Mediagazer: Saudi blogger Raif Badawi has been released from prison, 10 years after he was jailed for criticizing religious figures and promoting liberal views of Islam (CBC News)

Jillian Deutsch / Bloomberg:

Russia moves to designate Meta as an “extremist organization”; source says WhatsApp won't be affected as it is a means of communication — Russian prosecutors have asked a court to ban Meta Platforms Inc.'s Facebook and Instagram as “extremist,” Interfax reported, the latest move in a growing crackdown on social networks.

Discussion: Reuters, TechCrunch, Adweek, The Independent, NPR, Metro.co.uk, Breitbart, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, Euractiv and @kevinrothrock, more at Techmeme »

Richard Lawler / The Verge:

Roskomnadzor says it is banning Instagram in Russia from March 14 because Meta now allows posts “calling for violence against Russian citizens” — First Facebook, now Instagram — One week after placing a ban on Facebook in Russia, the country's communications agency Roskomnadzor announced it will ban Instagram, too.

Discussion: Engadget and BBC, more at Techmeme »

Taylor Lorenz / Washington Post:

Biden administration is working with Gen Z For Change, a nonprofit advocacy group, to brief top TikTok stars about the war in Ukraine — On Thursday afternoon, 30 top TikTok stars gathered on a Zoom call to receive key information about the war unfolding in Ukraine.

Discussion: @taylorlorenz, @sarahkendzior, @rflaherty46, @mattxred, @katzonearth, @washingtonpost and @greg_jenner, more at Techmeme »

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

CNN+ is launching March 29 — People who are interested in CNN Plus finally have a date when they can add it to their streaming repertoire. The WarnerMedia-owned cable-news outlet intends to launch the subscription broadband service on March 29. — The detail — perhaps the last piece …

Discussion: CNN, CNET, Next TV, Mediaite, TVNewser, The Wrap, Engadget, Deadline, The Verge, @cahnemily, Hollywood Reporter, Media Play News, @owillis, @sarafischer, @_alastair and @sherman4949

Josef Adalian / Vulture:

Netflix CFO says “never say never” to ads as HBO Max and Disney+ start experimenting with them: the model of low-cost, ad-free streaming was never going to last — Lots of factors played a role in Netflix becoming the world's biggest TV platform within the space of a decade …

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, @tvmojoe and @r0bwatson

Financial Times:

EU and the UK open an antitrust probe into Google and Meta's Jedi Blue deal on online ads; EU is also probing whether Google acted without Meta's knowledge — Europe's competition chief Margrethe Vestager tells FT that ‘Jedi Blue’ deal represents ‘giant problem’ in industry

Discussion: European Commission, TechCrunch, Bloomberg, Press Gazette, CNET, Angeline's Thoughts, @vestager, Al Jazeera, Wall Street Journal, Engadget, Euractiv, CNBC, The Verge and The Register, more at Techmeme »

Ali Kucukgocmen / Reuters:

A Turkish court sentences journalist Sedef Kabas to more than two years in prison for tweeting a proverb that was allegedly insulting to Erdogan — A Turkish court on Friday sentenced journalist Sedef Kabas to more than two years in prison after ruling that she insulted the president …

CBC News:

Saudi blogger Raif Badawi has been released from prison, 10 years after he was jailed for criticizing religious figures and promoting liberal views of Islam — Saudi blogger with family in Quebec spent 10 years behind bars for promoting liberal views of Islam

Discussion: Global News

@youtubeinsider:

[Thread]: YouTube says it is blocking access to YouTube channels associated with Russian state-funded media globally, expanding from across Europe — 2/ In line with that, we are also now blocking access to YouTube channels associated with Russian state-funded media globally, expanding from across Europe. This change is effective immediately, and we expect our systems to take time to ramp up.

Discussion: Мед …, more at Techmeme »

Tim Marchman / VICE:

Newly released emails show Chris Cuomo's deep involvement in his brother's crisis-response operation, especially parts dealing with sexual harassment claims — Newly obtained emails show just how deep the former CNN personality's involvement in his brother Andrew's political operation was. — TM

Discussion: Newsbusters, @joemfox, @laurenkgurley, @moorehn, @vicenews, @jason_koebler, @timmarchman and New York Post

Ben Sisario / New York Times:

Sony, Warner Music, Universal Music, and Live Nation suspend operations in Russia — The three major record conglomerates and the touring giant Live Nation are suspending operations over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, while individual artists have canceled tour dates.

Discussion: NPR, Digital Music News, Billboard, Music Ally, Variety and AllAccess.com

Angela Fu / Poynter:

A study comparing abstracts from scientific papers with corresponding news articles finds that journalists tend to understate claims made by the authors — The study compared paper abstracts with corresponding news articles and found that journalists generally expressed more uncertainty in their writing.

Discussion: @dharmaadhikari, @caulfieldtim, @spj_tweets and @janebsinger