Techmeme
December 22, 2018, 6:40 PM

Top News

Slack:
Slack apologizes, says it has restored access to most of the accounts it has mistakenly blocked while trying to comply with US trade sanctions  —  Two days ago, we updated our system for applying location information to comply with U.S. trade embargoes and economic sanctions regulations.
Ryan Mac / BuzzFeed News:
A timeline of Facebook's scandals in 2018 lists 31 entries, showing the company faced a major problem, on average, every 12 days this year  —  Mark Zuckerberg began the year promising that he would fix Facebook.  He didn't, and 2018 has only presented more problems.
Will Oremus / Slate:
Facebook has forfeited trust to the point that people see nefarious motives in any misstep, as some overblown reactions to Spotify and Netflix integrations show  —  Facebook may or may not have lost its handle on our data.  But it has definitely lost its handle on the public narrative—and the benefit of the doubt.
Owen Williams / Charged:
As social media becomes ever more toxic, Fortnite has become the new social network and a place to hangout where you go to talk to friends  —  I've played a lot of Fortnite this year, and I was struggling to understand why I liked the game so much.  It's fun to play, but usually I get bored …
KNSD-TV:
The San Diego Unified School District says a phishing attack exposed personal info of 500K+ students and staff, including full names, addresses, SSNs, and more  —  Student records from 2008 up to the present are impacted, district officials told NBC 7  —  500K Student Records Compromised in SDUSD Data Breach
Washington Post:
Facebook suspends five accounts, including one belonging to the head of research firm New Knowledge, for spreading disinformation during Alabama Senate race  —  Facebook has suspended Jonathon Morgan, the chief executive of a top social-media research firm, after reports that he and others engaged …
Jeffrey Dastin / Reuters:
Sources describe how Amazon's efforts to make Alexa a better communicator through its Alexa Prize competition led to a hack and chats about sex and murder  —  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Millions of users of Amazon's Echo speakers have grown accustomed to the soothing strains of Alexa …
Nick Statt / The Verge:
Epic Games is facing lawsuits over Fortnite dance emotes, real-life dance moves used in the game, raising questions about whether dance moves are copyrightable  —  Epic Games' Fortnite is the biggest game on the planet right now, but one of its biggest sources of revenue — the ubiquitous dance …

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Try Gemini 3 Pro  —  Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
Shopify:
Shopify: Revolutionizing Commerce with Winter Edition '26  —  Over 150+ new features transform how merchants build, design, and grow—with technology that amplifies creative vision.
Zoho:
Email fatigue is real: Here's how smart email tools help you regain control  —  Picture this: It's Monday morning.  You walk into the office feeling energized and ready to take on the week.
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Acquired:
10 Years of Acquired (with Michael Lewis)
Learn the playbooks that built the world's greatest companies - and how you can apply them as a founder, operator, or investor.
Subscribe to Acquired.
Lenny's Podcast:
Why humans are AI's biggest bottleneck (and what's coming in 2026) | Alexander Embiricos (OpenAI Codex Product Lead)
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
Big Technology Podcast:
OpenAI's 2026 Priority, Disney's AI Play, Datacenter Buildout Trouble
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
Hard Fork:
Australia Kicks Kids Off Social Media + Is the A.I. Water Issue Fake? + Hard Fork Wrapped
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
Access:
Why the next AI frontier is phone calls, with Beside CEO Maxime Germain
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Ted Sarandos: Netflix and how tech changed storytelling
Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.
Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 6:40 PM ET, December 22, 2018.

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.

More News

Earlier Picks