Today’s Hashtag Trending episode sees Google replacing phones with paper, WhatsApp dishing out a new lawsuit, and Twitter banning political ads.
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Thank you for tuning in, it’s Thursday, Oct. 31st, and I’m your host, Tom Li.
Trending on Reddit, Google is experimenting with a new way to keep you off your phone. As a part of the Experiment with Google project, the new Paper Phone app will jot down your most frequently used information and print them out onto a sheet of paper. The intent is to reduce the frequency at which people looked at their screens. Although revolutionary, Paper Phone will face stiff competition from existing stationery. Alternatives include notebooks, wooden pencils, and fountain pens.
Trending on Google, Facebook’s WhatsApp is suing NSO, an Israeli surveillance technology company, for targeting civil rights members. According to Whatsapp’s complaint, NSO used WhatsApp servers to distribute malware to around 1,400 devices, targeting at least 100 human rights defenders and journalists. NSO rebuffed the accusations, stating that it only provides the technology to governments to help prevent crime. WhatsApp is asking for $75,000 in damages and additional fees for any other proven wrong doing.
https://twitter.com/jack/status/1189634360472829952?s=19
Trending on Twitter, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced that Twitter is stopping all political advertising on its platform. In his Tweet thread, Dorsey explained that political message outreach should be earned, not bought, and that he wants to prevent bad influences from affecting voters. Twitter is expected to share the final policy on November 15th and enforce it starting November 22nd.
That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now. Hashtag Trending is a part of the ITWC Podcast network. Add us to your Alexa Flash Briefing or your Google Home daily briefing. I’m Tom Li, thanks for listening.