Techmeme
March 12, 2022, 1:45 AM

Top News

Taylor Lorenz / Washington Post:
Biden administration is working with Gen Z For Change, a nonprofit advocacy group, to brief top TikTok stars about the war in Ukraine  —  On Thursday afternoon, 30 top TikTok stars gathered on a Zoom call to receive key information about the war unfolding in Ukraine.
David Gilbert / VICE:
Investigation finds a campaign coordinated in a secret Telegram channel to pay Russian TikTok influencers to post videos pushing pro-Kremlin narratives  —  An investigation by VICE News uncovered a coordinated campaign to pay Russian TikTok influencers to post videos pushing pro-Kremlin narratives.
Nick Clegg / @nickclegg:
Responding to reports that Russia may designate Meta an extremist org, Meta says it will allow calls for violence against Russian soldiers only in Ukraine  —  Responding to reports that the Russian government is considering designating Meta as an extremist organization for its policies in support of speech:
Richard Lawler / The Verge:
Roskomnadzor says it is banning Instagram in Russia from March 14 because Meta now allows posts “calling for violence against Russian citizens”  —  First Facebook, now Instagram  —  One week after placing a ban on Facebook in Russia, the country's communications agency Roskomnadzor announced it will ban Instagram, too.
Jillian Deutsch / Bloomberg:
Mitchell Clark / The Verge:
New York Times:
Sources: Meta is cutting back on staff perks like laundry service; CTO Bosworth and others chafed at the perceived sense of entitlement of complaining staff  —  The company told workers on Friday that it will reduce or eliminate some of its famous perks as it prepares for a return to the office.
Filipe Espósito / 9to5Mac:
Sources: Apple has no plans to release a larger-screen iMac in the near future and is working on a new 24-inch iMac without high-end processors for 2023  —  With the introduction of the new Mac Studio and Studio Display, Apple quietly discontinued the 27-inch iMac - which was still sold with an Intel processor.
Filipe Espósito / 9to5Mac:
Sources: new MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro, both with M2, coming this year; Apple has M2 Pro, Max, and Ultra in the works, the latter being a 24-core CPU  —  It has been almost two years since Apple announced the transition from Intel Macs to Apple Silicon, and while there's still …
Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:
Yuga Labs, the creator of Bored Ape Yacht Club, acquires NFT collections CryptoPunks and Meebits from Larva Labs, along with 400+ CryptoPunks and 1.7K+ Meebits  —  Yuga Labs now controls three of the most valuable NFT collections on the market  —  Yuga Labs, the creator of Bored Ape Yacht Club …
Victoria Song / The Verge:
Mark Bernstein, a prominent Russian Wikipedia editor, is detained in Belarus for “distributing fake anti-Russian information” after being doxxed on Telegram  —  The editor was doxxed on Telegram prior to the arrest  —  The Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption of Belarus …
Hartley Charlton / MacRumors:
Apple dismisses the findings of UK CMA's interim report on mobile ecosystems as based on “unsubstantiated allegations and hypothetical concerns” from its rivals  —  Apple has aggressively defended its ecosystem in a newly-published response to the UK's competition watchdog.
Axios:
Apple, Google, Meta, PayPal, and others urge Texas governor to abandon an EO that equates gender-affirming healthcare for transgender children with child abuse  —  More than 60 companies, including some of the largest firms in tech and finance, are calling on Texas governor Greg Abbott …
Osato Avan-Nomayo / The Block:
UK's Financial Conduct Authority gives notice to crypto ATM operators to shut down their machines or face penalties since they are unlicensed  —  The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has contacted crypto ATM operators to shut down their machines or face penalties since they are unlicensed.
Suman Bhattacharyya / Wall Street Journal:
Counterpoint: as chip prices fall, 5G-capable devices have moved from $550+ to $250+; the average price of a multi-function 5G SoC is $40-$45  —  Phone companies are more willing to upgrade the capability of phones in the $200 range, market researchers say  —  5G is increasingly available …
Emily Baker-White / BuzzFeed News:
Interviews reveal TikTok's Project Texas, an effort to rebuild its internal systems to keep US user data in the US and limit its access to a new US-based team  —  TikTok is rebuilding its systems to keep US user data in the US and putting a new US-based team in control.

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