Mediagazer: TikTok restricts Creative Center, meant to help advertisers track hashtags, after critics used the tool to scrutinize content on the Israel-Hamas war and more (Sapna Maheshwari/New York Times)

11:55 AM ET, January 9, 2024

Top News:

Kashish Tandon / Reuters:

India's Zee Entertainment remains committed to its $10B Sony India merger, calling media reports of the deal falling through “baseless and factually incorrect” — India's Zee Entertainment (ZEE.NS) on Tuesday said it was committed to its merger with Sony's (6758.T) local arm …

Discussion: Financial Times, Anto Antony on LinkedIn, Bloomberg and Advanced Television

Bloomberg:

Sources: Zee misses a deadline to pay $200M to Disney's India unit for cricket TV rights, citing a cash crunch; Zee agreed to pay $1.4B+ in August 2022 — - Payment was part of a $1.4 billion cricket rights purchase — Network is saving cash ahead of likely collapse of its merger

Discussion: Anto Antony on LinkedIn

Julie Jargon / Wall Street Journal:

Meta plans to start automatically restricting teen Instagram and Facebook accounts from harmful content, including posts about self-harm, in the coming weeks — Efforts to curb harmful material and reduce unwanted interactions with teen social-media accounts come as states sue parent company Meta

Discussion: Meta, CNN, TechCrunch, The Verge, The Hill, 9to5Mac and NPR, more at Techmeme »

Thomas Germain / Gizmodo:

X suspends several podcasters and journalists, including The Intercept's Ken Klippenstein and Texas Observer's Steven Monacelli, with little to no explanation — Elon Musk's “free speech” social media platform banned a number of accounts recently critical of Israel.

Discussion: TechCrunch, VICE, @tvscarlkinsella, @elizabethbrossa, @themaxburns, @thelincoln, @markamesexiled, @whstancil, @skippyosint, @marionumber4, @erininthemorn, @32mbit.bsky.social, @brendelbored.bsky.social, @texasobserver.org, @esqueer_ and @stevanzetti.bsky.social, more at Techmeme »

Etan Vlessing / Hollywood Reporter:

Imax says its 2023 box office was $1.06B, near 2019's $1.1B record and up 24.4% YoY, with $393.2M in North America, its highest grossing year ever in the region — Christopher Nolan's ‘Oppenheimer’ and Taylor Swift's concert film helped drive the rebound in ticket sales coming out of the pandemic.

Discussion: Variety, ScreenRant and IMAX Corporation

Steven J. Horowitz / Variety:
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour becomes the highest-grossing concert film of all time, earning $261.6M+ globally, surpassing Michael Jackson's This Is It from 2009

Discussion: Rolling Stone UK, Forbes, Rolling Stone, Billboard, ScreenRant, Digital Music News and The Hollywood Reporter

Casey Newton / Platformer:

Substack plans to remove some Nazi publications, but its new policy interpretation won't include proactively removing neo-Nazi and far-right extremism content — Substack is removing some publications that express support for Nazis, the company said today.

Discussion: The Verge, @jbenton, @brianstelter, Engadget, @jasonkoebler@threads.net, @brian.fishman.5@threads.net, @fraying@xoxo.zone, @LyleDAL@universeodon.com, @neurovagrant@masto.deoan.org, @crumbler@threads.net, @ernie@writing.exchange, @thisismissem@hachyderm.io and Rolling Stone, more at Techmeme »

Nic Newman / Reuters Institute:

Survey of 314 news leaders from 56 countries: just 47% say they are confident about journalism's 2024 prospects; 63% worry about declining social media traffic — The disruptive power of artificial intelligence (AI) will sweep through the information space this year at a time of intense political …

Discussion: BuzzMachine, @nicnewman, @charliebeckett, @risj_oxford, Press Gazette, HoldtheFrontPage and Fast Company

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Fox Corp. debuts Verify, a blockchain protocol developed with Polygon Labs for media companies to register content and grant usage rights to AI companies — Fox Corp., one of the largest media companies in the U.S., has publicly debuted a new blockchain platform called Verify …

Discussion: Variety, TechCrunch, CoinDesk, TVNewsCheck and @bgrueskin

Mia Sato / The Verge:

How the internet reshaped itself around Google's search algorithms, including via SEO tricks, and the company's role in many websites now using similar designs — How the internet reshaped itself around Google's search algorithms — and into a world where websites look the same. — Animations by Richard Parry

Discussion: @miarsato, @ct_bergstrom@fediscience.org, @scott@typetura.social, @katienotopoulos@threads.net and @reckless1280@threads.net, more at Techmeme »

Jody Godoy / Reuters:

Netflix defeats a shareholder lawsuit claiming the company hid the impact of account sharing; NFLX fell ~50% from January to April 2022 after growth warnings — Netflix (NFLX.O) has defeated a lawsuit filed by shareholders in a federal court in California that accused the streaming entertainment company …

Discussion: Broadband TV News and The Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:

Amazon announces Matter Casting, an Apple AirPlay-like feature to send video from different platforms to Amazon devices, initially supporting Echo Show devices — Amazon.com Inc. introduced a new feature that mimics Apple Inc.'s AirPlay while working across different platforms …

Discussion: The Streamable, The Desk, The Verge, Thurrott and Cord Cutters News, more at Techmeme »

Julia Kollewe / The Guardian:

Memo: Channel 4 Chair Ian Cheshire says the government-approved appointments of four white directors to the broadcaster's board lag behind its diversity targets — Chair says government-approved appointments lag behind broadcaster's diversity targets — A row has broken out over the lack …

Discussion: Mediaite, Deadline, The Express & Star, Daily Mail, Telegraph, @roziebreen and @jake_kanter

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Press Gazette:
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Steve Pond / The Wrap:
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The Guardian:
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Katie Campione / Deadline:
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Jon Lafayette / Next TV:
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Earlier Picks:

Mia Sato / The Verge:
YouTube updates its cyberbullying policy to ban AI-generated content that “realistically simulates” deceased children or victims of crimes or deadly events

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Sapna Maheshwari / New York Times:
TikTok restricts Creative Center, meant to help advertisers track hashtags, after critics used the tool to scrutinize content on the Israel-Hamas war and more

Discussion: @ncri_io, @mediaevan, @ncri_io and @ncri_io, more at Techmeme »

Nate Raymond / Reuters:
SCOTUS declines to hear a case filed by Twitter in 2014, in which Twitter argued that disclosing data requests in national security probes was protected by 1A

Discussion: MediaPost, The Daily Caller, @nothingsmonstrd.bsky.social, The Verge and The Hill

From Techmeme:

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is working on a smart doorbell system with advanced facial recognition that can wirelessly connect and unlock third-party smart locks

Lee-Anne Mulholland / The Keyword:
Google files its proposed remedies in the DOJ's search antitrust lawsuit, including letting browser companies have multiple default agreements across platforms

Reuters:
Albania bans TikTok for a year from January 2025, part of a broader plan to make schools safer following the killing of a 14-year-old near a school in November

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