Techmeme
October 12, 2020, 4:25 PM

Top News

Associated Press:
Facebook will now ban posts that deny or distort the Holocaust; Zuckerberg says his “thinking has evolved” as data shows an increase in anti-Semitic violence  —  Facebook is banning posts that deny or distort the Holocaust and will start directing people to authoritative sources …
Andrew Marantz / New Yorker:
Facebook's ineffective content moderation efforts, unevenly enforced and handled by low-paid moderators, show it can't and doesn't have the will to fix itself  —  The platform is overrun with hate speech and disinformation.  Does it actually want to solve the problem?
Davey Alba / New York Times:
Study: Facebook likes, comments, and shares from outlets that routinely publish misinformation roughly tripled from Q3 2016 to Q3 2020 to 1.8B interactions  —  During the 2016 presidential election, Russian operatives used Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other social media platforms …
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Microsoft, Symantec, ESET, and other tech companies orchestrated an attempt to takedown the TrickBot malware botnet, which had infected 1M+ computers  —  FS-ISAC, ESET, Lumen's Black Lotus Labs, NTT, Symantec, and the Microsoft Defender team participated in the takedown.
Brian Krebs / Krebs on Security:
Despite a broad effort to disrupt Trickbot, including legal action by Microsoft, some command and control servers of the botnet still appear to be online  —  Microsoft Corp. has executed a coordinated legal sneak attack in a bid to disrupt the malware-as-a-service botnet Trickbot …
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Twilio confirms it is buying customer data infrastructure company Segment for $3.2B in an all-stock deal, expected to close in Q4 2020  —  Twilio today announced its biggest acquisition to date, spearheading a strong move into customer data management alongside its existing API-based tools …
Dan Seifert / The Verge:
Google's Nest unveils a thermostat with a simpler design, ditching the rotating dial, available to pre-order today for $130, a $40 discount on Nest Thermostat E  —  The new Nest Thermostat ditches the signature rotating dial  —  Google's Nest smart home division has a new smart thermostat available to order starting today.
Theodore Schleifer / Vox:
Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan are pushing for a reform to CA tax law that would use property taxes to fund education, spending almost $11M on the effort  —  Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg are making the biggest electoral bet of their careers to date.  Courtesy of The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
Will Oremus / OneZero :
A look at possible antitrust action against Big Tech following the release of reports from both Democrats and Republicans last week  —  Democrats aren't the only ones ready to rewrite the antitrust rules for internet platforms  —  Never in world history has one sector of the global economy risen …
Leah Nylen / Politico:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Amazon debuts an AR app that works with QR codes on its shipping boxes to create “interactive, shareable” AR experiences such as projecting halloween pumpkins  —  Amazon has quietly launched a new augmented reality application that works with QR codes on the company's shipping boxes to create …
Javier Espinoza / Financial Times:
Sources: EU is making a “hit list” of up to 20 large internet companies, likely to include Facebook and Apple, subject to tougher rules to curb market power  —  Brussels broadens search for extra powers to curb power of digital platforms  —  EU regulators are drawing up a …

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Earlier Picks

South China Morning Post:
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet: