Axios

Facebook will pay its contract workers indefinitely, even if they aren't able to carry on their normal duties, as it directs most of its labor force to work from home to mitigate the spread of coronavirus.

What they're saying: "I don't think we see an end to that," CEO Mark Zuckerberg told reporters Wednesday on giving full pay to its contracted content moderators whose work can't be done remotely.

Apple unveiled several new products on Wednesday, offering up a MacBook Air with an improved keyboard and an iPad Pro with built-in support for a trackpad as well as an updated Mac mini.

Why it matters: The move marks the first major consumer tech product launch in the quarantine era, demonstrating Apple's faith that coronavirus-induced supply chain challenges are behind it and coming as many are looking for new in-home devices.

TikTok on Wednesday unveiled a group of outside advisers with expertise in child safety, hate speech, misinformation and other areas that will help guide its content moderation policies.

The big picture: Online platforms are facing intense scrutiny from lawmakers and even the Justice Department over how they decide what their users can and can't say and do.

Thanks to the coronavirus crisis, Big Tech, after battling criticism for three years, has an opportunity to show the upside of its scale and reach.

Why it matters: If companies like Facebook, Google and Amazon are able to demonstrate they can be a force for good in a trying time, many inside the companies feel, they could undo some of the techlash's ill will and maybe blunt some of the regulatory threats that loom over them.

Facebook will announce on Tuesday two new efforts to help support newsrooms and fact-checkers in efforts to promote quality information about the coronavirus.

By the numbers: Facebook will donate $1 million to local newsrooms to help them cover the crisis and $1 million to fact-checkers' efforts reviewing news coverage for virus misinformation.

A new report out Tuesday from a non-profit focused on online free expression is calling on federal lawmakers to mandate more transparency from tech companies rather than weakening the industry's liability shield.

Why it matters: Internet platforms could embrace policies like transparency requirements as a far more palatable alternative to eroding their immunity from lawsuits over user-posted content, which they say is vital to their existence.

As the coronavirus crisis forces daily life across the U.S. into a new homebound template, the tech industry is swooping in to reshape how we shop, eat and entertain ourselves.

The big picture: Trends toward e-commerce, delivery services and online entertainment have long been underway, but this moment is accelerating them — and pushing the companies and industries behind them into a new position of dominance.

Google will not launch a nationwide website for coronavirus information as planned today. Instead, it hopes to have the website up later this week.

Between the lines: As Axios reported this weekend, the national website was only planned after President Trump blindsided the company by announcing it at a Friday press conference.