Techmeme
March 21, 2020, 4:15 PM

Top News

Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Google launches a dedicated COVID-19 website, focused on locally relevant info in the US, as well as enhanced Search results for terms related to the disease  —  After lots of complicated drama, a simple website  —  One week ago, President Donald Trump held a press conference wherein …
Taylor Lorenz / New York Times:
A look at the rise of “Zoombombing”, where trolls disrupt public Zoom conferencing calls by using the service's screen-sharing feature to share graphic content  —  As its user base rapidly expands, the videoconference app Zoom is seeing a rise in trolling and graphic content.
Josh Dzieza / The Verge:
Amazon warehouse workers and drivers fear the impact of COVID-19 as Amazon grows into an essential service, warning of uneven enforcement of safety measures  —  Amazon is positioning itself as an ‘essential’ service during the pandemic — a move that benefits the company and puts its warehouse workers and drivers in danger
The Official Microsoft Blog:
Microsoft introduces a Healthcare Bot service using AI to assist frontline organizations, like the CDC, in directing individuals to appropriate medical care  —  In a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic, it's not only important to deliver medical care but to also provide information to help people …
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Russian hacker group called Digital Revolution claims it breached a contractor for FSB and discovered details of a project intended to build an IoT botnet  —  Digital Revolution hacker group leaks details about “Fronton” an IoT botnet a contractor was allegedly building for the FSB, Russia's intelligence agency.
Xinmei Shen / Abacus:
Amid heavy censorship, Telegram became a refuge for WeChat users seeking information outside official channels at the height of the COVID-19 crisis in China  —  Telegram features like channel broadcasts and optional chat encryption have helped some people stay up to date amid heavy censorship on Tencent's WeChat
Ryan Mac / BuzzFeed News:
Twitter, which prohibits denials of established science on the virus' transmission, says Elon Musk's tweet that kids are “essentially immune” is not a violation  —  The journalists at BuzzFeed News are proud to bring you trustworthy and relevant reporting about the coronavirus.
Sarah Frier / Bloomberg:
Snap Camera, which lets users overlay their faces with AR filters in services like Zoom, Hangouts, and Twitch, has seen 10X surge in downloads since March 1  —  Workers around the world are suddenly confined to their homes and apartments to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Brandy Betz / Seeking Alpha:
Sources: Airbnb's plans to go public are in disarray after the company racked up hundreds of millions of dollars in losses this year  —  The coronavirus pandemic has led to hundreds of millions in losses for Airbnb (AIRB) and has the company considering a funding round rather than going public, according to WSJ sources.
Hartley Charlton / MacRumors:
In an internal doc, Apple informed authorized service providers that some iOS 13 or iPadOS 13 users may experience issues with the Personal Hotspot feature  —  In an internal document distributed to Apple Authorized Service Providers this week, obtained by MacRumors, Apple has acknowledged …
Bloomberg:
Sources: SoftBank-backed car-rental startup Getaround, once valued at $1B+, is actively seeking a sale as it deals with the impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak  —  The car-sharing company Getaround is actively seeking a sale as the coronavirus outbreak has sent demand plunging and left …

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