Techmeme
December 23, 2019, 11:35 PM

Top News

New York Times:
US officials say ToTok, a chat app gaining popularity around the world, is a spying tool by the government of UAE; Google and Apple have now removed the app  —  ToTok, an Emirati messaging app that has been downloaded to millions of phones, is the latest escalation of a digital arms race.
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Bytedance is considering setting up a global headquarters for TikTok outside of China, as part of its effort to shake off its Chinese image  —  Singapore, London and Dublin are among cities being considered; no U.S. city made shortlist  —  Bytedance Inc. is considering setting …
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Dish increases price of both Sling TV packages, Orange and Blue, by $5 to $30/month, gives all users 10 hours of cloud-based DVR storage and additional channels  —  The cheap days of Sling TV are over  —  The cheap days of Sling TV are over.  Dish's internet TV service is raising the price …
Igor Bonifacic / Engadget:
Twitter blocks animated PNGs, saying a bug had allowed them, and that they did not respect autoplay settings so could be used to harm people sensitive to motion  —  Twitter will no longer animate PNG files after trolls hijacked the Epilepsy Foundation's handle and hashtags last month …
CNBC:
Mike Bloomberg created a tech company called Hawkfish that's helping his 2020 campaign and employs ex-Facebook CMO Gary Briggs and ex-Foursquare CEO Jeff Glueck  —  - A technology company called Hawkfish, with former executives from Facebook and Foursquare, is helping Bloomberg's 2020 presidential bid.
ProPublica:
Sources show how Amazon repeatedly delayed or scrapped investments in common industry practices like onroad safety training, as it built out its driver network  —  ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power.  Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published.
Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer:
Researchers: unpatched flaws in Citrix products leave 80,000+ businesses potentially vulnerable to unauthorized network access; Cisco shares steps to mitigate  —  A newly discovered vulnerability impacting the Citrix Application Delivery Controller (NetScaler ADC) and the Citrix Gateway …
Max Rivlin-Nadler / The Intercept:
Emails show how ICE uses datasets from data brokers like Thomson Reuters alongside social media sleuthing to track down suspected illegal immigrants  —  Emails sent by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials expose how ICE used social media and information gleaned by for-profit data brokers …
The Verge:
The 84 biggest flops, fails, and dead dreams of the 2010s, from the Fire phone and Google Glass to the undoing of net neutrality in the US  —  A decade of failures  —  The world never changes quite the way you expect.  But at The Verge, we've had a front-row seat while technology …
Wired:
San Francisco's surveillance law, which banned city agencies from using facial recognition in May, has been amended to allow for Face ID on city-issued iPhones  —  San Francisco quietly amends its municipal surveillance law to allow for Apple's Face ID, though the ban on facial recognition still applies.
Dan Primack / Axios:
DraftKings to go public via a reverse merger with a special purpose acquisition company and SBTech sports betting tech platform, targeting a $3.3B valuation  —  DraftKings on Monday announced that it will go public via a reverse merger with a blank-check acquisition company called Diamond Eagle …

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's new AI commerce stack  —  Their VP of Product digs into just-launched products to help entrepreneurs and developers build with the latest AI and tech.
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

Uncapped with Jack Altman:
Saam Motamedi from Greylock Partners
Conversations with people I admire about things I'm genuinely interested in.
Subscribe to Uncapped with Jack Altman.
Invest Like the Best:
Henry Ellenbogen - Man Versus Machine
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
Subscribe to Invest Like the Best.
Grit:
How Evan Spiegel Is Building the Future of Computing
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
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.
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 11:35 PM ET, December 23, 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

Russell Brandom / The Verge:
New York Times:
Amy Booth / OneZero:

Earlier Picks

Gabriel J.X. Dance / New York Times: