Image: Alessio Jacona / Protocol
On Facebook, election season isn’t over

Good morning! This Thursday: TikTok's anticlimactic deadline day, Facebook's political ad problems and the biggest shopping day of the year.
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Today is the day we've all been waiting for! The epic conclusion to the TikTok drama. Everyone's on pins and needles, the closed-door meetings are going through the ni— ... wait, one sec, I'm being told that's not right, and that actually everyone has completely forgotten about this particular "national security issue" and billion-dollar deal and it turns out this was basically a political farce that seems overwhelmingly likely to come to nothing?
It never looked like the administration would get its way here, especially after the original ban was blocked by a federal court. And as Beijing fought back on what it perceived as bullying from the U.S., the whole thing got messier than the White House may have bargained for.
The Trump administration obviously has other things on its mind right now — and other specious legal fights that it deems more important. But in the last several months, as I've talked to people about the ordeal, it's been increasingly hard to find anyone who took it seriously. And it's fair to wonder what else of the Trump administration's anti-tech rhetoric and promises will fall by the wayside, too.
Issie Lapowsky writes: Facebook's political ad ban, put into place to mitigate some of the post-election chaos on the platform, continues on. In a blog post, Facebook said advertisers can "expect this to last another month, though there may be an opportunity to resume these ads sooner."
Facebook implied the decision had to do with ongoing refusal by Republicans to accept the election results, per an email first reported by The Wall Street Journal. "While multiple sources have projected a presidential winner, we still believe it's important to help prevent confusion or abuse on our platform," the email said.
The biggest shopping day of the year isn't Prime Day or Black Friday. It's Singles Day, 11/11, the day created by Alibaba that has become the biggest buying spree of the year in China. And this year's was a doozy, and not just because Katy Perry was there:
It wasn't all good news for the Chinese giants, though: The country's government also announced that it will be taking a more serious approach to antitrust regulation within the country. It's particularly interested in companies that use their huge businesses to subsidize their money-losing projects in order to drive competitors out of the market. Alibaba and JD.com, along with other giants like Tencent and Baidu, figure to be near the top of investigators' lists.
Somehow, antitrust regulation seems to be the only thing all the world's governments agree on.
Mastercard expanded its City Possible™ network and capabilities, whose unique solutions now reach over 500 communities in over 50 countries worldwide. The partnership framework focuses on building more inclusive and sustainable cities by increasing access to city services, expanding urban mobility solutions, and informing an inclusive recovery through data driven insights.
Mastercard Expands Efforts to Help Over 500 Cities Build More Inclusive and Sustainable Communities
Even in the Xbox team, Microsoft is shifting away from being a platform company, Phil Spencer said:
Hunter Walk explained that regulating the internet is so complicated because one set of rules never covers it:
Want to make AI work? Do it at a tech giant, DeepMind investor Humayun Sheikh said:
If you're investing right now, SoftBank's Rajeev Misra said, you need to be thinking about 2025:
Ginni Rometty is all-in on remote work:
On Protocol: Ron Klain is slated to be Joe Biden's chief of staff. He was previously in the role when Biden was VP but has spent most of the last decade working with Steve Case at Revolution. A lot of folks in tech, from Ron Conway to Chris Sacca, praised his appointment while also saying he's not going to take it easy on the industry.
Chris Young is Microsoft's new EVP of Business Development. He was previously CEO at McAfee and fills the role left open when Peggy Johnson left to run Magic Leap.
Notion hired five new executives: Maryanne Caughey as head of people ops, Hasani Caraway as general counsel, Robbie O'Connor to help make inroads in EMEA, Katsukiyo Nishi to do the same in Japan, and Kate Taylor as the head of customer experience.
Add this one to the Customer Support Answers Hall of Fame. From the official Xbox Twitter account: "We can't believe we have to say this, but please do not blow vape smoke into your Xbox Series X." (Here's some very important context.) It's like we always say, friends: You can't believe everything you see smoking on the internet.
Register today for the inaugural City Possible Summit, pioneered by Mastercard. Experience the superpower of collaboration by visiting the City Possible Digital Plaza and hear from thought leaders from across the cities ecosystem who are committed to driving equitable urban development.
Today's Source Code was written by David Pierce. Thoughts, questions, tips? Send them to david@protocol.com, or our tips line, tips@protocol.com. Enjoy your day; see you tomorrow.
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