Gadgets like Apple Watches, Fitbit activity trackers and Sonos speakers could be impacted by $200 billion list of US tariffs on goods made in China, government rulings show. The rulings show that devices like these are considered data transmission machines in the list of US tariff codes, Reuters reports, and may be subject to a …

Facebook and Instagram instructed their moderators to take a tougher stance on underage kids. The social media giant’s reviewers are being instructed to lock the accounts of people they suspect are younger than 13, according to TechCrunch, even if the person’s account is reported for something else. Previously, Facebook only deleted the accounts of children younger than 13 if someone reported …

Facebook Messenger can now fill out your contact list by syncing with Instagram. You can find the “Connect Instagram” option under Messenger’s “People” tab, and use it to sync up your profile with your Instagram contacts. The addition — first noticed by Twitter user @wongmjane and reported by TechCrunch — makes your Instagram username and account visible to others on …

Community-based Reddit chat rooms are being released to more subreddits each day, a year after beta tests began. Each subreddit can opt to add a chat room as a casual conversation alternative — one that doesn’t require refreshing to update — and it’ll be added to a directory.  Reddit product designer ityoclys outlined his experience of beta testing the new …

Alphabet’s Loon project said Thursday that its balloons will bring internet to remote parts of Kenya next year. This’ll be the project’s first deal in Africa, Reuters reports, and it’ll see Loon working with Telkom Kenya to get high-speed internet to the East African country’s rural and suburban populations. Loon became its own company only last week — having started …

Google launched an AI game for Tencent’s WeChat app on Wednesday, pushing its way further into the Chinese market. The game, whose name translates roughly to “Guessing Little Songs,” has players team up with an AI partner guess what their human rivals (and their accompanying AIs) are drawing, according to Google’s Chinese blog. You can add the game to WeChat …

Facebook allegedly protected the pages of far-right activists from deletion despite their owners engaging in behavior that warranted moderation, a documentary says. Pages are normally deleted if they contain five or more items violating Facebook’s code of conduct, but Channel 4’s Dispatches series reports that popular ones are protected by “shielded review,” according to the Guardian. The documentary Inside Facebook: …

Global financial regulators are now keeping an eye cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, having published their framework for monitoring stability implications within the market. The framework was established to allow the Financial Stability Board, which helps G20 countries coordinate policy, to catch stability risks early, Reuters noted. The cryptocurrency sector has sat in a regulatory gray area, with a lack of clarity as …

Facebook is bringing augmented reality (AR) to its ads by letting you “try on” clothes and makeup before you buy. The AR ads appear the same way as any other in News Feed, with a new “Tap to try on” option in the photo. If you do so, Facebook accesses your phone’s camera and allows you see how the item …

Apple might have breached Japanese competition laws by requiring carriers to sell iPhones at a lower cost than its competition. The Japan Fair Trade Commission said that Apple’s policy forced service providers NTT Docomo, KDDI and SoftBank to sell its iPhones at a discount but then charge higher monthly fees, thus limiting consumers’ choices, Reuters reports. “Obliging carriers to offer …