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Daily Authority: šŸ“© Telegram doesn't check its email

Telegram gets banned for the blurst possible reason, Mac Studio teardown, 16 years of Twitter, and more tech news today.
By
ā€¢
March 21, 2022
The Telegram icon on an HONOR View 20 on a blue background with a cat and a fish.
Scott Adam Gordon / Android Authority

ā˜• Good morning! The week to come: Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, Nothing event on March 23, and maybe the OnePlus 10 Pro could see a launch this week as well?

Telegram forgot to check its email

The Telegram icon on an HONOR View 20 on a flowery pillow.

Thereā€™s a fun-yet-serious story that Telegram forgot to check its email, and was banned in Brazil for not complying with the email.

No, really:

  • ā€œTelegramā€™s founder and CEO Pavel Durov has just put out a statement about why Brazilā€™s Supreme Court is now suspending the app, and the reason is incredible. In the statement, which you can read in full below or on Durovā€™s Telegram channel, he says it was because his company was checking the wrong email address.
  • ā€œIt seems that we had an issue with emails going between our telegram.org corporate addresses and the Brazilian Supreme Court,ā€ Durov says, going on to explain that his company asked the court to send future takedown requests ā€œto a dedicated email address.ā€ But the court didnā€™t do that, apparently ā€” it kept using ā€œthe old general-purpose email address,ā€ and Telegram missed them somehow, and now itā€™s getting banned, unless the court takes pity.
  • And, despite Telegramā€™s CEO plea to Brazilā€™s Supreme Court to give it a chance to read its emails, including the junk mail and spam and accidentally deleted items, or whatever, Telegram was suspended for two days.
  • Apple and Google were forced to help block the app.

Disinformation:

  • Itā€™s all because Telegram has struggled to manage alleged disinformation, with a Supreme Court judge battling against Brazilā€™s president Jair Bolsonaro, who uses Telegram as a main outlet, and the judge has been ā€œleading Supreme Court investigations into Bolsonaro and his supporters for disseminating fake news.ā€

Anyway:

Telegram ended up checking its email properly and implementing what was asked, but it was banned for two days while changes were made:

  • ā€œThe court walked back on its ban after Telegram made several changes to help keep misinformation at bay in the country, which includes removing classified information shared by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.ā€
  • The political aspect isnā€™t exactly something I can or want to dig into here.
  • Whatā€™s wild is seeing how vulnerable a platform with millions of subscribers can struggle with facing the law, simply through an email mixup ā€” and how publicly the company would admit that.
  • Itā€™s alarming/refreshing! It would be great to know what else has happened in tech due to email mixups.
  • Likeā€¦ what if Tim Cook just missed Elon Muskā€™s email?

Roundup:

āŒ› Android users can now delete the last 15 minutes of their Google search history, with the rollout ongoing (e.g. I donā€™t have it yet, but itā€™s coming) (Android Authority).

šŸ’» Chrome OS tests variable refresh rate support (The Verge).

šŸ“¶ My colleague Dhruv is easily the most tech of the tech nerds we work with, so take it seriously when he says: ā€œI ditched consumer Wi-Fi routers, and I recommend you do tooā€ (Android Authority).

šŸ‘‰ Is the Pixel 6 the only true affordable flagship now? (Android Authority).

šŸ”« Fortniteā€™s new season removes building and adds Doctor Strange (The Verge).

šŸŽ Apple Mac Studio teardown details upgradeable memory and the sheer size of the M1 Ultra SoC (Notebookcheck).

šŸ People want Apple to make Wi-Fi routers again, and it is weird that Apple just gave up making Wi-Fi routers(Bloomberg, $).

šŸŽ The first Linux distribution to support Apple Silicon is now out: works without a jailbroken device, doesnā€™t affect security, but itā€™s an early release (Tomā€™s Hardware).

šŸ“¦ Long read: How did a vast Amazon warehouse opened in 2011 change life in a former UK mining town? (Interesting tidbit: ā€œYou wouldnā€™t believe how flat the floor has to be [for the robots to work]ā€ (Ars Technica).

šŸ”’ A big bet to kill the password for good: credential management system? (Wired).

šŸŒ‰ Thereā€™s a new longest suspension bridge in the world (Jalopnik).

šŸ¤” ā€œWhat is the easiest (legal) way to make money on the side?ā€ (r/askreddit).

Monday Meme

RickRollBridgeTwitter

Twitter was created 16 years ago today on March 21, 2006. And ā€¦itā€™s been a ride.

Cheers,

Tristan Rayner, Senior Editor