Techmeme
February 7, 2022, 8:10 AM

Top News

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Source: Spotify took down episodes of the Joe Rogan Experience at Rogan's request; all the removed episodes were recorded before he signed a deal with Spotify  —  Joe Rogan apologized Saturday for using a racial slur in past episodes of his popular podcast, many episodes of which have been removed from Spotify without explanation.
Ben Sisario / New York Times:
Joe Rogan apologizes for his past use of the N-word after a compilation video of him using the slur went viral; 70 JRE episodes have been removed from Spotify  —  His apology came as listeners said that as many as 70 episodes of “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast had been quietly taken off Spotify …
More: Instagram, Gizmodo, Bloomberg, CNBC, Variety, Silicon Republic, New York Post, The Verge, thegamer.com, Gizmodo, Page Six, Deadline, The Independent, The Verge, Axios, The Hill, Ars Technica, Engadget, Reuters, The Hollywood Reporter, BBC, EW.com, Wall Street Journal, TODAY.com, Opus, Dexerto, NBC News, A Fresh Start, Ariadna and the World, Rethinking Intelligence, and Science Is Not The Answer
J. Clara Chan / The Hollywood Reporter:
Daniel Ek says “silencing” Rogan is not the answer in a staff email and commits $100M to licensing, developing, and marketing content from marginalized groups  —  Over the weekend, videos resurfaced by the musician India.Arie showed the podcaster repeatedly using the n-word and making derogatory comments about Black people.
Emma Roth / The Verge:
Twitter tests adding a DM icon to tweets on iOS to help “start a conversation”; some say the shortcut could make users even more susceptible to harassment  —  The feature will let you send a DM straight from a tweet  —  Twitter is exploring a new way to send DMs on iOS …
José Adorno / 9to5Mac:
Gurman: Apple may release an entry-level MacBook Pro with an M2 processor in 2022, without a Touch Bar, ProMotion, or miniLED  —  In his latest edition of the Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman brings some tidbits about a new entry-level MacBook Pro with the rumored M2 processor.
Max Read / Read Max:
Many celebrities promoting NFTs, like Paris Hilton and Jimmy Fallon, are either represented by, or have links to, OpenSea investor Creative Artists Agency  —  Where do celebrities even hear about “bored apes”?  Who is recommending that they buy one?  Is this really the best thing any of them can think to do with their money and fame?
Christopher Knaus / The Guardian:
Australian court dismissed Meta's claim that it neither conducts business nor collects personal information in the country in suit over Cambridge Analytica data  —  Full bench of the federal court confirms earlier ruling that tech giant collects personal information in Australia
Mitchell Clark / The Verge:
The FCC notifies Congress that service providers requested ~$5.6B to replace Huawei and ZTE equipment in US networks, up from the FCC's $1.8B estimate in 2020  —  In 2020 the estimate was $1.8 billion — now it's $5.6 billion  —  The estimated cost of replacing Huawei and ZTE equipment in US networks has increased substantially.
Casey Newton / Platformer:
Crypto faces a backlash from gamers because NFTs are often a way for game developers to extract more money, whereas music fans treat NFTs more like souvenirs  —  A tale of two fandoms  —  Today, let's talk about the very different reactions that two different types of fandoms are having …
BuzzFeed News:
GoFundMe will automatically refund $7M+ in donations to Canada's Freedom Convoy 2022, which it says sparked violence while protesting vaccine mandates  —  GoFundMe will automatically refund all donations made to a multi-million dollar campaign for a group of Canadian truckers protesting vaccine mandates …
Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
Unpacking Meta's “regulatory headwinds” warning, as the adtech industry faces a privacy reckoning and Belgium upends IAB Europe's GDPR compliance framework  —  What does Meta/Facebook's favorite new phrase to bandy around in awkward earnings calls — as it warns of “regulatory headwinds” …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Bumble makes its first acquisition, buying fast-growing French dating app Fruitz with the aim of gaining traction among a younger audience  —  Dating app company Bumble, Inc. is making its first acquisition with today's news that it's adding the fast-growing French dating app Fruitz to its family of applications.
More: Bloomberg, Reuters, and CNBC

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More News

Todd Bishop / GeekWire:
The Seattle Times:

Earlier Picks

Ryan Broderick / Garbage Day:
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