Techmeme
August 25, 2021, 11:50 AM

Top News

Insider:
In an abrupt reversal, OnlyFans suspends its October 1 policy change banning porn after securing “assurances” and aims to provide “a home for all creators”  —  - OnlyFans is reversing its recent decision to ban porn.  — It had planned to prohibit sexually explicit …
Patricia Nilsson / Financial Times:
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Fitbit announces Charge 5 with a rounded design, a larger and brighter color AMOLED display, GPS, and more, arriving in the fall for $179.95  —  It costs $179.95 and will be out this fall  —  Following a couple of big leaks, Fitbit is officially announcing the Charge 5 …
Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg:
Facebook's David Marcus says Novi digital wallet is “ready now”, but will wait for the Diem currency, and it is “definitely looking at” building NFT features  —  Social network is ‘definitely looking’ at digital assets as part of push into financial products, executive says
Washington Post:
A look at Vaccine Talk, a tightly moderated Facebook group for vaccine skeptics with ~70K members that aims to change their minds with evidence-based info  —  As social media giants struggle to crack down on false claims about covid, ordinary users are finding ways to reach vaccine skeptics — and win them over.
Ryan Browne / CNBC:
Microsoft says that Xbox Cloud Gaming will expand beyond PC and mobile to its Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Xbox One consoles this holiday season  —  - Microsoft said its Xbox Cloud Gaming service will arrive on console this holiday.  — Cloud gaming lets people stream games over the internet rather than install them locally.
Matthew Ball / MatthewBall.vc:
A deep look at why expanding into gaming is so important to Netflix, the competition it faces from games like Fortnite, and what its current strategy looks like  —  In 2018, I released the third entry in my “Netflix Misunderstandings” series: “Netflix Isn't Being Reckless, It's Just Playing a Game No One Else Dares.”
Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch:
Balance, which offers a B2B checkout service for merchants and marketplaces, raises $25M Series A led by Ribbit Capital  —  Balance, a payments platform aimed at B2B merchants and marketplaces, has raised $25 million in a Series A funding round led by Ribbit Capital.
More: CTech and FinLedger
Sean Lyngaas / CyberScoop:
Interview with CISA Director Jen Easterly on attack prevention, hiring new staff, improving CISA's ability to scan federal networks for malicious code, and more  —  U.S. cybersecurity officials have scrambled to respond to one major hacking incident after another over the past nine months …
Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
Facebook's most-viewed story in Q1, from Chicago Tribune linking a doctor's death to COVID vaccines, shows why publishers should consider how content is shared  —  On Friday, The New York Times had a scoop.  Facebook — that known vector for the spread of kid photos, neighborhood goings-on …
Axios:
California expands lawsuit against Activision Blizzard to include temp workers and says the game maker interfered with investigation by shredding pertinent docs  —  California has expanded its anti-discrimination lawsuit against Activision Blizzard, adding temporary workers to the female full …
Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch:
Knoetic, which builds software for HR departments, comes out of stealth with $18M Series A led by Accel  —  Knoetic, a startup that has built a software analytics platform for chief people officers, emerged from stealth today with $18 million in Series A funding.
Jessica Guynn / USA Today:
Researchers: Trump tweets with fact-check labels spread further on Twitter than those without; tweets blocked by Twitter remained popular on Facebook and Reddit  —  Twitter blocked and labeled some Donald Trump's claims of election fraud in the run-up and aftermath of the 2020 presidential election.
Bahk Eun-ji / The Korea Times:
South Korea will abolish a decade-old law that stops kids under 16 from playing online games between 12AM and 6AM, after heavy criticism  —  The government has decided to abolish the game curfew for children, 10 years after the controversial rule was established, as the outdated law is not having …
Brian Heater / TechCrunch:
Last-mile delivery robot startup Coco raises $36M Series A led by Sam Altman, Silicon Valley Bank, and Founders Fund, bringing total funding to $43M  —  Los Angeles delivery robot startup Coco this week has announced $36 million in funding.  The Series A was led by Sam Altman …

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Earlier Picks

Tom Warren / The Verge:
Michael Finnegan / Los Angeles Times:
Erin Woo / New York Times:
Ashley Carman / The Verge:
Charles Riley / CNN:
New York Times: