Mediagazer: Facebook will start taking a 30% cut from fan subscriptions via desktop starting 2020 and a 15% fee for second year subscriptions via mobile platforms (Anthony Ha/TechCrunch)

Todd Spangler / Variety:

WarnerMedia's HBO Max is set to launch in spring 2020 with 10K hours of programming including exclusive streaming rights to Friends, CW dramas, and films — Greg Berlanti and Reese Witherspoon also signed to movie deals for HBO Max — Get ready to make “Friends” with HBO Max …

Michael Isikoff / Yahoo News:

A look at the spread of Seth Rich conspiracy theories, and how one theory allegedly was posted by Russian foreign intelligence three days after Rich's death — WASHINGTON — In the summer of 2016, Russian intelligence agents secretly planted a fake report claiming that Democratic National …

Discussion: @katestarbird, @pbump and Mediaite

Jennifer Maas / The Wrap:

Netflix says Stranger Things 3 has been viewed by 40.7M households since its July 4 launch, a new record for a Netflix film or series — Netflix says “Stranger Things 3” has been viewed by more than 40 million household accounts since its July 4 premiere, a new record for the streaming service.

Discussion: @netflix, Barron's Online, CNET, io9, Deadline, Mashable, CNET, Engadget and SlashGear

Kate Conger / New York Times:

Inside deliberations at Twitter on defining “dehumanizing speech” and its decision to limit enforcement on the issue to tweets about religious groups for now — SAN FRANCISCO — Last August, Twitter's top executives gathered at the company's headquarters to discuss how to make the site safer for its users.

Discussion: CNN, @caseynewton, Twitter, 9to5Mac, The Daily Caller, @kateconger, TechCrunch and The Week, more at Techmeme »

Ann E. Marimow / Washington Post:

Federal appeals court rules that President Trump violated the First Amendment by blocking his critics on Twitter — President Trump cannot block his critics from the Twitter feed he regularly uses to communicate with the public, a federal appeals court said Tuesday, in a case with implications …

Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:

Facebook will start taking a 30% cut from fan subscriptions via desktop starting 2020 and a 15% fee for second year subscriptions via mobile platforms — Facebook will take a cut of up to 30% on fan subscriptions, beginning on January 1, 2020. — The social network is revealing its plans …

Discussion: Digiday, Adweek and AdExchanger, more at Techmeme »

Andrew Ferguson / The Atlantic:

A look at the WSJ's Friday Mansion supplement, which offers readers envy and schadenfreude while never holding the powerful to account — Each week, The Wall Street Journal offers its readers the choice between envy and schadenfreude. — Mansion, The Wall Street Journal's real-estate supplement …

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Larrison Campbell / Mississippi Today:

A candidate for Mississippi governor, Robert Foster, refused a reporter's request for access to a campaign trip unless she brought a male colleague with her — In recent weeks, in an attempt to better inform readers about candidates in the upcoming Republican gubernatorial primary …

Discussion: @ganucheauadam, @e_hensley, @kayanneskinner, @thisislarrison, @annafifield, @williams_paige and @taniel

Cristiano Lima / Politico:

Political leaders keep talking about changing Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act; others say changes could infringe free speech and harm small sites — At stake is a 26-word provision in the 1996 Communications Decency Act that protects online platforms from liability for content their users post.

Discussion: Bloomberg and Fortune

Neima Jahromi / New Yorker:

An overview of moderation challenges facing YouTube, which raise fundamental questions about what social media platforms have become and what they should be — The video giant's recent travails underscore a basic question: How “neutral” should social-media platforms try to be?

Discussion: @daveyalba, more at Techmeme »

Attila Mong / Committee to Protect Journalists:

In Albania, where organized crime and politics are intertwined, both local and international journalists face violence and job loss for covering these ties — The intersection of organized crime, corruption and politics in Albania is impacting the country's press.

Elizabeth Williamson / New York Times:

A reporter and a cameraman at Radio Marti, which is run by US Agency for Global Media, have been suspended for allegedly faking a mortar attack on the reporter — WASHINGTON — The United States Agency for Global Media, the government's foreign broadcast service, already struggling …

Discussion: Voice of America, The Daily Caller and Boing Boing