Facebook's latest Standards Enforcement Report, released Tuesday, details the scope of the company's efforts to police its platforms during the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, including massive efforts at labeling misinformation and relying more on artificial intelligence to weed out content that violates its standards.
The big picture: The pandemic is pushing the limits of Facebook's systems and policies in new ways, as it struggles to meet a commitment to take strong action against harmful or misleading public health information.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey will allow staff to work from home permanently even after states lift coronavirus lockdown measures, according to an internal memo obtained by BuzzFeed News.
Why it matters, per Axios' Ina Fried: Lots of jobs have traditionally accompanied tech office jobs, including shuttle drivers, janitorial staff and cooking staff. When tech employees work from home, those jobs won't be created.
Waymo said Tuesday that it has raised another roughly $750 million for its self-driving technology, expanding the size of its first external investment round to $3 billion.
Why it matters: With the coronavirus pandemic likely to speed consolidation among self-driving tech firms, investors are lining up behind companies they see as the most likely winners.
NextGen Venture Partners has raised $52 million for its second fund, the early-stage investment firm tells Axios.
In context: Unlike many VC firms that are now shifting to work from home, NextGen has been distributed from the start, including an extensive network of 1,300 venture partners. Startup pitches via Zoom are routine, and NextGen even built its own social network-like software for managing deals.
Corporate America is getting closer to a return to the office, but Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff told "Axios on HBO" that it won't be a return to normal.
The big picture: When American office workers do start going back to work, they will find a host of new policies and practices, ranging from appointments to ride an elevator to temperature checks to restrictions on movement throughout the office.
Twitter said Monday it will begin labeling coronavirus-related tweets that contain potentially misleading information but that don't clearly violate company misinformation policies.
The major online platforms' long struggle to cope with floods of misinformation has reached a new pitch of urgency during the coronavirus pandemic — just as the fight has become harder than ever.
Driving the news: In the most recent controversy, One America News Network — a small rival to Fox News that is President Trump's current favorite — aired a segment Friday, also posted on YouTube, that makes conspiracy-theory-style connections between China, the "deep state," George Soros, Bill Gates, and the Clintons.
Snapchat and Twilio are both announcing new efforts Monday to provide support for people affected by domestic violence and mental health concerns in response to a swell in demand during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Why it matters: Online services and crisis lines are being asked to shoulder a greater share of the burden of responding to people's needs at a moment when other types of direct service are harder to access.
