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Hashtag Trending – WFH with Facebook; iOS update; Twitter bots unite to reopen America

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Facebook’s work from home policies come with a catch, Apple’s latest iOS update includes coronavirus contact tracing, and researchers say a lot of the noise on Twitter around reopenining America is coming from bots.

 

Turns out Facebook’s proposition for remote works comes with a huge catch. CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently confirmed that working remotely might also mean a pay cut. Well-paid employees fantasizing on message boards about working in the tropics or smaller, less expensive cities, received a stern warning from Zuckerberg, who clarified that their move away from Silicon Valley could mean less pay. The Facebook CEO told Forbes “We’ll adjust salary to your location at that point. There’ll be severe ramifications for people who are not honest about this.”

Apple iOS 13.5 Is ready for Covid-19 contact tracing. In April, Apple and Google announced a partnership to deliver contact tracing technology. On May 20, the companies released their Bluetooth-based contact tracing solution, which has since been dubbed exposure notification. It’s worth noting that Apple and Google are not creating contact tracing apps, but rather the framework that other apps will be built on. A handful of U.S. states along with 22 countries have expressed interest in using the framework. In addition to this news, Apple released its iOS 13.5 update complete with notable features such as the exposure notification API and face ID enhancements, including a simplified unlock process if wearing a facemask.

And lastly, American researchers recently confirmed that the fierce online debate between those in favour of reopening the economy and those against has largely been dominated by bots pushing for the country’s reopening. Carnegie Mellon University researchers analyzed over 200 million tweets discussing COVID-19 and related issues since January and found that roughly half the accounts — including 62% of the 1,000 most influential retweeters — appeared to be bots.

That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now. Hashtag Trending is a part of the ITWC Podcast network. Add us to your Alexa Flash Briefing or your Google Home daily briefing.

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