Techmeme
April 9, 2018, 8:45 PM

Top News

Facebook:
Facebook launches new initiative to support independent academic research about the impact of social media on democracy and elections  —  By Elliot Schrage, Vice President of Communications and Public Policy, and David Ginsberg, Director of Research  —  Today, Facebook is announcing …
Sara Salinas / CNBC:
Congress releases Zuckerberg's prepared testimony: “it's clear now that we didn't do enough” to protect data privacy, prevent fake news, election interference  —  Congress has released Mark Zuckerberg's prepared testimony ahead of Wednesday's hearing.  —  Here's the full testimony:
Megan Rose Dickey / TechCrunch:
Uber acquires bike-sharing startup JUMP, source says for ~$200M; JUMP will continue running independently  —  Uber has acquired bike-sharing startup JUMP for an undisclosed amount of money.  This comes shortly after TechCrunch reported that JUMP was in talks with Uber as well as with investors regarding …
Nick Statt / The Verge:
Apple says its facilities are “powered 100 percent by renewable energy” worldwide; to reach goal, Apple purchases clean energy bonds and other green investments  —  But there's a catch  —  Apple announced today that its business is now powered by 100 percent renewable energy sources.
Ben Lang / Road to VR:
Leap Motion to release Project North Star, a low-cost open source AR headset dev kit with wide field of view, 1600x1400 display at 120 FPS, robust hand tracking  —  Over the last few weeks, Leap Motion has been teasing some very compelling AR interface prototypes, demonstrated on an unknown headset.
Pew Research Center:
Pew: the 500 most-active suspected bot Twitter accounts are responsible for 22% of links from prominent news and media sites that are shared on Twitter  —  An estimated two-thirds of tweeted links to popular websites are posted by automated accounts - not human beings
Richard Nieva / CNET:
Twenty child advocacy and privacy groups ask FTC to investigate whether YouTube violates COPPA, a federal law designed to protect kids' online privacy  —  Consumer and privacy groups say the Google-owned video site is violating online child privacy laws.  —  YouTube is in hot water again …
Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:
HP debuts Chromebook x2, a detachable Chrome OS tablet with keyboard and stylus, 12.3" IPS display, 4GB RAM, 32GB storage, 13MP camera, available June from $599  —  Two weeks ago, Acer announced the first tablet running Chrome OS.  And today, HP is announcing the second — and it's a lot higher end.
Kai Stinchcombe:
Blockchain's key promise of no-need-for-trusted-parties tech is largely irrelevant; systems built on trust, norms, and institutions inherently function better  —  Blockchain is not only crappy technology but a bad vision for the future.  Its failure to achieve adoption to date …
Melanie Ehrenkranz / Gizmodo:
Oregon governor signs bill mandating state bodies only contract with ISPs that operate under net neutrality; ISPs likely to sue to strike down new law  —  In February, three middle school students helped push a statewide net neutrality bill.  Today, Gov. Kate Brown is headed to the girls' middle school …
Peter Rudegeair / Wall Street Journal:
PayPal partnering with small US banks to offer traditional banking services like debit cards, direct deposits, and FDIC insurance to its customers  —  Company partners with small banks to offer debit cards, direct deposit and other services  —  PayPal PYPL -4.02% Holdings Inc. is nudging …

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Earlier Picks

Apple:
Emily Smith / BuzzFeed:
Bloomberg: