Techmeme
December 17, 2020, 4:15 AM

Top News

Gilad Edelman / Wired:
A look at allegations in Texas AG's antitrust suit, accusing Google of giving Facebook special privileges in exchange for not supporting a competing ad system  —  A new antitrust case against Google alleges that the two companies made a deal to reduce competition in online advertising.
Diane Bartz / Reuters:
Joe Rossignol / MacRumors:
Apple responds to Facebook's criticism of iOS 14 privacy measures, says Facebook won't be forced to change how it tracks users, but it must give users a choice  —  Apple has responded to Facebook's criticism over an upcoming iOS 14 privacy measure — specifically a change that will require users …
Bloomberg:
Facebook attacks Apple in full-page newspaper ads, claiming upcoming iOS 14 changes that limit data gathering and targeted ads are bad for small businesses  —  - Ads criticize Apple's plan to require opt-in for ad tracking  — Facebook placed ads in the NYT, WSJ and Washington Post
Wall Street Journal:
Facebook says it will assist Epic Games in its legal battle against Apple, including providing supporting documents  —  Social-networking company also dials up criticism of Apple's plan to allow iPhone users to restrict access to personal data  —  Facebook Inc. said it would assist …
Washington Post:
CISA's Einstein, which cost billions and monitors US agencies' networks for bad actors, missed the SolarWinds hack, which now counts the NIH among its victims  —  When Russian hackers first slipped their digital Trojan horses into federal government computer systems, probably sometime in the spring …
Thomas P. Bossert / New York Times:
Ex-Homeland Security Adviser: the magnitude of the Solarwinds breach is hard to overstate and the remediation effort alone will be staggering  —  The magnitude of this national security breach is hard to overstate.  —  Mr. Bossert was the homeland security adviser to President Trump …
Jack Morse / Mashable:
Twitter says it will stop prompting users to Quote Tweet, restoring the standard RT functionality, and says QT use increased but overall sharing dropped by 20%  —  Well, it was worth a shot.  —  Twitter announced Wednesday that it will cease prompting users to quote tweet in lieu of the standard retweet.
Makena Kelly / The Verge:
Twitter says it will start removing tweets that spread harmful COVID-19 vaccine misinformation starting next week and will label conspiracies starting in 2021  —  It may apply labels early in 2021  —  Twitter announced Wednesday that it will remove tweets making false or misleading claims about COVID-19 vaccinations.
Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:
Substack launches Substack Reader, an RSS reader for tracking newsletter subscriptions and other feeds, in beta  —  Substack Reader is now available in beta  —  If you're worried about all your newsletter subscriptions getting lost in your inbox, Substack may have a solution.
Bloomberg:
A group of AI researchers at Google have asked for policy and leadership changes including the removal of VP Megan Kacholia from their reporting hierarchy  —  - Team says it must be able to contest Google ‘revenue agendas’  — Letter to CEO asks company to commit to academic integrity
Adrienne LaFrance / The Atlantic:
A pessimistic look at Facebook and its enormous, uncontrollable impact on the US and world, giving Zuckerberg incredible power with little oversight  —  The Doomsday Machine was never supposed to exist.  It was meant to be a thought experiment that went like this: Imagine a device built …
The Guardian:
Invoices show Israeli surveillance firm Rayzone leased access to SS7 traffic from a Channel Islands mobile operator to spy on cell communications and locations  —  The Israeli private intelligence company Rayzone Group appears to have had access to the global telecommunications network via …
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Roku and WarnerMedia have reached an agreement to distribute HBO Max on the Roku platform, starting Thursday  —  Roku and WarnerMedia have reached an agreement for the distribution of the HBO Max on the Roku platform — nearly seven months after the streaming service launched.
Nick Statt / The Verge:
Google's Stadia arrives on iOS and iPadOS in beta for mobile web, letting users access their game library on Apple devices  —  Playing Cyberpunk 2077 on an iPad is pretty great  —  Google Stadia has finally made its way to iOS over a year after launch.  The company's mobile web beta …
Joe Tidy / BBC:
Dutch prosecutors find researcher Victor Gevers did successfully log into Donald Trump's Twitter account; the White House and Twitter denied the incident  —  Dutch prosecutors have found a hacker did successfully log in to Donald Trump's Twitter account by guessing his password - “MAGA2020!”
Nikki Sun / Nikkei Asia:
China's government is rethinking its tolerant attitude towards monopolies, fearing too much power, driven by the rise of huge tech conglomerates like Ant Group  —  Alibaba, Tencent and a host of internet giants face new scrutiny from the Party  —  HONG KONG — When China's business regulator …
Romain Dillet / TechCrunch:
French P2P payments startup Lydia raises $86M led by Accel, as an extension of its Series B, bringing total of its Series B round to $131M  —  French fintech startup Lydia has extended its Series B round.  Accel is leading the extension with all major existing shareholders also participating.
More: Tech.eu
Danah Boyd / LinkedIn:
The Biden administration needs a VP of Engineering to debug problems that prevent government agencies from successfully building and deploying technical systems  —  If you look at the roster of the Biden-Harris transition team, it's quickly apparent that the incoming administration is tech-forward.

Sponsor Posts

TELUS Digital:
The brand supporting the biggest brands in tech  —  Deliver memorable experiences throughout the customer journey with customer experience support from TELUS Digital.  Scale quickly, automate efficiently and win decisively.
Intel:
Intel Delivers powerful CPUs for AI and Networking  —  With the onset of AI, businesses demand powerful and efficient CPUs.  Explore new Intel Xeon 6 processors, for the broadest set of workloads with leadership performance and lower TCO.
Zoho:
Gamification: A simple way to enjoy getting more work done  —  Work doesn't have to be boring.  Gamification transforms everyday tasks into exciting challenges, making employees feel more engaged and motivated.
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Techmeme Ride Home:
Europe Wants To Ween Itself Off Silicon Valley
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe to Techmeme Ride Home.
Decoder with Nilay Patel:
How Trump's tariff chaos is already changing global trade
A show from the Verge about big ideas - and other problems.
Subscribe to Decoder with Nilay Patel.
Grit:
From Bootstrapped to $12B: Mailchimp's Ben Chestnut on Life After the Exit
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
Lenny's Podcast:
The hidden power of introverts: How to thrive without changing who you are | Susan Cain (author of "Quiet")
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
The Logan Bartlett Show:
Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen Breaks Down the Global Impact of Trump's New Tariffs
A podcast hosted by Logan Bartlett, an investor at Redpoint Ventures, covering tech with industry insiders.
Subscribe to The Logan Bartlett Show.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 4:15 AM ET, December 17, 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.

More News

Megan Rose Dickey / TechCrunch:

Earlier Picks

William Boston / Wall Street Journal:
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:
Chris Welch / The Verge: