Techmeme
September 30, 2021, 2:25 AM

Top News

The Verge:
Facebook shares two of its internal research docs about Instagram's impact on teen mental health reported on by WSJ, with annotations for context  —  The company shared the PDFs Wednesday night  —  Facebook has shared the internal research about the impact of Instagram on teenage mental …
Wall Street Journal:
WSJ publishes six internal Facebook documents it used for its report about Instagram's negative impact on teen girls, after Facebook published two of the docs  —  The Senate holds a hearing Thursday about the social network's impact, prompted by The Wall Street Journal's coverage
Reuters:
Gerrit De Vynck / Washington Post:
YouTube says it is banning prominent anti-vaccine activists, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr, and blocking all anti-vax content, not just about COVID-19 vaccines  —  The Google-owned video site previously only banned misinformation about coronavirus vaccines.  Facebook made the same change months ago.
Bloomberg:
Employees at 11 video game companies say their teams have a 4K Switch dev kit, but sources say a 4K Nintendo console won't go on sale until late 2022  —  At least 11 companies, including Zynga, have tools from Nintendo to make 4K Switch games.  —  Many people were surprised to learn …
Cheyenne Ligon / CoinDesk:
Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith pleads guilty to violating US sanctions law following a crypto and blockchain presentation at a 2019 North Korean conference  —  Griffith was charged with violating sanctions law by giving a cryptocurrency and blockchain presentation at a North Korean conference in 2019.
Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge:
Google announces online shopping tools, including a Lens upgrade coming first to iOS and Chrome desktop that helps users find products seen in images and videos  —  New search tools designed for shopping from home  —  Shopping online isn't always a convenience.
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Google says it is improving Search using the MUM AI model, with features like “Things to know”, which gives users additional context about searched topics  —  At its Search On event today, Google introduced several new features that, taken together, are its strongest attempts yet …
Ron Amadeo / Ars Technica:
Google Maps adds a wildfire info layer, rolling out to Android this week and iOS and desktop in October, expands its Tree Canopy tool to 100 cities worldwide  —  “Fire” will be a top-level layer just like traffic, satellite, and transit maps.  —  Google Maps is getting a few new features …
Ana Diaz / Polygon:
Twitch rolls out the option for streamers to require phone and email-verified accounts in chat, as part of the company's effort to reduce targeted harassment  —  Curbing harassment continues to be a “top priority” for Twitch  —  After an upswell in targeted harassment on the streaming platform Twitch …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Facebook is rolling out Reels to all US mobile users, after launching a beta last month, and announces a Reels Play bonus program for creators  —  After launching into beta tests just last month, Facebook today is rolling out Reels to all Facebook users in the U.S. on both iOS and Android.
Catalin Cimpanu / The Record:
Researchers discover a malware operation that has infected 10M+ Android devices in 70+ countries via benign-looking apps, netting $1.5M-$4M per month  —  Security researchers have found a massive malware operation that has infected more than 10 million Android smartphones across …
Sam Bourgi / Cointelegraph:
Chainalysis: crypto transaction volume for Central, Northern, and Western Europe reached $1T+ from July 2020-June 2021, comprising 25% of global crypto activity  —  DeFi has become a major catalyst for Europe's crypto economy.  Large institutions have also upped their share of transactions significantly.
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Indian social commerce startup Meesho raises $570M Series F co-led by Fidelity and B Capital Group, more than doubling its valuation in under 6 months to $4.9B  —  Meesho has more than doubled its valuation in less than six months, to $4.9 billion, as a growing number of high-profile investors …
Reuters:
Russia arrests Ilya Sachkov, the CEO of cybersecurity company Group-IB, on suspicion of treason and will hold him in custody for two months  —  Russia has arrested Ilya Sachkov, the chief executive of top Russian cybersecurity company Group IB, on suspicion of state treason and will hold …
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: the FTC is considering strengthening online privacy protections, including for children, in an effort to bypass legislative logjams in Congress  —  Agency is looking at strengthening rules that govern how digital businesses collect user data  —  WASHINGTON—The Federal Trade Commission …
Benjamin Wallace / New York Magazine:
Miami's mayor has helped turn Miami into the most crypto-friendly US city, even as Florida's governor appears to object to the idea of an influx of tech workers  —  Silicon Valley's favorite politician, Miami mayor Francis Suarez, has many lures to dangle when he's wooing techies to relocate to his city.
Financial Times:
Profile of Chinese AI company SenseTime, which has raised $3B+, as it prepares for a Hong Kong IPO and tries to retain support from China, its biggest customer  —  Start-up is close to an IPO but remains heavily dependent on Beijing's support  —  Three years ago, Tang Xiao'ou joked …
PYMNTS.com:
Buckle, which provides credit and insurance to ridesharing and delivery drivers, raises $60M Series B led by Volery Capital Partners  —  Buckle Corp, an insurance and credit provider for rideshare and delivery drivers and those who earn less than the average American wage, announced on Wednesday …
Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac:
Apple has quietly begun allowing users to rate and review its built-in iPhone and iPad apps in the App Store with iOS 15  —  For the longest time, the App Store did not allow users to rate or review Apple's built-in iPhone and iPad apps, like Mail, Music, News, Stocks and Calculator.
Jennifer Lynch / Electronic Frontier Foundation:
Ninth Circuit court confirms police need a warrant before opening people's email attachments, even if containing potentially illegal content such as CSAM  —  In a powerful new ruling for digital privacy rights, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has confirmed that the police need to get a warrant …

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

Big Technology Podcast:
Will Apple (Finally) Get AI Right At WWDC?, Anthropic's Worry, Microsoft vs. OpenAI
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.
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.
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 2:25 AM ET, September 30, 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

Eva Mathews / Reuters:
Tom Krazit / Protocol:
Clive Cookson / Financial Times:

Earlier Picks

TechCrunch:
Rachel Pannett / Washington Post:
Andrew Cunningham / Ars Technica: