YouTube is no stranger to temporarily banning media outlets for spreading COVID-19 misinformation, but its latest crackdown might be its largest yet. The Guardian and BBC News say the video service has banned Sky News Australia from uploading new videos for a week over accusations it spread COVID-19 misinformation. Multiple Sky videos reportedly violated rules denying the existence of the new coronavirus or claiming that hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin were effective treatments.

The clips didn't provide "sufficient countervailing context" to indicate the claims were false, YouTube told The Guardian. YouTube warned there was the potential for "real-world harm" from these videos. This just one "strike" against Sky — two more would lead to a permanent channel ban.

Sky said it found older videos that broke YouTube's rules, but rejected claims that any of its hosts denied COVID-19's existence. The broadcaster's digital editor alleged that YouTube was threatening free thought, although YouTube is notably focusing on demonstrable facts, not opinions.

The TV network has come under fire for its stance on COVID-19, particularly from host Alan Jones. He falsely claimed the SARS-CoV-2 virus was "not a pandemic" in 2020, and in July incorrectly maintained that the virus' Delta variant was neither dangerous nor affected by vaccines. An uproar over those last statements prompted Sky to make a formal apology on July 19th, removing the relevant video at the same time.

The suspension won't dramatically damage Sky's Australian revenue. It's still rare for YouTube to take that kind of action against a major media network, though. The move also sends a signal — large outlets can't count on their size to shield them against YouTube crackdowns.

Twitter has laid out plans for a bug bounty competition with a difference. This time around, instead of paying researchers who uncover security issues, Twitter will reward those who find as-yet undiscovered examples of bias in its image-cropping algorithm.

Back in April, Twitter said it would study potential “unintentional harms” created by its algorithms, beginning with its image-cropping one. It started using the algorithm in 2018 in an attempt to focus on the most interesting parts of images in previews. Some users criticized how Twitter handled automated cropping, claiming that the algorithm tends to focus on lighter-skinned people in photos.

"In May, we shared our approach to identifying bias in our saliency algorithm (also known as our image cropping algorithm), and we made our code available for others to reproduce our work," Twitter wrote in a blog post. "We want to take this work a step further by inviting and incentivizing the community to help identify potential harms of this algorithm beyond what we identified ourselves."

Twitter says this is the "industry’s first algorithmic bias bounty competition" and it's offering cash prizes of up to $3,500. Rumman Chowdhury, director of Twitter's Machine Learning Ethics, Transparency and Accountability team, wrote in a tweet that the company is running the contest "because we believe people should be rewarded for identifying these issues, and we can’t solve these challenges alone." The winners will be announced at a Twitter-hosted DEF CON AI Village workshop on August 8th.

Facebook's booming business is dominated by digital ads, but it also has hardware ambitions beyond VR. During the company's latest earnings call, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said its next product release would be a pair of smart glasses from Ray-Ban. 

"The glasses have their iconic form factor, and they let you do some pretty neat things," the Facebook co-founder said. "So I'm excited to get those into people's hands and to continue to make progress on the journey toward full augmented reality glasses in the future." 

Facebook's sunglasses have been the subject of rumors since 2019. Back then, sources told CNBC that Facebook was working with Ray-Ban owner EssilorLuxottica on AR eyewear nicknamed "Orion." The glasses were billed as a full-fledged phone replacement on which you could take calls, see information and even broadcast livestreams. That inevitably drew comparisons to Google Glass (another Luxottica collab) instead of the phone-tethered Spectacles from Snap. Last year, Hugo Barra, then VP VR at Facebook Reality Labs, confirmed that the glasses would land in 2021. But, we haven't heard much since.

For Facebook, the glasses hold the key to its future. Alongside virtual reality, augmented reality (AR) is integral to building the "metaverse," Zuckerberg said. In the future, Facebook will morph into a shared, liveable platform that lets you "teleport" between different social experiences using VR and AR, Zuckerberg explained. 

The term metaverse is the latest buzzword seized upon by Silicon Valley and futurists. While the concept has been around for well over a decade, it gained traction after the breakout success of multiplayer game creation platforms like Fortnite and Roblox. Earlier this week, Microsoft chief Satya Nadella mentioned an "enterprise metaverse" on his company's earnings call.

For Facebook, the metaverse is more than just a fad. The company is spending billions in order to build its shared universe, which will be populated with Facebook users and digital ads, according to Zuckerberg. In order for it to become a reality, the company needs more people to buy its computing hardware. Therefore, the plan is to make those devices more affordable.

"Our business model isn't going to primarily be around trying to sell devices at a large premium or anything like that because our mission is around serving as many people as possible," Zuckerberg noted. "So we want to make everything that we do as affordable as possible, so as many people as possible can get into it and then compounds the size of the digital economy inside it. So that's kind of at a high level how I'm thinking about this."

Sunglasses aren't the only hardware Facebook is reportedly working on. Multiple reports have claimed Facebook is developing a smartwatch with a built-in cellular connection and a detachable display. Initially, it was believed that the watch would be first out the gate, but it seems Zuckerberg had other plans.

Facebook users are spending a lot more time watching video, and short-form video like Instagram Reels is growing fast. Speaking during the company’s second-quarter earnings call, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that “video now accounts for almost half of all time spent on Facebook.” And on Instagram, TikTok competitor Reels is the “largest contributor to engagement growth.”

Though he stopped short of sharing more specific stats, the new details suggest Instagram’s Reels may be gaining more traction as the company vies for creator talent. Zuckerberg also noted that the company’s focus on creators and shopping would also help it reach its longer term goal of becoming a “metaverse company.”

Facebook revealed earlier this week that it was tapping an Instagram exec to start a new team focused on creating a metaverse. “You can kind of think about this as an embodied internet that you're inside of rather than just looking at,” Zuckerberg said. “You're basically gonna be able to do everything that you can on the internet today, as well as some things that don't make sense on the internet today like dancing.”

Zuckerberg’s comments come as the company reported some of its strongest growth in years, with revenue of more than $29 billion, an increase of 56 percent from last year. The company also reported more than 3.5 billion “monthly active people,” though user growth in the US once again remained flat.

Despite the strong numbers this quarter, the company warned that the rest of 2021 could look very different. Facebook expects revenue and growth to “decelerate significantly” in the second half of the year, said CFO Dave Wehner. He also noted that Apple’s iOS 14.5 update, which allows users to opt out of the social network’s ad tracking, would have a “greater impact” next quarter.

Developing...

Twitter is the latest social media platform to experiment with new shopping features. The company is allowing a handful of brands to place a “Shop Module” at the top of their profiles that links to products their followers can buy.

While it’s not the first time Twitter has tried out shopping features, it’s the first time the company has incorporated shopping directly into the profile. With the change, businesses can highlight a handful of products in a carousel in between the main profile info and their timeline. The feature is limited to only a few brands, including GameStop and bag-maker Arden Cove, in the US for now.

While up until now Twitter hasn’t pursued shopping as aggressively as some other platforms, the company has recently signaled that could soon change. A “shop” button for tweets has also been spotted, and the company recently introduced new “business profiles.” Shopping features could also have interesting implications for creators, a demographic Twitter has also made a recent push to pursue with new money-making features. Allowing creators to showcase their existing merch shop from their profile could provide an additional boost, and help the company compete with Facebook’s creator shops.

Twitter is testing a new way to inform individuals who may have broken its rules that their account has been suspended or locked. With the start of this latest test, a small group of users will see a banner appear at the top of their timeline informing them that they can’t tweet, retweet or like content due to their previous behavior on the platform. In the instance of a locked account, the notice currently says most users regain access within a week. Meanwhile, with permanent suspensions, the banner points the individual to the company’s appeal process.

A spokesperson for Twitter told The Verge the notices come in response to feedback the company has received from people who said they only realized their account was inaccessible after they tried to tweet or follow new accounts. Should Twitter decide to implement the banners, they could get a lot of work. In the second half of 2020, the company removed more abusive content than ever before on the back of more effective automated moderation tools and policies against hate speech.

Working with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission and Health Canada, Facebook has issued a voluntary recall for a component that comes with its latest VR headset. According to a blog post from Andrew Bosworth, head of Facebook’s Reality Labs, “a very small percentage” of Quest 2 owners have experienced some amount of skin irritation after using the removable foam face insert that comes with every Quest 2 headset and Fit Pack.

Bosworth says Facebook conducted a review of its manufacturing process and found no unexpected or hazardous contaminants in the insert. Still, out of a desire to create “safe and unbelievable experiences for all,” the company is introducing a new silicone cover that fits over the component. Whether you’ve had issues with the insert or not, you can request that Facebook send you the silicone cover for free. To do so, go to the “My Devices” section of your account page and click the dedicated button that’s there.

Facebook is also halting sales of the Oculus Quest temporarily while it works with distributors to add the silicone cover to every Quest 2 package. The company anticipates the headset will be back on store shelves by August 24th. As part of today’s recall, Facebook is also introducing a new 128GB variant of the Oculus Quest 2. It will replace the existing 64GB model, and feature the same $299 price tag as its predecessor. The 128GB model will go on sale on August 24th, the same day the company plans to restart Quest 2 sales.

Facebook has become the latest company to offer a cloud gaming service on iOS, only once again you won't access it through the App Store. Starting today, you can visit the Facebook Gaming website to add a Progressive Web App (PWA) that acts as a shortcut to the service on your iPhone or iPad. To do so, visit the platform's website and tap the "Add to Home Screen" option from the Safari share sheet.

It's not an elegant solution, but it's the same one employed by Amazon and Microsoft. When Apple tweaked its guidelines last September to allow for cloud gaming clients on iOS, it said games offered in a streaming service had to be individually downloaded from the App Store. That's a requirement both Microsoft and Facebook said was not congruent with how every other platform treats cloud gaming services.

"We've come to the same conclusion as others: web apps are the only option for streaming cloud games on iOS at the moment," Vivek Sharma, Facebook's vice-president of gaming, told The Verge of today's launch. "As many have pointed out, Apple's policy to 'allow' cloud games on the App Store doesn't allow for much at all. Apple's requirement for each cloud game to have its own page, go through review and appear in search listings defeats the purpose of cloud gaming."

The process of adding the web app is complicated enough that Facebook includes a short how-to when you first visit its Gaming website on Safari. You also have to know to navigate to the company's website in the first place. The reason for that is the App Store guidelines prohibit developers from using their applications to direct individuals to websites that feature alternative payment systems to those offered by Apple, and you pay for the in-game purchases offered in Facebook Gaming titles through Facebook's Pay platform.

The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted fresh scrutiny of social media's response to the anti-vaccine movement. But, even in the face of criticism from the White House, a new report claims Facebook is still failing to delete even the most incendiary misinformation. As recently as last week, posts containing the hashtag #VaccinesKill were still active on the social network, according to CNN. 

It was only until the news publication warned the company of the lapse that it blocked the posts behind a message that read Facebook is "keeping our community safe." To make matters worse, the same hashtag was banned by Facebook-owned Instagram almost two years prior. That action followed Facebook's pledge to crack down on vaccine falsehoods, including bogus claims that they cause autism and other diseases, in the midst of a measles outbreak in New York.

This time round, the threat is even greater. With the world still in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic, and cases of the Delta virus rising in the US, Facebook's latest slip-up will only draw more concern from policymakers. Just days ago, President Biden lambasted the company and other social networks by suggesting their failures were debilitating the vaccination drive. “They’re killing people,” Biden said.

In its defense, Facebook has previously noted that it's taking down more erroneous anti-vaccine information than ever before. In October, it banned ads encouraging people to avoid getting vaccinated, following that with a wider clamp down on anti-vaccine claims. 

The company told CNN that it did not take action against the #VaccinesKill hashtag in the past as it did not meet its threshold. Facebook explained that it determines whether a hashtag violates its policies by looking at numerous factors, including the type and spread of content it is appearing in. "Now, the #vaccineskill hashtag on Facebook violates our policies against misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines and we've blocked it from search," the spokesperson said.

At the same time, users are finding new ways to bypass the social network's misinformation rules. In May, some people began weaponizing Facebook's custom profile frames to display false vaccine claims, forcing it to take them down.

For years, YouTube streamers have used third-party plugins to allow their fans to donate to them. Starting this week, however, YouTube is taking a step toward making that functionality something that’s built into the platform. While it’s still in beta, the company says its new “Super Thanks” feature is rolling out to “thousands” of additional creators in 68 countries. By the end of the year, it plans to make it available to everyone in the YouTube Partner Program.

When you decide to give your favorite creator a Super Thanks, you’ll have four options before you. The amounts will vary by market, but in the US you can donate $2, $5, $10 or $50 at one time. Once you complete the payment process, you’ll see an animated GIF of balloons float across your screen, and YouTube will highlight your comment, as well as the amount of money you sent. As with the other monetization tools YouTube offers to streamers, including Super Chat and Super Stickers, the company will take a 30 percent cut of all donations.

Adding more ways for creators to earn money is important for YouTube, even if it’s one the company is late to offer. Long gone are the days where it's the only video platform of note. The company faces competition from Twitch, TikTok and others, particularly as those platforms look for ways to keep their most prolific creators invested in making content only for their respective apps.