Mediagazer: The founder of The Gateway Pundit says its parent company is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, as it faces lawsuits claiming it promoted bogus election claims (Will Sommer/Washington Post)

6:00 PM ET, April 24, 2024

Top News:

Lauren Feiner / The Verge:

President Biden signs the ByteDance-TikTok divest-or-ban bill into law, after the Senate passed it by 79-18; the House passed the legislation 360-58 on April 20 — The divest-or-ban bill is now law, starting the clock for ByteDance to make its move. The company has an initial nine months …

Discussion: CNBC, Bloomberg, @tiktokpolicy, Washington Post, The White House, The Guardian, Tubefilter, KnowTechie, CNN, New York Times, Sydney Morning Herald, Variety, Neowin, Android Authority, The Independent, Axios, Total Telecom, London Evening Standard, Semafor, Politico, Dexerto, Infosecurity, Semafor, XDA Developers, Forbes, Tom's Guide, Comic Book, Android Authority, PCMag, Business Insider, Social Media Today, Bloomberg, Benzinga, India Today, @alexheath@threads.net, DJ Mag, @jw@threads.net, @hankgreen, @cinemasai_, @maxwinebach, @adamkovac, Engadget, @yashar, @themaxburns, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, @ldrogen, @mattontech@mastodon.sdf.org, NBC News, @alexbarinka, Newsweek, @rlheinrichs, Florida Politics, Mothership.SG, @tomwarren, Digital Music News, @munster_gene, @kyurieff, PetaPixel, @deedydas, @potus, @lanceulanoff, @blackleftaf, BGR, @michaelsobolik, @aripap, Engadget, TechCrunch, @repdancrenshaw, ComingSoon.net, @alexgrayforok, Rolling Stone, 9to5Mac, @jameeljaffer, The Information, @michaelsobolik, Financial Times, @viacristiano, Mastodon, @nathanleamerdc, @djvlad, @jeromysonne, @viacristiano, @michaelsobolik, Silicon UK, Kiplinger.com, Music Business Worldwide, @kellymakena, @therecount, @ezeekat@threads.net, CNN, Wired, @drjessmaddox, Far Out Magazine, Australia & World, @deanbaker13, KnowTechie, @alyssafarah, PR Daily, @aghamilton29, Android Police, GSMArena.com, @steventdennis, Android Headlines, @tiktokpolicy, @mtracey, @ddimolfetta, One Man & His Blog, The Guardian, AppleInsider, @carnage4life, @mkraju, @brendancarrfcc, @danprimack, Android Headlines, Fast Company, The Indian Express, The Daily Beast, Reuters, @NeoNacho@mastodon.social, The Daily Beast, Neowin, Wired, The Register, Engadget, The Wrap, GB News, Mumbrella, Gizmodo, MediaPost, South China Morning Post, New York Daily News, The Verge, The Hill, CBS News, r/politics, r/popculturechat and Beehaw, more at Techmeme »

Alex Barinka / Bloomberg:

Biden signing the TikTok divestment bill starts a 270-day countdown for a sale or a US prohibition; sources say ByteDance sees divestiture as a last resort — - China's ByteDance faces deadline to sell app under new US law — Company braces for legal fight against divest-or-ban efforts

Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:

TikTok is suspending the rewards program in TikTok Lite while it tries to resolve EU concerns about the potentially addictive nature of the program for children — TikTok will voluntarily suspend its new app TikTok Lite's reward programme while it tries to resolve EU concerns, the company said on X social media platform on Wednesday.

Discussion: Engadget, The Hill, The Guardian, The Verge, Associated Press, The Information, @vestager, @stokel, Euractiv, Bloomberg, Social Media Today, @tiktokpolicyeur, Silicon UK, @thierrybreton, The Register, CMU and Fortune, more at Techmeme »

Will Oremus / Washington Post:
Meta, Google, Snap, and Amazon all benefit from the US TikTok ban; Mark Zuckerberg criticized TikTok's Chinese roots in 2019, part of Meta's broader campaign

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, WFAA-TV, The Sun, @willoremus@mastodon.social and The Indian Express, more at Techmeme »

M.G. Siegler / Spyglass:
Whether TikTok is banned or not, this is the end as we know it for the loss-making app, which may lose focus due to advertiser, creator, and staff uncertainty

Discussion: Reuters, Wired, CNBC and Business Insider, more at Techmeme »

Casey Newton / Platformer:
Legal scholars discuss how the TikTok divestment bill could survive a First Amendment challenge and why the US will likely rely on a national security argument

Discussion: MediaPost, Social Media Today, Light Reading, Wired, Music Ally, @digiphile, @crumbler@threads.net and @kevintgates@threads.net, more at Techmeme »

Meta Investor Relations:

Meta reports Q1 revenue up 27% YoY to $36.46B, net income up 117% YoY to $12.37B, and family daily active people up 7% YoY to 3.24B for March 2024 — Meta Platforms, Inc. (Nasdaq: META) today reported financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2024.

Discussion: Fast Company, New York Times, Variety, Social Media Today, The Information, @edludlow, Financial Times, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »

Will Sommer / Washington Post:

The founder of The Gateway Pundit says its parent company is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, as it faces lawsuits claiming it promoted bogus election claims — Gateway Pundit, the popular far-right blog, is filing for bankruptcy as it faces lawsuits alleging it promoted bogus claims …

Discussion: The Guardian, CNN, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit, @asfleischman, @checkmyads@threads.net and @yonetteajoseph@threads.net

Ashley Capoot / CNBC:

Meta's stock drops 15%+ as the company issues a light Q2 revenue forecast and higher FY 2024 capital expenditures due to increased AI infrastructure investments — Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, testifies during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing titled “Big Tech and the Online Child …

more at Techmeme »

Winston Cho / The Hollywood Reporter:

The FTC bans noncompete clauses that restrict job switching, potentially complicating hiring in Hollywood as firms try to protect trade secrets and other info — The FTC on Tuesday voted to prohibit noncompete provisions in contracts, which could usher in a sea change to worker mobility …

Discussion: Federal Trade Commission, CBS News, Jamie Olson on LinkedIn, Garth Stevens on LinkedIn, Phil Cooper on LinkedIn, Peter Williams on LinkedIn, Todd Saunders on LinkedIn, Owais Durrani on LinkedIn, Jeffery Commaroto on LinkedIn, Wesley Kennedy-Sita on LinkedIn, Reuters, STAT, The Register, Semafor, New York Times, Harry Cosgrove on LinkedIn, Steve Katcher on LinkedIn, @carnage4life, @bryanranderson, @quinnypig, Amy Barnes on LinkedIn, @cjjsaez, @ftc, Adam Taft on LinkedIn, Sang Park on LinkedIn, Peter Dziedzic on LinkedIn, Girish Nadkarni on LinkedIn, @gergelyorosz, @ftc, Engadget, @reporterashley, Michael Shea on LinkedIn, @bongcapital, Alan Lasky on LinkedIn, @nick_bunker, Washington Post, The Hill, @katachora@hachyderm.io, @lexfri@hachyderm.io, @stevestreza@indieweb.social, @geerlingguy@mastodon.social, @karabaic@mastodon.social, @tacertain@infosec.exchange, @LLS@wandering.shop, @MisuseCase@twit.social, Sportico, Deadline, Variety, Wired, Fortune, HousingWire, The Information, HuffPost, Gizmodo, New York Daily News, Ad Age, Fast Company, CNN, KING-TV, The Verge and Wall Street Journal, more at Techmeme »

Alexandra Bruell / Wall Street Journal:

An interview with NPR CEO Katherine Maher, who defends NPR and accuses critics of “bad faith distortion” of her past comments about the First Amendment — Katherine Maher said controversy stemming from an editor's essay criticizing the radio network has been a distraction

Discussion: Inside Radio, @edbmarsh, The Hill and @jonathanturley

New York Times:
Sources detail NPR's struggles with declining audiences, falling sponsorship revenue, internal conflicts over turning things around, and a diversity push

Discussion: @benmullin, @davidfolkenflik, @benmullin and @benmullin

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:

Apollo-backed US investment group Concord increases its bid for Hipgnosis Songs Fund, to $1.5B, just over the last offer from Blackstone — Offer for music rights group rises to $1.5bn as Apollo-backed investor beats rival's bid — Hipgnosis Songs Fund has found itself at the centre …

Discussion: Billboard, CMU, Music Business Worldwide, Digital Music News and City A.M.

Tom Jones / Poynter:

How the Columbia Daily Spectator, the independent student newspaper of Columbia University, is covering the tense protests over the Israel-Hamas war — The Columbia Daily Spectator has expertly documented tense protests over the Israel-Hamas war inside and outside the campus.

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, Wall Street Journal, Jacobin, The Indian Express, GQ, @nicdawes, @will_bunch, @poynter, Why Evolution Is True, @mukta_jo, @samaakhu, The Philadelphia Inquirer, New York Times, The Daily Beast and The Present Age

E. Alex Jung / New York Magazine:

A profile of Mehdi Hasan, whose aggressive interviewing helped him get an MSNBC show, as he now embraces the “canceled” label to launch his Zeteo substack — Mehdi Hasan's aggressive interviewing style landed him a Sunday show on MSNBC. Until he started talking about Palestine.

Discussion: @acrosshertable, @mehdirhasan, @arjafi, @nick_field90, @roolockwood, @wajahatali, @roxana_hadadi, @gazelleemami, @bilgeebiri, Adweek, @e_alexjung, @freddydeknatel, @hkanji, The Daily Beast, @mehdirhasan, @e_alexjung and @madelesque

Katie Kilkenny / The Hollywood Reporter:

Members of the iHeart Podcast Union file an unfair labor practice claim against iHeartMedia; the union represents around 100 producers, hosts, and others — Staffers who are unionized with the Writers Guild of America East are alleging that management has engaged in intimidating behavior …

Discussion: Radio & Television …, @iwriteok, @wgaeast and Writers Guild of America …