While you were out there surfing the web, the 404 was sleuthing on your behalf. Welcome to this week’s letter.
Headlines
Donald Trump has signed an executive order stating any dealings with Tik Tok parent company Bytedance will be prohibited after September 20th.
This come’s after Microsoft announced it would revive a bid for the platform last weekend. Not only was this move endorsed by the US government but Trump piped up asking for a cut of any profits, claiming to have created value.
Tik Tok is also threatening legal action against the impending ban.
It has been accused of data sharing with and censoring on behalf of the Chinese government, but left Hong Kong in protest against Chinese surveillance law. CEO Kevin Mayer has also promised regulators unprecedented access, including access to algorithms.
The question is. What makes Tik Tok such a big deal? Rather than the data it collects, it could be the audiences it reaches:
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Facebook has removed a 200,000 member group associated with the conspiracy theory movement QAnon.
This come’s after Twitter recently removed thousands of accounts linked with QAnon. Tik Tok have also removed hashtags linked to QAnon videos.
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Facebook also removed a video posted by Trump, falsely claiming that all children are immune to Covid-19. The video violates the platform’s Covid misinformation guidelines.
Facebook is also considering banning all political ads in the run up to the US Presidential election.
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A bail hearing for the teen accused of hacking Twitter last month was hacked.
The Zoom call on which the hearing took place was interrupted by users displaying porn.
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Good to Know
Instagram launched a new feature intended to compete directly with Tik Tok. Reaction to Reels has been mixed.
The tool has actually been around since November, but was initially only released in Brazil which is one of Tik Tok’s largest markets.
Instagram owner Facebook also shut down its stand alone video sharing app Lasso ahead of the launch.
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Members of the Republican Hype House are sticking with Trump even though he’s moved to ban their biggest platform.
The President may also be interested to read that researchers from the University of Munich have found that Republican users are more active on Tik Tok.
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Google Play Music is going down the tubes. The service will cease in December but users can migrate their playlists and saved songs over to Youtube Music.
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From the old country…
The HSE are advising consider masturbation or online sex, among other measures, to limit the spread of Covid-19.