoft removes Positive Technologies from a list of vendors it gives early access to vulnerability info; IBM also lists Positive as a security partner

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About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 10:20 AM ET, April 17, 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.

From Mediagazer

Kelcee Griffis / Bloomberg:
Sources: Nexstar has begun directing stations to fill local newscasts with segments from Nexstar's NewsNation instead of national networks' content like NBC's

Oli Coleman / Page Six:
Source: The Athletic is investigating reporter Dianna Russini's explanation about photos of her with NFL coach Mike Vrabel and “reviewing her coverage”

Wall Street Journal:
Mubi, which raised $100M led by Sequoia in 2025, faced backlash over Sequoia's ties to Israeli defense tech startups, but has since rebuilt subscriber numbers

More News

Natasha Mascarenhas / TechCrunch:
Outschool, a marketplace for online after-school classes, raises $75M Series C led by Coatue and Tiger Global at a $1.3B valuation, up from $320M in Sep. 2020
Ece Toksabay / Reuters:
Turkey's central bank bans the use of cryptocurrencies and crypto assets to pay for goods and services directly or indirectly

Earlier Picks

Ryan Browne / CNBC:
Dogecoin, the cryptocurrency that started out as a joke in 2013, now has a market cap of $40B+ after growing nearly 400%+ in the past seven days
Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
Ireland-based digital rights group begins “mass action” to sue Facebook over 2019 breach, citing the right to monetary compensation set out in the GDPR
Sean Hollister / The Verge:
Apple's App Store hosted kids' games that became crypto-based casinos if launched from some non-US locations
Reuters:
Massachusetts seeks revocation of Robinhood's broker-dealer license, charging that it encourages inexperienced investors to place risky trades without limits
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