If it’s Thursday, it’s time for tech talk with Mark Starling on First News 570. Yours truly will be doing double duty this coming week, out of town. I’m heading to the Podfest conference this week, and out of town at the HIMSS conference for a full week. I’m actually hoping to see Donald Trump deliver a keynote!

I’m also hoping I don’t contract the coronavirus. Because, it looks like it has everyone spooked with Facebook bailing out of SXSW, companies canceling conferences and traveling, and companies running out of supplies. The virus has become the lead item this week and it shows.

If you’re up at 6:43am Eastern on Thursday mornings, you can always tune in and hear Mark and I point, laugh, and talk trash by listening to First News 570 on iHeart Radio.

AMAZON REMOVES ONE MILLION PRODUCTS BECAUSE OF CORONAVIRUS GOUGING

I’ll admit, it’s hard to figure out the balanced response to the coronavirus problem stateside.  We know that the number of infections around the world are juiced and the US infection rate is ridiculously low, but at the same time should we be concerned enough to buy out all of the hand soap from store shelves?  Shouldn’t we have been washing our hands anyway?  Well, Amazon took a great corporate action and removed 1 million items from its marketplace that were being sold at inflated prices.  Amazon removed soaps, hand sanitizers, masks, and other items sold by sellers engaging in price gouging.  Amazon cited its marketplace seller agreements and fair price rules as a reason to pull them down.

FACEBOOK INITIATES PLANS TO STOP CORONAVIRUS CONSPIRACIES

Mark Zuckerberg noted how Facebook is working with health organizations to coordinate its response to the virus and disseminate accurate information through its channels.  It’s also giving the World Health Organization free advertising to post content that is used to keep the global population informed as the virus spreads. Additionally the platform is working to tag misinformation although it may be a huge effort when trying to keep misinformation out of Facebook groups.

CORONAVIRUS IMPACTING BIG TECH

Technology companies are getting serious about their responses to the coronavirus.  Over the weekend, Facebook announced that it will not be sending representatives to SXSW, one of the largest and most popular events drawing musicians, technologists, and entrepreneurs to Austin, Texas.  Apple has announced it is experiencing a shortage of replacement iPhones because of the coronavirus’ impact to China.  Facebook is policing its platform for misinformation. And YouTube is demonetizing videos about coronavirus, and at the same time creators are upset about it.  We usually talk about the impact of computer viruses and exploits having an impact on tech company’s and their bottom lines, and this time we’re seeing a real-life, biological virus keep technology companies in check.