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The Texas abortion law will make tech answer some ugly questions

Good morning! This Friday, the new Texas abortion law raises some big issues for tech companies, the Elizabeth Holmes trial finally has a jury, and China's getting a new stock exchange.
Oh, and some quick housekeeping: Source Code is taking a break for Labor Day, so we'll be back in your inboxes on Tuesday. Enjoy your long weekend!
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The focus of concern around Texas's abortion ban this week has rightly been on the people who will be effectively barred from receiving an abortion in the state and the providers who now face grave legal risk for doing their jobs.
But the broadness of the law — which allows anyone to be sued for aiding and abetting an abortion, even unknowingly — also creates a whole bunch of ugly questions for the tech industry. Questions that tech companies are, by the way, not really answering. So we've asked.
The first potential issue is over user data. What would tech companies do if, say, an abortion rights advocate were sued for hosting a Facebook fundraiser to raise money for a woman seeking an abortion? Or if an advertiser got sued for targeting Google ads with information on obtaining an abortion at women in Texas? Would those companies respond to a subpoena for user data?
Tech workers could also find themselves in trouble: The law has implications for companies whose workers may be accused of aiding and abetting an abortion.
Then there are corporate responsibility questions facing tech companies doing business in Texas now. That's especially true for companies that have recently ditched Silicon Valley for Austin and other parts of the state.
There are some outliers among the overwhelming silence from the tech industry. Shar Dubey, the CEO of Match Group, which is based in Texas, and Bumble, the dating app founded by Whitney Wolfe Herd, both said Thursday they planned to launch relief funds in response to the Texas law.
— Issie Lapowsky (email | twitter)
A version of this story appeared on Protocol.com. Read it here.
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So mark your long weekend calendars for Monday, when the first two episodes of the series will be released. Netflix will continue to roll out episodes over the course of the next couple weeks, before the mission takes off no earlier than Sept. 15, so there's plenty to look forward to if you like the first part of the series. Have a relaxing long weekend!
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