Saturday Read: Investors are fleeing Myanmar as coup grows more deadly March 6, 2021 The world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, the Norwegian central bank, has put Japanese Kirin Holdings on a watch list for possible exclusion due to its ties to Myanmar’s military, in light of the recent coup and ongoing unrest in the country. The Japanese beverage group Kirin has a partnership and $1.7bn controlling stake in Myanmar [...]
Britain seeks G7 consensus on big tech company dominance February 26, 2021 Britain is seeking to build a consensus among G7 nations on how to stop large technology companies exploiting their dominance. Following Facebook’s row with Australia, Britain is seeking a consensus among the G7 nations that will “bridge the gap between what [tech companies] say they do and what happens in practice,” digital minister Oliver Dowden [...]
Screenshot: Is Uber nearing the end of the road? February 26, 2021 This week **Media Moment of the Week: Boris’ career coaching **Is Uber nearing the end of the road? **Apple’s merger madness Media Moment of the Week: Boris’ career coaching Social media is a fickle beast, but if there’s one sure-fire way to generate outrage it’s to insult journalists. That’s what Boris Johnson did this week, [...]
Australia passes online news law after row with Facebook February 25, 2021 Australia has passed a landmark law that will force tech giants Facebook and Google to pay publishers for news content. The world-first legislation follows a bitter row with Facebook, which blocked access to news in the country in protest to the changes. Following tense negotiations the law today passed with amendments that will allow the [...]
Facebook and Google duopoly is ‘too powerful’ says CMA boss February 23, 2021 Facebook and Google’s duopoly is too powerful, and the pair have too great a share of the UK online advertising space, CMA boss Andrea Coscelli has said. Speaking to the BBC, Coscelli said he would like to see regulatory changes to deal with their market dominance, but stopped short of saying the giants should be [...]
Expecting football to make Twitter and Facebook stop social media abuse is like asking your six-year-old to tackle Cristiano Ronaldo February 23, 2021 The English football community has finally had enough of the rampant racial abuse and bullying its players suffer on social media. Police are investigating and thePremeir League and other bodies have made an unprecedented direct plea to Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey. Of course, these issues on social media don’t just impact football players or [...]
Facebook reverses Australia news ban after law changes February 23, 2021 Facebook has backed down in its feud with Australia after negotiating changes to a new law that will force tech firms to pay publishers for news. The social media giant last week blocked access to news in the country in protest at the upcoming legislation, drawing widespread criticism. But following talks between the government and [...]
White House approaches Facebook and Twitter to tackle anti-vaxxers February 19, 2021 The White House is in discussions with Facebook, Twitter and Google about ramping up censorship of anti-vaxxer content, as the US seeks to push down the highest coronavirus rates of any country in the world. New US President Joe Biden has reached out to the companies to stop the spread of Covid misinformation proliferating online, [...]
Time Out boss: Tech giants have destroyed internet freedom February 19, 2021 The unbridled power of tech giants such as Google and Facebook has destroyed the concept of freedom on the internet, the chief executive of Time Out has said. In an interview with City A.M., Julio Bruno said that while tech companies had given us “a lot of good things”, they now exerted too much control [...]
Screenshot: Will Facebook regret going nuclear over Australian news? February 19, 2021 This week **Media Moment of the Week: A jumbo jab mix-up **Will Facebook regret going nuclear in Australia? **Arm’s getting chippy Media Moment of the Week: A jumbo jab mix-up When Liam Thorp received a text inviting him for his first Covid jab he was confused, given the healthy 32-year-old is pretty low down the [...]