10 things in tech you need to know today
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- Facebook banned Holocaust-denial content after allowing it for years. The company has faced criticism for more than a decade over its refusal to moderate anti-Semitic content.
- New research revealed misinformation on Facebook is three times more popular than it was during the 2016 election. Engagement posts from misleading websites has spiked by 242 percent from Q3 of 2016 to Q3 of 2020, according to a new report from German Marshall Fund Digital.
- Microsoft said it thwarted a sprawling network of bots that could have been used to target election infrastructure. The company disrupted servers that were used to run Trickbot, a notorious botnet that has been used to deploy ransomware.
- Wisconsin denied Apple's biggest supplier a huge tax break after the company failed to build a factory that promised to bring thousands of jobs to the state. Foxconn made a deal with the state in 2017 to build a facility that would produce large-screen TV displays and said it would create 13,000 jobs.
- NFL superstar Malcolm Jenkins created a venture capital fund focused on empowering black founders and investors. Broad Street Ventures has already made investments in big-name startups like Airbnb and Epic Games, but the long-term goal is to invest in Black and brown businesses that have been traditionally neglected by the VC industry.
- YouTube's CEO won't commit to kicking QAnon off the platform despite Facebook banning the conspiracy-theory movement last week. Susan Wojcicki said YouTube has already removed "hundreds of thousands" of QAnon videos and made changes to its recommendations tool.
- A VC firm created by Serena Williams has quietly removed any mention of Coinbase from its website, even though it invested in 2018. Coinbase is entangled in controversy after CEO Brian Armstrong wrote a memo telling employees to leave their politics and social causes at the door.
- An app that allowed people in China to skirt the nation's internet ban to use Facebook and Google launched last week — then it disappeared. The Tuber app, backed by a subsidiary of China-based Qihoo 360, launched last week.
- EU lawmakers are reportedly writing a 'hit list' of Big Tech companies to rein in the power of Silicon Valley.The list will have up to 20 companies on it, and is likely to include big players such as Facebook and Apple, sources said.
- TikTok challenger Triller is reportedly exploring an IPO as questions swirl over its user numbers. Reuters reported Sunday that Triller was in talks with investment bank Farvahar Partners about a potential merger and IPO.
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