Daily Crunch: This TikTok deal is pretty confusing
Companies send out conflicting messages about the TikTok deal, Microsoft acquires a gaming giant and the WeChat ban is temporarily blocked. This is your Daily Crunch for September 21, 2020…. »
Category: Social
As COVID-19 era drags on, VCs look beyond Zoom calls for due diligence and sourcing
While the coronavirus has accelerated the dealmaking pace for many early-stage startups, activity has not come without adaptation. Remote investment struggles for investors were clear from the get go: it’s… »
Facebook seeks fresh legal delay to block order to suspend its transatlantic data transfers
Facebook is firing up its lawyers to try to block EU regulators from forcing it to suspend transatlantic data transfers in the wake of a landmark ruling by Europe’s top… »
Daily Crunch: TikTok’s CEO resigns
Turmoil continues at TikTok, Salesforce lays off 1,000 people and Warby Parker is now valued at $3 billion. This is your Daily Crunch for August 27, 2020. The big story:… »
There’s no frontrunner to be found among the TikTok alternatives
The U.S. market has no real frontrunner poised to claim TikTok’s throne if the app is banned in the country. According to Trump’s executive order, TikTok’s owner ByteDance has to… »
TikTok found to have tracked Android users’ MAC addresses until late last year
Until late last year social video app TikTok was using an extra layer of encryption to conceal a tactic for tracking Android users via the MAC address of their device… »
Facebook extends coronavirus work from home policy until July 2021
Facebook has joined Google in saying it will allow employees to work from home until the middle of next year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. “Based on guidance… »
TikTok announces first data center in Europe
TikTok, the Chinese video sharing app that’s found itself at the center of a geopolitical power struggle which threatens to put hard limits on its global growth this year, said… »
Daily Crunch: Microsoft-TikTok acquisition inches closer to reality
A possible Microsoft –TikTok acquisition is causing plenty of drama, we review Google’s new budget Pixel and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon returns to Earth. Here’s your Daily Crunch for August 3,… »
Zuckerberg unconvincingly feigns ignorance of data-sucking VPN scandal
Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg appeared less than entirely truthful at today’s House Judiciary hearing, regarding last year’s major Onavo controversy, in which his company paid teenagers to use a VPN app… »
Twitter cracks down on QAnon conspiracy theory, banning 7,000 accounts
Twitter announced Tuesday that many accounts spreading the pervasive right-wing conspiracy theory known as QAnon would no longer be welcome on its platform. Citing concerns about “offline harm,” the company… »
Daily Crunch: More details emerge in Twitter hack
Fallout continues from this week’s big Twitter hack, podcaster Harry Stebbings launches a small VC fund and robots help with sorting the mail. Here’s your Daily Crunch for July 17,… »
Nextdoor launches Sell for Good for easy donations to local nonprofits
Nextdoor is launching a new feature called Sell for Good, allowing uses to sell items on the neighborhood-focused social network and donate the proceeds to local nonprofits. CEO Sarah Friar… »
Snapchat tests TikTok-style navigation for exploring public content
Snapchat could be gearing up to more directly challenge TikTok. The company confirmed it’s testing a new experience that allows users to move through Snapchat’s public content with a vertical… »
This Week in Apps: US ponders TikTok ban, apps see a record Q2, iOS 14 public beta arrives
Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the Extra Crunch series that recaps the latest OS news, the applications they support and the money that flows through it all. The… »
How Thor Fridriksson’s ‘Trivia Royale’ earned 2.5M downloads in 3 weeks
In its first few weeks of release, the latest game from QuizUp founder Thor Fridriksson took the top spot in the Games Section of Apple’s App Store and was the… »
Ban or no ban, Facebook wins in U.S. threats against TikTok
On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the U.S. is “looking at” banning Chinese social media apps, including the Chinese-owned company TikTok, comparing it to other Chinese… »
Facebook expands Instagram Reels to India
As scores of startups look to cash in on the video content void that ban on TikTok and other Chinese apps has created in India, a big challenger is ready… »
Facebook makes education push in India
Facebook, which reaches more users than any other international firm in India, has identified a new area of opportunity to further spread its tentacles in the world’s second largest internet… »
Apple and Google block dozens of Chinese apps in India
Two days after India blocked 59 apps developed by Chinese firms, Google and Apple have started to comply with New Delhi’s order and are preventing users in the world’s second… »
State-backed COVID-19 disinfo spreads faster and farther than local news outlets in 4 languages
Questionable stories on COVID-19 from state-backed outlets in Russia, China, Turkey, and Iran are being shared more widely than reporting by major news organizations around the world, according to Oxford… »
Instagram’s latest test puts all Stories on one page
Instagram Stories has grown to become one of Facebook’s best products to date. As of last year, roughly half of Instagram’s users — or 500 million people — were interacting… »
Facebook launches Avatars, its Bitmoji competitor, in India
Facebook Avatars, which lets users customize a virtual lookalike of themselves for use as stickers in chat and comments, is now available in India, the social juggernaut’s biggest market by… »
Instagram expands its TikTok clone ‘Reels’ to new markets
Instagram is expanding its TikTok competitor known as “Reels” to new markets, following its launch last year in Brazil. Starting today, Instagram is rolling out further access to Reels in… »
Twitter hides Trump tweet threatening protesters with ‘serious force’
Twitter took its latest action on content from President Trump Tuesday, again hiding a threat of state violence behind a warning label and appending it with a notice. Trump’s latest… »
FCC Commissioner disparages Trump’s social media order: ‘The decision is ours alone’
FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks has examined the President’s Executive Order that attempts to spur the FCC into action against social media companies and found it wanting. “There are good reasons… »
UK competition watchdog launches investigation into Facebook’s $400M acquisition of Giphy
Facebook wants to be the go-to platform for all of your social needs, but a big move it made last month to take ownership in the world of GIFs —… »
Snap lets you play as your Bitmoji in third-party games
Snap is announcing at its Snap Partner Summit that the first games that will take advantage of Bitmoji will roll out soon. The feature has already been announced last year,… »
Twitter tests a feature that calls you out for RTing without reading the article
A new Twitter test feature aiming to “promote informed discussion” will nudge users to read before they retweet. The company describes the test as a step to help people be… »
Facebook News launches to all in US with addition of local news and video
Facebook News, the social network’s dedicated section devoted to journalism, is today launching for all users in the U.S. The feature was first introduced in October 2019 as a limited… »
Agencies point finger at state-sponsored hackers from China, Russia, Iran and North Korea Who is targeting vaccine developers? Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage State-sponsored hackers from… »
Proposals include plans to limit self-isolation and to allow household mixing at Christmas Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage A programme of mass, instant coronavirus testing is… »
