Techmeme: In the wake of a widely protested presidential election in Belarus, nonprofits and companies including Twitter are reporting parts of the internet being blocked (Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai/VICE)

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August 10, 2020, 7:10 PM

Top News

NBC News:

Sources: an internal Facebook probe into QAnon shows the size of the conspiracy theory's community: millions of members and followers across thousands of Groups — An internal investigation by Facebook has uncovered thousands of groups and pages, with millions of members and followers …

More: The Hill. Tweets: @brandyzadrozny, @craigsilverman, @ekp, @noupside, @yashar, @hshaban, @mindyfinn, @slpng_giants, @kylegriffin1, @slpng_giants, @joshshepperd, @anildash, @alkapdc, @hshaban, @johnpaczkowski, @alkapdc, @brandyzadrozny, @kevinroose, and @benpu_nbc

Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg:

Facebook says it has created Facebook Financial, a new group headed by David Marcus that will run all payments projects, including Facebook Pay — - Libra cryptocurrency co-creator David Marcus to lead new group — Former UpWork CEO Stephane Kasriel joins as payments VP

More: CoinDesk, Decrypt, Cointelegraph, The Block, Engadget, Cryptonews, Business Insider, PYMNTS.com, and BitcoinExchangeGuide

Facebook: David Marcus. Tweets: @davidmarcus, @kurtwagner8, @patrickmcgee_, @melt_dem, and @prestonjbyrne

Dara Khosrowshahi / New York Times:

Uber CEO defends treating gig workers as contractors, suggesting gig economy companies should be required to establish funds that give workers cash for benefits — Gig workers want both flexibility and benefits — we support laws that could make that possible. — Mr. Khosrowshahi is the chief executive officer of Uber.

More: The Verge, CNN, TechCrunch, CNET, Uber Newsroom, Silicon Valley Business …, Tech.co, Gizmodo, The Hill, The Rideshare Guy Blog …, Engadget, CNBC, PYMNTS.com, Slashdot, and Axios

Tweets: @gabedelahaye, @dkhos, @arthurdelaneyhp, @jfh, @zohrankmamdani, @nytopinion, @bigblackjacobin, @bcmerchant, @enpancotti, @nickgillespie, @bcmerchant, @uber, @silvermanjacob, @darakerr, @helaineolen, and @benyt

Bloomberg:

In a lawsuit brought by CA's AG, judge issues a preliminary injunction ordering Uber, Lyft to convert their drivers to employees, paused for 10 days for appeals — - Ride-hailing companies ordered to comply with state law — San Francisco judge pauses preliminary injunction for appeal

More: NBC News, San Francisco Chronicle, and CNET

Tweets: @zck, @daveleeft, @daveleeft, @daveleeft, @daveleeft, @alex, @erinmulvaney, @josheidelson, and @daveleeft

Reuters:

Russian competition watchdog FAS says Apple abused its dominance of the mobile apps market and must resolve issues with iOS App Store; Apple says it will appeal — MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian competition watchdog FAS on Monday said that Apple Inc has abused its dominant position …

More: MacRumors, Interfax, Android Authority, iMore, Thurrott, 9to5Mac, Philip Elmer‑DeWitt, PYMNTS.com, Engadget, AppleInsider, and iDownloadBlog.com

Abner Li / 9to5Google:

Google announces that Google Maps now has CarPlay Dashboard support and a simple version of the app will be rolling out to Apple Watch in the coming weeks — Google today announced two big features for its mapping service on Apple platforms. After removing in 2017, Google Maps is bringing …

More: The Keyword, The Verge, Macworld, ZDNet, Thurrott, Ars Technica, Appleosophy, Softpedia News, SlashGear, VentureBeat, and TechCrunch

Tweets: @googlemaps, @richontech, @rustybrick, and @dcseifert

Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai / VICE:

In the wake of a widely protested presidential election in Belarus, nonprofits and companies including Twitter are reporting parts of the internet being blocked — Twitter, local journalists, and internet freedom organizations report that there are widespread internet blocks in Belarus.

More: Wired, CyberScoop, NetBlocks, Finbold, Engadget, CNN, and Digital Trends

Tweets: @policy, @netblocks, @netblocks, @netblocks, @netblocks, @hannaliubakova, @durov, and @ilvestoomas

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This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 7:10 PM ET, August 10, 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.

From Mediagazer

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

CBS News and The Free Press announce Things That Matter, a series of town halls and debates, starting in early 2026, with Sam Altman, J.D. Vance, and others

Shane O'Neill / Washington Post:

Q&A with Christopher Anderson, who photographed Trump's inner circle for VF: “My job is to ... draw on my experience as a journalist and photograph what I see”

John Rogers / Associated Press:

Peter Arnett, a Pulitzer Prize-winning correspondent who covered the Vietnam War for the AP and the first Gulf War for CNN, has died at 91

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More News

Bloomberg:

Source: AmEx is in advanced talks to buy SoftBank-backed online lender Kabbage for as much as $850M in an all-cash deal as soon as this month

Manish Singh / TechCrunch:

Amazon says that 1M+ Prime subscribers in India shopped from SMBs in the 14 days leading up to Prime Day

More: IN Day One Blog

Jeremy Horwitz / VentureBeat:

US announces it will reallocate the 3.45GHz to 3.55GHz spectrum reserved for military use for consumer 5G instead, slated to be up for auction in December 2021

More: TechCrunch, CNET, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, and Reuters

Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:

Skillshare, a subscription marketplace for online courses, raises $66M led by OMERS Growth Equity and says it has 12M registered members

More: FinSMEs. Tweets: @ldrogen, @mokoyfman, @jmelaskyriazi, and @mikekarnj

John Koetsier / Forbes:

Apple Advertising seems to be on by default in iOS 14, while other advertisers and ad networks will have to ask for permission to track users

Tweets: @eric_seufert, @johnkoetsier, @eric_seufert, @eric_seufert, and @eric_seufert

Earlier Picks

Cade Metz / New York Times:

Frances Allen, who conducted groundbreaking work on software compilers in the 1960s and won the Turing Award in 2006, has died at 88

More: Gizmodo, Engadget, and The Verge

Tweets: @drewharwell, @k8em0, @arvindkrishna, @nytobits, @infosecsherpa, and @jennifermarsman

Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:

McAfee report: NetWalker ransomware operators have made ~$25M from ransom payments since March, putting them in the same league as Ryuk, Dharma, REvil groups

Tweets: @philippederyck and @brianhonan

Christopher Mims / Wall Street Journal:

Amid an explosion in demand for home-delivered goods, shippers like FedEx are increasingly adopting industrial robot arms equipped with computer vision and AI

Tweets: @mileskimball, @farshchi, @mims, @sub8u, @mfordfuture, and @2peterharris

Steve Evans / ReinsuranceNe.ws:

Buckle, an insurer for ridesharing platforms with coverage in 47 US states, raises $31M Series A led by HSCM Bermuda and Eos

More: Insurance Journal, Business Wire, and Business Wire

Jack Purcher / Patently Apple:

Apple responds to AirPods patent infringement suit by countersuing Koss Corporation for breach of contract and breaking a confidentiality agreement

More: TechSpot, 9to5Mac, iPhone in Canada Blog, MacDailyNews, MacRumors, Engadget, AppleInsider, and Digital Trends

FinSMEs:

Charleston, SC-based startup Palmetto, which helps consumers calculate potential energy costs and savings by using green tech like solar, raises $29M Series B

More: TechCrunch and PR Newswire

Lucas Kunce / Pro Market:

While Facebook claims its size helps it defend the US against Chinese companies like TikTok, history shows TikTok succeeded partly due to FB's corporate goals

More: BIG by Matt Stoller. Tweets: @asherschechter, @joshconstine, @asherschechter, @karenkornbluh, @promarket_org, @phirephoenix, and @matthewstoller

Ben Smith / New York Times:

Facebook, Google, and Twitter are making the same mistakes big news outlets made decades ago, trying to placate hyperpartisan critics who are “working the refs”