Techmeme
October 21, 2019, 10:50 PM

Top News

Nathaniel Gleicher / Facebook:
Facebook bans networks, three originating in Iran and one in Russia, running “inauthentic” accounts, Pages, and Groups misleading users in the US, Latin America  —  Today, we removed four separate networks of accounts, Pages and Groups for engaging in coordinated inauthentic behavior on Facebook and Instagram.
Facebook:
Facebook says it will more prominently label content that fact-checkers deem false on Facebook and Instagram, will ban ads suggesting voting is pointless  —  We have a responsibility to stop abuse and election interference on our platform.  That's why we've made significant investments since 2016 …
Washington Post:
Facebook now requires some page owners to disclose the orgs running them and if they're tied to state-owned media, will add labels to pages run by state media  —  The company disabled a network of accounts that posed at times as locals in swing states to post on divisive political issues and the upcoming presidential election
CNBC:
Sources: SoftBank to take control of WeWork, spending $4B-$5B on new funding and existing shares in The We Company, valuing it between $7.5B and $8B  —  KEY POINTS  — Softbank to spend $4 billion to $5 billion on new equity, existing shares, sources say.
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
Microsoft acquires Edmonton-based Mover to bolster its cloud migration solutions, just weeks after acquiring Movere, another cloud migration company  —  Microsoft today announced that it's acquired Mover, an Edmonton-based provider of admin-led and self-service cloud file migration offerings.
Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:
Microsoft announces Secured-core PCs, which will come from many vendors like Dell and adhere to security best practices for better firmware attack protection  —  Microsoft today announced a new initiative to combat threats specifically targeted at the firmware level and data stored in memory: Secured-core PCs.
Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch:
NordVPN confirms it found out a few months ago that one of its datacenters was hacked in March 2018, leaving it vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks  —  NordVPN, a virtual private network provider that promises to “protect your privacy online,” has confirmed it was hacked.
Nat Levy / GeekWire:
SAP has struck a three-year deal where Microsoft will sell a bundle of SAP cloud services directly to customers who run SAP on Azure  —  SAP and Microsoft struck a three-year partnership to help companies move their data to the cloud, a move that tightens the already close relationship between the two tech giants.
Sarah McBride / Bloomberg:
Instabase, which sells app making tools to enterprise, raises $105M Series B at a $1.05B valuation  —  Silicon Valley got another addition to its stable of unicorns on Monday: Instabase Inc. The business tools company said it has raised $105 million at a $1.05 billion valuation.
Bloomberg:
Mark Zuckerberg and his wife have privately recommended several potential hires to Pete Buttigieg's presidential campaign, two of whom were hired  —  - Facebook CEO, wife privately recommended hires to Democrat  — Zuckerberg facing barrage of criticism in DC for bias, privacy
Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
EU says preliminary results of its probe into software used by EU institutions raises “serious concerns” over Microsoft's compliance with data protection rules  —  Europe's chief data protection watchdog has raised concerns over contractual arrangements between Microsoft …
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Google Pixel 4 and 4 XL review: fast face unlock, smooth display, and great still camera, but average video recording and battery life, and no ultrawide camera  —  There's a baseline for “fast enough” on Android phones, and the Pixel 4 more than hits it.  It might not be the fastest Android phone …
Greg Sterling / Marketing Land:
IAB and PwC: US online ad spending reached $57.9B in H1 2019, up 16.9% year-over-year but lower than the 23.1% growth in the same period last year  —  Mobile ad revenues were $39.9 billion or 69% of the total.  —  U.S. online ad spending reached $57.9 billion, representing growth of 16.9% year-over-year …
Financial Times:
Joint UK and US probe finds that a Russian cyber espionage unit hacked the tools of a hacker group linked to Iran's government to lead attacks in 35+ countries  —  A Russian cyber espionage unit has hacked Iranian hackers to lead attacks in more than 35 countries, a joint UK and US investigation has revealed.
Dan Seifert / The Verge:
Surface Laptop 3 (15") review: great keyboard and trackpad, AMD config performs well for productivity tasks, but GPU struggles, and has only two USB ports  —  The new 15-inch Surface Laptop is a familiar package with new dimensions  —  The 15-inch version of the Surface Laptop 3 represents …
Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:
Verizon's rollout of 5G to three NBA arenas and over a dozen NFL stadiums only covers some of the seating areas in each facility  —  Verizon 5G can't cover all the seating areas in any NBA or NFL facility.  —  Verizon on Friday announced that its 5G network is now available in three NBA arenas …

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Try Gemini 3 Pro  —  Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
Shopify:
Transform ML Experimentation with Tangle  —  Save months of compute time with Tangle, built by Shopify.  Try this open-source platform to simplify ML workflows, ensure reproducibility, and seamlessly share with collaborators.
Zoho:
Contract Signed.  Project Ready.  Tasks Created.  —  Every project begins with a promise; a contract that outlines the deliverables, the timelines, and the terms.  But for most businesses …
Bitrix24:
Bitrix24 powers the next generation of high-performing businesses  —  Chat, projects, CRM, and automation — all in one place.  Replace dozens of tools so your team moves faster, collaborates smarter, and grows effortlessly.
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

Access:
Is Roblox making the internet better or worse? We asked the CEO
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Lenny's Podcast:
Why LinkedIn is turning PMs into AI-powered "full stack builders" | Tomer Cohen (LinkedIn CPO)
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.
Great Chat:
Code red: our favorite tech rivalries
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
Subscribe to Great Chat.
Big Technology Podcast:
How An AI Model Learned To Be Bad — With Evan Hubinger And Monte MacDiarmid
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.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
PBS Lost a Billion Dollars. Now what? With CEO Paula Kerger
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 10:50 PM ET, October 21, 2019.

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

Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Wall Street Journal: