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- Sheryl Sandberg signed off a decision to block a minority group in Turkey. ProPublica reported that Facebook bowed to legal demands from Turkey's government to block posts from the People's Protection Units, a mostly Kurdish militia group.
- Nick Clegg defended Facebook's Australia news ban. The minister-turned-Facebook-spokesman said an Australian law forcing tech firms to pay for news was like forcing car makers to pay for radio stations.
- Australia passed its news code. It forces Facebook and Google to negotiate with news publishers for their work, though the code has some amendments after the two firms protested.
- Facebook banned Myanmar's military. The platform said the decision was made in acknowledgment of the military's "extreme human rights abuses."
- Amazon's lobby for a $15 minimum wage is a salvo against Walmart. Following the election of President Joe Biden, Amazon has thrown its support behind the Raise the Wage Act, which would bring the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour.
- Premium: A second Black Salesforce employee quit. Vivianne Castillo cited a gap between Salesforce's public commitment to diversity and inclusion and the internal reality.
- Exclusive: Amazon is offering on-site COVID-19 testing to certain employees. The testing, which started last month, comes after internal complaints by a group of engineers at Amazon's Lab126 hardware division over having to come into the office in December, when California had implemented tighter stay-at-home orders and work restrictions.
- Exclusive: GameStop's CFO was pushed. GameStop had announced the resignation of Chief Financial Officer Jim Bell but sources close to the company told Insider that Bell didn't quit - he was forced to resign by the board as part of a push by Ryan Cohen, an activist investor and new board member, to reshape the ailing retailer.
- YouTuber David Dobrik has raised $20 million for his Dispo app. Dispo acts as a virtual disposable camera, requiring users to wait until 9 am the next day for their photos to "develop."
- Premium: Snapchat banned sponsored posts for its TikTok rival. Industry insiders questioned the feature's longevity if Snap doesn't integrate brands into it.