Techmeme
September 13, 2021, 5:15 PM

Top News

Jeff Horwitz / Wall Street Journal:
Internal Facebook documents detail XCheck, a program that shields VIP users from normal content enforcement policies, which included over 5.8M users in 2020  —  A program known as XCheck has given millions of celebrities, politicians and other high-profile users special treatment, a privilege many abuse
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
Apple releases iOS 14.8, watchOS 7.6.2, iPadOS 14.8, and macOS 11.6, which fix some CoreGraphics and WebKit flaws that defeated iOS “Blastdoor” protections  —  Apple has published a full support document detailing what's new in iOS 14.8, watchOS 7.6.2, iPadOS 14.8, and macOS Big Sur 11.6.
Kim Lyons / The Verge:
Litecoin spiked ~20% after several news outlets, including Reuters and CNBC, reported that Walmart would begin accepting it based on a fake press release  —  GlobeNewswire, the site where the hoax release was posted, said it came from a fraudulent user account.
Financial Times:
Sources: Beijing wants to break up Ant Group's Alipay, which has over 1B users, and create a separate app for the company's highly profitable loans business  —  Chinese fintech will turn over user data to new joint venture partly owned by state  —  Beijing wants to break up Alipay …
Margaret Harding McGill / Axios:
Sources: Biden will nominate Georgetown law professor Alvaro Bedoya, who focuses on privacy issues, to be a commissioner at the FTC  —  President Biden will nominate Georgetown University law professor Alvaro Bedoya to be a Democratic commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission, people familiar with the matter told Axios.
Josh Dzieza / The Verge:
A look at the harsh reality of working for on-demand delivery apps in NYC, including fluctuating pay and relentless time pressure, and labor organizing efforts  —  Exploited by apps.  Attacked by thieves.  Unprotected by police.  The city's 65,000 bikers have only themselves to count on.
Ian Carlos Campbell / The Verge:
Zoom is adding live translation services and will bring video meetings and Zoom Whiteboard to Facebook's VR meeting space, Horizon Workrooms, in Q1 2022  —  Zoom's whiteboard feature is also getting an upgrade  —  Zoom plans to expand its support for automatic live transcriptions …
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
What to expect from Apple's September 14 event: narrower iPhone 13 notch, LTPO displays on Pro models, redesigned Watch Series 7, no M1X MacBook Pros, and more  —  This is the free version of Power On.  If you like it, consider subscribing to Bloomberg.com — you'll receive …
Mike Wuerthele / AppleInsider:
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Mozilla says it has bypassed Microsoft's cumbersome method for switching browsers in Windows 11, letting users set Firefox as default with one click  —  It's easier to switch to Firefox as default now  —  Mozilla has quietly made it easier to switch to Firefox on Windows recently.
Pieter Haeck / Politico:
Dutch judge rules Uber drivers are employees, not self-employed, so Uber will have to pay drivers by the rules of the taxi industry's collective labor agreement  —  Dutch Uber drivers should be classified as employees rather than self-employed, a Dutch judge ruled on Monday.
Shane Goldmacher / New York Times:
FEC documents show that it has dismissed accusations by Republicans that Twitter violated election laws by blocking a NY Post article about Hunter Biden  —  The Federal Election Commission has dismissed Republican accusations that Twitter violated election laws in October by blocking people …
Eva Mathews / Reuters:
Coinbase says it plans to raise around $1.5B through a debt offering, to invest in product development and M&A, after saying it will raise $1.25B in May  —  Coinbase Global Inc (COIN.O) is planning to raise about $1.5 billion through a debt offering to invest in product development …
David McLaughlin / Bloomberg:
Antitrust lawyers say the judge's recent ruling in Apple v. Epic presents challenges for DOJ's investigation, as Apple was not found to violate the Sherman Act  —  - Judge rejected Epic's federal antitrust claims against Apple  — Decision doesn't foreclose DOJ antitrust suit, lawyers said
Samantha Subin / CNBC:
Intuit says it has agreed to acquire Mailchimp for $12B in cash and stock  —  - Intuit will buy email marketing company Mailchimp for $12 billion, the companies announced Monday.  — Intuit said it will use the acquisition to accelerate growth among small business clients.
Financial Times:
Analysis: Irish DPC has failed to apply EU's privacy laws to US Big Tech companies, with 98% of 164 significant complaints about privacy abuses still unresolved  —  Irish regulator has not resolved 98% of 164 significant data protection complaints  —  Ireland is failing to apply …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Weeks after forcing Groovy Bot offline, Google is doing the same to Rythm, a bot with 560M+ users that lets Discord users play music from YouTube videos  —  The Rythm Discord music bot is disappearing on September 15th  —  Just weeks after forcing the Groovy Discord music bot offline …

Sponsor Posts

Soxton:
Fast, affordable law for startups  —  Soxton automates startup legal so founders can move faster and sleep better.  We handle incorporation, advisor, employment and commercial contracts.  Join the waitlist for early access!
F5:
Accelerate AI Adoption at F5's AI Virtual Summit  —  Learn how to architect, secure, and scale AI for production with real-world insights from industry leaders on June 23.  Register now to save your spot.
Zoho:
Website Traffic Analytics: How to Read Your Data and Take Action  —  Traffic is up.  Sessions look healthy.  The dashboard is full of green arrows and yet — conversions are flat, revenue targets are slipping, and the leads coming through aren't closing.
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Hard Fork:
Hot I.P.O Summer + What Is A.I. Doing to Math? + HatGPT
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
The Upstarts Podcast:
Vanta's Christina Cacioppo: The Underdog Turning 'Nonsense' Compliance Into A $4.2B Security Standout
Veteran tech reporter Alex Konrad sits down with breakout entrepreneurs taking on the status quo to shake up their fields in AI, design, nuclear energy, space, and more.
Subscribe to The Upstarts Podcast.
Great Chat:
Who are the billboards for?
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.
Access:
AI is turning sketches into real-world products
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
The Nick, Dick and Paul Show:
Is AI Conscious?
Nick Bilton, Dick Costolo, and Paul Kedrosky pull back the curtain on AI, startups, and the future rushing toward us, all with healthy dose of irreverence.
Subscribe to The Nick, Dick and Paul Show.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
AI's Mythos Moment: Rishi Sunak on preparing governments for AI
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 5:15 PM ET, September 13, 2021.

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

Earlier Picks

Rachel Louise Ensign / Wall Street Journal:
Mark Suster / Both Sides of the Table: