MPs criticise government for slow coronavirus misinformation response July 21, 2020 MPs have lashed out at the government over its failure to respond to concerns regarding online harms during the coronavirus pandemic, calling for legislation to be introduced as a matter of urgency. Members of the Digital, Cultural, Media and Sport select committee published a report today in which they pushed the government to name the [...]
Ofcom fines Royal Mail £1.5m for missing delivery target July 10, 2020 Ofcom today fined Royal Mail £1.5m for failing to meet its regulatory first-class delivery target in 2018. The company is required by Ofcom to deliver at least 93 per cnet of its first-class post within one working day, but it fell to 91.5 per cent in 2018/19. The regulator said the postal service failed to [...]
Competition watchdog pressures government to take on tech giants July 1, 2020 The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has said existing UK laws are not suitable for effective regulation, calling on the government to overhaul its structure so it can better tackle tech market dominance. The watchdog said it needs more support to govern the behaviour of “major platforms funded by digital advertising, like Google and Facebook”, [...]
Lords urge government to take immediate action against online misinformation June 29, 2020 Ministers have been urged to beef up regulation of digital and social media to stub out a “pandemic of misinformation and disinformation” that is destroying public trust and leveraging power to big tech companies. A new report by the Lords Democracy and Digital Technologies Committee, chaired by Labour peer and film director David Puttnam, proposes [...]
Children’s exposure to TV adverts halves over last decade amid rise of streaming May 22, 2020 Children’s exposure to TV adverts has almost halved in the last decade as young people increasingly tune in to streaming services. Children aged four to 15 saw an average of 115.9 ads per week last year, down more than 47 per cent compared to 2008, according to new figures from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). [...]
BBC Three could return as on-air channel after Normal People and Fleabag success May 20, 2020 BBC Three could be brought back on air as the broadcaster looks to capitalise on a string of recent hits that have resonated with its vital youth audience. The channel was taken off linear TV and became online-only four years ago to save £30m, with the BBC arguing that young people were increasingly watching shows [...]
BT shares surge on possible sale of £20bn stake in Openreach May 15, 2020 BT’s share price jumped in early trading today following reports the telco is preparing to sell a £20bn stake in its fibre rollout arm Openreach. The telecom giant’s shares, which have been trading at a record low this year, rocketed 9.25 per cent to 111.6p on a Financial Times report that discussions were underway. BT [...]
France to force tech giants to remove harmful content within the hour May 13, 2020 Social media companies will be forced to remove the most harmful content from their platforms within an hour or face hefty fines under new French laws passed today. Firms such as Facebook, Google and Twitter could be fined up to four per cent of their global revenue if they fail to comply with the new [...]
Facebook and Instagram launch digital gift cards for small businesses May 11, 2020 Facebook and Instagram users will now be able to support local businesses during the Covid-19 crisis by purchasing digital gift cards on the social media platforms. From today businesses will be able to promote gift cards on their Facebook pages and in news feed posts, as well as in Instagram stories and on their profiles. [...]
How the O2-Virgin Media merger will reshape the telecoms sector May 7, 2020 O2 and Virgin Media this morning confirmed they will join forces in a mammoth merger that will create a new £31bn telecoms powerhouse. The deal — reports of which first emerged last week — came as little surprise to industry watchers, though the timing of the deal in the middle of a global pandemic has [...]