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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Good morning! This is the tech news you need to know this Friday.
- $4. A New York Times story said Facebook had employed research firm Definers Public Affairs to spread potentially damaging stories about Facebook's critics, and it mentioned there is another technology client which is paying the firm to spread negative press about Apple.
- $4. Sandberg also said that she has "great respect" for billionaire George Soros, who The New York Times reported was targeted by Definers in research sent to reporters.
- $4. On a marathon 80-minute press call with reporters on Thursday, Zuckerberg explained why it cut ties with the PR company.
- $4. Facebook published a blog post refuting elements of the report, such as Russian interference, political point-scoring, and Zuckerberg banning his executives from using iPhones.
- $4. Soros' Open Society Foundations sent out an open letter to Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg that accused the company of "disseminating vile propaganda" that threatens the values "underpinning our democracy."
- $4. The 34-year-old billionaire has ignored previous calls to step down as CEO, so Business Insider asked him why he thinks he's still the best person for the job.
- $4. According to a report from Variety, Sony's PlayStation branch has declined to attend E3, the video game industry's largest annual conference.
- $4. Apple CEO Tim Cook and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg have traded insults and barbs over the years, and Facebook confirmed the conflict in a public statement. It said that Zuckerberg asked his employees to use Android because it's a more widely used operating system.
- SpaceX is about to rocket a fleet of satellites into space that will hunt smugglers, pirates, and other "dark ships" by tracking radio signals>$4. An unprecedented rocket mission for SpaceX, called SSO-A, will launch 71 small satellites at once on Monday.
- $4. He added that the company needs "a knight to yell insults at people in a French accent," a likely reference to the 1975 film "Monty Python and the Holy Grail."
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