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☆ Investigation into child exploitation on Meta platforms leads to arrests of three men
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-09 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The arrests came after a months-long investigation by the attorney general’s office into the risks of sexual exploitation of children on Facebook and Instagram. That investigation also formed the basis of a lawsuit against Meta, filed in December, accusing the tech giant of creating a “breeding ground” for child predators. The company also said in December that it had launched technology to proactively detect and disable accounts displaying suspicious behaviors and that it formed a Child Safety Task Force. But Torrez said during Wednesday’s press conference that the arrests underscore the ongoing, real-world risks to children from Meta’s platforms. “Throughout the conversation Fernando sent pictures of his genitals and spoke to her about having sex,” a press release from the attorney general’s office states.

Persons: Mark, General Raúl Torrez, we’ve, Zuckerberg, Meta, Torrez, Fernando Clyde, Fernando, ”, Clyde, Marlon Kellywood, Kellywood, Christopher Reynolds, Reynolds Organizations: New, New York CNN, Facebook, Meta, CNN, National Center for, ”, Force, “, Clyde Locations: New York, New Mexico, Mexico

☆ DJT stock: Truth Social keeps shrinking despite the Trump trial and looming election
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Yet new data shows its main product — the conservative-friendly social network Truth Social — remains a very tiny player in its industry, and it’s getting even smaller. “If your entire social circle is on a social media platform, that’s a strong pull to sign up. ‘Meme stock’ argumentTrump recently received another 36 million shares of Trump Media as part of a bonus known as earnout shares. Including those new shares, Trump owns 114.75 million shares of Trump Media — a stake valued at $5.6 billion. Of course, Kennedy notes that there is a counter argument that Trump Media is not a typical social media stock, and so traditional metrics like growth and revenue don’t really matter.

Persons: Donald Trump, it’s, ”, Matthew Kennedy, Kennedy, “, Trump, Shannon Devine, ” Devine, Similarweb, Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, Gettr, Tom Liu, Musk, ” Kennedy Organizations: New, New York CNN, Trump Media & Technology, Trump Media, CNN, Trump, Truth, Renaissance, Social, ” Trump Media, Elon Musk Locations: New York, Similarweb

☆ Mark Zuckerberg made $29 billion this morning after Meta stock makes record surge
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Eva Rothenberg | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth increased by more than $29 billion between your morning coffee and your lunch break. Shares of Meta (META) jumped more than 21% on the news of a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share to be paid out on March 26 to shareholders of record as of February 22. This upswing plasters over potential harm to Meta stock after Zuckerberg, alongside other social media company heads, testified Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee about the risks their products pose to young people. Zuckerberg was pressed about internal Meta documents that suggested the company estimates the lifetime value of a teen user at $270, as well as Meta’s transparency regarding how its monetizes user data. Zuckerberg apologized to the parents in attendance, who say their children were victims of social media.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg’s, —, Zuckerberg, they’re, “, ” Organizations: New, New York CNN, Meta, US Securities and Exchange, Committee Locations: New York

☆ Opinion: Mark Zuckerberg’s extraordinary apology should only be the beginning
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Opinion Kara Alaimo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —On Wednesday, the chief executives of Meta, TikTok, X, Snap and Discord testified before the Senate about what they’re doing to protect kids from harm online. In the leadup to the testimony, tech companies announced new initiatives to protect kids. The Stop CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material) Act of 2023 would make it possible to hold tech companies civilly liable for hosting child sexual abuse material. This would be an important way of incentivizing tech companies to do more to protect kids from sextortion and other forms of online exploitation. Tech companies also have a lot more work to do.

Persons: Kara Alaimo, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, TikTok’s Shou Chew, Democratic Sen, Dick Durbin, Snap’s Evan Spiegel, X’s Linda Yaccarino, Discord’s Jason Citron, Kara Alaimo Durbin, “, —, ” South Carolina Republican Sen, Lindsey Graham, Chew, Yaccarino, Spiegel, Zuckerberg, it’s, Taylor Swift Organizations: Fairleigh Dickinson University, Women, Press, Facebook, CNN, Meta, Senate, Democratic, Illinois, ” Senators, ” South Carolina Republican, Tech, Media Locations: ”

☆ CNBC Daily Open: Meta outperformance
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Clement Tan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

(Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)This report is from today's CNBC Daily Open, our new, international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. In its third-quarter earnings report, the Facebook parent said revenue increased 23%, its fastest rate of growth since 2021. Meta is seeing faster growth in its core digital advertising business as clients rebound from a tough 2022. Meta said it expects revenue of $36.5 billion to $40 billion for the fourth quarter.

Persons: Stocks, Spencer Platt, Ford, Mattel, Meta, Mark Zuckerberg’s, Susan Li, —, Jonathan Vanian Organizations: NEW, New York Stock Exchange, Labor Department, Getty, CNBC, Labor, United Auto Workers, IBM, Wall, Google, Meta, Labs, Treasury Locations: New York City, China, Israel

☆ Mark Zuckerberg’s new return-to-office mandate is a clear problem, says Harvard expert: It’ll cause a ‘huge amount of distrust’
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-25 | by ( Ashton Jackson | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The latest twist in Meta's return-to-office saga doesn't reflect well on CEO Mark Zuckerberg, says a Harvard University expert. Meta established a widely encompassing remote-work policy in 2021, before announcing its intention to move toward a hybrid schedule in June. Employees can still apply for full-time remote status, the memo noted. "Leaders must make sure that they're practicing transparency, and that their actions match their words," Gardner says. "Establishing trustworthiness is an essential part of being a leader, and it takes empathy to create that trust."

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, it's, Heidi K, Gardner, Meta Organizations: Harvard University, Meta, Employees, Harvard Law School, CNBC

☆ WhatsApp unveils new video messaging feature
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —WhatsApp will now let you record and send video clips directly in the messaging app, the Meta-owned platform announced this week. The instant video messages can be up to 60 seconds long, and are similarly protected with the app’s end-to-end encryption service. The new feature will be similar to sending a voice message on the platform, the company added, and there will also be a way to record the video hands-free. Earlier this year, WhatsApp rolled out an update that lets users edit messages in the app (as long as it’s within 15 minutes after sending). The latest product update for WhatsApp comes on the heels of a better-than-expected earnings report from Meta.

Persons: CNN — WhatsApp, WhatsApp, Mark Zuckerberg’s Organizations: CNN, Meta

☆ Snap’s boss destroys $43 bln in a snap
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Jennifer Saba | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, July 26 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Snap’s (SNAP.N) value is disappearing almost as quickly as its messages. Snap is still struggling to pry money from advertisers, a worrisome trend for a relatively young company. When the then 26-year-old co-founder brought Snap public, the company, whose deal was 10 times oversubscribed, had promises of being the next Facebook. Snap’s shares should be worth some $37, or $60 billion overall. Snap’s shares fell 19% in morning trade on July 26.

Persons: Evan Spiegel, Mark Zuckerberg’s, Spiegel, that’s, Snap’s, Jeffrey Goldfarb, Sharon Lam Organizations: YORK, Reuters, Revenue, Spiegel, Thomson Locations: California

☆ Opinion: Mark Zuckerberg’s family photo raises this crucial question
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-15 | by ( Opinion Priya C. Kumar | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Sandwiched between a Jiu-Jitsu video and the Threads announcement, Mark Zuckerberg’s Instagram profile recently featured a casual Independence Day snapshot of him and his family. This prompted social media comments accusing Zuckerberg of hypocrisy, given the constant outcry over his company Meta’s privacy practices. Mark Zuckerberg posted this picture with his family on Instagram on July 4, 2023. A decade ago, a research team and I interviewed more than 100 parents about their social media use. That’s the real privacy problem of social media, and it affects children and adults alike.

Persons: Priya C, Kumar, Mark Zuckerberg’s, Zuckerberg, Kumar Hayley Wildeson, There’s, Mark Zuckerberg, Ulla Autenrieth, they’ve Organizations: Pennsylvania State University, CNN, Twitter, Facebook Locations: emojis, childrearing, Instagram, Swiss

☆ Tired of Elon Musk? Here are the Twitter alternatives you should know about
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-09 | by ( Jennifer Korn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —When Elon Musk took over Twitter in October and began upending the platform, there weren’t many viable alternatives for frustrated users. ThreadsThreads is Meta’s long-anticipated answer to Twitter and the biggest threat to the social network Musk bought for $44 billion. And Zuckerberg isn’t just looking to catch up to Twitter; he wants to build a service that’s far larger. Spill has also emerged as a haven for Black Twitter users and marginalized communities seeking a safe space online. BlueskyBluesky, a service backed by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, looks identical to Twitter, with one key difference.

Persons: Elon Musk, Musk, Mark, ” Sarah Oh, Alphonzo Terrell, Zuckerberg, hasn’t, ” Zuckerberg, Terrell, “, ” Oh, Meta, ”, Jack Dorsey, Bluesky, Dorsey, Mastodon, It’s, Eugen Rochko, Cohost, reposts, don’t, Jae Kaplan, we’re Organizations: CNN, Twitter, Meta, San Francisco Bay Area, Cohost, “, Facebook Locations: San Francisco Bay

Threads is integrated into Instagram, giving it potential access to roughly two billion monthly active users. Threads isn’t available in the European Union, where privacy watchdogs have long been concerned with how Meta handles users’ information. Being big doesn’t run afoul of antitrust law. Leveraging them to enhance the quality of Threads would not in and of itself violate antitrust laws, Mr. Melamed said. “The Threads example shows that big tech companies can also be valuable entrants, bringing new competitive pressure,” Mr. Francis said.

Persons: Nancy Rose, DealBook, ” Ms, Rose, ”, Doug Melamed, Melamed, “, Daniel Francis, Mr, Francis, — Ephrat Livni Organizations: Federal Trade Commission, European Union, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Twitter, Stanford Law School, Justice Department, New York University, Competition Locations: ’

Has Zuckerberg invented a Twitter killer? Meta’s new social network had already racked up more than 10 million sign-ups within seven hours of its launch, and attracted celebrities and politicians like Oprah Winfrey and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York. But the presence of big-name advertisers such as Procter & Gamble and Ford points to the bigger commercial stakes in the fight between Mark Zuckerberg’s new platform and Elon Musk’s Twitter. Meta is billing Threads as a “friendly” forum, but the social media giant is gunning for the blue bird. Advertisers are watching closely, even if they can’t buy ads there yet.

Persons: Zuckerberg, Oprah Winfrey, Alexandria Ocasio, Ford, Mark Zuckerberg’s, gunning, ” Martin Sorrell, DealBook Organizations: Procter, Gamble, Elon, Twitter, Meta, S4 Capital Locations: Cortez, New York

☆ Mark Zuckerberg’s MMA trainer says he's ‘not sure’ the Meta CEO would beat Elon Musk in a cage fight
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk this week challenged Mark Zuckerberg to go head-to-head in a cage fight. "I'm not sure how the fight will play out," Zuckerberg's MMA trainer Khai Wu told Forbes. Mark Zuckerberg's mixed martial arts trainer is far from certain that the Meta CEO would win a fight with Elon Musk. Weighing in on Zuckerberg's planned showdown with the Tesla CEO, Wu told Forbes: "I just go and train. The billionaires this week appeared to agree to go head-to-head after Musk challenged Zuckerberg to a cage fight.

Persons: Elon, Mark Zuckerberg, Khai Wu, Forbes, Mark Zuckerberg's, Elon Musk, Joe Rogan, Zuckerberg's, Khai, Wu, Tesla, I'm, Musk, Zuckerberg, Dana White, haven't, Ashlee Vance Organizations: Morning, Meta, UFC

☆ Canada is calling Meta’s bluff
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

If Australia is any guide, Meta’s intended blackout will likely be short-lived. Meta has insisted it is unfair to expect the company to pay publishers when it drives traffic to their websites. Lawmakers are pushing for similar rules in Meta’s home state of California and in the U.S. Congress. Meta says it makes 40% of its revenue, which was $117 billion last year, in the U.S. and lists Australia and Canada among its most significant regions. If Canada calls Meta’s bluff, the tech giant may just as easily fold against Uncle Sam.

Persons: Meta, Mark Zuckerberg’s, Uncle Sam, Anita Ramaswamy, Jennifer Saba, Katrina Hamlin Organizations: YORK, Reuters, Facebook, Google, U.S . Congress, Meta, Twitter, Siemens, Telecom Italia, Vivendi, Intel, Thomson Locations: Canada, Australia, California, U.S

☆ Opinion: Apple Vision Pro augmented reality could change the world
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Opinion Rizwan Virk | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —It’s not surprising that Apple’s debut Monday of its $3,499 Vision Pro headset integrating virtual and augmented reality was greeted with mixed reactions, including skepticism, criticism and even lampooning. Each previous incarnation of a headset that immerses the wearer in a virtual world (called virtual reality, or VR) or lets wearers see their surroundings with virtual objects overlaid on them (augmented reality, or AR) started with overhyped expectations only to flame out. I am also doing my doctoral research on the history of virtual and augmented reality (known together as “extended reality”). These apps will be available to Vision Pro users as well. It’ll do anything your Mac or iPhone can do — and more.”And that’s why I believe that over time Apple’s Vision Pro will actually make science fiction scenarios of ubiquitous computing a reality.

Persons: Rizwan Virk, CNN — It’s, Rizwan, Tom Cruise’s, ’, Mark Zuckerberg’s, Tiago Amorim, Adrees Latif, I’m, Cathy Hackl, Samantha Kelly, I’d, Bob Iger, Tim Cook, CNN’s Kelly, Ivan Sutherland, Apple, ”, Cook, “, you’ll, Tom Cruise Organizations: Labs, MIT, Physics, Eastern, Arizona State University’s College of Global Futures, Twitter, CNN, Meta, Google, Microsoft, HTC, Samsung, Sony, Reuters, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Apple, VR, Vision, Disney, Facebook Locations: Brazil, Manhattan , New York

☆ TikTok ban is the least palatable of options
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Jennifer Saba | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Montana is following a movement around the United States to try to keep Americans from using TikTok. That has consequences: The United States has never pulled a platform used by so many people to communicate. China, which before TikTok had never cracked the U.S. market with a successful social media network, is unlikely to let ByteDance part with TikTok. More recently the company had been working with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to ease concerns. TikTok users in the United States could still binge on short videos, but the company – and its rivals – would face tougher constraints.

☆ America’s Inflation Antihero Gets a Makeover
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Jeanna Smialek | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The years have not been kind to Arthur Burns, who led the Federal Reserve from 1970 to 1978 and is often remembered as perhaps the worst chair ever to head America’s central bank. Chris Hughes thinks he deserves another look. Mr. Hughes, 39, is a newly accepted doctoral student focused on central bank history at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Hughes then bought and for four years served as publisher of The New Republic, the liberal magazine. As a person who knows something about reinvention, Mr. Hughes thinks Mr. Burns should get one, too.

☆ Meta’s latest round of layoffs is underway
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Facebook parent Meta on Wednesday began its latest round of layoffs focusing on technical workers, who are often thought of as more immune to job cuts in Silicon Valley. Zuckerberg’s notice said that restructurings and layoffs in Meta’s tech groups would take place in April. Members of Meta’s recruiting team were notified of additional layoffs last month, and cuts to the company’s business groups are expected to take place in late May. The 10,000 job reductions mark the second recent round of significant job cuts at Meta. With 11,000 job cuts announced in November and the 10,000 announced last month, Meta’s headcount will fall to around 66,000 — a total reduction of about 25%.

☆ Meta opens up its Horizon Worlds VR app to teens for the first time, prompting outcries from US lawmakers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Washington CNN —Meta is forging ahead with plans to let teenagers onto its virtual reality app, Horizon Worlds, despite objections from lawmakers and civil society groups that the technology could have possible unintended consequences for mental health. On Tuesday, the social media giant said children as young as 13 in Canada and the United States will gain access to Horizon Worlds for the first time in the coming weeks. Zuckerberg has pushed to spend billions developing VR hardware and software, even as Meta has scaled back significantly in other parts of its business. “Meta is despicably attempting to lure young teens to Horizon Worlds in an attempt to boost its failing platform,” said Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who last month, along with Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Ed Markey, urged Zuckerberg to reconsider letting teens use the app. Lawmakers have previously raised alarms about the impact of some of Meta’s other products, including Instagram, on younger users.

☆ Social Media Platforms Are Asking Users for Money. They Probably Don’t Mean You.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Laura Forman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Social-media companies are finally asking users to pay up. As of last month, the option to pay for Facebook’s new subscription service will run you nearly $12 a month in some countries despite co-founder Mark Zuckerberg’s 2010 declaration that his social-media network will always be free. Facebook parent Meta Platforms is also rolling out an optional subscription service for its photo sharing app, Instagram. Snap Inc. has added a subscription service for Snapchat. Elon Musk’s Twitter, bleeding cash, recently upgraded its legacy subscription service, Blue, and LinkedIn has had subscription offerings for well over 15 years.

☆ Nonconsensual deepfake porn puts AI in spotlight
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Donie O'Sullivan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

chatbot that can answer questions and write prose, is a reminder of how powerful this kind of technology can be. Deepfakes have been used to put women’s faces, without their consent, into often aggressive pornographic videos. It’s a depraved AI spin on the humiliating practice of revenge porn, with deepfake videos appearing so real it can be hard for female victims to deny it isn’t really them. Amid the fallout, the Twitch streamer “Sweet Anita” realized deepfake depictions of her in pornographic videos exist online. Twitch streamer "Sweet Anita" during her interview with CNN.

☆ Being ready for anything is top priority for 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Peter Thal Larsen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

In the past three years, the world has been rocked by a string of unexpected and epoch-defining events. Anyone trying to think about what 2023 will bring is confronted by a staggering array of possibilities. Watch whether the United Arab Emirates, which hosts the COP28 climate conference in November 2023, distances itself from the OPEC oil cartel. Encumbered by lower stock prices and pricier financing, merger activity will remain subdued in 2023. Follow @peter_tl on Twitterloading(This is a Breakingviews prediction for 2023.

☆ The ghost of Instagram haunts Microsoft’s future
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Jennifer Saba | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The FTC’s leader Lina Khan might be making up for regulators who waved through Mark Zuckerberg’s $1 billion purchase of Instagram. Though Microsoft’s deal is different, punishment under Khan’s regime seemed inevitable. Microsoft could try to corner the market by forcing consumers to not only buy the Activision games from Microsoft, but the platform as well. Microsoft’s rationale for buying Activision is to better compete in the gaming market against the likes of Tencent (0700.HK) and others. Streaming is the future, and in that way, Microsoft could easily be sidelined in the business if it doesn’t innovate.

☆ Released Twitter emails show how employees debated how to handle 2020 New York Post Hunter Biden story
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

It showed employees on Twitter’s legal, policy and communications teams debating – and at times disagreeing – over whether to restrict the article under the company’s hacked materials policy, weeks before the 2020 election, where Joe Biden, Hunter Biden’s father, ran against then-President Donald Trump. The Taibbi posts undercut a top claim by Musk and Republicans, who have accused the FBI of leaning on social media companies to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop stories. The tweet thread also highlighted how officials from both political parties routinely wrote to Twitter asking for specific tweets to be removed. A CNN review of those tweets on an archive site showed some purported photos of Hunter Biden, including nudity, that may have violated Twitter policy. He also did not say that Democrats requested that Twitter suppress the Post story, and his account did not suggest that the US government had ever pressured Twitter to suppress the story.

☆ Twitter gives big advertisers the excuse they need
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, Nov 11 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk is making it too easy to hit the pause on ad spending. loadingSocial media companies are no stranger to ad boycotts. That’s because Facebook and Instagram rely more on small business advertising, which is a diverse scattered group. Twitter reaps almost all its revenue from big brands, and those big advertisers are already looking for an excuse to put the brakes on spending. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

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