Techmeme
July 18, 2021, 1:40 PM

Top News

Guy Rosen / About Facebook:
Facebook says their data shows a 50% decline in vaccine hesitancy among US users, refuting Biden's claim that it's “killing people” by allowing COVID-19 misinfo  —  At a time when COVID-19 cases are rising in America, the Biden administration has chosen to blame a handful of American social media companies.
More: The Guardian, New York Times, CNBC, Insider, CNN, International Business Times, Engadget, The Verge, Reuters, Mashable, Social Media Today, Neowin, NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, NBC News, Politico, and New York Times
Carl T. Bergstrom / @ct_bergstrom:
[Thread] The response to Biden from Facebook's VP of Integrity is a textbook example of bluster and obfuscation  —  After Biden's criticism of @Facebook for their inaction on antivax propaganda, @fbnewsroom is going on the offensive. They issued a press release that is a textbook example of bluster, obfuscation, and agnatogenesis. Here's the link. Let's take a look. https://about.fb.com/...
Helen Rosner / New Yorker:
Experts say consent and disclosure are key to the ethical use of synthetic media, amid controversy surrounding Bourdain's deepfake voice in a new documentary  —  The new documentary “Roadrunner” uses A.I.-generated audio without disclosing it to viewers.  How should we feel about that?
Flavia Rotondi / Bloomberg:
An Italian museum is using cameras to monitor people looking at artwork, to define a work of art's “attraction value” and accordingly change museum layouts  —  As Italy's museums and galleries welcome back tourists and try to recoup some of the 190 million euros ($225 million) …
Jason Parham / Wired:
An oral history of Black Twitter, which helped fill a void created by the fizzling out of web forums like BlackVoices, Melanet, and NetNoir in the mid-2000s  —  From #UKnowUrBlackWhen to #BlackLivesMatter, how a loose online network became a pop culture juggernaut, an engine of social justice, and a lens into the future.
Richard Lawler / The Verge:
WhatsApp is testing encrypted cloud backups on Android  —  Read the fine print before you switch it on  —  When you're using WhatsApp your messages are encrypted end-to-end, which means prying eyes can't easily see what's in them as they travel back and forth.
Bloomberg Law:
TurboTax developer Intuit will leave the IRS Free File Program, which drew scrutiny in recent years after an investigation found Intuit hid free-filing options  —  Intuit Inc., the maker of TurboTax, is leaving an IRS program that offers millions of Americans the ability to file their taxes for free.
Allison Johnson / The Verge:
Sony Xperia 1 III review: nice design with a 120Hz display and several manual camera modes, but expensive at $1,300, will get just two years of security updates  —  A good camera system and top-notch features, but it's priced too high to recommend  —  The Sony Xperia 1 III is a great phone that I won't recommend to many people.
Wall Street Journal:
How decision-making by Masayoshi Son, who estimated WeWork would be worth $10T by 2028 and wanted Adam Neumann to be “crazier”, led to WeWork's implosion  —  Adam Neumann and Masayoshi Son pushed WeWork to new heights as they challenged each other to think big and bet billions.

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