Techmeme
August 8, 2020, 12:05 PM

Top News

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 …
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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:
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 …
Steven Levy / Wired:
Interview with Bill Gates on COVID-19, Trump, last week's antitrust meeting, Mark Zuckerberg, misinformation, and the “poison chalice” of the TikTok deal  —  The techie-turned-philanthropist on vaccines, Trump, and why social media is “a poisoned chalice.”
Elamin Abdelmahmoud / BuzzFeed News:
Companies like Facebook and Twitter, which have positioned themselves as the new public square, should absolutely be questioned on their role in cancel culture  —  Last week, Republican Rep. Jim Jordan asked a question at a Congressional hearing that seemed to come out of nowhere.
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.

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Earlier Picks

New York Times:
Byron Tau / Wall Street Journal:
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet: