X users are still complaining about arbitrary shadowbanning

Users of Elon Musk-owned X (formerly Twitter) continue complaining the platform is engaging in shadowbanning — aka restricting the visibility of posts by applying a “temporary” label to accounts that can limit the reach/visibility of content — without providing clarity over why it’s imposed the sanctions. Running a search on X for the phrase “temporary […]

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MrBeast and Prime Video announce ‘largest game show in history’

The biggest content creator on YouTube, MrBeast announced on Monday that he’s filming a game show for Amazon’s Prime Video. On X, he wrote: “Big news gamers I’m going to be filming the largest game show in history and releasing it on Prime Video! Over 1,000 contestants, $5,000,000 prize, and many other world records.” Big […]

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SpaceX doc leaks, TikTok ban gains steam, and Grok to go open-source

Hey, folks, welcome to Week in Review (WiR), TechCrunch’s regular newsletter recapping noteworthy happenings in tech over the past few days. This week, TechCrunch viewed leaked documents out of SpaceX showing some questionable practices related to employee stock options. X CEO Elon Musk announced that he would open source Grok, X’s AI-powered chatbot meant to […]

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LinkedIn plans to add gaming to its platform

LinkedIn, the Microsoft-owned social platform, has made a name for itself primarily as a platform for people looking to network and pick up knowledge for professional purposes, and for recruitment — a business that now has more 1 billion users. Now, to boost the time people are spending on the platform, the company is breaking […]

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Gumroad no longer allows most NSFW art, leaving its adult creators panicked

Gumroad, an e-commerce company for creators, updated its rules to more strictly limit NSFW content, citing restrictions from payment processors like Stripe and PayPal. For creators who sell adult art, like explicit comic books or lewd cosplay photos, these sudden policy changes can be detrimental, resulting in an unforeseen loss of income. “I’m concerned on […]

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Scrap coercive ‘privacy fee’, MEPs urge Meta’s Nick Clegg in open letter

Meta is facing a call from lawmakers in the European Union to scrap its controversial “consent or pay” tactic on Facebook and Instagram. Currently, the company demands a per-account fee of €9.99/month on web or €12.99/month on mobile for users in the region wanting to avoid its tracking. No other choice is offered — meaning […]

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Pornhub disables access in Texas due to age verification law

Texas residents can no longer access Pornhub — without a VPN. As of Thursday, when people in Texas try to access any of the porn sites owned by Aylo, formerly MindGeek, they’ll instead see a long message in opposition to age verification laws. Laws requiring age verification on adult entertainment sites have already gone into […]

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The controversial bill that could ban TikTok faces a rocky road in the Senate

A bill threatening to ban an app beloved by half of the American population just rocketed through the House of Representatives in a week’s time. But in the other chamber of Congress, things are likely to be much more complicated. TikTok the company and TikTok the chaotic community of creators and their followers are rightfully […]

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TikTok fined in Italy after ‘French scar’ challenge led to consumer safety probe

Italy’s competition and consumer authority, the AGCM, has fined TikTok €10 million (almost $11M) following a probe into algorithmic safety concerns. The authority opened an investigation last year into a so-called “French scar” challenge in which users of the platform were reported to have shared videos of marks on their faces made by pinching their […]

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Reddit introduces a new ad format that looks similar to posts made by users

Reddit is introducing a new ad format that looks similar to posts made by users on the platform, the company announced on Thursday. The launch comes as Reddit is readying its initial public offering (IPO). The new ad format, called free-form ads, is designed to feel similar to the content that users share with each other […]

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