Tech Roundup: Amazon $1.3B Antitrust Fine, Russia Tor Blockade & More

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

• Russia begins blocking Tor anonymity network and censorship circumvention tool in the country, effectively blocking 300,000 daily users from using the service.
• China orders app stores to remove 106 more smartphone apps, including social network Douban, karaoke app Changba and electronics recycling service Aihuishou, citing data privacy and security violations, amid the government's ongoing scrutiny of the tech sector and turbocharge legislative efforts to regulate data.
• Retail giant Amazon gets fined US$ 1.3 billion by Italian antitrust regulator AGCM for abusing its market position and harming competitors in e-commerce logistics, stating the company's "absolute dominance" in the Italian brokerage services market "allowed it to promote its own logistics service, called Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)."
• The United Kingdom announces plans to phase out and turn off its 2G and 3G networks by 2033 as part of plans to accelerate the roll out of 5G across the country.
• Meta, Snap, and other iOS developers continue to collect anonymised and aggregated data on users for targeted advertising, despite Apple's new anti-tracking changes that requires third-party apps to seek users' explicit consent prior to monitoring their online habits.

• Amazon says it will shut down Alexa.com, its global website ranking system (not to be confused with its digital voice assistant), on May 1, 2022, after 25 years of operation.
• Meta's Facebook launches a Professional Mode, letting eligible creators monetise their profiles, and a Reels Play bonus program that offers up to US$ 35,000/month based on the views for their short-form video content; announces that it will reintroduce a chronological feed option in Instagram in the first quarter of 2022 (the algorithmic feed was first rolled out in June 2016), marking a reversal from its earlier stance in June 2021, when it said such a feed made it "impossible for most people to see everything, let alone all the posts they cared about."
• Reddit launches Spotify Wrapped-style annual usage statistics for users, including time spent and popular content; says users created 366 million posts in 2021, up 19% YoY.
• Twitter tests turning its in-app Explore page into a TikTok-like feed with For You and Trending tabs, amid similar experiments from Netflix, Spotify, and Reddit; piloting a new feature that will let users add specific content warnings to individual photos and videos sent out in tweets, and confirms it runs an internal initiative called "Project Guardian" to shield controversial characters and users with large followings from an onslaught of trolls and haters.

• Auto maker Tesla pushes an over-the-air software update allowing vehicle occupants to play video games like Sky Force Reloaded, Solitaire and The Battle of Polytopia on the centre touchscreen while in motion, raising questions about safety and driver distraction.
• Google releases first Android 12L beta for large-screen devices with a two-column layout and improved multi-tasking; teases Android Automotive 12 with a new launcher, prioritised notifications, and better UI navigation to vehicles; announces that it will bring a native Google Play Games app to allow Android games on Windows laptops, tablets and PCs. in 2022.
• Meta-owned Instagram to implement an existing feature on its web app after revelations that teen accounts created on the platform via a desktop browser don't become private by default, contravening an earlier policy that defaulted "people under 16 into private accounts."

• Apple wins a last-minute stay on an injunction amid its ongoing court battle with Epic Games that would have required it to make sweeping App Store changes as soon as December 9, allowing the company to require developers to use its in-app purchase system without offering alternatives; new private emails submitted during the lawsuit show that Microsoft offered to bring triple-A, Xbox-exclusive games to iOS if Apple let its xCloud game streaming service into the App Store.
• Meta opens its VR social platform Horizon Worlds to all adult users in the U.S. and Canada, after announcing a private beta in September 2019; officially unveils new feature in WhatsApp that allows "limited number" of people in the U.S. to send and receive cryptocurrency payments using Meta's digital wallet, Novi.
• Online dating app Tinder partners with Spotify to launch a new "Music Mode" feature enabling users to link their Spotify accounts and add a 30-second looped preview of a chosen song, called an "Anthem," to their Tinder profiles, which can then be accessed by potential matches.
• Apple adds new "Parts and Service History" section to iOS (under Settings > General > About) that aims to give device owners more information about repaired parts in their devices.