Main stream: AFTV founder Robbie Lyle on taking football fan channels overground August 4, 2022 Robbie Lyle, the avuncular face and founder of Arsenal fan media platform AFTV, was walking through New York City when he truly realised what a phenomenon he had created. On his stroll Lyle came across activists marching on Times Square in protest at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, each with their mouth taped up in a symbol [...]
Newsroom’s fake news dilemma: The role of NGOs in an understaffed, hyper-competitive sector July 17, 2022 Th pressure on media outlets to rapidly get good quality footage to support global news stories has never been greater. Understaffed news rooms are rushing to beat the competition – not just the vast number of global online, print, radio and television media but also the factories dedicated to creating fake news stories that are propagated through [...]
‘Delete Twitter’ searches soar by 204 per cent as app crashing and Musk deal falters July 15, 2022 Searches for “Delete Twitter” surged by 204 per cent after the app crashed and Elon Musk pulled out of his $44bn (£37.2bn) bid to buy the social media platform. Searches to delete Twitter rose to more than double the average amount after users were unable to load any content on the app yesterday, research by [...]
Letter to Dorries: Campaigners warn Online Safety Bill amendment risks becoming ‘disinformation laundromat’ July 11, 2022 Dozens of campaigners and academics have written to the Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries to warn that the Online Safety Bill could make the UK the world’s first "disinformation laundromat", where malicious actors receive legal protections to spread hate and lies.
Online platforms could have ‘legal obligation’ to fight state disinformation as part of amendment to Online Safety Bill July 4, 2022 Online platforms now have the legal obligation to take “proactive, preventative action” against any state-sponsored disinformation, under a new government amendment. The change will link the National Security Bill and the Online Safety Bill by adding a new Foreign Interference Offence to the list of priority offences within the new internet safety rules. “We cannot [...]
The tech tumble strikes again: Social media firms set to lose £112bn following Snap warning May 24, 2022 Snapchat's parent company's shares tumbled nearly 40 per cent in early morning trading, after the company warned against dwindling revenues and slowing recruitment.
Weekend exclusive: Despite record fine of £160m for JPMorgan, City managers still have WhatsApp ‘blind spot’ May 22, 2022 The majority of financial institutions fail to monitor their employee’s WhatsApp conversations, according to new research shared exclusively with City A.M. today. A new poll of almost 100 City players, including investment banks, brokers, and investment managers, found that just 14 per cent actively carry out effective supervision or surveillance over the world’s most popular [...]
Elon Musk says $44bn mega takeover of Twitter is ‘on hold’ May 13, 2022 Elon Musk wrote on Twitter that the mega takeover of Twitter is on hold. Twitter recently accepted a $44bn bid from Musk to acquire the social media company. The billionaire posted a link to a Reuters article which outlined a Twitter filing stating fake and spam accounts made up less than five per cent of [...]
Snapchat’s UK boss Ed Couchman: Snap looks to snap back May 9, 2022 Five years ago, Snapchat’s parent firm Snap floated on the New York Stock Exchange in what was hailed as a milestone for the once-disruptor in the social media landscape. The plucky underdog – at least compared to other messaging and social media apps – listed at $24 a share in an IPO twelve times oversubscribed. [...]
Government empowers compliance unit with teeth to curb big tech dominance May 5, 2022 New 'fair-play' rules and ten per cent turnover fines will be among the strong tools available to a new technology unit.