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☆ Australia plans to ban social media for under 16s — and experts have called it a ‘momentous step’
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-13 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Australia's government has proposed a social media ban for children under the age of 16 which experts have described as a "momentous step," as parents globally call for greater regulation of tech companies. Other platforms have sought to address the harm social media can do to young peoples' mental health, with Meta's Instagram launching "Teen Accounts" in September. Zach Rausch, an NYU Stern School of Business research scientist and lead researcher on No.1 New York Times bestselling book "The Anxious Generation," said Australia's legislation was a "momentous step" and will make Australia a "global leader in protecting kids online." The Australian law would see social media platforms held entirely responsible for preventing access to children. Children who breach the law and their parents will not face any penalties.

Persons: Anthony Albanese, Meta's Instagram, Bytedance's TikTok, Elon Musk's X, Dany Elachi, Elachi, …, TikTok, Meta's, Zach Rausch Organizations: Australian, Facebook, Up Alliance, CNBC, Big Tech, NYU Stern School of Business, New York Times Locations: Australian

☆ Stocks to play China's shopping festival — even if consumers spend less
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-03 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

As China's biggest shopping festival of the year gets underway, analysts are starting to favor Chinese logistics companies as a way to play the online shopping trend. The JPMorgan report initiated coverage of U.S.-listed ZTO Express , which the analysts said is China's largest express parcel player with more than 20% of the market. ZTO YTD mountain ZTO Express shares in the U.S. in 2024. Morgan Stanley is less bullish, rating J & T equal-weight while citing competitive risks in China and potential challenges in Southeast Asia. "Cuts on overseas profitability outlook has weakened our investment thesis," the Morgan Stanley analysts said.

Persons: JD.com, Morgan Stanley, ZTO, Morgan Stanley's, Nomura, Jet Li, Li, Michael Bloom Organizations: JPMorgan, YTO Express, STO Express, Yunda, T Global Express Ltd, ZTO's, ZTO Express, J, T Global Express, HK, Nomura, Hong Kong, Hong, CNBC Locations: Hong Kong, U.S, China, Southeast Asia, T Global Express Hong Kong

☆ EU threatens to suspend TikTok Lite’s money-for-views program over addiction fears
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-22 | by ( Sam Meredith | In Samuelmeredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

This photograph taken on April 11, 2024, in Paris, shows the logo of the Chinese social network application TikTok Lite displayed in Apple's App Store. Users aged 18 or older can "collect points by discovering new content or completing certain actions," the social network said. The European Union on Monday opened proceedings against ByteDance's TikTok and threatened to suspend its newly launched TikTok Lite rewards program, where users can earn points for liking content or inviting friends to the app. The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, said TikTok had 24 hours to provide a risk assessment report for TikTok Lite or face fines. Children are thought to be at risk given the suspected absence of effective age verification mechanisms on TikTok, the EU said.

Persons: ByteDance's TikTok, TikTok, Margrethe Vestager Organizations: European Union, European Commission, TikTok, CNBC, EU, Digital Services Locations: Paris, France, Spain, EU

☆ Here's the state of the AI trade after a great first-quarter run for many of our portfolio stocks
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-01 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

As the second quarter begins, we're taking stock of the AI trade. Microsoft leads There's no denying Microsoft's execution, which paved the way for generative AI to go mainstream and the company to then make money from the emerging technology. Alphabet may have messed up by letting Microsoft leap ahead on generative AI, but the company has years of experience in artificial intelligence research. That alone should tell you just how big these companies are betting that generative AI will indeed be transformative — on par with smartphones or the internet itself. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio.

Persons: Jefferies, There's, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Siri can't, Claude, Claude 3, That's, Meta, Jim Cramer's, Jim Cramer, Jim, Peter Dasilva Organizations: Microsoft, Jefferies, Google, Apple, Developers Conference, Amazon, CNBC, Olympus, Facebook Locations: Siri, U.S, Meta, Mountain View , California

Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is building an investor group to acquire ByteDance's TikTok, as a bipartisan piece of legislation winding its way through Congress threatens its continued existence in the U.S. "It's a great business and I'm going to put together a group to buy TikTok." There's no way that the Chinese would ever let a U.S. company own something like this in China," Mnuchin said. Last week, Mnuchin's Liberty Strategic Capital was a lead investor in a $1 billion capital raise to stabilize New York Community Bancorp. That administration also took an antagonistic stance toward TikTok, which ultimately resulted in ByteDance striking a data partnership with Oracle .

Persons: Steven Mnuchin, ByteDance's, ByteDance, Mnuchin, CNBC's, Masa, Joe Biden, Peter Thiel, Vinod Khosla, Keith Rabois, TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, Wang Wenbin, Bobby Kotick, Donald Trump, Trump Organizations: U.S, Liberty Strategic Capital, Vision Fund, Senate, Lawmakers, China Foreign Ministry, Financial Times, Street, Activision, Community Bancorp, Oracle Locations: Liberty, ByteDance, U.S, China, TikTok, New

Signage for Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. covers the front facade of the New York Stock Exchange November 11, 2015. Cloud competition from HuaweiAlibaba has been an industry leader in the cloud business. Alibaba in November blamed U.S. restrictions on chip sales to China for the decision to pull the cloud IPO. Alibaba said its cloud business revenue grew by just 2% year on year in the quarter ended Sept. 30. Those resellers were other companies that had acted as distributors or agents for Alibaba cloud and received commissions.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, It's, Alibaba, hasn't, they're, Duncan Clark, Clark, ”, Jack Ma, Brian Wong, Eddie Wu, Trudy Dai, Daniel Zhang, Yi Zhang, —, Alibaba's, Canalys, BDA's Clark Organizations: Alibaba Group Holding, New York Stock, Reuters, BDA, Alibaba Group, Alibaba, Duncan Clark BDA, Huawei Alibaba, Huawei, Tencent, “ Global Locations: Reuters BEIJING, U.S, China, Beijing, Alibaba

EU flag and TikTok logo are seen in this illustration taken, June 2, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration//File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBRUSSELS, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Chinese conglomerate ByteDance's TikTok has asked Europe's second highest court to suspend its designation as a gatekeeper under onerous new EU tech rules until judges rule on its challenge against the label. TikTok last month challenged the EU decision at the Luxembourg-based General Court, saying its designation risks undermining the DMA goal of protecting gatekeepers from newer competitors like itself. "We have applied for interim measures," a spokesperson said. The bar for the court to approve interim measures is very high.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, TikTok, Europe's, Foo Yun Chee, Barbara Lewis Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Markets, Google, Apple, Microsoft, EU, Companies, Commission, Thomson Locations: Luxembourg

☆ Tech companies to sign agreement with UK government to tackle online fraud
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Eleven of the world's biggest tech companies, including Amazon.com (AMZN.O), Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google and Microsoft (MSFT.O), will sign an agreement with the British government on Thursday to step up their efforts to tackle online fraud, the interior ministry said. Under the "Online Fraud Charter," due to be signed at a meeting chaired by Interior Minister James Cleverly in London, the companies pledge to take further action to block and remove fraudulent content from their sites, the government said. "Fraud is now the most common crime in the UK, with online scammers targeting the most vulnerable in society," British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in a statement. "By joining forces with these tech giants we will continue to crack down on fraudsters, making sure they have nowhere to hide online." The British government says fraud accounts for around 40% of all crime in England and Wales, with data from industry body UK Finance showing almost 80% of all authorised push payment fraud originates online.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, James, ByteDance's, Rishi Sunak, Kylie MacLellan, Matthew Lewis Organizations: REUTERS, Google, Microsoft, Interior, eBay, Facebook, YouTube, Finance, Thomson Locations: London, England, Wales

The Singapore-based company has not determined the size of the deal or the valuation at IPO. The online fast-fashion retailer, which manufactures most of its merchandise in China, faces criticism that Uyghur forced labor is used to make its low-priced apparel and home goods. Earlier this year, the congresswoman led a bipartisan call for the SEC to halt Shein’s IPO until it verifies that the company does not use forced labor within its supply chain. Shein did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the company has previously told Reuters it has “zero tolerance for forced labor” and has no contract manufacturers in Xinjiang. Shein's IPO is "going to be raising issues (for the SEC) that may later be applied across the board to all China-based or China-related companies that are going public," Penick said.

Persons: Chen Lin, Shein confidentially, Shein, Jennifer Wexton, Megan Penick, Robinson, Penick, Republican Sen, Marco Rubio, ”, Rubio, Chris Smith, Smith, ByteDance's TikTok, Group's, Katherine Masters, Arriana, Michael Martina, Marguerita Choy Organizations: REUTERS, Bloomberg, Beijing, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Reuters, Reuters Graphics, Capitol Hill, Republican, Congressional, Commission, Oritain, U.S, Thomson Locations: Singapore, China, New York, U.S, Beijing, Washington, China's Xinjiang, Xinjiang, India

The Apple logo is shown atop an Apple store at a shopping mall in La Jolla, California, U.S., December 17, 2019. The tough new legislation targets 22 "gatekeeper" services, run by six tech companies - Microsoft (MSFT.O), Apple (AAPL.O), Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google, Amazon (AMZN.O), Meta and ByteDance's TikTok. While details of Apple's legal challenge have not been made public, Bloomberg News reported last week the company would challenge the inclusion of its App Store on the list of gatekeepers. Fellow tech giants Meta (META.O) and TikTok had already filed appeals disputing the Commission's decision to include their services. In its appeal, Meta said it disagreed with the Commission's decision to designate its Messenger and Marketplace services under the DMA.

Persons: Mike Blake, TikTok, Meta, Martin Coulter, Louise Heavens Organizations: REUTERS, European Commission, Justice, European Union, Microsoft, Apple, Google, Meta, Bloomberg News, Facebook, Thomson Locations: La Jolla , California, U.S, Europe

[1/2] EU flag and TikTok logo are seen in this illustration taken, June 2, 2023. Meta on Wednesday challenged the "gatekeeper" designations for its Messenger and Marketplace platforms, but did not appeal against the status for Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. The European Union in September picked 22 "gatekeeper" services, run by six tech companies - Microsoft (MSFT.O), Apple (AAPL.O), Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google, Amazon (AMZN.O), Meta and ByteDance's TikTok. The company said it was designated a gatekeeper based on its parent company, ByteDance's, global market capitalisation that us based primarily on the performance of business lines that do not even operate in Europe. Last month, China's ByteDance bought back shares from U.S. employees in a deal that valued the company at $223.5 billion.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, China's ByteDance, Supantha Mukherjee, Nick Zieminski Organizations: EU, REUTERS, Rights, Meta, Digital Markets, Facebook, European Union, Microsoft, Apple, Google, Economic, European Commission, Thomson Locations: Rights STOCKHOLM, Europe, Stockholm

The logo of Meta Platforms' business group is seen in Brussels, Belgium December 6, 2022. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSTOCKHOLM/BRUSSELS, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Meta (META.O) on Wednesday appealed against "gatekeeper" designations for its Messenger and Marketplace platforms, the first Big Tech company to challenge new European Union rules setting out dos and don'ts for the online services. Meta's Facebook, Instagram, Marketplace, and WhatsApp qualified as gatekeepers under the DMA, which was designed to level the playing field between Big Tech companies and smaller competitors. "This appeal seeks clarification on specific points of law regarding the designations of Messenger and Marketplace under the DMA," a spokesman said. Microsoft and Google have said they will not challenge DMA designations, while sources expect TikTok to file a challenge.

Persons: Yves Herman, WhatsApp, Microsoft's Bing, Supantha Mukherjee, Yun Chee, Emelia Sithole Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Big Tech, Union, Digital Markets, Facebook, European Commission, Microsoft, Apple, Google, Meta, Thomson Locations: Brussels, Belgium, Rights STOCKHOLM, BRUSSELS, Stockholm

☆ Sea posts surprise loss on hefty e-commerce investments, shares fall
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 14 (Reuters) - Singapore-based Sea (SE.N) reported a surprise third-quarter loss as the Southeast Asian tech giant prioritized growth over profits by pouring money into its e-commerce business, sending its shares more than 17% lower on Tuesday. The company also expects to boost investments, it said, ahead of the key holiday shopping season in the fourth quarter. Sea has spent heavily in what is called "e-commerce live streaming", where products are sold over live videos, a model popular in China. The company posted a loss of 26 cents per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, ending its streak of three straight profitable quarters. However, a global economic slowdown hit e-commerce and digital entertainment, forcing Sea to undertake hefty cost cuts including laying off thousands of employees.

Persons: Alibaba Group's, ByteDance's, Forrest Li, Chavi Mehta, Devika Organizations: HK, Thomson Locations: Singapore, China, Bengaluru

☆ Apple to file challenge over Digital Markets Act in EU court - Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Apple Inc. logo is seen hanging at the entrance to the Apple store on 5th Avenue in Manhattan, New York, U.S., October 16, 2019. Apple did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment, while the EU declined to comment. Even with the potential appeal, Apple will still be required to comply with the rules from March. Apple said in a filing this month it expects to make changes to the App Store as a result of the bloc's new rules. Reporting by Chandni Shah and Yuvraj Malik in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Arun KoyyurOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Mike Segar, Apple, Chandni Shah, Yuvraj Malik, Anil D'Silva, Arun Koyyur Organizations: Apple Inc, Apple, REUTERS, Bloomberg, Markets, EU Commission, Google, Digital Services, Thomson Locations: Manhattan , New York, U.S, EU's, Bengaluru

A logo of the Amazon fulfillment is seen outside the Amazon fulfillment center in Kent, Washington, U.S., October 24, 2018. Same-day delivery is now offered in at least 90 cities, free for Prime members while non-members pay $9.99. The retailer invested heavily in 2020 and 2021 in logistics to make same-day delivery, which it introduced in 2015, available in more places. Amazon packs its same-day delivery centers with its top 100,000 products. By comparison, analysts forecast Walmart will show a 1% decline in e-commerce revenue for the third quarter when it reports in November.

Persons: Lindsey Wasson, Arun Sundaram, Sarah Mathew, Mathew said, Mari Shor, Sundaram, Scott Devitt, Group's, Devitt, Arriana McLymore, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: REUTERS, Amazon, Reuters, Columbia Threadneedle, Walmart, Thomson Locations: Kent , Washington , U.S, Temu, New York

☆ Instagram linked to depression, anxiety, insomnia in kids - US states' lawsuit
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( Companies Need To Integrate Climate Reporting Across Functions To Comply With California S New Law | Henry Engler | October | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsCompanies Meta Platforms Inc FollowOct 24 (Reuters) - Dozens of U.S. states are suing Meta Platforms (META.O) and its Instagram unit, accusing them of contributing to a youth mental health crisis through the addictive nature of their social media platforms. "Research has shown that young people’s use of Meta's social media platforms is associated with depression, anxiety, insomnia, interference with education and daily life, and many other negative outcomes," the complaint said. The lawsuit is the latest in a string of legal actions against social media companies on behalf of children and teens. Meta deceptively denied publicly that its social media was harmful, the lawsuit said. Nine other states are expected to file similar lawsuits on Tuesday, bringing the total number of states suing to 42.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, ByteDance's, Meta, We’re, Jonathan Stempel, Diane Bartz, David Shepardson, Nate Raymond, Rod Nickel, Lisa Shumaker Organizations: REUTERS, Meta, YouTube, Menlo, Thomson Locations: Oakland , California, California, Illinois, , California, New York

In granting a preliminary injunction, U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman in San Jose, California, said she was "keenly aware of the myriad harms that may befall children on the internet," but California's law swept too broadly. The law, known as California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act, was passed unanimously last September by the state legislature and signed by Governor Gavin Newsom. The law, modeled after a similar law in the United Kingdom, is scheduled to take effect next July 1. "We look forward to seeing the law permanently struck down and online speech and privacy fully protected," it said. The California case is NetChoice LLC v Bonta, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Beth Labson Freeman, Gavin Newsom, ByteDance's TikTok, NetChoice, Freeman, Rob Bonta, David Ezra, Jonathan Stempel, Peter Henderson, Leslie Adler Organizations: USA, REUTERS, Google, Facebook, District, Free Speech Coalition, Court, Northern District of, Thomson Locations: California, San Jose , California, United Kingdom, U.S, Austin , Texas, Texas, Northern District, Northern District of California, New York, San Francisco

☆ Sea sails recklessly into choppy e-commerce waters
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Singapore-based Sea Limited Chairman and CEO Forrest Li, speaks during an interview with CNBC following his company's IPO on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., October 20, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid Acquire Licensing RightsHONG KONG, Aug 16 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Sea's (SE.N) boss Forrest Li has picked a turbulent time to rock the boat. But Li's declaration on Tuesday that it's time to "ramp up" investments again risks wiping out the hard-earned investor goodwill. Despite Li's assurances that Sea will keep emphasising self-sufficiency and cost efficiencies, investors promptly erased some $10 billion, or 29%, in market value. In July, the latter injected $845 million into its Southeast Asian arm, signalling a price war may be on the horizon.

Persons: Forrest Li, Brendan McDermid, HONG KONG, Li, China's Alibaba, Robyn Mak, Exor’s Philips, Bain, BoE, Antony Currie, Thomas Shum Organizations: CNBC, New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Reuters, HK, Twitter, FC Barcelona’s, Messi, Thomson Locations: Singapore, New York, U.S, HONG, York

☆ China looks to limit children to two hours a day on their phones
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Josh Ye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Youngsters check mobile phones during a dinner time at a cafeteria in Shanghai, China September 3, 2021. Users aged 16 to 18 would be allowed two hours a day, children aged eight to 16 would get one hour while children under eight would be allowed just eight minutes. But the CAC said service providers should allow parents to opt out of the time limits for their youngsters. Xia Hailong, a lawyer at the Shanghai Shenlun law firm, said the rules would be a headache for the internet companies. The proposed rules come after signals from Beijing that a years-long regulatory crackdown on its technology industry has ended.

Persons: Aly, Hong Kong, Xia Hailong, ByteDance's, Josh Ye, Liz Lee, Jacqueline Wong, Robert Birsel Organizations: REUTERS, Cyberspace Administration of China, CAC, HK, Tencent Holdings, Authorities, Thomson Locations: Shanghai, China, Hong, Hong Kong, Beijing

☆ Hollywood strike may soon turn destructive for media stock investors, analysts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Alex Harring | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

"We're getting to a point of being very destructive to the entertainment ecosystem," said Rosenblatt Securities analyst Barton Crockett. Bazinet said to expect the walkout to last into the fourth quarter, which would mean a writers' strike lasting between around 150 and 240 days and an actors' strike in a range of 70 and 160 days. The strikes could cost the film and TV industry about $150 million per week, Citigroup's Bazinet wrote, using inflation-adjusted data from the 1980 actors' strike. "The lasting impacts are: [it] makes the streamers stronger and the traditional media companies weaker," Crockett said. JPMorgan analyst David Karnovsky downgraded movie theatre chain Cinemark shares to neutral from overweight earlier this week, citing the strike.

Persons: We're, Barton Crockett, Jason Bazinet, Bazinet, Douglas Mitchelson, Mitchelson, Goldman Sachs, Brett Feldman, Philip Cusick, Cusick, Goldman's Feldman, Citigroup's Bazinet, Rosenblatt's Crockett, Crockett, Feldman, Barbie, Oppenheimer, Stephen Laszczyk, David Karnovsky, Karnovsky, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Screen, – American Federation of Television, Radio Artists, Alliance, Television Producers, Writers Guild of America, Rosenblatt Securities, Media, AMC, Disney, Warner Bros, Discovery, Paramount, Netflix, UFC, Endeavor, WWE, SAG, Credit Suisse, JPMorgan, AMC Networks, WBD, Covid, Comcast, CNBC

☆ Chinese state media rebuke Mark Zuckerberg over reported plan to sell Quest headsets
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta Platforms Inc., speaks during the virtual Meta Connect event in New York, US, on Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022. for a virtual future. A Chinese state-controlled media outlet published a harsh critique of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday, accusing the billionaire of essentially "shooting himself in the foot" when it came to the Chinese markets. The editorial, translated from Mandarin, said that Zuckerberg's past criticisms of Chinese companies, including ByteDance's TikTok, essentially amount to self-sabotage of his efforts to sell in China. Zuckerberg has been a critic of both specific China-based companies and widespread Chinese corporate espionage. "I think it's well documented that the Chinese government steals technology from American companies," Zuckerberg testified before Congress in 2020.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Meta, Tencent, ByteDance's, Zuckerberg, Tim Cook, Elon Musk, Sen, Tom Cotton, Sundar Pichai, Apple's Cook, Pichai Organizations: Meta, Inc, Street Journal, Apple, Tesla, Google, Microsoft, Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security Locations: New York, Beijing, China

June 14 (Reuters) - Hundreds of social media moderators in Germany – who remove harmful content from platforms such as Facebook and TikTok – are calling on lawmakers to improve their working conditions, citing tough targets and mental health issues. Meta has faced mounting pressure over the working conditions of content moderators keeping its platform safe. In 2020, the firm paid a $52 million settlement to American content moderators suffering long-term mental health. "Without us, social media companies would collapse overnight," reads the petition, seen by Reuters. "Social media can never be safe until our own workplaces are safe and fair."

Persons: Germany –, Cengiz Haksöz, Haksöz, Meta, Martin Coulter, David Gregorio Our Organizations: Facebook, TELUS International, Digital, TELUS, Social, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Germany

☆ EU's Breton demands Meta act against online content targeting children
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, June 8 (Reuters) - EU industry chief Thierry Breton will meet Meta Platforms (META.O) Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg on June 23 and demand that he act immediately to tackle content targeting children, as Meta's voluntary child protection code seemed not to be working. Social media platforms such as Meta's Instagram, ByteDance's TikTok, Snap's (SNAP.N) Snapchat and Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) YouTube have stirred concerns among regulators and users over content targeted at young children. "#Meta’s voluntary code on child protection seems not to work," Breton said in a Twitter post. Breton said Meta would also have to demonstrate the measures it plans to take to comply with European Union online content rules known as the Digital Services Act (DSA) after Aug. 25 or face heavy sanctions. The DSA bans certain types of targeted advertisements on online platforms such as those meant for children or when they use special categories of personal data, such as ethnicity, political views and sexual orientation.

Persons: Thierry Breton, Mark Zuckerberg, ByteDance's, Breton, Meta, Foo Yun Chee, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: Meta, YouTube, EU, Reuters, Meta's, European Union, Digital Services, DSA, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, Menlo Park, California

☆ Chinese apps remain hugely popular in the U.S. despite efforts to ban TikTok
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +15 min

But while TikTok has been the one in the spotlight, other Chinese apps that present similar issues are also experiencing massive popularity in the U.S. Gorman said as the U.S. considers the threat posed by TikTok, it will also need to develop a framework for how to evaluate the relative risk of Chinese apps. But in the meantime, U.S. consumers continue to turn to Chinese apps. "And then of course, there's the early growth of Lemon8, which suggests that the appetite for Chinese apps in the U.S. is still growing." And some say the most effective long-term solution for curbing the use of Chinese apps may be fostering an environment for robust alternatives to grow.

☆ RESTRICT Act explained: proposed TikTok ban is 'a PATRIOT Act for the digital age,' some lawmakers say
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

The RESTRICT Act, a bill that could ban TikTok nationwide, was introduced in the Senate last month. GOP Senator JD Vance of Ohio called the bill proposal "a PATRIOT Act for the digital age." But the RESTRICT Act — touted as a way ban TikTok nationwide — would do far more than prevent users from accessing an app known for its viral dance routines and conspiracy theory videos. "This will directly improve our national security as well as safeguard Americans' personal information and our nation's vital intellectual property." Even those who support a TikTok ban, such as Senator JD Vance of Ohio, don't see the RESTRICT Act as an appropriate solution.

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