News·2 min read

Skimm this: Libra in Congress, Planned Parenthood, and Netflix

July 17, 2019

It’s July 17th. Today, we Skimm’d This: 

  • Facebook is preparing to roll out a new global cryptocurrency called Libra. And members of Congress have questions. And concerns. Which they brought up during two days of hearings this week. We’ll tell you why.

  • Planned Parenthood has ousted Dr. Leana Wen as its president after eight months on the job. The organization is apparently looking for new leadership amid a growing fight over abortion rights. We’ll explain.

  • Netflix has edited a scene from the first season of ‘13 Reasons Why’ that graphically depicted a teenager’s suicide. Psychologists who deal with teen suicide have been raising concerns about this particular scene for a while. 

  • It’s World Emoji Day, and Apple is rolling out 59 new ways to communicate with the press of a button. 

theSkimm: Today, the head of Facebook’s global cryptocurrency project got a bipartisan grilling from the House Financial Services Committee. Lawmakers have been raising concerns about the crypto, called ‘Libra’: over who will regulate it, how Facebook will handle people’s private financial data, and whether their approach could break antitrust laws. We’ll break it down. Meanwhile, the president of Planned Parenthood has been ousted from the job after eight months. The organization reportedly wants make fighting for abortion rights a priority. We’ll explain. Also on today’s episode: why Netflix has gone back and edited an old scene from the show ‘13 Reasons Why,” and how Apple is giving us more ways to express ourselves. 

PS - If you or someone you know needs it, here’s the number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255.

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