Techmeme
June 4, 2021, 9:25 AM

Top News

Alex Heath / The Verge:
Sources: Facebook plans to end its controversial policy that shields politicians from the content moderation rules that apply to other users  —  Going forward politicians will be treated more like everyone else  —  Facebook plans to end its controversial policy that mostly shields politicians …
Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is working on a new iPad Pro with MagSafe charging and a glass back, for release in 2022, and a redesigned iPad Mini for release later in 2021  —  - Company plans Mini redesign and thinner entry-level tablet  — Apple's tablet sales jumped 79% in first three months of 2021
Sam Schechner / Wall Street Journal:
EU and UK regulators coordinate to open antitrust investigations into Facebook's classified ad service Marketplace; UK is also probing Facebook Dating  —  Investigations into classified-ads service Marketplace ramp up regulatory scrutiny on the company in Europe
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
TikTok adds a new section to its privacy policy saying the app may collect biometric data such as faceprints and voiceprints from its users' content in the US  —  A change to TikTok's U.S. privacy policy on Wednesday introduced a new section that says the social video app …
David E. Sanger / New York Times:
Biden issues an order banning US investment in 59 Chinese tech companies that aid surveillance, substantially expanding on an earlier order issued by Trump  —  The new order includes firms engaged in making and deploying the surveillance technology used against Muslim minorities and dissidents around the globe.
Catalin Cimpanu / The Record:
Sources: Cox Media Group is apparently suffering a ransomware attack, as live streams for Cox radio and TV stations go down  —  Live streams for radio and TV stations owned by the Cox Media Group, one of the largest media conglomerates in the US, have gone down earlier today in what multiple sources …
Christopher Bing / Reuters:
US DOJ says it is elevating investigations of ransomware attacks to a similar priority as terrorism in the wake of the Colonial Pipeline hack  —  The U.S. Department of Justice is elevating investigations of ransomware attacks to a similar priority as terrorism in the wake of the Colonial Pipeline hack …
Ian Sherr / CNET:
Apple will launch an Android app to detect AirTags that may be in use to track a person and reduces the interval before AirTags sound an alert in such cases  —  Apple said it's adjusting its approach to its AirTags sensors, changing the time they play an alert when separated from their owner …
Ben Thompson / Stratechery:
Stratechery's Ben Thompson announces a service called Passport to let creators manage their subscriptions and communicate with subscribers  —  Seven years ago, when I initially launched the paid Daily Update, there weren't really any tools designed for independent subscription businesses …
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Berlin-based Flink, a six-months old grocery delivery service built around its own delivery stores, raises $240M co-led by Prosus, BOND, and Mubadala Capital  —  On-demand grocery delivery, which really came into its own with the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic, continues to command huge attention from investors.
Jennifer Elias / CNBC:
Google says it reassigned diversity strategy lead Kamau Bobb to STEM education due to a 2007 post in which he said Jews have an “insatiable appetite for war”  —  - Google has reassigned a global diversity lead Kamau Bobb over a 2007 blog post that it deemed antisemitic.
Natasha Mascarenhas / TechCrunch:
Current and former employees at Medium say CEO Ev Williams' internal memo in April on the company's shifting culture led to a mass exodus of non-editorial staff  —  In April, Medium CEO Ev Williams wrote a memo to his staff about the company's shifting culture in the wake of a challenging year.
Andrew Perrin / Pew Research Center:
Survey of Americans: since 2019, smartphone ownership increased 4% to 85% and broadband subscriptions rose 4% to 77%; 30% report internet connectivity issues  —  Smartphone ownership and home broadband adoption are up slightly since 2019.  And 30% of Americans say they at least sometimes …
Casey Newton / Platformer:
Trump shutting down his blog shows the significance of social media platforms' amplification mechanics and how they give free and huge reach to the worst actors  —  What a failed blog tells us about the power of Twitter  —  Last month, after months of hyping up a forthcoming “social media platform” …
Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC:
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Review of Google's new $99 Pixel Buds A-Series: good sound quality, improved comfort, and water resistant, but audio can cut out and ear hooks are non-removable  —  The $99 Pixel Buds are a better buy than their pricier predecessors  —  With the new, awkwardly named Pixel Buds A-Series …
Marco Arment / Marco.org:
Apple insults developers by denying the value apps bring to iOS and ignoring the part marketing and developer reputation play in attracting people to apps  —  Apple's leaders continue to deny developers of two obvious truths:  — That our apps provide substantial value to iOS beyond the purchase commissions collected by Apple.

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