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Last year, Facebook parent Meta said it may stop Canadians from sharing news content in response to the country's proposed Online Sharing Act. Now, the company has announced that it will begin tests on Facebook and Instagram that "limit some users and publishers from viewing or sharing some news content in Canada," it wrote in a blog post. The testing will take place over several weeks and the "small percentage" of users affected will be notified if they try to share news content. 

"As we have repeatedly shared, the Online News Act is fundamentally flawed legislation that ignores the realities of how our platforms work, the preferences of the people who use them, and the value we provide news publishers," the company wrote.

The proposed law, also known as Bill C-18, was introduced by the ruling Liberal government earlier this year. Modeled after a similar Australian law, it aims to force internet platforms like Facebook into revenue-sharing partnerships with local news organizations. It came about, in part, because of Facebook and Google's dominance of the online advertising market — with both companies combined taking 80 percent of revenue.

Last year, Meta said it was trying to be "transparent about the possibility that we may be forced to consider whether we continue to allow the sharing of news content in Canada." The company made the threat after a government panel failed to invite Meta to a meeting about the legislation. Google also temporarily blocked some Canadian users from seeing news content. 

In response, Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez called the tests "unacceptable," Reuters reported. "When a big tech company... tells us, 'If you don't do this or that, then I'm pulling the plug' — that's a threat. I've never done anything because I was afraid of a threat," he told Reuters. 

Facebook, Google and others eventually agreed to the Australian law, and now pay publishers to post news links with snippets. Before that happened, though, Facebook followed through on its threat to block users from sharing news links in the nation. It later reversed the ban following further discussions, after the government made amendments addressing Facebook's concerns about the value of its platform to publishers.

For now, the test will only affect a small number of users and for a limited time. If it follows the same playbook it used in Australia though, Meta may block news sharing for all users in Canada, possibly as a way to force the government and publishers to the bargaining table.

"As the Minister of Canadian Heritage has said, how we choose to comply with the legislation is a business decision we must make, and we have made our choice," the company wrote. "While these product tests are temporary, we intend to end the availability of news content in Canada permanently following the passage of Bill C-18."

If you've been debating whether to pick up some Apple AirTags, now might be the time finally to go for it. The AirTag 4-pack currently has a 20 percent discount, dropping from $100 to $80. Not only does this bring the pack close to its all-time-lowest price, but it makes each AirTag only $20 — $8 less than buying one on its own. So, in a sense, it's a buy three get the fourth free sale, with four extra dollars saved for a coffee.

AirTags pair to your iPhone or iPad in one tap with their live location available in the Find My app alongside your friends and other devices. Its small frame — about an inch and a quarter in length and width — is water and dust resistant with an included battery that requires replacing about once a year. You can get detailed instructions to reach your AirTag on newer iPhone models thanks to Ultra Wideband technology or put it in "Lost Mode" to immediately receive notifications if it pings off another person's device.

You can slip your AirTag into your wallet or purse as is or pick up a case to connect it to your keys or pet's collar. Either way, it's one of the better Bluetooth trackers on the market, especially at such a low price.

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Last year, Rocket Lab announced that it would embark on an ambitious mission to send a small probe to Venus to hunt for organic molecules in its atmosphere. The launch was supposed to happen in May 2023, but now Rocket Lab has confirmed that it's "not imminent," TechCrunch has reported. While company didn't provide a new date, a research paper published in July 2022 states that a "backup launch window is available in January 2025." 

News of the mission flew under the radar, as it were, but it's rather ambitious. Rocket Lab plans to use its Electron booster and Photon spacecraft, sending a small probe into Venus's cloud layer about 30-37 miles up, where temperatures are Earth-like. (Thanks to the planet's greenhouse effect, temperatures on the surface are greater than 900 degrees F and pressure more than 75 Earth atmospheres.)

Rocket Lab

Once there, the tiny 40 centimeter diameter probe will search for organic molecules or other clues that the atmosphere could support life. Venus came into the news back in 2020 after researchers claimed to spot signs of phosphine, a chemical that's typically produced by living organisms. While controversial, the findings sparked a new interest in the Venus atmosphere as a possible source for life, and Rocket Lab's mission is centered around just that. 

At the same time, it's a way for the company to show off its Photon spacecraft designed to go beyond Earth orbit to the Moon and Mars. Last year, Rocket Lab successfully launched Photon on NASA's CAPSTONE mission, designed to verify the orbital stability of the planned Lunar Gateway space station. The lunar satellite spent nearly six months in orbit and flew within 1,000 miles of the Moon's North Pole in a so-called near-rectilinear halo orbit. 

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Volkswagen has finally unveiled the version of the ID.Buzz electric van that's destined for North America, and there's more to it than you might think. The three-row design with two extra seats is clearly the main draw for roadtrippers and growing families, but this isn't just a stretched version of the modern Microbus. It boasts a larger 91kWh battery (versus 82kWh for the two-row), a more powerful 282HP motor for the rear-wheel drive trim (versus 201HP) and a higher 99MPH top speed (versus 90MPH). While there are no range estimates yet, there will also be an optional all-wheel drive configuration with a 330HP dual-motor system.

The interior tech hasn't changed much from the two-row model, although that's not necessarily a bad thing. You'll still face a 5.3-inch digital instrument cluster and a 12.9-inch infotainment display. The larger ID.Buzz now has the easier-to-use interface from the ID.7, though, and you'll find a total of eight USB-C ports — helpful when friends in the back want to charge their phones. The three-row EV also comes standard with Level 2 driver assistance (including lane centering), and the customizable cabin lighting doubles as a status indicator for everything from charging levels to navigation directions.

Volkswagen

The North American van also touts the largest panoramic roof of any car in the VW group at 67.4 inches long, and uses electrochromic glass to turn opaque when it's not needed. You'll also find a 110V outlet under the passenger seat area, and a 12V port in the cargo space can charge more of your gear. A nine-speaker audio system is standard, but you can upgrade to a 14-speaker Harman Kardon unit.

VW still hasn't outlined pricing for the North American ID.Buzz ahead of its 2024 debut. Don't expect it to be the people's van like the Microbus was, however. The closest comparable two-row model, the Buzz Style, sells for £63,715 (about $79,240) in the UK with tax included. This is for nostalgic drivers who want an eco-friendly revival of a classic ride, and well-heeled EV fans who want more capacity than the ID.4 crossover can provide.

Twitter has lost another head of trust and safety after Elon Musk purchased the company last year. According to Reuters, Ella Irwin, the website's top executive for content moderation has resigned. Fortune has also reported earlier that her company Slack account has already been deactivated. While Irwin has confirmed her resignation to both organizations, she didn't elaborate on the reason for her departure. The executive took over the role as head of trust and safety after Yoel Roth left the same position in November 2022, publicly walking back on his previous statement that Twitter would be safer under Musk. 

Like Roth, Irwin seemed to be supportive of the Twitter owner — who sees himself as a "free speech absolutist" — and defended him from critics of his approach to content moderation. She said in the past that Musk gave her team the go-ahead to prioritize safety and not to worry about affecting user numbers. The Center for Countering Digital Hate recently reported that Twitter has been failing to properly and quickly address 99 percent of hate speech, including neo-Nazi, racist, homophobic and transphobic content, posted on the website by Twitter Blue users. 

Although Irwin hasn't revealed why she left the company, her departure seemed to have taken place right after conservative publication The Daily Wire said Twitter canceled their deal to premiere its What is a Woman? film on the website. The outlet's co-founder said Twitter offered it the opportunity to "buy a package to host the movie on a dedicated event page and to promote the event to every Twitter user over the first 10 hours." However, the website reportedly withdrew its offer after reviewing a screener and told the outlet that it could no longer purchase the package. Twitter also apparently told the outlet that it will limit the reach of the film, as well as label it with "hateful conduct" due to "misgendering."

To note, Twitter's hateful conduct policy states that it considers "hateful imagery to be logos, symbols, or images whose purpose is to promote hostility and malice against others based on their race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or ethnicity/national origin." Anything "depicting hateful imagery is not permitted within live video, account bio, profile or header images."

As a response to The Daily Wire co-founder's post, Musk tweeted that the decision was a "mistake by many people at Twitter" and that the film was "definitely allowed." He added that not using someone's pronouns is "at most rude and certainly breaks no laws" and that he objects "to rude behavior, ostracism or threats of violence if the wrong pronoun or name is used."

In follow-up tweets, Musk said Twitter is updating its system so that The Daily Wire's followers will see the film in their feed. However, it will not be recommended or advertised to non-followers.

Last year, Nintendo put its eShop in "maintenance mode" in Russia, which prevented access to the eShop for customers in the country. Now, the company is making it official: Nintendo is halting all sales in Russia.

Nintendo of Europe announced that as of May 31st, 2023, the company will halt all new eShop sales in Russia. This means that you won’t be able to make any new purchases from the store or redeem digital codes. Nintendo says all credit card information and PayPal details will be deleted for security reasons and that you won’t be able to create new Nintendo Accounts as long as Russia is set as the country.

The good news is users with a Russian eShop account will still be able to download previously-purchased games and DLC "for the foreseeable future." It’s unclear at this time how long Nintendo plans on keeping the eShop available for these users.

"As of May 31, 2023, and for the foreseeable future, Russian customers with an existing Nintendo Account will be able to redownload digital content that they have previously purchased. It will not be possible to make any new purchases or use download codes within [the] Nintendo eShop in Russia."

We’ve reached out to Nintendo for additional comment and will update this story when we’ve heard back.

Both Microsoft and Sony halted all sales from Russia over a year ago as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Game studios such as Epic, Activision Blizzard and EA made similar moves and halted sales in the country at around the same time. Nintendo joining the mix means that no major console makers currently allow its Russian users to purchase new games in the country.

By now, it’s well-known that Xbox-exclusive Redfall was a colossal commercial and critical dud when it launched last month. Its somewhat intriguing concept — vampires inhabiting a well-to-do Massachusetts island — was held back by bugs and an overall lack of polish. (The description “not fit for public consumption” summarized Jessica Conditt’s impressions in Engadget’s review.) Now, Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier has pulled back the curtain on alleged behind-the-scenes turmoil that led to Xbox’s latest setback in its mission to catch up with Sony’s and Nintendo’s first-party console sellers.

The story shows Arkane Studios’ development lacking direction long before Microsoft acquired Zenimax, the studio’s parent company, in 2020. Hoping to capture some of the lucrative juice propelling mainstream “games as a service” titles like Fortnite and Overwatch, Arkane (known for critically acclaimed single-player titles like Dishonored 2 and Prey) looked to incorporate microtransactions into Redfall early on. In-game monetization was eventually scrapped, but the alleged rough start apparently set the tone for a sloppy and scattered design process.

Developers speaking off the record to Bloomberg described the leadership of co-directors Harvey Smith and Ricardo Bare as unfocused. “Developers under Smith and Bare said the two leads were outwardly excited but as the project progressed failed to provide clear direction,” Bloomberg wrote. “Staff members said that, over time, they grew frustrated with management’s frequently shifting references to other games, such as Far Cry and Borderlands, that left each department with varying ideas of what exactly they were making.” In addition, the sources describe a “fundamental tension” between single-player and multiplayer emphasis, with devs reportedly feeling like the game was trying to accomplish two things and succeeding at neither.

Arkane Austin

Hiring and maintaining existing staff posed another challenge. Developers typically joined Arkane wanting to work on the solo / simulation types of affairs the studio was known for; many employees reportedly left after they found themselves working on what felt like an unfocused multiplayer fiasco. Additionally, the studio’s Austin, TX headquarters meant hiring also had to contend with the state’s regressive social policies under Governor Greg Abbott and the far-right Texas Legislature. “Since Redfall wasn’t yet announced, the studio couldn’t describe its details to prospective employees — a predicament that exacerbated the staffing issues,” Bloomberg added. This was all compounded by the fact that Arkane was trying to make a multiplayer game with a head count built for single-player titles; even outsourcing to other studios reportedly didn’t provide enough help.

After Microsoft acquired ZeniMax, Arkane’s new parent company took a mostly hands-off approach. “Aside from canceling a version of Redfall that had been planned for rival Sony Corp.’s PlayStation, Microsoft allowed ZeniMax to continue operating as it had before, with great autonomy,” said Schreier. As a result, the story details an unsurprising “final frantic months” of development, including multiple delays. It probably didn’t help that Smith and other studio leaders allegedly engaged in magical thinking (or at least magical speaking), promising “Arkane magic” would serve as a last-second fix for the troubled production. That didn’t happen, and several of Bloomberg’s sources said they were surprised to ultimately find the game’s public release essentially unchanged since last playing it in 2021.

Although Microsoft inherited (what sounds like) a titanic mess, the company deserves blame for not recognizing the title’s flaws before launch and either shelving it entirely or perhaps reworking it as a single-player title. We may see how quickly Microsoft can rebound and learn from its mistakes as we approach Starfield’s highly anticipated September arrival. In the meantime, I recommend checking out Bloomberg’s story for much more detail about making the Xbox-exclusive stinker.

It's no secret that Vimeo has shied away from challenging YouTube in favor of serving as a business-friendly video platform, and now that's affecting its living room apps. The company is ending support for its current TV apps on June 27th, including the versions for Android TV, Apple TV, Fire TV and Roku devices. They'll no longer be available in app stores, and you won't see any updates. If you want to watch a clip on the big screen, you'll have to stream it from a mobile device using Apple AirPlay or Google Cast. We've asked Vimeo for comment.

The company is fairly clear about its reasoning. The focus on creatives and corporations means those TV apps aren't a priority, and Vimeo shelves products that are "no longer consistent with [its] standards." Vimeo isn't about to maintain apps that don't fit its strategy and will increasingly fall behind, in other words. Casting will provide a "better ongoing experience," the firm claims.

The catch, of course, is that you might still use Vimeo for watching your favorite videos. There won't be an easy way to browse the "Watch Later" queue from the living room. While this won't stop you from watching videos on a TV, this could make marathon viewing sessions more of a hassle. Like it or not, Vimeo is happy to steer you to your computer or phone for any extended streaming.