10 things in tech you need to know today

Good morning! This is the tech news you need to know this Friday.

1. Verizon has joined the Facebook ad boycott, making it the biggest advertiser to do so thus far, CNBC reports. The ADL published an open letter on Thursday in which it mentioned it found a Verizon ad next to an anti-Semitic video.
2. Democratic lawmakers introduced a bill that would ban the use of facial recognition technology by federal law enforcement. Democratic Sens. Ed Markey and Jeff Merkeley and Reps. Ayanna Pressley and Pramila Jayapal introduced the bill Thursday.
   
3. Amazon purchased the naming rights to a Seattle sports arena, renaming it "Climate Pledge Arena." Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced on Instagram Thursday that the company chose not to name it Amazon Arena so that the name would serve "as a regular reminder of the urgent need for climate action."
4. Apple is launching a new Safari feature that will show users a list of the advertising trackers attempting to follow them around the web. The feature is part of Apple's software updates coming to Macs, iPhones, and iPads in the fall.
5. Top Trump officials and Republicans are encouraging followers to migrate to Parler, an alternative social network beloved by far-right agitators kicked off Facebook and Twitter. Parler, similar to social networks like Gab and MeWe, has advertised itself as a haven for free speech and protector of user rights.
6. SoftBank's Masayoshi Son is stepping down from Alibaba's board as he focuses on shoring up SoftBank's shaky finances. Son was one of Alibaba's earliest backers, making a $20 million investment in the company two decades ago that was worth $60 billion by 2014.
7. Sidewalk Labs laid off half of its Toronto employees after the Alphabet moonshot abandoned plans for a $900 million smart city. "Sidewalk Labs remains committed to reimagining cities for the future and tackling big urban problems," a spokesperson told Business Insider.
8. Amazon is launching a new service called Honeycode that enables AWS customers to build apps for their business without any coding experience. Honeycode is designed for businesses that need apps for tasks like event scheduling and inventory management, and Slack is one of its first users.
9. The Information reports Amazon has agreed to buy self-driving car startup Zoox for $1 billion. The deal could be announced as early as today, according to The Information.
10. Facebook will now warn users if they're sharing an old news story with a pop-up, TechCrunch reports. The pop-up will appear if you try to share a story older than 90 days.

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