NewsBytes Briefing: Twitter will soon have paywalls, and more
What's the story
Even as Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey bloviates about making Twitter free, the microblogging site announced plans to introduce monetization and paywalled content. Dubbed as Super Follow, the upcoming feature allows Twitter to make money off paywalled content. That's why conventional wisdom dictates judging people by their actions and not words. Despite his glib talking points, Dorsey's primary commitment lies in keeping the investors happy.
Poetic justice
After destroying small businesses, Facebook comes crawling back for help
Facebook has destroyed an alarming number of small businesses by crippling their organic reach, which forced them to spend ever-increasing amounts of money in a futile attempt to reach their own followers. Now that Apple is going after its precious advertising revenue, Facebook is gaslighting everyone into believing how that will somehow impact the same small businesses it had destroyed. Nice try, Facebook.
Google knows everything
Judge shocked to find that Google tracks even 'Incognito' users
A judge hearing the class action lawsuit filed against Google for snooping on users was disturbed to learn how the company had deluded users into a false sense of security with the Chrome browser's Incognito mode, only to track their activities. Good thing she doesn't know of the time Google "inadvertently" snooped in on people's Wi-Fi networks and then refused to delete the data.
With love from China
Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi takes Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign to heart
Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi is leaving no stone unturned to convince Indians, who form a sizable portion of its customers, that it is loyal to India despite being a Chinese company. It recently briefed the press on how it tied up with two other Chinese companies to ramp-up local manufacturing. Did we mention that Xiaomi is a Chinese company? Well, it is...Chinese.
Name and shame
France forces Apple to reveal its products' repairability ratings
Apple is notorious for its flagrantly anti-repair policies and wasteful practices that force tremendous amounts of electronic waste into landfills. However, France has found a brilliant way to shame it into mending its ways. The French are forcing Apple to disclose the dismal repairability rating of its products, so that it can no longer pretend to care about the environment while actively harming it.