The 59 Best Technology Journalism Stories Published in 2020

In a year dominated by pandemic, there was also a lot of notable technology news and analysis. Take a stroll back through a year that felt like a century with my compendium of the best tech reporting, writing, and commentary of 2020:

January

Sonos said what every smaller tech company was thinking: working with big tech sucks
, The Verge

We’re fighting fake news AI bots by using more AI. That’s a mistake.
, MIT Technology Review

YouTube moderators are being forced to sign a statement acknowledging the job can give them PTSD
, The Verge

February

Why Facebook’s data-sharing project ballooned into a 2-year debacle
, Protocol

Here’s the File Clearview AI Has Been Keeping on Me, and Probably on You Too
, Motherboard/VICE

Big Tech’s Takeovers Finally Get Scrutiny
, The New York Times

Why Your State Has Terrible Internet Access
, Motherboard/VICE

March

Pixar’s computer graphics pioneers have won the $1 million Turing Award
, MIT Technology Review

Why Don’t We Just Ban Targeted Advertising?
, Wired

April

How a nonprofit you’ve never heard of made the web safer for everyone
, Fast Company

You Can Now Check If Your ISP Uses Basic Security Measures
, Wired

Another pandemic woe: Zoom fatigue
, Axios

May

Poynter Institute launches WhatsApp chatbot to debunk coronavirus-related hoaxes
, TechCrunch

Facebook will pay $52 million in settlement with moderators who developed PTSD on the job
, The Verge

Chrome will start blocking resource-heavy ads in August
, VentureBeat

Microsoft: We were wrong about open source, but luckily you can change
, ZDNet

June

DOD's third attempt to implement IPv6 isn't going well
, ZDNet

Amazon sues former AWS marketing VP Brian Hall after he takes Google Cloud job
, GeekWire
ogle-cloud-job/

IBM will no longer offer, develop, or research facial recognition technology
, The Verge

AWS said it mitigated a 2.3 Tbps DDoS attack, the largest ever
, ZDNet

The FBI said it used Instagram, Etsy, and LinkedIn to track down a protester in Philadelphia accused of setting a police car on fire
, Business Insider

Why tech didn’t save us from covid-19
MIT Technology Review

July

China’s Software Stalked Uighurs Earlier and More Widely, Researchers Learn
and , The New York Times

Inside Facebook’s exclusive clubs for its top advertisers
, Financial Times

Facebook gets in a Twitter tangle
, The Interface

The Work-From-Home Shift Shocked Companies—Now They’re Learning Its Lessons
, The Wall Street Journal

Microsoft Said to Be in Talks to Buy TikTok, as Trump Weighs Curtailing App
, , and The New York Times

Nvidia in talks to buy Arm from SoftBank for more than $32bn
, , and , Financial Times

August

The Pandemic Workday Is 48 Minutes Longer and Has More Meetings
, Bloomberg

TikTok Ban? Creators and Fans Are Big Mad
, The New York Times

Insecure satellite Internet is threatening ship and plane safety
, Ars Technica

Why quantum computing matters
, Axios

September

Wirecard and me: Dan McCrum on exposing a criminal enterprise
, Financial Times

Unlimited Information Is Transforming Society
and , Scientific American

Apple v. Epic — a briefing on the antitrust arguments and interesting facts
, VentureBeat

"I Have Blood On My Hands": A Whistleblower Says Facebook Ignored Global Political Manipulation
, , and , BuzzFeed News

Ransomware attack at German hospital leads to death of patient
, BleepingComputer

Can Big Tech save the planet? Maybe not, but it won't be for lack of trying
, Diginomica

Amazon details its low-bandwidth Sidewalk neighborhood network, coming to Echo and Tile devices soon
, TechCrunch

How Work Became an Inescapable Hellhole
, Wired

October

The Eighth Wonder of the World
, The Verge

Artificial intelligence and the antitrust case against Google
, VentureBeat

Governments are using the pandemic as an excuse to restrict internet freedom
, MIT Technology Review

25 moments in tech that defined the past 25 years
Fast Company Staff, Fast Company

The Justice Dept.’s Lawsuit Against Google: Too Little, Too Late
, The New York Times

Quibi Is Shutting Down Barely Six Months After Going Live
, , and , The Wall Street Journal

Taking Back Our Privacy

November

Someone has transferred ~$1 billion from a bitcoin wallet quiet since 2015
, Ars Technica

Marissa Mayer wants to clean up your contacts, and that’s just for starters
Fast Company

CVS becomes first national retailer to offer support for PayPal and Venmo QR codes at checkout
, TechCrunch

Trump Fires Security Chief Christopher Krebs
, Krebs on Security

Amazon Works to Avoid Google’s Fate With EU Antitrust Regulators
, Bloomberg

Apple to pay $113M settlement over its iPhone 'batterygate' slowdowns
, CNET

London A.I. Lab Claims Breakthrough That Could Accelerate Drug Discovery
, The New York Times

December

Google AI ethics co-lead Timnit Gebru says she was fired over an email
, VentureBeat

Here’s the NLRB Complaint Alleging Google Illegally Fired and Surveilled Workers
, Motherboard/VICE

In 2020, Disinformation Broke the US
, BuzzFeed News

Armed police raid home of Florida scientist fired over Covid-19 data
, The Guardian

Huawei tested AI software that could recognize Uighur minorities and alert police, report says
and , The Washington Post

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