The Myanmar government is expanding its Internet raid, Microsoft’s lobby arm blacklisted those who opposed the presidential election and Dublin’s Frontline Ventures raised a new fund. This is your daily crisis for February 5, 2021.
The big story: Myanmar blocks Twitter and Instagram
The military government in Myanmar recently asked telecom operators and internet service providers to block access to Facebook. Now it does the same with Twitter and Instagram.
This came after the military staged a coup in Myanmar to remove power from the civilian government. The new administration claims that Twitter and Instagram have been misused to spread propaganda and misinformation, which poses a threat to the country’s stability.
Telenor Group, one of the largest telecommunications providers in the country, said in a statement that it is “seriously concerned with this development in Myanmar”
; and that “freedom of expression should be preserved at all times through access to communication services, especially in times of conflict.” . ”
The technology giants
Microsoft PAC blacklisted non-pollers and shifted lobbying weight to progressive organizations. After Microsoft “paused” political donations to a politician who voted to reverse the 2020 election, Microsoft clarified changes to the lobbying policy of its employee-funded PAC.
Peloton will pump $ 100 million into delivery logistics to address delivery concerns. Peloton has announced that it will be investing more than $ 100 million in air and ocean freight deliveries as the waiting times for our products to be delivered are longer than acceptable.
PayPal Shuts Down Domestic Payment Business in India – It’s been less than four years since PayPal began operations locally in the world’s second largest internet marketplace.
Startups, Finance and Venture Capital
Dublin’s Frontline Ventures Raises $ 83.8M in New Seed Capital Fund for European B2B Startups – The company plans to invest in up to 45 companies over the next four years.
BeGreatTV offers MasterClass-like courses taught by black and brown innovators. The courses are designed to show people how to be successful in a particular industry.
Why These Co-Founders Turned Their Sustainability Podcast into a VC Backed Company – These podcast co-hosts are turning listener validation into the blueprint for a standalone company called Brightly.
Advice and analysis of extra crunch
Lightspeed’s Gaurav Gupta and Grafana’s Raj Dutt discuss pitch decks, prizes, and how to capture the narrative – the duo explained how they came together for Grafana’s Series A and eventually Series B.
How the GameStop Stonkathon helped Robinhood raise $ 3.4 billion last week – Robinhood has demonstrated an impressive ability to raise enormous amounts of capital.
TechCrunch’s favorite company from the last demo day of 500 startups – startup picks from Alex Wilhelm and Jonathan Shieber.
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Everything else
House punishes Republican lawmakers for advocating violent conspiracy theories – When House voted on the highly unusual resolution, Marjorie Taylor Greene claimed her embrace from QAnon was in the past.
‘Orwellian’ AI polygraph project challenged in EU court – This lawsuit sheds light on ethics and effectiveness issues related to the bloc’s flagship research and development program.
Find out at TechCrunch Sessions: Justice – The Importance of Accessible Product Design – At our event on March 3rd, we will examine right from the start how important it is to ensure accessible product design.
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