Tech Roundup: China Live-Streaming Laws, Netflix Ad-Supported Tier & More

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

• China issues new rules for live-streamers, including requiring influencers to have relevant qualifications to discuss topics such as law, finance and medicine; bans using deepfake technologies to tamper with the images of party or state leaders, and deliberately "hyping up" sensitive issues and attracting public attention.
• Apple, which is testing the ability to edit and unsend messages in iMessage in iOS 16, adds new "Edited for" label as it's revealed that the company is sending the edited text as a separate message to devices running prior versions of iOS. (This also means that should users delete a message on a device running iOS 16, it will still be available to iMessage users who haven’t updated their devices to the latest version of the operating system. This lack of backward compatibility is another reason why app updates should be decoupled from operating system updates.)
• Netflix confirms plans to implement a more affordable ad-supported tier to draw in customers, as it cuts around 300 jobs after losing subscribers, after laying off about 150 employees and dozens of contractors in May amidst slowing growth and subscriber loss. (The company is also planning on cracking down on account sharing to prevent users from sharing their account information with people outside of their households.)
• Google updates its Tasks to-do list app with ability to star items and print out physical copies of lists; rolls out improved sync between Chromebooks and Android devices, Enhanced Safe Browsing in Chrome for iOS and let users set Google Password Manager as their password autofill provider.
• Amazon launches CodeWhisperer, a GitHub Copilot-like AI pair programming tool, in preview within the AWS IDE Toolkit, supporting Java, JavaScript and Python.
• Meta announces new age verification checks on Instagram for U.S. users who "edit their date of birth on Instagram from under the age of 18 to 18 or over" by asking to provide an ID, record a video selfie, or ask mutual friends to verify their age; also experiments with a new feature that would allow users to post quick notes to their followers (or a close circle of friends) that disappears after 24 hours.
• Microsoft debuts gaming features for Edge, including a new homepage, exclusive free-to-play games, Clarity Boost feature for streamed games to reduce latency, and an efficiency mode to prevent Edge from taking PC resources during gameplay.
• Reddit upgrades its live audio product Reddit Talk with a soundboard, new discovery features.
• Music streamer Spotify replaces its Concert Hub with a Live Events Feed, populated by Ticketmaster, AXS, DICE, Eventbrite, See Tickets, and other partners.