Tech executives face Congress, Spotify gets a redesign and Snapchat is developing a new Remix feature. This is your Daily Crunch for March 25, 2021.
The big story: Zuckerberg defends Facebook over role in Capitol attack
Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter’s Jack Dorsey and Google’s Sundar Pichai appeared at a hearing today with the House Energy and Commerce Committee on the theme of misinformation, particularly the role that their platforms may have played in the Capitol attack by allowing lies and extremism to spread.
In his opening statement, Zuckerberg advocated for reforms to Section 230 and said that Facebook “did our part” to protect last year’s presidential election, putting the blame for the Capitol riots squarely on former President Donald Trump.
Pressed by Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA) on whether Facebook bears some responsibility, Zuckerberg replied, “I think the responsibility lies with the people who took the actions to break the law and do the insurrection. Secondarily, also with the people who spread that content, including the president but others as well, with repeated rhetoric over time, saying that the election was rigged and encouraging people to organize, I think that those people bear the primary responsibility as well.”
The tech giants
Spotify rolls out redesigned desktop and web apps — Overall, the update gives the Spotify app a more streamlined, less cluttered look and feel.
Snapchat is developing its own take on TikTok Duets with a new ‘Remix’ feature — This feature will allow users to create new content using their friends’ Snaps.
Startups, funding and venture capital
PPRO extends latest round to $270M, adding JPMorgan and Eldridge to grow its localized payments platform — PPRO’s core product is a set of APIs that e-commerce companies can integrate into their check-outs to accept payments in whatever local methods and currencies consumers prefer.
Notarize raises $130M, tripling valuation on the back of 600% YoY revenue growth — When the world shifted toward virtual a year ago, one service in particular saw heated demand: remote online notarization.
Everlywell acquires two healthcare companies and forms parent Everly Health — The new parent entity will now offer services including at-home lab testing kits and education, population-scale testing through a U.S.-wide clinician network, telehealth and a payer-supported/enterprise self-collected lab test.
Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch
Automakers, suppliers and startups see growing market for in-vehicle AR/VR applications — A new battle for market share is emerging inside vehicles.
How VC and private equity funds can launch portfolio-acceleration platforms — Almost every private equity and venture capital investor now advertises that they have a platform to support their portfolio companies.
Will fading YOLO sentiment impact Robinhood, Coinbase and other trading platforms? — What happens to hot fintech startups that have benefited from a rise in consumer trading activity if regular folks lose interest in financial wagers?
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Everything else
FatFace tells customers to keep its data breach ‘strictly private’ — Clothing giant FatFace had a data breach, but it doesn’t want you to tell anyone about it.
EV makers oppose delay to automotive emissions penalty increase — Electric vehicle manufacturers are pushing back against a decision to delay penalty increases for automakers who fail to meet fuel efficiency standards.
New York moves to legalize recreational marijuana — New York State officials struck a deal with Gov. Andrew Cuomo to allow recreational use of cannabis.
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