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A judge in a Moscow court said on Monday that Instagram and Facebook were guilty of “extremist” activity, solidifying a ban on both platforms that went into effect earlier this month, reportedReuters. But the court also spared Whatsapp — one of Meta’s core products and one of the most popular messaging platforms in Russia — from the ban. Russian authorities decided to open a criminal case against Meta after Facebook’s decision to temporarily allow for calls of violence in Ukraine and select other countries. The outcome of that case was determined today in court.

Many Russia experts believe that the court chose not to include Whatsapp in the ban due to its ubiquitous status in the nation. Roughly 80 percent of Russians over the age of 14 use Whatsapp to communicate, according to a 2021 survey from Deloitte. Ironically, the case against Meta led to Whatsapp losing its status as the most popular messenger in Russia. Telegram, which millions of Russians downloaded in recent weeks due to uncertainty over Whatsapp's fate, is now the most popular messaging app in Russia, mobile operator Megafon toldReuters today.

Under the judge’s ruling, Meta is effectively banned from opening offices or doing business in Russia, according to Russian state media agency TASS. But Russian citizens won’t be accused of extremism for merely using any of Meta’s platforms or services (that is, if they can access them). Many Russians have downloaded VPNs in recent weeks to access many of the Western-owned tech platforms banned by their government.

"The use of Meta's products by individuals and legal entities should not be considered as participation in extremist activities," a spokesman for the prosecutor's office told TASS.

But even those able to access Facebook or Instagram still face limits on free speech. A new Russian law criminalizes the spread of “fake news” or public statements that are critical of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Thousands of Russians have been arrested, fired from jobs or expelled from school for criticizing Russia’s activities in Ukraine, reported NPR.

Despite Whatsapp being spared, future sparring between Russia and Western tech companies could make it harder for Russians to buy new devices or access services. Samsung, Microsoft, Apple, LG and others have banned device sales in Russia. 

MacRumors recently reported that Russian users can no longer access the App Store or pay for any of Apple’s services, which would include iCloud. Google Play has also paused all billing in Russia, although users can still use free apps. Whatsapp offers encrypted backups, but users will need an iCloud or Google Drive account. 

When it comes to online games, we all know the “report” button doesn’t do anything. Regardless of genre, publisher or budget, games launch every day with ineffective systems for reporting abusive players, and some of the largest titles in the world exist in a constant state of apology for harboring toxic environments. Franchises including League of Legends, Call of Duty, Counter-Strike, Dota 2, Overwatch, Ark and Valorant have such hostile communities that this reputation is part of their brands — suggesting these titles to new players includes a warning about the vitriol they’ll experience in chat.

It feels like the report button often sends complaints directly into a trash can, which is then set on fire quarterly by the one-person moderation department. According to legendary Quake and Doom esports pro Dennis Fong (better known as Thresh), that’s not far from the truth at many AAA studios.

“I'm not gonna name names, but some of the biggest games in the world were like, you know, honestly it does go nowhere,” Fong said. “It goes to an inbox that no one looks at. You feel that as a gamer, right? You feel despondent because you’re like, I’ve reported the same guy 15 times and nothing’s happened.”

Game developers and publishers have had decades to figure out how to combat player toxicity on their own, but they still haven’t. So, Fong did.

This week he announced GGWP, an AI-powered system that collects and organizes player-behavior data in any game, allowing developers to address every incoming report with a mix of automated responses and real-person reviews. Once it’s introduced to a game — "Literally it's like a line of code," Fong said — the GGWP API aggregates player data to generate a community health score and break down the types of toxicity common to that title. After all, every game is a gross snowflake when it comes to in-chat abuse. 

GGWP

The system can also assign reputation scores to individual players, based on an AI-led analysis of reported matches and a complex understanding of each game’s culture. Developers can then assign responses to certain reputation scores and even specific behaviors, warning players about a dip in their ratings or just breaking out the ban hammer. The system is fully customizable, allowing a title like Call of Duty: Warzone to have different rules than, say, Roblox.

"We very quickly realized that, first of all, a lot of these reports are the same," Fong said. "And because of that, you can actually use big data and artificial intelligence in ways to help triage this stuff. The vast majority of this stuff is actually almost perfectly primed for AI to go tackle this problem. And it's just people just haven't gotten around to it yet."

GGWP is the brainchild of Fong, Crunchyroll founder Kun Gao, and data and AI expert Dr. George Ng. It’s so far secured $12 million in seed funding, backed by Sony Innovation Fund, Riot Games, YouTube founder Steve Chen, the streamer Pokimane, and Twitch creators Emmett Shear and Kevin Lin, among other investors.

GGWP

Fong and his cohorts started building GGWP more than a year ago, and given their ties to the industry, they were able to sit down with AAA studio executives and ask why moderation was such a persistent issue. The problem, they discovered, was twofold: First, these studios didn’t see toxicity as a problem they created, so they weren’t taking responsibility for it (we can call this the Zuckerberg Special). And second, there was simply too much abuse to manage.

In just one year, one major game received more than 200 million player-submitted reports, Fong said. Several other studio heads he spoke with shared figures in the nine digits as well, with players generating hundreds of millions of reports annually per title. And the problem was even larger than that.

“If you're getting 200 million for one game of players reporting each other, the scale of the problem is so monumentally large,” Fong said. “Because as we just talked about, people have given up because it doesn't go anywhere. They just stop reporting people.”

Executives told Fong they simply couldn’t hire enough people to keep up. What’s more, they generally weren’t interested in forming a team just to craft an automated solution — if they had AI people on staff, they wanted them building the game, not a moderation system.

In the end, most AAA studios ended up dealing with about 0.1 percent of the reports they received each year, and their moderation teams tended to be laughably small, Fong discovered.

GGWP

“Some of the biggest publishers in the world, their anti-toxicity player behavior teams are less than 10 people in total,” Fong said. “Our team is 35. It’s 35 and it's all product and engineering and data scientists. So we as a team are larger than almost every global publisher’s team, which is kind of sad. We are very much devoted and committed to trying to help solve this problem.”

Fong wants GGWP to introduce a new way of thinking about moderation in games, with a focus on implementing teachable moments, rather than straight punishment. The system is able to recognize helpful behavior like sharing weapons and reviving teammates under adverse conditions, and can apply bonuses to that player’s reputation score in response. It would also allow developers to implement real-time in-game notifications, like an alert that says, “you’ve lost 3 reputation points” when a player uses an unacceptable word. This would hopefully dissuade them from saying the word again, decreasing the number of overall reports for that game, Fong said. A studio would have to do a little extra work to implement such a notification system, but GGWP can handle it, according to Fong.

“We've completely modernized the approach to moderation,” he said. “They just have to be willing to give it a try.”

OneWeb will turn to a competitor to ferry its remaining first-generation internet satellites to space after Russia's Roscosmos space agency issued an ultimatum to the company at the start of the month. On Monday, OneWeb announced an agreement with Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The private firm will ferry the remainder of OneWeb’s constellation fleet, with the first launch scheduled for later this year.

“We thank SpaceX for their support, which reflects our shared vision for the boundless potential of space,” OneWeb CEO Neil Masterson said. “With these launch plans in place, we’re on track to finish building out our full fleet of satellites and deliver robust, fast, secure connectivity around the globe.”

On March 3rd, Roscosmos, just days before it was scheduled to put 36 OneWeb satellites in space, said it would not conduct any additional launches for OneWeb unless the company made assurances its network would not be used for military purposes and the UK sold its minority stake in OneWeb. The demand came in response to sanctions the UK imposed on Russia following the country’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24th. At the time, the UK government said it would not sell its stake in OneWeb. To date, Russian Soyuz rockets have carried 428 OneWeb satellites to low Earth orbit. OneWeb’s first-generation network will eventually consist of 648 satellites.

SpaceX's long-delayed Starship orbital test flight might finally be close. As CNBCnotes, Elon Musk now believes SpaceX will launch Starship into orbit this May. The company plans to have 39 "flightworthy" engines ready by April, and will take about a month to integrate them.

The launch will depend on the newer Raptor 2 engines as they're "much more capable" and reliable than the older models, according to Musk. SpaceX started producing Raptor 2 in December 2021 and says the design costs half as much as its predecessor while delivering more power and using fewer parts. They're expected to power both Starship and its Super Heavy booster, and should be key to SpaceX's plans for both the Moon and Mars.

The launch hinges on more than just technical progress, however. SpaceX still needs an FAA license for the flight, and will finish an important environmental review on March 28th. Any regulatory flags could stall the launch.

We wouldn't count on SpaceX holding to the May target regardless of the FAA's decisions. The company was discussing the prospects of a Starship orbital flight last year, and SpaceX is sometimes optimistic about its timelines — just ask enthusiasts who spent years waiting for a Falcon Heavy flight. Still, there are now enough ingredients in place that liftoff might be several weeks away, not several months.

It’s about to get easier for Ford Mustang Mach-E drivers to find the nearest charging station, thanks to a new iOS 15.4 update for Apple Maps. According to 9to5Mac, EV routing can now be activated on the Mach-E through Apple Maps on CarPlay, Apple’s in-car system. The feature was first previewed during WWDC 2020, and now it’s finally been released to the public. Right now, only this current year's vehicle and versions of the 2021 model with specific software versions have the new feature, but Ford hopes to roll the feature out to all Mach-E drivers before 2023.

Mach-E owners in need of a charge usually find the nearest station using the Apple Maps or Google Maps app on their phone, Ford’s built-in charging station finder or the FordPass App. This is likely cumbersome for many, especially when embarking on a long road trip. Now, Apple Maps on CarPlay can generate a route and identify charging points along the way.

Ford has full instructions on its website for how to activate EV charging on Apple Maps, but it should be as simple as pressing “OK” on a pop-up message that says “Get EV routes for your Mustang Mach-E” the next time you fire up Apple Maps through CarPlay and enter a new destination.

Earlier this month Google released its 10th Pixel feature drop containing new supported languages for Live Translate, Live Sharing in Duo calls and more. And while the latest patch had already rolled out to older devices (from the Pixel 3a to the Pixel 5), today the update began arriving on Google's most recent flagships: the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. 

First spotted by Android Police, in addition to new software features, the update also brings a number of general performance improvements such as better thermal and battery management and faster fingerprint recognition. But perhaps even more importantly, the patch also contains a handful of bug fixes including a solution for a recent issue that was causing Pixel 6 phones to randomly disconnect from WiFi. 

Finally, for Pixel 6 owners on Verizon, Google's March update is also adding support for the carrier's new 5G C-band spectrum, which went live at the beginning of the year on January 19th. Verizon claims its C-Band 5G is up to 10 faster than 4G LTE, and that following its recent deployment, the company's Ultra Wideband 5G now covers more than 100 million people across 1,700 US cities. 

While it's a bit frustrating to see Google's latest feature drop arrive last on the company's most recent (and most expensive) phones, considering that the Pixel 6's WiFi woes were caused by the previous January update (which itself was pushed back from December), it makes sense that Google postponed its release a bit. And hopefully, Google used that extra time to iron out any new bugs in the March update. Though based on the company's recent track record, that might be a bit too optimistic. 

It's all too common for electric vehicle makers to delay releases, but GM claims it's bucking the trend. The company says it has started production of the Cadillac Lyriq at its Spring Hill, Tennessee plant about nine months ahead of the initial schedule. GM didn't say how many of the sold-out reservations for the luxury crossover translated to real purchases, but it will take more orders for the Lyriq starting May 19th. The EV is due to reach dealers in the first half of the year.

The Lyric is Cadillac's first EV, and the first passenger vehicle to use GM's Ultium platform beyond the Hummer EV. It won't be as brawny as the Hummer with its estimate 340HP motor system, but it's expected to net 300-plus miles of range and 190kW fast charging at compatible stations. You can also anticipate plenty of tech, including a 33-inch OLED screen and Super Cruise hands-free highway driving. More importantly, the Lyriq will start at $59,990 — still not cheap, but it's far more affordable than the $79,995 minimum you'll pay for the Hummer.

The Lyriq doesn't quite represent the next generation of mainstream GM EVs. For that, you'll have to wait until Chevy's electric Silverado ($39,900) and Equinox (roughly $30,000). It does serve as a bridge between the Hummer and more affordable models, though, and it's certainly easier to justify for those that don't need the Hummer's off-roading abilities.

After months of teasing, Formula E and the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) announced today they will finally unveil their new Gen3 all-electric car at an event in Monaco on April 28th. The two organizations said fans would be able to watch the unveiling through their associated digital channels. Formula E teams will begin using the car at the start of the 2022-2023 season, with testing expected to begin this spring.

The FIA first shared details on the Gen3 at the end of last year, revealing it would feature a motor capable of outputting 350kW of power (about 470 brake horsepower) and a top speed of 200 miles per hour. It will also include front and rear powertrains, a first for a formula car. With a total of 600kW of power, the Gen3 will feature more than double the regenerative capability of Formula E’s current Gen2 vehicle. The FIA has also promised the Gen3 will be its most sustainable vehicle to date, with a net-zero carbon footprint thanks to recyclable carbon fiber parts and other design considerations.

Notice Apple that several Apple services are unavailable? You're not alone. As Mark Gurman notes, Apple's system status page indicates outages across several major services, including the App Store, Apple Arcade, Apple TV+, Find My, the iTunes Store, Maps and radio. The alerts note that some users are affected, and that problems may be "intermittent" (the App Store) or lead to slowdowns. We've asked Apple for comment.

Developing...

CD Projekt Red is developing a new Witcher game. The studio announced the project today with a teaser it shared on Twitter. "A new saga begins," the teaser states, with an image of what looks like a lynx-like Witcher medallion in the center. 

That might not seem like much to go on, but it actually represents a substantial clue about what we can expect from the new game. Geralt of Rivia, the protagonist of Andrezej Sapkowski's dark fantasy novels and all the adaptations that have followed was a student of the School of the Wolf and subsequently wore a Wolf medallion on his adventures. The teaser suggests this new game will star a Witcher from the School of the Cat. They go about the business of monster hunting a bit differently from their Wolf School counterparts. Most notably, they don't have a policy that stops them from involving themselves in the politics of the Continent.

The new game does not have a release date yet, but as part of today's announcement, CD Projekt Red shared it's moving to Unreal Engine 5 for all of its future projects as part of a multi-year partnership with Epic Games. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Cyberpunk 2077 ran on the studio's proprietary REDengine. After the mess of Cyberpunk, the move to UE5 may give some players confidence we could see the CD Projekt of old return.