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SCOTUS upholds the TikTok divest-or-ban law, says free speech rights must yield to concerns that Chinese control of the app creates a national-security risk — The Supreme Court upheld a law that threatens to shut down the wildly popular TikTok social media platform in the US as soon as Sunday …
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A look at efforts by Meta, YouTube, Snapchat, X, and Substack to attract TikTok's creators and users; Substack is offering a $25K “TikTok Liberation Prize” — Tech giants like Meta and YouTube want to poach TikTokers, with Snapchat, X, Substack and others also planning efforts to coax them to their platforms.
Discussion:
Adweek, Fast Company, Forbes, Tubefilter, Glamour, TVNewsCheck, The Verge and Passionfruit, more at Techmeme »

Trump says he will “be making the decision” about TikTok and confirms he had a conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping about the app — The Supreme Court ruled Friday that a controversial ban on TikTok may take effect this weekend, rejecting an appeal from the popular app's owners …
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Sources: Paramount execs held internal talks about settling a Trump lawsuit over a CBS interview with Kamala Harris, to avoid Paramount/Skydance merger hurdles — Paramount, owner of CBS, its namesake studio and several cable channels, has a major piece of business in front of the new administration …

A Florida jury finds that CNN defamed a US Navy veteran in a 2021 report portraying him as illegally exploiting Afghans, awards the veteran $5M — Zachary Young alleged CNN defamed him in a report by chief security correspondent Alex Marquardt that said he operated in a “black market.”
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UC Berkeley backs out of a deal to host a $125M partnership between CA lawmakers and Google to support local news, as its school wouldn't have power over money — The university's journalism school will not host a proposed $125 million fund for California newsrooms, POLITICO has learned.
Discussion:
@davidclinchnews and @tylerkatzen

The UK government unveils a £60M package to support creative sectors, and announces a new Soft Power Council to promote UK culture abroad and drive investment — The British government has unveiled a £60 million ($73 million) package to support growth across the creative sectors …
Discussion:
Advanced Television, Broadband TV News, The Hollywood Reporter, The Guardian, GOV.UK and r/ukpolitics

Coldplay's biggest-ever Indian concert on January 26 will be streamed exclusively on Disney+ Hotstar, as the platform makes a move into live music content — The Jan. 26 Republic Day performance from Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium will be available to viewers across India …

Report: a Russian org linked to Kremlin's influence campaigns placed Facebook ads worth ~$338K over 15 months ending in October, despite EU and US restrictions — A new report details how a covert influence operation linked to the Kremlin continued to place ads on Facebook despite U.S …
Discussion:
@SuffolkLITLab@esq.social and @erosalie@infosec.exchange

Apple disables notification summaries for News & Entertainment apps in iOS 18.3 beta and makes other changes to summaries, including using italicized text — Apple released the iOS 18.3 beta 3 to developers this afternoon. The update includes a handful of changes to the notification summaries feature of Apple Intelligence.
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Prime Video says Beast Games, MrBeast's competition series, has attracted 50M viewers globally in its first 25 days; about half the viewing is outside the US — The competition hosted and devised by Jimmy ‘MrBeast’ Donaldson is one of Prime Video's biggest releases of 2024, the streamer says.
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Variety, @simonowens, Benzinga, PC Gamer, CBC News, Tubefilter, CBR, Forbes, The Wrap, Deadline, Variety and Just Jared

A group of 18 former European heads of state call on the EC to break up Google's advertising tech business, claiming it erodes Europe's media landscape — 18 former European heads of state are claiming Google's highly lucrative advertising-technology business erodes Europe's media landscape
Discussion:
TechRadar