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Your weekly briefing on market status, tech news and developing trends.

Monday, 19 October 2020

Gooood Monday.

Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube once again strike against spreading misleading information via their platforms. So this week we have QAnon, the anti-vaccine movement, and the US election all in one story. 

Oh, and we wrap it with a Spider-Man quote.

Welcome to another edition of The Big Pic, everybody!

PIC OF THE WEEK

“Our communication around our actions on the NY Post article was not great.” 

- Jack Dorsey, Twitter CEO

THE STORY

It’s official: October is a social media-sweeping month. 

• Facebook took more proactive measures in finding and removing content related to QAnon, a wide-ranging conspiracy theory that connects major politics, media and entertainment figures with Satanic cults and child trafficking. “We will remove any Facebook Pages, Groups and Instagram accounts representing QAnon”, the company said in a public post. 
• YouTube expanded its COVID-19 Medical Misinformation Policy and took aim at videos spreading false information and rumours about the coronavirus vaccine. The platform will no longer allow misleading content, such as videos that falsely suggest that vaccines implant microchips or that they cause infertility. 
• Twitter decided to limit the spread of a sketchy story published by the New York Post. The controversial article cited unverified emails from Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s son. The platform initially banned users from sharing links to the publication. Hours later, after facing vocal protests, it switched to a different approach: instead of blocking links, Twitter now labels posts including "hacked content" in order to provide wider context.

WHY IT'S INTERESTING

The Big Tech’s struggle to gain more control over content shared via their platforms is becoming more intense. However, each additional measure they take needs to be carefully considered – especially when it comes to communicating them to the users. 

Twitter learned it the hard way. It failed to alert users about why they could no longer share the link to NY Post's article. Instead of limiting the spread of unverified information, Twitter's move got the publication some additional traction (remember The Streisand Effect?).

Major social media platforms are fully aware of their power to shape the discourse. But they still need to keep in mind that with great power comes great responsibility.

DIG DEEPER

• The Facebook-Twitter-Trump Wars Are Actually About Something Else by Charlie Warzel, The New York Times
• YouTube will remove videos with COVID-19 vaccine misinformation by Nicole Wetsman, The Verge
• A Facebook Ban Won't Stop QAnon by Emma Grey Ellis, Wired

NEWS

EU lawmakers are writing a 'hit list' of Big Tech companies to rein in the power of Silicon Valley / Business Insider

China hands out $1.5 million of its digital currency in one of the country’s biggest public tests / CNBC

U.S., UK and other countries warn tech firms that encryption creates ‘severe risks’ to public safety / CNBC

Walt Disney announces reorganization to focus on streaming / TechCrunch

Lawmakers say Facebook and Google are hoarding personal data and growing in a 'feedback loop' of market power / Business Insider

FINANCIAL MARKETS

CLOSING PRICES ON 16 OCT, LAST WEEK % CHANGE

TECH INSIGHTS

REPORT

2020 State of the API Report by Postman

The annual State of the API survey is the largest and most comprehensive survey of the API industry. This year over 13,500 developers, testers, and executives participated and provided insights on what actions they take and what they see as the biggest issues and opportunities for APIs.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

READ

6 future trends everyone has to be ready for today by Forbes

What are the six future macro trends everyone should be aware of today? While these trends had already begun before the coronavirus, they accelerated as the world fought to deal with the pandemic and now as we begin to build our post-COVID-19 reality. Scott Smith, a futurist, believes everyone should be ready for them.

LISTEN

Viable or crap? Discussing Blockchain, VR, Autonomous Cars, and Drone Delivery by This Old App

Don and Randy, two tech experts, take a look at the state of a few hyped technologies and check where they really are in terms of usefulness, adoption, and long-term viability. Don thinks VR will never go mainstream and Randy wants a drone to bring him something (anything), right now.

WATCH 

Edward Tenner's "The paradox of efficiency" by TED2019

Is our obsession with efficiency actually making us less efficient? In this revelatory talk, writer and historian Edward Tenner discusses the promises and dangers of our drive to get things done as quickly as possible﹣and suggests seven ways we can use "inspired inefficiency" to be more productive.

APPS & TOOLS WE LOVED

CALENDAR & MEETINGS

Comeet: add video-first async meetings to your calendar. Start recording a 2min video instead of running a full meeting and let everyone contribute to it with video, audio, or text

+1,109 upvotes, #3 Product of the Week on Product Hunt

NOTES

Roam Research: a note-taking tool for networked thought that helps you organize your research for the long haul

+844 upvotes, #1 Product of the Day on Product Hunt

PRODUCTIVITY

Raindrop.io 5.0: untangle your bookmarks mess with a tool that does everything you can expect from a modern bookmark manager

+1,144 upvotes, #1 Product of the Week on Product Hunt

TWEET OF THE WEEK

source: @NimaRoohiS