Techmeme
June 17, 2020, 4:05 PM

Top News

Twitter:
Twitter will let users record and add up to 140 seconds of audio to tweets, rolling out to iOS users in the coming weeks  —  Twitter is where you go to talk about what's happening.  Over the years, photos, videos, gifs, and extra characters have allowed you to add your own flair and personality to your conversations.
Nico Grant / Bloomberg:
Zoom backtracks on end-to-end encryption, saying it plans to offer E2EE to all tiers of users who verify phone numbers and will start testing it in July  —  - Company will require users of free service to verify identity  — Video-conferencing app will test strongest encryption in July
Margaret Harding McGill / Axios:
DOJ proposes Congress adopt new legislation adding conditions to Section 230 protections, opening up Facebook, Google, Twitter, others to additional liability  —  The Justice Department is urging Congress to limit the legal protections enjoyed by online platforms, seeking to narrow the law …
Margaret Harding McGill / Axios:
Sen. Josh Hawley announces a bill targeting Section 230, letting consumers sue platforms with 30M+ US MAUs over alleged censorship of political speech and more  —  Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) Wednesday will introduce legislation that would give consumers grounds to sue companies like Facebook …
John Bolton / Wall Street Journal:
Book excerpt by Trump's former national security adviser: Trump offered in 2019 to reverse Huawei's criminal prosecution if China agreed to a trade deal  —  The president pleaded with Chinese leader Xi Jinping for domestic political help, subordinated national-security issues …
Mark Zuckerberg / USA Today:
Facebook launches Voting Information Center for accurate election information and tools for voter registration, aiming to help register 4M people via its apps  —  The 2020 election is going to be unlike any other.  It was already going to be a heated campaign, and that was before the pandemic …
Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC:
John Gruber / Daring Fireball:
The distinction of business vs. consumer as a justification for Apple's rejection of HEY from the App Store for not using in-app purchases is flimsy  —  This statement is paraphrased by Pierce, not a direct quote, but on its surface this business/consumer distinction seems untenable.
David Pierce / Protocol:
Lizette Chapman / Bloomberg:
Uber to sell the software that powers its ride-hailing business, starting with public transit agencies; California Marin county is first to buy Uber's software  —  - Ride-hailing giant partners with California county officials  — Program is Uber's first software sale with a third party
Ryan Mac / BuzzFeed News:
Documents from an ACLU lawsuit show Microsoft tried to sell facial recognition tech to the DEA in late 2017, six months before the company called for regulation  —  Last week, Microsoft said it would not sell its facial recognition to police departments.  But new documents reveal it was pitching …
Bloomberg:
Apple says its head of diversity and inclusion Christie Smith, who joined in 2017, is leaving  —  - Apple VP of Diversity and Inclusion Smith had joined in 2017  — Company planning $100 million initiative to promote equality  —  Apple Inc.'s head of diversity and inclusion Christie Smith is leaving the iPhone company.
VICE:
Investigation into a “supply chain” of people who scrape OnlyFans content en masse before reposting it for free, often on other adult websites or Discord  —  In late February, rumors of a massive database of adult content stolen from OnlyFans subscription-only accounts spread through social media.

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Gemini 2.5 Pro: Our most intelligent AI model  —  Gemini 2.5 Pro (experimental) is now available, with thinking capabilities, enhanced performance, and improved accuracy.  Try it at no cost in the Gemini app.
UiPath:
Introducing the UiPath Platform™ for agentic automation  —  UiPath's new platform empowers enterprises to experience the full power of AI to transform industries
Zoho:
The power of asynchronous communication: Striking the right balance in the workplace  —  Asynchronous communication may have surged during the transition to remote work, but as the years passed and teams returned …
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.

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Earlier Picks

Aaron Holmes / Business Insider: