Tech Roundup: Amazon Food India Shutdown, Twitter Blue Relaunch & More

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

• Twitter to potentially start manually authenticating accounts on December 2, with blue check marks for individuals, gold for companies, and gray for governments; plans to restore next week suspended accounts that haven't "broken the law or engaged in egregious spam."
• Amazon's Twitch makes changes to address child predation concerns, including mandatory phone verification and improving account termination for users under 13.
• The U.K. bans use of surveillance cameras from Chinese companies like Hikvision at sensitive sites, citing national security concerns; Hikvision says its cameras are compliant with U.K. laws and "subject to strict security requirements."
• Meta's WhatsApp expands the ability for users to create polls to other platforms, including desktop web; begins rolling out a Message Yourself feature, letting users send notes, reminders, and shopping lists to themselves.
• Amazon to shut down its food delivery business, Amazon Food, in India on December 29, after launching it in May 2020 in Bengaluru, as part of a broader restructuring; to also discontinue its online learning platform Amazon Academy in the country in a phased manner starting August 2023.
• The U.K. government announces its Online Safety Bill will be expanded to criminalise nonconsensual deepfake pornography and downblousing.
• Uber exits Karachi, Islamabad, Faisalabad, Multan, and Peshawar (although it continues to maintain a presence in Lahore) amid fierce local competition other players like Careem in the ride-hailing sector.
• Xiaomi reports Q3 2022 revenue of ~US$ 9.85 billion, down 9.7% YoY, and a ~US$ 210 million net loss, following a ~US$ 420 million writedown on investments.
• Meituan reports Q3 2022 revenue up 28.2% YoY to ~US$ 8.7 billion and ~US$ 170 million in profit, as its "core local commerce" segment, including food delivery and hotels, rises 24.6% YoY.