Following a model popularized by Twitch, YouTube is now offering gamers the opportunity make sponsorship money. “Like Twitch’s subscriptions, which offer fans access to custom emotes, special badges and other perks, YouTube’s sponsorships also include a similar set of perks, like custom badges, custom emoji in chat, and access to sponsors-only live chats, among other things,” TechCrunch reports.

Microsoft is adding its executive vice president of gaming, Phi Spencer, to its senior leadership team. “During his time at Microsoft, Spencer has been the head of Xbox, Microsoft Studios and Game Studios,” ZDNet reports. “Spencer is in charge of leading Microsoft's gaming business across all devices and services. The gaming organization is still part of Microsoft's Windows and Devices unit.”

A group of leading venture capital firms are suing the Trump administration for torpedoing the immigration program on which their collective health relies. “To the National Venture Capital Association -- the Washington, D.C.-based lobbying voice for the industry -- the Trump administration violated federal rulemaking laws and harmed a number of companies and their investors when it delayed implementation of the initiative earlier this year,” Recode reports.

The first iPhone 8 reviews are coming in, and, to Apple’s chagrin, most are suggesting that consumers hold out for the iPhone X. As The Verge writes: “While the 8 and 8 Plus share a processor, wireless charging capability, and similar camera setups to the X, they lack any truly new ideas about what an iPhone is — they’re both very much just the next step along a path Apple’s been on for quite some time now.”  

Apple believes that the ad industry’s objections to Safari's new Intelligent Tracking Prevention feature are overblown. “Ad tracking technology has become so pervasive that it is possible for ad tracking companies to recreate the majority of a person’s web browsing history,” the company tells The Loop, in a statement. “The feature does not block ads or interfere with legitimate tracking on the sites that people actually click on and visit.”

Like Google before it, Microsoft is adding fact-checking tags to Bing search results. “A fact check label might now appear below results from Snopes, PolitFact, and other fact checking organizations,” The Verge notes. “Rather than having to click into the link, the site’s verdict -- true, false, or somewhere in between -- will now be pulled out into the search preview.”

Facebook is reportedly cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian-linked ad buys run during the last presidential election. Compelled by a search warrant, "Facebook gave Mueller and his team copies of ads and related information it discovered on its site linked to a Russian troll farm, as well as detailed information about the accounts that bought the ads and the way the ads were targeted at American Facebook users,” CNN reports, citing sources.

The New York Times examines the growing battle between tech giants like Facebook and governments around the world. “In recent years, events as varied as the Arab Spring, elections in France and confusion in Indonesia over the religion of the country’s president have awakened governments to how they have lost some control over online speech, commerce and politics on their home turf.”

Google has begun restricting certain ads served to people searching for addiction treatment, The New York Times reports. As a company spokeswoman tells The Times: “We found a number of misleading experiences among rehabilitation treatment centers that led to our decision.” In fact, “Google has taken similar steps to restrict advertisements only a few times before.”

Facebook is testing a Snooze button that lets users unfollow friends, Pages or Groups for 24 hours, 7 days or 30 days. “The Snooze button could deter people from permanently unfollowing, unliking or unfriending things on Facebook while still giving them control over what they see,” TechCrunch suggests. “Facebook benefits from you maintaining a dense social network.”