Tech Roundup: Facebook Fairness Flow, Myanmar Internet Blockade & More

[A recurring feature on the latest in Science & Technology.]

• Myanmar's military orders internet service providers in the country to shut down mobile internet services until further notice.
• Australia's federal government is reportedly considering a proposal to require internet users to submit several forms of identification in order to obtain or even just maintain social media accounts on platforms like Facebook and Twitter; seeks to ban all anonymous commenting on the internet in Australia as part of a "comprehensive national approach to ending all forms of family, domestic and sexual violence."
• The U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority refers Facebook's acquisition of GIF database Giphy for an in-depth investigation after its initial probe into the merger concluded that the deal raises competition concerns.
• Google to limit most apps on the Play Store from seeing which apps are installed on devices running Android 11 and newer beginning May 5, 2021, as Apple begins rejecting app updates containing third-party modules that collect data which can be used for device fingerprinting and do not comply with the App Tracking Transparency rules that the company is enforcing starting with iOS 14.5.
• Microsoft officially ends support for Cortana apps for Android and iOS, as Twitter-owned Periscope pulls the plug on its dedicated app for the live video service.

• Discord idebuts a new feature called Stage Channels that allows users to broadcast a live audio conversation to a group of listeners, as social media platforms jump on to the Clubhouse bandwagon.
• Facebook unveils Fairness Flow, an internal toolkit for assessing AI bias, and explains different ways that can allow users to more easily switch over to non-algorithmic views of their News Feed (e.g., a reverse-chronological feed), as the social media platform conitnues to defend the company's ranking algorithms and repudiate the argument that those algorithms create echo chambers, encourage and incentivize political polarization, misinformation, and direct users towards extreme content; lets users and pages turn off comments on posts, as Instagram announces Remix, a way to record Reels alongside other users, similar to TikTok's Duets.
• Google's Android Auto rolls out to six new European nations Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and Sweden, three months after expanding to 36 countries in Africa, Europe, and South East Asia.
• South Korea's antitrust regulator, the Korea Fair Trade Commission, to fine Apple Korea US$ 265,000 and refer it for prosecution for allegedly impeding a probe into the company's unfair business practices over allegations that it required the country's three mobile operators to pay the cost of television advertisements and warranty service for its iPhones.
• Internal documents reveal that Google is working on two Pixel phones powered by its own "Whitechapel" SoC, which is being developed in partnership with Samsung.
• Apple expands its Arcade subscription gaming service, which previously focused on exclusive titles, with a back catalog of classic App Store games.