Techmeme
August 25, 2021, 3:30 PM

Top News

Insider:
In an abrupt reversal, OnlyFans suspends its October 1 policy change banning porn after securing “assurances” and aims to provide “a home for all creators”  —  - OnlyFans is reversing its recent decision to ban porn.  — It had planned to prohibit sexually explicit …
Patricia Nilsson / Financial Times:
Joan E. Solsman / CNET:
YouTube says it has removed over 1M videos related to COVID misinfo since February 2020, and says it removes 10M videos a quarter, most of which have <10 views  —  But the 1 million coronavirus-related takedowns since the start of the pandemic are difficult to put in context, because of YouTube's gigantic scale.
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Fitbit announces Charge 5 with a rounded design, a larger and brighter color AMOLED display, GPS, and more, arriving in the fall for $179.95  —  It costs $179.95 and will be out this fall  —  Following a couple of big leaks, Fitbit is officially announcing the Charge 5 …
The Markup:
How Fannie and Freddie requiring mortgage lenders use its credit scoring algorithm leads to a disproportionately high number of Black applicants being rejected  —  These two people applied for loans in Chicago, Ill., in 2019.  —  They both earned $350K-$400K  —  and their debt level was healthy.
Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg:
Facebook's David Marcus says Novi digital wallet is “ready now”, but will wait for the Diem currency, and it is “definitely looking at” building NFT features  —  Social network is ‘definitely looking’ at digital assets as part of push into financial products, executive says
Matthew Ball / MatthewBall.vc:
A deep look at why expanding into gaming is so important to Netflix, the competition it faces from games like Fortnite, and what its current strategy looks like  —  In 2018, I released the third entry in my “Netflix Misunderstandings” series: “Netflix Isn't Being Reckless, It's Just Playing a Game No One Else Dares.”
Washington Post:
A look at Vaccine Talk, a tightly moderated Facebook group for vaccine skeptics with ~70K members that aims to change their minds with evidence-based info  —  As social media giants struggle to crack down on false claims about covid, ordinary users are finding ways to reach vaccine skeptics — and win them over.
Tech Transparency Project:
Investigation finds underage users can easily evade age limits on ~80 apps on Apple's App Store, such as dating, sex, and gambling apps restricted to ages 17+  —  Apple just announced new steps to flag child sex abuse images on iPhones.  But a TTP investigation shows that Apple's App Store is rife with child safety problems.
Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
Facebook's most-viewed story in Q1, a Chicago Tribune story linking a man's death to COVID vaccines, shows why publishers should consider how content is shared  —  On Friday, The New York Times had a scoop.  Facebook — that known vector for the spread of kid photos, neighborhood goings-on …
Richard Milne / Financial Times:
Klarna says losses in Q2 soared to $111M, up from $10M in Q2 2020, as credit defaults doubled, driven by an expansion in new markets  —  Swedish ‘buy now, pay later’ start-up continues rapid expansion in new markets  —  Klarna's losses increased significantly in the second quarter …
Source: KlarnaMore: Dow Jones Newswires
Sean Lyngaas / CyberScoop:
Interview with CISA Director Jen Easterly on attack prevention, hiring new staff, improving CISA's ability to scan federal networks for malicious code, and more  —  U.S. cybersecurity officials have scrambled to respond to one major hacking incident after another over the past nine months …
Jessica Guynn / USA Today:
Study details how people use hashtags, video effects, and music on TikTok to promote hate against Asians, women, Muslims, Jews, and Black and LGBTQ people  —  Despite pledges to crack down on hatred, TikTok is still trafficking in short-form videos that promote white supremacy and anti-Black racism …
Source: ISDMore: Politico, PBS NewsHour, Insider, and Advocate
Ryan Browne / CNBC:
Microsoft says that Xbox Cloud Gaming will expand beyond PC and mobile to its Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Xbox One consoles this holiday season  —  - Microsoft said its Xbox Cloud Gaming service will arrive on console this holiday.  — Cloud gaming lets people stream games over the internet rather than install them locally.
Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch:
Knoetic, which builds software for HR departments, comes out of stealth with $18M Series A led by Accel  —  Knoetic, a startup that has built a software analytics platform for chief people officers, emerged from stealth today with $18 million in Series A funding.

Sponsor Posts

Tribe AI:
Build AI products that matter  —  Tribe AI helps organizations rapidly deploy AI solutions that have real business impact.  We bring together world class AI talent and tooling to drive differentiated results.
Zoho:
Passkeys Week for a passwordless future: Learn how Zoho is embracing passkeys  —  Passkeys are the modern-day alternative authentication method that was introduced to replace traditional passwords for enhanced security and convenience.
Hamming:
Make AI Voice Agents trustworthy  —  Hamming AI automatically tests AI voice agents and continuously monitors them in production.
Techmeme Leaderboards:
Discover the top reporters on AI, VR, policy, and much more  —  We've analyzed Techmeme's news crawl to identify the most influential and prolific writers on 48 news topics.  Download reports immediately for just $100.
Techmeme Ride Home:
Mon. 11/18 - More Smartglasses On The Horizon
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or RSS.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 3:30 PM ET, August 25, 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

Axios:
Will Knight / Wired:
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Jessica Guynn / USA Today:
Erin Woo / New York Times:
Ashley Carman / The Verge:
Charles Riley / CNN: