Tech giants criticised for lack of transparency over political lobbying November 26, 2018 Tech behemoths Amazon, Facebook and Google are among the worst companies for failing to offer transparency over their political lobbying efforts, according to Transparency International UK. The organisation's report into corporate political engagement, published today, included assessments of UK companies’ political contributions and lobbying, as well as the so-called revolving door between corporations and politics. Transparency [...]
MPs and businesses urged to boycott Google and Facebook over alleged failure to tackle UK terror November 22, 2018 Tech firms such as Google and Facebook have come under fire from the UK's parliamentary security committee, as a report published today urged businesses to boycott the social media platforms until they do more to tackle extremism. The Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) said continuous appeals to social media firms to stop their systems from being [...]
Crowdfunding isn’t just about money, but communicating with customers – the best businesses are the best listeners November 22, 2018 Consumers are increasingly sceptical of industry leaders, disloyal to brands, well-researched in the products and services they need, and not willing to be talked at. Through social media, they listen to one another about which brands are worth caring about, and which are not. The brands that are the best communicators are also the best [...]
Facebook to appeal £500,000 fine over Cambridge Analytica scandal November 21, 2018 Facebook will appeal a £500,000 fine handed down by the information commissioner for its role in the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The social media giant claimed that the data watchdog found no evidence that UK Facebook users were impacted by Cambridge Analytica, and the fine was therefore unjustified. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) imposed its maximum [...]
Facebook’s Zuckerberg brushes off resignation calls over Definers scandal November 21, 2018 Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has fought back against calls for the social media giant to change up its leadership, as requests for resignation letters mount against both him and Facebook operations chief Sheryl Sandberg. Zuckerberg rejected renewed criticism against the company in an interview with CNN late last night, where he took it upon himself to defend [...]
Buzzfeed founder hints at media mega-merger as the publisher launches new membership scheme November 20, 2018 Buzzfeed’s chief executive has said he would consider a merger with other media organisations as the publisher launches a shake-up of its business model. Jonah Peretti, who co-founded the website in 2006, said on Monday a series of mergers between online media companies could be the answer to the current challenges faced by news organisations. [...]
European tech stocks slump in worst fall for seven years on Apple woes November 20, 2018 European technology stocks have been hit by their biggest quarterly drop since 2011, after production worries for Apple caused a global industry wobble. Stocks on the pan-European stoxx 600 tech index fell more than 1.8 per cent in trading this morning, hitting its lowest level since February 2017 and charting a quarterly loss of more than 14 [...]
Google and DeepMind are playing fast and loose with society’s trust November 20, 2018 Last week, we were greeted by the disturbing news that DeepMind, an artificial intelligence subsidiary owned by Google’ s parent company Alphabet, is moving some of its healthcare activities into the newly formed Google Health. This isn’t the first time that one of the tech giants has been accused of making misrepresentations to consumers, using [...]
Banks should watch out – the fintech era has barely begun November 20, 2018 The fintech sector makes a lot of noise in London. There’s an endless stream of news about open banking and challenger banks, while the traditional finance sector watches on with a mixture of admiration and suspicion. Banks have come under attack, not only from the hype-machine, but more meaningfully from startups. Traditional finance providers that assumed [...]
Facebook donates £4.5m to fund local journalists in the UK in fight against fake news November 19, 2018 Facebook will donate £4.5m to support roughly 80 trainee journalists in newsrooms across the UK in a bid to plug the gap caused by the decline of local media. The social media firm said it has partnered with the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) and a range of British publishers to help [...]