The White House isn't the only one trying to steer discussion of Ukraine on TikTok. Vice News has discovered that Russian TikTok influencers are reportedly being paid to share videos promoting the Putin government's narrative surrounding the invasion. An anonymous operator in a Telegram channel has been telling creators what and when to post, what goals they must meet and otherwise dictating their content. At least some of the followers have over a million followers.

It's unclear who is behind the campaign, but the operator claims to be a journalist and has looked for posters for additional pro-government content (such as supporting Russian athletes in the Olympics) and private companies. However, TikTok's ban on new videos from Russia apparently isn't an obstacle. The channel administrator tells influencers how to dodge the ban, and at least some producers have posted videos after the ban took effect.

The channel suddenly shut down on March 9th as Vice conducted its investigation. Most of the videos have since been removed, but the campaign team reportedly asked them to do this. Others remain, and it's not certain how many similar initiatives might be underway. It's also unclear if the propaganda was effective.

TikTok hasn't commented on the pro-Kremlin campaign and told Vice about its general efforts to spot "emerging threats" and "harmful misinformation" surrounding Russia's war against Ukraine.

Whether or not the Russian government was involved with this TikTok effort, there's little doubt the country has tried to control the online narrative on Ukraine. It has blocked social networks like Instagram, posted misinformation through its embassies' accounts, circumvented bans on its state news outlets and criminalized media reports that contradict the official stance on the war. TikTok's large user base may be a tempting target if Russia hopes to sway more of the internet to its side.

If you’re a podcaster or a musician, it’s likely you’ve heard of Soundtrap, an online tool that lets you record, edit and collaborate on the fly. Spotify—which acquired Soundtrap back in 2017— is now offering a bundle with Spotify Premium and Soundtrap for $16.99 a month. The bundle includes Soundtrap for Music Makers Supreme (the highest tier service for musicians) and Soundtrap for Storytellers, which is geared towards podcasters. Given that Spotify Premium is $9.99 a month and both Soundtrap plans cost $11.99 per month each, this is a solid deal for those who subscribe to both.

The bundle will give creators access to unlimited projects, more than 19,000 loops, sound effects, live transcripts and autotune. Podcasters also have the ability to publish their podcasts from Soundtrap directly to Spotify, instead of using a podcast hosting service like Buzzsprout or Podbean. The live transcript can serve as a guide for editing, which is likely to be a timesaver. 

But there’s a big drawback to Soundtrap if you’re planning on also publishing on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher or another podcasting service. Soundtrap won’t generate an RSS feed for each episode, which you will need to publish your podcast outside of Spotify. If you want to do that, you'll need to download each podcast episode as an audio file and then re-upload them onto a third-party podcast hosting service.

All told, Soundtrap’s suite of podcasting and music editing tools is ideal for creators who need an easy, simplified option for making music and podcasts. If you're looking for more advanced editing options or the ability to distribute to multiple podcast services, you may find better options elsewhere. But if Spotify is your audio streaming service of choice (as well as your primary source of distribution), this bundle could be worth checking out. 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened the door for self-driving vehicles to operate without manual controls under updated Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. While fully autonomous vehicles are likely several years away from going on sale, the new rule paves the way for automakers to remove the steering wheel and pedals.

“Through the 2020s, an important part of [the Department of Transportation's] safety mission will be to ensure safety standards keep pace with the development of automated driving and driver assistance systems,” transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg said. “This new rule is an important step, establishing robust safety standards for [Automated Driving Systems]-equipped vehicles.”

The Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards regulate all elements of production cars, as Roadshow notes. The latest rule stipulates that whether or not they have a steering wheel and pedals, vehicles with automated driving systems need to offer the same level of protection to drivers and passengers as other cars.

Fully autonomous (Level 5) cars aren't on the market yet. Teslas are at Level 2 (they have some autonomy, but a human driver needs to be ready to take control). Volkswagen is making a Level 4 version of its ID.Buzz EV, while pilot projects for robotaxis and self-driving shuttles are underway. At CES 2022, Cadillac showed off a luxury concept EV without a steering wheel or pedals.

NHTSA acknowledged uncertainty about the development and deployment of vehicles equipped with ADS. "Nevertheless, NHTSA believes it is appropriate to finalize this action at this time in anticipation of emerging ADS vehicle designs that NHTSA has seen in prototype form," the agency said.

Motive and EA finally have a release window for their Dead Space remake. The two have revealed their re-do of the sci-fi horror game will be available in early 2023 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. While there hasn't been much discussion just how much the game will improve on the original, Motive has provided a "deep dive" on audio improvements and teased a similar exploration of art in May.

The audio system is much smarter than what you saw in 2008. Most notably, adrenaline, fatigue and other vital stats will influence the protagonist Isaac's breathing, heart rate and even dialogue. Run for a long time and Isaac may be panting when speaks, while serious injuries may lead him to wince as he navigates hallways.

There's a lot riding on the Dead Space revival. The game succeeded through a combination of clever gameplay touches (such as severing limbs and doing away with common interface elements) and a foreboding, oppressively lonely atmosphere. Motive may have to strike a careful balance as it caters to longstanding fans while appealing to newcomers who know little about the 14-year-old classic.

Following a plea from Ukrainian vice prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov for gaming companies to cease operations in Russia and Belarus last week, Niantic announced it would be shutting down support for Pokémon Go in those countries. 

Niantic says downloads of Pokémon Go have already been disabled in those regions, with gameplay set to be suspended "shortly". The move by Niantic comes amidst a wave of similar decisions from fellow gaming companies that have decided to suspend business or services in those countries after Russia's invasion of Ukraine late last month. 

Sony has already suspended sales of both games and consoles in Russia, with Microsoft halting all sales in the country. Last weekend, Nintendo turned off sales of digital games on its eShop after disabling transactions in rubles, and more recently, announced that it would stop shipping products including the Switch to the country.

And while some game publishers like Bungie continue to provide limited service for its titles by continuing to support the free base version of Destiny 2, players in Russia no longer have the ability to buy DLC content, cosmetics, or Silver (Destiny 2's in-game currency). Meanwhile, other gaming companies including Epic, Ubisoft, CD Projekt Red, Take-Two, EA and others have stopped selling their games there entirely. 

Currently, it's unclear how long Niantic's suspension of service in the region will last. But with the company making this decision to encourage a "rapid resolution to the violence and suffering in Ukraine," there won't be any online monster catching happening via Pokémon Go in Russia or Belarus until some kind of peace agreement can be brokered.

It's not just journalists receiving White House briefings on Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The Washington Post has learned Press Secretary Jen Psaki and National Security Council adviser Matt Miller helped virtually brief 30 TikTok influencers, including Khalil Greene and Jules Terpak, on the US approach to the war. They outlined the US' strategic objectives in the area and answered creators' questions on subjects ranging from relief efforts to a theoretical response if Russia used nuclear weapons.

White House digital strategy director Rob Flaherty characterized the briefing as both an effort to provide reliable information from an "authoritative source" and an acknowledgment TikTok is a "critically important" source for updates on Ukraine. It's hoping to fight misinformation by reaching millions of TikTok followers, in other words.

There were concerns the briefing didn't tackle hard questions. Jules Suzdaltsev, the operator of TikTok account Good Morning Bad News, said it felt like a press event "for kindergarteners." Another TikTok news provider, Marcus DiPaola, also saw this as selective messaging — the White House didn't address its involvement in other invasions, he said.

However helpful the presentation might have been, it's not surprising the Biden administration would reach out to TikTok creators. Many younger internet users get at least some of their news from social networks like TikTok, and those outlets have been struggling to curb misinformation. TikTok halted video uploads and streams in Russia on March 6th, and only recently started labelling state-backed media outlets. Briefings like this will theoretically counter misinformation and get the official US strategy to people who would otherwise remain unaware. 

Hulu may have hiked the prices of its live TV plans last fall, but you'll at least get more for your money this spring. The streaming service now plans to give all Hulu + Live TV subscribers unlimited cloud DVR storage starting April 13th. If you've been paying for an Enhanced Cloud DVR add-on ($10 or $15 per month), you'll see your bill shrink accordingly. Recordings with the new Unlimited DVR feature last for up to nine months.

Regular Hulu + Live TV subscriptions used to include 50 hours of 'free' DVR space with unskippable ads, while buying the Enhanced Cloud DVR feature expanded that to 200 hours without the ads. While that was enough to help you replay a must-see event, it wasn't much help if you frequently recorded live programming. Now, it's just a matter of finding the time to watch whatever you save.

The company isn't offering unlimited DVR use out of pure generosity, as you might imagine. Notably, this puts Hulu + Live TV's DVR functionality on par with YouTube TV and makes the pricing far more competitive, at $70 per month versus the $80 you needed to roughly match the feature set. There are still reasons you might pick YouTube's offering over Hulu's (a slightly lower $65 price and some sports networks), but the gap is now considerably narrower.

YouTube says it will now block channels linked to Russia-backed media outlets worldwide. Last week, it blocked channels from the likes of RT and Sputnik in Europe following an EU directive. The updated policy takes effect immediately, though YouTube's systems will take a little time to fully block the channels.

The service also said "denying, minimizing or trivializing well-documented violent events" is not allowed under its Community Guidelines. YouTube is taking down videos about the conflict in Ukraine that violate the rule. On Thursday, Twitter and Facebook removed posts from Russia's embassy in the UK that denied the bombing of a maternity hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine.

YouTube has also deleted more than 1,000 channels and over 15,000 videos related to Russia's invasion ok Ukraine for violating various policies, such as those on hate speech, misinformation and graphic content. Google stopped all ad sales in Russia last week and it has now paused all YouTube monetization and payments in the country.

YouTube says it may take further action in Russia as the conflict continues. In addition, it's directing users to trusted sources of news regarding the invasion.

Power outages aren't exactly rare in Northern California. In the coming months, residents who own a compatible electric vehicle — such as the Ford F-150 Lightning — will effectively be able to use it as a backup generator.

Ford has teamed up with PG&E, the main energy provider in the region, for a bidirectional electric vehicle charging project. The companies claim the F-150 Lightning can power a home for up to 10 days (depending on energy needs) in the event of an outage. Sunrun, another of the automaker's partners, will start installing Ford’s Intelligent Backup Power system in Northern California this spring. 

GM announced a similar pilot with PG&E earlier this week. If initial testing goes well, they'll enable vehicle-to-grid charging for a small number of people with Ultium-powered EVs before expanding the trial more broadly later this year.

Instagram will soon be inaccessible in Russia, according to regulator Roskomnadzor. The latest ban is in response to Facebook "temporarily" changing its rules to allows for calls for violence against Russian soldiers and Vladimir Putin.

Though Facebook has been “restricted” in the country for more than a week, the ban didn’t extend to Instagram. State news agency TASS reported earlier that Russian lawmakers had called for the ban in response to the company's rule change. 

Now, the state regulator Roskomnadzor says that it will move to cut off access to the photo sharing app on March 14th. “Messages are circulating on the Instagram social network encouraging and provoking violent acts against Russians, in connection with which the Russian Prosecutor General's Office demanded that Roskomnadzor restrict access to this social network,” Roskomnadzor posted on its Telegram account. “Roskomnadzor decided to complete the procedure for imposing restrictions on access to Instagram at 00:00 on March 14, providing users with an additional 48 hours of transition period.”

Facebook didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment A company spokesperson said Thursday that it had changed its rules around violent speech in order to allow for more “forms of political expression.”

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