Platforms are organizing to secure the US election – Google, Facebook and others are forming a tech coalition to secure the election. Facebook is launching a voting information center, while you can type “how to vote” into Google to get localized instructions . Facebook is limiting the reach of partisan media outlets linked to political groups and is dismantling a Romanian network of fake pro-Trump US accounts . Sensitive to accusations of bias, the giant is still relaxing its misinformation rules for conservative pages . Big Tech is also making inroads into the Biden campaign .
TikTok buyout , WeChat ban in the US – Following Trump’s executive order, TikTok and its direct competitors are whetting the appetite of digital giants . Indian conglomerate Reliance is reportedly interested in acquiring part of TikTok . Microsoft is facing difficulties in the process of acquiring the app. But a third of TikTok’s US users may be 14 or younger, which raises security concerns . Apple, Ford and Disney disapprove of WeChat ban . Tencent, threatened by Trump, has one of its best performances .
Hong Kong press freedoms eroded – Police arrested cryptocurrency data Jimmy Lai, founder of the opposition Apple Daily newspaper in Hong Kong, and Agnes Chow, a 23-year-old prominent pro-democracy activist. Two hundred police officers searched the Apple Daily office . Hong Kongers showed their support by buying up copies of the newspaper in droves . The head of the local press union said an intervention of this scale was “unheard of” in Hong Kong . Jimmy Lai was released on bail and called on his journalists to “fight.”
– Apple and Google ban Fortnite from their app stores after Epic Games tried to evade commissions . Epic responds by suing both companies for violating antitrust laws. The battle against Epic is blocking future Fortnite updates on iOS . Fortnite Banned from iOS and Android: What's New for Players?