Techmeme
March 11, 2022, 8:45 PM

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:
Jillian Deutsch / Bloomberg:
Russia moves to designate Meta as an “extremist organization”; source says WhatsApp won't be affected as it is a means of communication  —  Russian prosecutors have asked a court to ban Meta Platforms Inc.'s Facebook and Instagram as “extremist,” Interfax reported, the latest move in a growing crackdown on social networks.
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.
Mitchell Clark / The Verge:
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 …
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.
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 …
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.
Financial Times:
EU and the UK open an antitrust probe into Google and Meta's Jedi Blue deal on online ads; EU is also probing whether Google acted without Meta's knowledge  —  Europe's competition chief Margrethe Vestager tells FT that ‘Jedi Blue’ deal represents ‘giant problem’ in industry
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.
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 …
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.
Alexandra Alper / Reuters:
Ingas and Cryoin, two Ukrainian companies that produce an estimated 45% to 54% of the world's semiconductor-grade neon, confirm they have halted operations  —  Ukraine's two leading suppliers of neon, which produce about half the world's supply of the key ingredient for making chips …
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.
New York Times:
Tech Transparency Project: between 2019-2021, Apple filed 215 trademark oppositions vs. an estimated 136 filed by Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook, Google combined  —  The company has opposed singer-songwriters, school districts and food blogs for trying to trademark names or logos featuring an apple — or a pear or pineapple.

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