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 [...]
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 [...]
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp strikes news partnership deal with Google February 17, 2021 Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp has inked a three-year deal with Google that will see the US tech giant pay to use the publisher’s news content. New Corp, which owns titles such as the Times, the Sun and the Wall Street Journal, said it will provide “trusted journalism from its news sites around the world in [...]
Google and Microsoft object to Nvidia’s $40bn Arm takeover February 13, 2021 Google and Microsoft have objected to the $40bn (£29bn) takeover of British chipmaker arm by Nvidia as the deal faces an in-depth competition probe in the US. The two tech giants, as well as semiconductor rival Qualcomm, are among the companies to object to the mammoth merger amid concerns it could harm competition. The US [...]
Screenshot: Should online harms laws take on the hackers and pirates? February 12, 2021 This week **Media Moment of the Week: Ya boi in Hanoi **Who’s taking on the online hackers and pirates? **Will Big Tech finally cough up for news? Media Moment of the Week: Ya boi in Hanoi Tempted as I was to feature *that* cat lawyer this week, I think perhaps, to borrow Michael Gove’s words, [...]
Australia pushes ahead with online news laws despite Google threat February 12, 2021 Australia is pushing ahead with landmark legislation that will force tech giants to pay publishers for news, despite Google’s threat to pull out of the country. The government will introduce new draft laws next week and they could come into effect this month. If passed, the legislation would make Australia the first country to force [...]
Google to pay UK publishers for news as global pressure mounts February 10, 2021 Google has inked a licensing deal with more than 120 UK publications as pressure mounts on tech giants to pay publishers for news. The launch of Google News Showcase, part of the company’s pledge to invest $1bn (£750m) in news worldwide, means publishers will be paid for excerpts that appear in its search results. The [...]
Screenshot: How Amazon set up shop on cloud nine February 5, 2021 This week **Media Moment of the Week: Parish the thought **How Amazon set up shop on cloud nine **Will BT look to the stars? Media Moment of the Week: Parish the thought Anyone who thinks local politics is boring has clearly never attended a meeting of the Handforth Parish Council Planning and Environment Committee. Or [...]