Axios

Facebook will enlist academics to study whether and how its platforms end up influencing the 2020 U.S. presidential election, the company announced Monday.

Between the lines: Facebook is trying to show it's being mindful of its potential to amplify election-related misinformation. In 2016, CEO Mark Zuckerberg famously said it was a "pretty crazy idea" that Facebook had any influence over that election, which was quickly proven wrong.

Twitter on Monday labeled a tweet from the Trump campaign's "War Room" account "manipulated media" for posting a misleading clip of Joe Biden saying, "You won't be safe in Joe Biden's America!"

Reality check: More context would have shown that Biden was quoting President Trump and Vice President Pence as saying, "You won't be safe in Joe Biden's America," during a speech in which the Democratic nominee was condemning violent protests and Trump's response to social unrest.

Zoom's stock price is up nearly 10% in after-hours trading after the vide0-chat company posted Q2 results well above analyst expectations and raised its full-year guidance.

Why it matters: Zoom is unquestionably one of the biggest winners of the ongoing pandemic as restrictions on in-person interactions have forced many around the world to shift nearly all personal and professional activities online.

Facebook and Google are hollowing out local communities by serving as vectors for misinformation while hobbling local journalism and collecting taxpayer subsidies, a new paper from progressive think tank the American Economic Liberties Project charges.

The big picture: Both companies cite benefits their platforms offer small businesses as a key defense against critiques of their size and power. The paper, dated Aug. 30, is sure to presage further scrutiny of the impact they've had on local communities.

AT&T will tell the Federal Communications Commission it should craft rules to shrink tech's longstanding legal shield, the company said Monday.

Why it matters: AT&T is a telecom giant and, since buying Time Warner, a major force in media and entertainment — both industries that have butted heads with Silicon Valley. The company is now launching this fresh attack as tech is vulnerable in Washington.

Facebook and Apple are fighting an increasingly high stakes battle over user privacy and access to the iOS App Store, deepening a rift between two of the most powerful companies in Silicon Valley.

Why it matters: The two companies, along with Google and Amazon, are being challenged over a range of issues, from abuse of power to violations of privacy to allowing hate and misinformation to flourish. By trading accusations, Facebook and Apple could just be handing more ammo to critics and regulators — but at the same time, conflict between these giants could be read as a sign of competitive life and a rebuttal to antitrust charges.

Carta, an equity management "unicorn," has filed its response to a former executive's gender discrimination lawsuit, denying all her claims and disputing some allegations, including that the increase in her pay was due to a gender-based disparity.

Why it matters: Regardless of the legal outcome, the case won't do any PR favors for Carta, which is using the same lawyer that venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins used when it faced a gender discrimination lawsuit.

New export controls on technologies that Beijing deems sensitive are threatening to derail efforts by American companies to acquire TikTok's U.S. operations from its Chinese parent company ByteDance, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Driving the news: The regulations were unveiled on Friday and prevent "technology based on data analysis for personalized information recommendation services" — which would likely apply to TikTok's AI content-recommendation engine — from being exported without a license, according to the New York Times.

The final post on Chadwick Boseman's Twitter account announcing the celebrated actor and producer's death at age 43 has, in less than 24 hours, become the most liked tweet of all time, Twitter announced on Saturday.

Why it matters: It shows the impact Boseman had on so many lives through his work that saw him portray Black icons Thurgood Marshall, Jackie Robinson and James Brown, and becoming a hero to children everywhere for his portrayal of T'Challa in "Black Panther."