Twitter accepts Elon Musk’s buyout deal, Netflix is facing a morale crisis, and Apple must pay a customer $1000 for not including a charger with his iPhone.
That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now, welcome to Hashtag Trending. It’s Tuesday, April 26, and I’m your host, Samira Balsara.
 |
 |
 |
Things moved fast between Elon Musk and Twitter’s board of directors. It was just yesterday that we talked about how Twitter may be open to accepting Elon Musk’s bid to buy the company. That has now become the reality. On Monday, Twitter’s board accepted the sale at US$44 billion. The deal is expected to close later this year at a share price of $54.20 per share. Following the deal, Musk announced that free speech will continue to be the digital town square in a functioning democracy.
With both its subscribers and stock prices plummeting, Netflix is facing another crisis: low morale. Although the company has long been hailed as one of the best workplaces to work at, its recent financial troubles have also tanked employees’ optimism. Many Netflix employees own company stock options. When the stock price dropped, it also erased their gains. As worries continue to brew, Bloomberg reported that some employees are asking managers to issue new stock grants to make up their losses. Others have told The Information that more employees are looking to leave the company than ever. In addition to changing the payment structure for its customers, Netflix is now also scrambling to restructure the company teams and increase incentives to retain its workers.
A Brazilian judge has ordered that Apple must pay $1000 to a customer for not including a charger in the box. In 2020, Apple stopped including chargers for its iPhones as a way to reduce e-waste, but still includes a USB-C to Lightning cable in the box. Although the company explained that the cable can be used with other chargers, the judge ruled the practice a “tie sale.” In a tie sale situation, the customer must purchase a separate component for the device to work, which is illegal.
A competition watchdog in the U.K will be able to fine firms up to 10 per cent of their global turnover for fake reviews, reported the BBC. According to the article, the average U.K. household spends £900 euros, or C$1200 a year, based on online reviews. Under new rules, businesses will no longer be allowed to pay for reviews and must clearly inform customers when free trials are ending. Additionally, they are now required to check the legitimacy of the reviews. This may have significant effects on Amazon, Google, and other eCommerce companies. Additionally, the U.K. government also wants to crack down on subscription traps that make it hard for customers to terminate their subscription.
That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now. Hashtag Trending is a part of the ITWC Podcast network. Add us to your Alexa Flash briefings or your Google Home daily briefing. Make sure to sign up for our Daily IT Wire newsletter to get all the news that matters directly in your inbox every day. Also, catch the next episode of Hashtag Tendances, our weekly Hashtag Trending episode in French, which drops every Thursday morning. If you have a suggestion or a tip, drop us a line in the comments or via email. Thank you for listening, I’m Samira Balsara.
