Techmeme
August 8, 2020, 7:45 AM

Top News

Olivia Solon / NBC News:
Internal docs: Facebook removed “strikes” so that at least 2 conservative pages, from PragerU and Diamond & Silk, dodged penalties under misinformation policies  —  Facebook has allowed conservative news outlets and personalities to repeatedly spread false information without facing …
Russell Brandom / The Verge:
Trump signs an executive order to block all transactions with ByteDance and WeChat starting Sept. 20, just 5 days after Microsoft's deadline to acquire TikTok  —  Microsoft is currently in talks to acquire the company  —  President Trump has signed a new executive order …
More: The Verge, Associated Press, TikTok, New York Times, Reuters, The Guardian, NBC News, The White House, The Guardian, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Ars Technica, Los Angeles Times, Access Now, CNBC, New York Times, Axios, BIG by Matt Stoller, The Irish Times, South China Morning Post, Ubergizmo, Hong Kong Free Press HKFP, Los Angeles Times, CCN.com, Nikkei Asian Review, ExtremeTech, Bloomberg, Social Media Today, Wired, Nikkei Asian Review, International Business Times, Android Central, TheStreet, Music Technology Policy, Techdirt, Adweek, Washington Post, Polygon, BBC, CNBC, Tom's Guide, iMore, The Diplomat, Fortune, CNET, Pocketnow, Business Insider, PCWorld, Morning Brew, The Daily Dot, KnowTechie, Silicon Valley Business …, Politico, Gizmodo, equalocean.com, OnMSFT.com, The Startup, iPhone in Canada Blog, Android Headlines, CoinGeek, Ledger Insights, 9to5Mac, Financial Times, Variety, Coinspeaker, and Wccftech
New York Times:
Intelligence agencies don't see TikTok as a major security issue, see the claimed risks as largely theoretical, and view companies like Huawei as larger threats  —  Even as the White House moves against the Chinese social media app, the intelligence agencies do not see it as a major issue along the lines of Huawei.
Sheila Dang / Reuters:
In a memo to advertisers, TikTok says it will refund ad campaigns it can't fulfill due to a US ban and will work with influencers to migrate to other platforms  —  (Reuters) - TikTok is preparing advertisers for a possible ban of its app in the United States, ad buyers said, offering refunds for ad campaigns that are unable to run.
Financial Times:
Bloomberg:
Byron Tau / Wall Street Journal:
US government contractor Anomaly Six collects and sells location data from hundreds of millions of phones globally via an SDK that is embedded in 500+ apps  —  Anomaly Six has ties to military, intelligence agencies and draws location data from more than 500 apps with hundreds of millions of users
New York Times:
Former staff at therapy-by-text app Talkspace say the company provided burner phones to write fake app reviews and doesn't adequately respect client privacy  —  The therapy-by-text company made burner phones available for fake reviews and doesn't adequately respect client privacy, former employees say.
Steven Levy / Wired:
Interview with Color of Change leader Rashad Robinson on the Facebook ad boycott, meeting with Zuckerberg, working with the company, and more  —  Rashad Robinson, an organizer behind the Stop Hate for Profit boycott, says civil rights groups can't be left to police the company by themselves.
Jackie Snow / Wall Street Journal:
How online sellers, including Amazon and GOAT, are using AI to spot counterfeit goods, with the help of authentication startups like Entrupy  —  When Olivia Matthaei, a consignment store sales clerk, needs to check whether a designer handbag is authentic, she knows the drill.
Andy Greenberg / Wired:
Researchers: China's state-sponsored hackers stole source code, SDKs, and chip designs from at least seven Taiwanese chip companies over the past two years  —  A campaign called Operation Skeleton Key has stolen source code, software development kits, chip designs, and more.

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More News

Reuters:

Earlier Picks

Adrianne Jeffries / The Markup:
Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer:
Troy Hunt:
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet: