NewsBytes Briefing: Biden shows China some love, and more
What's the story
US President Joe Biden's love hate relationship with China continues with his latest order revoking his predecessor Donald Trump's executive orders against Chinese-owned TikTok and WeChat apps. Instead, Biden wants the Commerce Department to evaluate apps and only take action if they pose national security risks. That means it's now official that TikTok and WeChat are perfectly safe for US citizens and national interests.
Smarter watch
Facebook plans on launching an ambitious smartwatch
Most modern phones typically have four cameras, but the number of cameras on your person could jump even higher if Facebook has its way. New rumors suggest that the social media giant could launch a smartwatch next year. Unlike existing ones, Facebook's smartwatch will be detachable and equipped with two cameras. Perfect for the occasions when you don't want to reach into your pockets.
E-pharma
Tata Group is buying up major digital platforms lately
Indian conglomerate Tata Group wants to keep up with the times and expand its traditional business model to the digital realm. The quickest way to do that is by purchasing existing players. After investing in fitness start-up CureFit on Monday, Tata took a two-day breather before buying e-pharma firm 1mg. It had also bought online grocery provider BigBasket earlier this year.
Unintended sabotage
One website may have broken the internet on Wednesday
On Wednesday, a large chunk of the internet went offline for an hour as internet infrastructure provider Fastly experienced a snafu that disrupted 85 percent of its network. The company revealed that this was caused by a bug that was introduced into the infrastructure last month. Apparently, it was one unnamed Fastly customer that had triggered it.
Online slander
Google is taking steps to discourage slanderous webpages
As brilliant as Google's algorithms are, many have figured out how to get their webpages ranked at the top of its search results. This is being weaponized by rogue entities to tarnish people's reputation. Google is now taking pre-emptive measures to prevent people from maligning others by gaming search results. Hopefully, Google wins this cat-and-mouse game because reputations literally are at stake.