Techmeme
June 8, 2020, 11:35 PM

Top News

Ina Fried / Axios:
In a letter to members of Congress, IBM says it's exiting the general-purpose facial recognition business and opposes the use of such tech for mass surveillance  —  In a letter to members of Congress on Monday, IBM said it is existing the general-purpose facial recognition business …
Bijan Stephen / The Verge:
Twitch has had a “sudden influx of DMCA takedown requests for clips” from 2017 to 2019, as creators bemoan the three strike rule and lack of bulk deletion tools  —  There has been a flurry of takedown requests in the last few days  —  Over the last few days …
Todd Bishop / GeekWire:
Amazon sues former AWS VP of product marketing Brian Hall, alleging his new role at Google Cloud violates a non-compete agreement  —  A lawsuit filed by Amazon against Brian Hall, former Amazon Web Services vice president of product marketing, alleges that his new role at Google Cloud violates …
Chris O'Brien / VentureBeat:
NYU report criticizes Facebook for outsourcing content moderation, arguing it is a “grossly inadequate” way of dealing with a core task of social platforms  —  In a scathing examination of Facebook's content moderation strategy, a new study identifies the company's decision …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Twitter says it's working on a revamped verification system with publicly documented guidelines and an option to request verification from within the app  —  Twitter is developing a new in-app system for requesting verification, according to a recent finding from reverse engineer Jane Manchun Wong, which Twitter has since confirmed.
New York Times:
As the coronavirus speeds up efforts to expand voting from home either through mail-in ballots or online voting, an analysis of the associated security risks  —  Fear of the coronavirus is speeding up efforts to allow voting from home, but some of them pose security risks and may make it easier …
Ian Sherr / CNET:
Sony reschedules its PS5 event for June 11, set to demo upcoming games, and its PlayStation division pledges $1M to causes supporting black communities  —  Sony will show off new games for its PlayStation 5, launching in the fall.  The event had been delayed to allow more focus on George Floyd protests.
Janko Roettgers / Protocol:
Some VR startups detail the negative impact of the pandemic, which has decimated in-person VR centers and arcades, leading to furloughs, layoffs, and pivots  —  The COVID-19 crisis hit most tech companies hard, but it buried Sandbox VR.  “We went from a relatively healthy business,” CEO Steve Zhao said, “to zero revenue.”
Makena Kelly / The Verge:
Nextdoor's reliance on untrained volunteer moderators has raised concerns over censorship and targeting of people of color, an issue amplified by recent events  —  Kalkidan G. moved to Rancho Santa Fe because it was one of the nicer neighborhoods in San Diego.

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Earlier Picks

Stephanie Wykstra / Undark Magazine:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Robert Stevens / Decrypt: