Facebook cryptocurrency Libra dealt fresh regulatory blow by G7 October 14, 2019 Facebook’s Libra digital currency project must not go ahead until the social media giant demonstrates it is safe and secure, according to a G7 report. The world’s largest economies warned that cryptocurrencies such as Libra pose a threat to the global financial system and backers must ensure the coins are not used to launder money [...]
Mastercard and Visa join Paypal and others in abandoning Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency project October 12, 2019 Mastercard, Visa, eBay and Stripe have all pulled out of Facebook’s cryptocurrency project, Libra. It comes a week Paypal announced they were withdrawing from Libra and is a huge blow to the social network’s plans to launch what it envisioned as a global currency. Read more: Paypal become first firm to drop out of Facebook’s [...]
Facebook pays just £28m in UK corporation tax in 2018 after sales worth almost £800m October 11, 2019 Facebook paid just £28m in UK corporation tax in 2018 according to its latest filing at Companies House. This is despite it having recognised sales worth £797m with a gross profit of £763.4m for the year. Read more: OECD targets tech giants as it shakes up global tax rules It is the latest example of [...]
DCMS chair Damian Collins calls for crackdown on fake news spread by ‘wealthy people’ October 10, 2019 A top MP has called for a crackdown on campaign groups funded by “wealthy people” that spread disinformation on social media. Damian Collins, chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) select committee, warned that much of the discourse on social media was not spread organically but rather promoted by shady backers. Read more: [...]
Bank of England sets out strict regulatory conditions for Facebook Libra October 9, 2019 The Bank of England (BoE) has set out the rules of engagement that Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency and other similar digital payment providers would have to satisfy before they can launch in Britain. “Libra has the potential to become a systemically important payment system,” the BoE’s Financial Policy Committee (FPC) said in a policy statement released [...]
Paypal first firm to drop out of Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency October 5, 2019 Paypal has pulled out of an alliance attempting to launch Facebook’s digital currency Libra. The payment firm announced its decision on Friday in a statement but did not reveal why the decision has been made. The cryptocurrency and its digital wallet, Calibra, were revealed by Facebook in June. Read more: Libra co-founder hits out at [...]
Facebook can be forced to remove illegal posts worldwide after EU court ruling October 3, 2019 The European Union’s highest court has ruled that courts within the EU can order Facebook to remove worldwide posts by users on the social network that have been declared illegal, in a major blow to the social media giant. The European Court of Justice’s decision came after a former Austrian politician, Eva Glawisching-Piesczek, sought the [...]
Mark Zuckerberg says control over Facebook prevented him being fired October 1, 2019 Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg has admitted he would have been fired on several occasions were it not for his total control over the company. “So one of the things that I’ve been lucky about in building this company is, you know, I kind of have voting control of the company, and that’s something I focused [...]
Google advertising overtakes rival Facebook in app downloads market September 24, 2019 Adverts on Google now drive more app downloads than adverts on Facebook, marking the first time the search giant has overtaken its Silicon Valley rival. Google has increased its share of the app installation sector eightfold in the last five years and is now the largest player in the app marketing space, according to marketing [...]
Facebook’s London accelerator programme expands to startups outside UK September 23, 2019 Facebook has announced the third edition of its London accelerator programme, which will be open to startups from Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) for the first time. The scheme is open to high-growth startups and aims to support those that are “harnessing the power of technology to have a positive impact on the [...]