— In a 1,500-word memo obtained by The New York Times over the weekend, the company’s top lobbyist, Nick Clegg, sought to rebut Haugen’s allegations ahead of her unveiling in an episode of “60 Minutes” on Sunday night. “Social media has had a big impact on society in recent years, and Facebook is often a place where much of this debate plays out,” he said in the memo, in which he called Haugen’s impending accusations, which included blaming Facebook for January’s insurrection at the Capitol, “misleading.” He wrote that “what evidence there is simply does not support the idea that Facebook, or social media more generally, is the primary cause of polarization.”
BEIJING (AP) — China’s biggest banks promised Monday to refuse to help customers trade Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies after the central bank said executives were told to step up enforcement of a government ban.

But it wasn’t just outside pessimism that led to the slump, but infighting as well. Blockchains are decentralized, and democratic systems require buy-in from participants in order to keep the engines running. When there’s a schism that can’t be decided by the majority, all hell breaks loose.
China’s crackdown has delivered a windfall to international groups that mint digital tokens