Techmeme
March 20, 2018, 10:25 PM

Top News

Casey Newton / The Verge:
Brian Acton, who cofounded WhatsApp, which was acquired by Facebook for $16B, tweeted “It is time. #deletefacebook”  —  Facebook bought his app for $16 billion  —  In 2014, Facebook bought WhatsApp for $16 billion, making its co-founders — Jan Koum and Brian Acton — very wealthy men.
Casey Newton / The Verge:
Source: Mark Zuckerberg expected to address Facebook employees about Cambridge Analytica scandal at 1pm ET on Friday during the company's regular Q&A session  —  And Sheryl Sandberg is too  —  After nearly four days of silence from top executives on the unfolding controversy around …
Bloomberg:
Cambridge Analytica's board suspends CEO Alexander Nix, saying it's with immediate effect, pending a full, independent investigation  —  Board of Cambridge Analytica suspended CEO Alexander Nix with immediate effect, pending a full, independent investigation, according to a statement from the company.
Channel 4 News:
Cambridge Analytica execs boasted of running “all the digital campaign” for Trump, described its comms tactics to avoid paper trail: Proton Mail, deleting email  —  An undercover investigation by Channel 4 News has revealed how Cambridge Analytica claims it ran key parts of the presidential campaign for Donald Trump.
Spencer Ackerman / The Daily Beast:
Source: Zuckerberg and Sandberg weren't at staff Q&A on Facebook role with Cambridge Analytica; Facebook says execs are “working around the clock” on the issue  —  It's not just that he's silent in public.  Facebook CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg declined to face …
Bloomberg:
Sources: US FTC is investigating Facebook to determine if it breached a 2011 consent decree over its handling of personal data amid Cambridge Analytica scandal  —  The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is probing Facebook over whether it violated terms of a consent decree over its use of personal data …
Arjun Kharpal / CNBC:
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:
Google says it will spend $300M over the next three years to support journalism and fight disinformation through the newly announced Google News Initiative  —  ‘We need to do more’  —  Google is announcing new efforts today to support the media industry by fighting misinformation and bolstering journalism …
Jim Albrecht / The Keyword:
Google debuts Subscribe with Google, which lets users buy subscriptions to news sites using Google Accounts and access them from apps, sites, and search results  —  If you've ever subscribed to a news site, you know that it can sometimes be an onerous task.  This isn't the publisher's fault, it's just the way websites work.
Johana Bhuiyan / Recode:
Travis Kalanick becoming CEO of City Storage Systems, which focuses on repurposing real estate, and says his new fund is acquiring a $150M controlling interest  —  The company was formerly called CloudKitchens and was led by Diego Berdakin, an early Uber investor.  —  Former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has found his new job.
Blair Hanley Frank / VentureBeat:
Microsoft announces Windows Server 2019, the first big update since 2016, with Linux and Kubernetes support  —  Microsoft announced today that it will launch the next major release of Windows Server later this year with better support for hybrid workloads, Linux workloads, and hyper-converged infrastructure.
Samuel Gibbs / The Guardian:
Researchers say ~1.6K files are stored in bitcoin's blockchain; at least one thought to be an image of child abuse; two others contain 274 links to child abuse  —  Researchers discover illegal content within the distributed ledger, making possession of it potentially unlawful in many countries
Dan Primack / Axios:
Salesforce will acquire MuleSoft, a SaaS integration company, for $6.5B, making it Salesforce's largest-ever acquisition  —  Salesforce today announced that it will acquire SaaS integration company MuleSoft for approximately $6.5 billion in cash and stock.  The sale price represents …
Ilya Khrennikov / Bloomberg:
Telegram plans to appeal after it loses bid in Russia's Supreme Court to block security services such as FSB from getting access to encryption keys of user data  —  Messaging service plans to appeal Supreme Court's decision  —  Regulators could block Telegram service if it fails to comply
Noel Randewich / Reuters:
Twitter shares end day down 10.35% after Israel's justice minister cited “lack of cooperation” on terrorist content; FB, Snap down 2.56% amid regulation fears  —  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Shares of Facebook (FB.O), Twitter (TWTR.N) and Snapchat-owner Snap (SNAP.N) …

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