Blogs

• TikTok removed 37 million videos in India this year before it was banned -TikTok removed more videos in India than any other country in the first half of this year before it was banned by the government.
  
  
• Twitter looking into racial bias in tweet image previews -Some Twitter users are pointing out that the automatic method the platform employs to display previews of images may be biased toward showing pictures of white people. Twitter agreed the issues was something it needs to work on.
  
  
• Trump approves TikTok deal. But big questions remain -Who controls TikTok? Is the social media platform safe? Has a US ban been averted for good?
  
  
• New emojis are coming in 2021, including a heart on fire, a woman with a beard and over 200 mixed-skin-tone options for couples -In a bit of good news, there will be new emojis in 2021 after all.
  
  
• Microsoft is buying Bethesda's parent company for $7.5 billion -Microsoft on Monday announced plans to purchase game publisher Bethesda Softworks's parent company, ZeniMax, in a landmark $7.5 billion acquisition deal.
  
  
• Tesla is on the cusp of a sales record, which could give Elon Musk another huge payday -Tesla is on the verge of a record quarter for car sales. That could put Elon Musk on track for his fourth multi-billion-dollar payday this year.
  
  
• People are ditching in-person financial services for apps -The pandemic has changed how people are managing their money ? they're using technology more than ever. That's good news for "fintech" firms that make digital financial services and banks investing in new technology capabilities.
  
  
• Trump says he has approved a deal for TikTok -President Donald Trump said Saturday he has approved a deal between TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, and Oracle, temporarily averting a ban on TikTok in US app stores.
  
  
• What a WeChat ban would mean for Americans -For Zhang Lianping, a 72-year-old retired small business owner in College Park, Maryland, WeChat is a lifeline for staying in touch with relatives, old classmates and friends spread across Beijing, Shandong and Liaoning provinces in China.
  
  
• Judge temporarily blocks US WeChat ban -A federal judge has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump's executive order banning WeChat downloads in the United States.
  
  
• TikTok and WeChat downloads soar ahead of ban -People in the United States rushed to download TikTok and WeChat after the Commerce Department announced plans to restrict access to both apps starting Sunday.
  
  
• Why Spotify is picking a fight with Apple over Apple One -Apple's new subscription bundle, Apple One, will give consumers a chance to try out multiple new Apple services and potentially save a few bucks.
  
  
• How to save your favorite TikToks -As a potential TikTok ban looms in the United States, some users are scrambling to save all of their own videos or their favorites from other people on the platform.
  
  
• Lyft sketches a future for city streets with fewer cars -As Lyft's core ridehail business is pummeled by the pandemic, the company has taken a seemingly surprising step, paying urban planners to sketch out how street space can be shifted from cars to buses, bikes and pedestrians.
  
  
• What happens to WeChat on Sunday? -All eyes may be on TikTok this weekend as the Trump administration blocks it from app stores, but there's another big Chinese-owned app that will suffer a similar ? if not worse ? fate.
  
  
• Unity Software shares surge 44% in Wall Street debut as IPO market sizzles -Shares of Unity Software, one of the leading platforms for video game developers, jumped 44% on their Wall Street debut Friday, becoming the latest in a flurry of tech IPOs that investors can't seem to get enough of.
  
  
• US will ban WeChat and TikTok downloads on Sunday -The Commerce Department plans to restrict access to TikTok and WeChat on Sunday as the Trump administration's executive orders against the two apps are set to take effect.
  
  
• Here's what's going to happen to TikTok on Sunday -The Trump administration said it will restrict access to TikTok on Sunday, Sept. 20. What does that mean for users of the short-form video app?
  
  
• New reality show promises to send winner into space for 10 days -A planned reality show will seek to give the winner of its on-air competition "the greatest prize ever given out on Earth" ? a 10-day stay on the International Space Station.
  
  
• Is this the end of WeChat in the US? It's still not clear -TikTok isn't the only Chinese-owned app with an uncertain future in the United States.