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ByteDance fired four employees after finding in a probe they accessed data on US TikTok users, including reporters, while trying to learn the sources of a story — The company's internal investigation showed that workers also obtained data on a small number of other U.S. users.
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The Verge, The Hill, CNN, @ebakerwhite, Insider, MediaPost, Adweek, The Wrap, Variety, Reuters, Gizmodo, @ewong, NPR, @alexeheath, @cathymcmorris, CBS News, @james_t_quinn, @johnpaczkowski, @richardjnieva, @hawleymo, @schwabkatharine, @byrontau, @lourdesgnavarro, @redsteeze, @forbes, @semaforben, @mikeisaac, @katienotopoulos, @kyliebytes, @lauferlaw, @jdiamond1, @kenvogel, @mattnavarra, @ceciliakang and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »
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Documents show TikTok parent ByteDance surveilled Forbes journalists and former BuzzFeed employees Emily Baker-White, Katharine Schwab, and Richard Nieva — ByteDance confirmed it used TikTok to monitor journalists' physical location using their IP addresses, as first reported by Forbes in October.
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Financial Times, @runasand, @runasand, @sarahnemerson, @forbes, @ihnatko, @tjmanotoc, @mshannahmurphy, @adhutchinson, @deftechpat, @jbarro, @congressmanraja, @anoushasakoui, @brianroemmele, @matthewstoller, @binarybits, @eriqgardner, @mattgarrahan, @sarahemclaugh, @hatr, @stevemur, @brucedaisley, @congressmanraja, @johnpaczkowski, @bing_chris, @marietjeschaake, @ebakerwhite, @geoffrey_cain, @charlesarthur and @banditelli


YouTube buys NFL Sunday Ticket's residential rights for seven years, sources say for ~$2B/year; DirecTV paid $1.5B/year for residential and commercial rights — Video streamer to pay annual fee of roughly $2 billion under seven-year deal — Created with sketchtool.
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Ad Age, CNET, @jbflint, Axios, Bloomberg, NFL.com, The Streamable, Awful Announcing, Associated Press, The Hollywood Reporter, New York Times, CBS News, The Verge, MediaPost, ProFootballTalk, @brucemurraynfl, Deadline, @joebucsfan, @brentscher, New York Post, @dcseifert@mastodon.social, @kantrowitz, The Wrap, @j_dot_j, The Verge, @kazeem, MacRumors, Variety, @philmackey, Media Play News, @pkafka, @pkafka, @jacksettleman, The Hollywood Reporter, @damonbruce, NBC New York, @peter_bukowski, The Information, @kurtbenkert, IndieWire, @pschrags, Bloomberg, Adweek, @pkafka, @dabearsblog, Insider, AppleInsider, TechCrunch, The Desk, Tubefilter, Light Reading, Sports Business Journal, The Comeback and Sportico, more at Techmeme »


Q&A with Insider's Linette Lopez on covering Elon Musk, being temporarily banned from Twitter for a post featuring an image with his email address, and more — “Once Elon took over, I was not optimistic. As usual, he is exceeding expectations for me."
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@atrupar, @davidrlurie, @cwebbonline, @lopezlinette, @brosandprose, @atrupar and New York Post


Fox News host Sean Hannity and others say they doubted Trump's 2020 voting fraud claims, as Dominion Voting lawyers try to show Fox knowingly aired false claims — On Wednesday, lawyers for Dominion Voting Systems shared some of the strongest evidence yet that some Fox employees knew what they broadcast about the claims was false.
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The Hill, @jaynordlinger, @froomkin, @jamieford, IndieWire, NPR, @exavierpope, @cassandrajar, National Review, @jessefferguson, @jreinermd, @brianstack153, @aghamilton29, @michael_muscato, @nytimes, @lisatozzi, @spytalker, @gtconway3d, @bradmossesq, @jkarsh, @kazweida, @kimmasters, @mattgertz, @badler, @jillgeisler, @beckerdavidj, @peterhimler, @mattyglesias, @davidbernardtv, @jwpetersnyt, @froomkin@journa.host and Mediaite


A federal judge rules movie studios can be sued under false advertising laws if they release deceptive trailers, like ones featuring an actor cut from the movie — Movie studios can be sued under false advertising laws if they release deceptive movie trailers, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday.


More than 130 WGA East members at Bustle Digital Group sign a petition calling on CEO Bryan Goldberg to address salary demands after two years of negotiations — More than 130 WGA East members employed at several media outlets owned by Bustle Digital Group have signed a petition calling …


AMC Entertainment announces a $110M equity raise by selling its APE preferred stock to Antara Capital at 66 cents per share; AMC stock initially fell 25%+ — AMC Entertainment Holdings (AMC.N) said on Thursday it would raise $110 million in new equity capital through the sale of its preferred stock …
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Corporate Profile, Bloomberg, Financial Times, Reuters, Deadline, @stickstocks, The Hollywood Reporter, @trengriffin, The Wrap, Insider, CNBC and IndieWire


The US Copyright Office rules that a comic book made using AI art is ineligible for copyright protection, revoking its copyright granted in September 2022 — Reversing an earlier decision, the United States Copyright Office rules that a comic book made using A.I. art is ineligible for copyright protection
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@dezziearts, @trumwill, @sethjacob, @maryboys1 and @b4olivas, more at Techmeme »


Pathmatics: ~70% of Twitter's top 100 ad spenders before Elon Musk's takeover weren't spending as of the week ending December 18; 89% of 2021 revenue was ads — Executives are promising big incentives and new technology while also trying to explain the actions of their new owner
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@jbflint, @bykowicz, @tomfitton, @harrymccracken, @mikeelgan and @alexanderburns, more at Techmeme »


A look at Twitter's major role in research and science communication, especially during the pandemic, as researchers and scientists now leave the service — In November, Vince Knight decided he'd had enough of Twitter. After more than a decade on the social-media platform, Knight …
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@annecollier, Fast Company, @magda_skipper, @ibjiyongi, @evornithology and @kashprime, more at Techmeme »

[Thread] The Fort Worth NewsGuild ends a strike at McClatchy's Star-Telegram, after movement from the company on its $45K pay floor, and promises details later — Big news: We are back at work. Over 24 days, the Fort Worth Newsguild protested @mcclatchy's unwillingness to negotiate fair conditions and made history as the first Texas newsroom in modern history to go on strike. 🧵 https://twitter.com/...