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.

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:
Enhancements to Zoho Writer's automation flow designer: New PDF operations, password protection, and more  —  Once we rolled out the automation flow designer in Zoho Writer's merge templates …
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

Big Technology Podcast:
2025 In Review, 2026 Predictions — With Reed Albergotti
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:
Podcast Pioneer PJ Vogt's Second Act: Less Budget, More Control
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.
BG2 Pod:
AI Enterprise - Databricks & Glean
Open-source podcast on all things tech, markets, investing, and capitalism, hosted by Brad Gerstner.
Subscribe to BG2 Pod.
Great Chat:
The stories we told ourselves in 2025
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.
Grit:
How Brands Stay Visible When AI Decides | Profound CEO James Cadwallader
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
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 7:45 AM ET, August 8, 2020.

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

Reuters:

Earlier Picks

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