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☆ Facebook Threatens to Pull News From Platform if Congress Passes Bill Helping Publishers
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Alexandra Bruell | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Menlo Park, Calif-based Meta this year began telling publishers in the U.S. it wouldn’t continue to pay them to feature their content in Facebook’s news tab. Meta Platforms Inc. is threatening to remove news from Facebook in the U.S. if Congress passes legislation meant to help publishers team up to negotiate payments from tech companies, echoing similar warnings that the company has lobbed at various governments around the world. “If Congress passes an ill-considered journalism bill as part of national security legislation, we will be forced to consider removing news from our platform altogether rather than submit to government mandated negotiations that unfairly disregard any value we provide to news outlets through increased traffic and subscriptions,” Meta tweeted on Monday as part of a longer statement condemning the bill, known as the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act.

☆ 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.

☆ How China’s Biggest Protests in Decades Unfolded Over Five Days
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Facebook’s Top Posts Were Trash. Here’s What It Did to Fix Things. Earlier this year Facebook parent Meta quietly formed a team to deal with an uncomfortable reality: the most popular posts on its platform were trash. WSJ tech reporter Jeff Horwitz joins host Zoe Thomas to discuss the war room Meta convened to deal with the problem and why fixing it was so critical to the platform's future plans. Photo: Johanna Geron/Reuters

☆ Facebook’s Most Popular Posts Were Trash. Here Is How It Cleaned Up.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Jeff Horwitz | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Earlier this year, Meta Platforms Inc. quietly convened a war room of staffers to address a critical problem: virtually all of Facebook ’s top-ranked content was spammy, oversexualized or generally what the company classified as regrettable. Meta, Facebook’s parent company, had historically been reluctant to judge what goes viral on its platform, trusting its recommendation systems and users to surface the best content.

☆ Rivian’s founder had an early advantage with his electric truck. Now rivals GM and Ford are closing in
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Even now, as the company’s assembly lines have started churning out its electric vehicles, success still isn’t assured. The 39-year-old is running the car company he founded, building electric vehicles he helped engineer and design. A Rivian R1T pickup truck at the company's manufacturing facility in Normal, Illinois. Robert Joseph "RJ" Scaringe, Rivian's founder and CEO, said he had wanted to start a car company since he was a child. In 2021, Ford revealed the F-150 Lightning electric truck, which went into production this year.

☆ Rivian’s CEO created buzzy, outdoorsy EVs. Now big automakers are coming after it
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Even now, as the company’s assembly lines have started churning out its electric vehicles, success still isn’t assured. The 39-year-old is running the car company he founded, building electric vehicles he helped engineer and design. Jamie Kelter Davis/Bloomberg/Getty ImagesEver since he was a child growing up in Melbourne, Florida, Scaringe wanted to start his own car company. At the time, the idea of starting a car company seemed very farfetched. Robert Joseph "RJ" Scaringe, Rivian's founder and CEO, said he had wanted to start a car company since he was a child.

☆ Worried About Being Locked Out of Facebook or Instagram? Here Are Options
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Robert Mcmillan | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Locked out of Facebook or Instagram? It happens to a surprising number of people, often with maddening results. The reality, though, is that there aren’t many great options for getting an account restored once a user is locked out. Facebook’s parent company, Meta Platforms Inc., doesn’t have a customer-service line where any user can speak with representatives. The company, which has said it is committing to building out more customer-service options, advises people to use their guided tools, Facebook.com/hacked and Instagram.com/hacked, which ask a series of questions and then recommend various actions to secure the account.

The report found that the FBI and DHS continue to spend more on international terrorism, despite saying for years that domestic terrorism now poses a greater threat to Americans. The report said a change in how the FBI categorizes domestic terrorism ideologies has been a hindrance to understanding the problem. In 2017, FBI created a new category of domestic terrorism ideology called “Black Identity Extremists,” but then stopped using it. The report also criticized the FBI and DHS as having been conservative in hunting for threat intelligence posted publicly on social media. Research conducted by MIT’s Technology Review found that “users consistently migrate from milder to more extreme content” on YouTube.

☆ A guide to parental controls on social media
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

CNN Business —A little over a year ago, social media companies were put on notice for how they protect, or fail to protect, their youngest users. The four social networks have since introduced more tools and parental control options aimed at better protecting younger users. But some lawmakers, social media experts and psychologists say the new solutions are still limited, and more needs to be done. For now, guardians must learn how to use the parental controls while also being mindful that teens can often circumvent those tools. In addition to parental controls, the app restricts access to some features to younger users, such as Live and direct messaging.

☆ U.S. judge hearing FTC case against Facebook won't quash subpoena for Sequoia
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Reuters Staff | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

FILE PHOTO: Facebook app logo is seen in this illustration taken, August 22, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationWASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. judge hearing a big antitrust case against Meta’s Facebook declined on Thursday to quash a subpoena that the government had sent to Sequoia Capital seeking its analyses of Instagram and WhatsApp before they were acquired by Meta. The Federal Trade Commission, which has filed a lawsuit asking the judge to force Meta to sell Instagram and WhatsApp, had sought depositions of one current and one former Sequoia executive. The FTC filed a lawsuit in 2020 asking a court to undo then-Facebook’s acquisitions of Instagram for $1 billion in 2012 and WhatsApp for $19 billion in 2014. It said that the company acted illegally to maintain its social network monopoly.

☆ Oracle Hires Chief Legal Officer From Facebook’s Blockchain Project
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Mengqi Sun | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +2 min

Oracle Corp. said it has hired the former chief executive officer of Meta Platforms Inc.’s now-closed cryptocurrency project as its new legal chief, the company said Thursday. Stuart Levey until June served as the CEO of the Diem Association, Meta Platform’s cryptocurrency project, also formerly known as Libra. Mr. Levey joined the Diem Association in August 2020 after working at HSBC Holdings PLC for more than eight years, including serving as the bank’s chief legal officer and managing more than 900 lawyers. Between 2004 and 2011, Mr. Levey served as the U.S. Treasury Department’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, one of the agency’s top officials in charge of imposing sanctions and combating illicit finance. Representatives for Oracle declined to make Mr. Levey available for an interview.

☆ Analysis: Silicon Valley's greatest minds misread pandemic demand. Now their employees are paying for it.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN Business —In the early months of the pandemic, Facebook only grew bigger and more central to our lives. On Wednesday, however, Zuckerberg reversed course and laid off more than 11,000 employees, marking the most significant cuts in the company’s history. In a memo to staff, Zuckerberg coughed up some of the hardest words in the English language. The Federal Reserve maintained near-zero interest rates at the time, giving tech companies easier access to capital. And private and public market valuations for tech companies only seemed to go higher.

☆ Car buried in Silicon Valley in the '90s may have been put there for insurance fraud, police say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Phil-Helsel-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Phil Helsel | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

A Mercedes-Benz found buried in the backyard of a home in an affluent San Francisco-area community may have been put there for insurance fraud, Atherton police said Thursday. The 1991 500 SL car was found buried beneath 4 to 5 feet of earth as landscapers were doing a project at the home on Oct. 20. Law enforcement personnel investigate a car found buried in a San Francisco area backyard, on Oct. 21, 2022. “Detectives are still investigating this incident and it is believed the vehicle was possibly buried for insurance fraud purposes,” Atherton Police Chief Steven D. McCulley said in Thursday’s statement. Lew was convicted in 2000 of insurance fraud after he paid undercover agents $50,000 in cash and jewelry to sink his 56-foot yacht — worth $1.2 million, NBC Bay Area has reported.

One year and billions of dollars later, the so-called metaverse still feels years away, if it ever manifests at all. And Meta’s flagship social VR app Horizon Worlds can feel like a ghost town (albeit a ghost town with laser tag). Meta’s latest headset, the Quest Pro, is its first effort at combining the immersiveness of VR with the real world. The VR headset market is still tiny compared to, say, an established gadget market like console video games. A visitor to the 2022 Tokyo Game Show tests the Meta Quest 2 VR headset.

☆ Meta fined $24.7M for campaign finance disclosure violations
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

SEATTLE — A Washington state judge on Wednesday fined Facebook parent company Meta nearly $25 million for repeatedly and intentionally violating campaign finance disclosure law, in what is believed to be the largest campaign finance penalty in U.S. history. Where’s the corporate responsibility?”In 2018, following Ferguson’s first lawsuit, Facebook agreed to pay $238,000 and committed to transparency in campaign finance and political advertising. It subsequently said it would stop selling political ads in the state rather than comply with the requirements. “Meta was aware that its announced ‘ban’ would not, and did not, stop all such advertising from continuing to be displayed on its platform,” North wrote last month in finding that Meta violation’s were intentional. North fined Meta $30,000 for each of its 822 violations — about $24.7 million.

☆ Zuckerberg motivates supervoting stock resistance
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Jeffrey Goldfarb | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, Oct 27 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Mark Zuckerberg is providing fresh motivation for investors everywhere. If there was ever a time for shareholders to rally against the sort of dual-class structures that surrender control to entrepreneurs, Zuckerberg has provided the ammunition. At the time of the stock sale, Zuckerberg commanded 57% of the vote with just a 28% economic stake, subjugating other owners with supervoting shares that carry 10 votes apiece. Meta reckons its board is sufficiently independent to keep watch over Zuckerberg, despite his codified influence over it. Rejecting supervoting stock would be the best option.

☆ Meta shares drop 12% on weak fourth-quarter forecast and earnings miss
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | Jonathan Vanian Is A Technology Reporter For Cnbc.Com | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Meta shares plummeted in extended trading on Wednesday after Facebook’s parent issued a weak forecast for the fourth quarter and came up well short of Wall Street’s expectations for earnings. Meta is contending with a broad slowdown in online ad spending, challenges from Apple’s iOS privacy update and increased competition from TikTok. Add it up, and Meta is expected to post its third straight quarter of declining sales for the year. The company said revenue for the fourth quarter will be $30 billion to $32.5 billion. Meta earnings summary Earnings per share (EPS): $1.64 vs $1.89 expected, according to Refinitiv$1.64 vs $1.89 expected, according to Refinitiv Revenue : $27.71 billion vs. $27.38 billion expected, according to Refinitiv: $27.71 billion vs. $27.38 billion expected, according to Refinitiv Daily Active Users (DAUs) : 1.98 billion vs 1.98 billion expected, according to StreetAccount: 1.98 billion vs 1.98 billion expected, according to StreetAccount Monthly Active Users (MAUs) : 2.96 billion vs 2.94 billion expected, according to StreetAccount: 2.96 billion vs 2.94 billion expected, according to StreetAccount Average Revenue per User (ARPU): $9.41 vs. $9.83 expected, according to StreetAccountThe Facebook parent’s operating margin, or the profits left after accounting for costs to run the business, sank to 20% from 36% a year earlier.

A sprawling online propaganda campaign that pushes pro-China messaging has been trying to influence American voters, researchers say. Two companies that study large-scale online influence operations published research this week showing that a pro-China campaign was active and targeting the U.S. midterm elections as recently as this month. But such efforts show that pro-China influence operations targeting the West are experimenting with new tactics and are increasingly aimed at shaping American elections. The other report, from social media analytics firm Alethea, found 165 Twitter accounts that misled users about who they were and posted pro-China messages in English. “Speculating or accusing China of using social media to interfere in the US midterm elections is completely groundless and malicious speculation.

☆ Facebook’s rules ban promoting weapons. Some gun sellers are running ads anyway.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( David Ingram | David Ingram Covers Tech For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Gun retailers are running ads promoting firearms for sale on Facebook and Instagram, a tech industry watchdog said Wednesday in a report that shows apparent holes in how the apps enforce their own rules against ads that promote the use or sale of weapons. The company declined to comment on specific ads until it had seen the full report, which the Tech Transparency Project provided to NBC News ahead of releasing it. Tech Transparency ProjectMeta relies largely on automated systems to review ads, and it has some human reviewers. Tech Transparency ProjectGun ads have tripped up Facebook and Instagram for years, according to outside investigations. Facebook lets buyers and sellers violate its rules 10 times before they’re kicked off, The Washington Post reported in June.

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationOct 26 (Reuters) - Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) on Wednesday forecast a weak holiday quarter and significantly more losses from Metaverse investments next year, sending shares down 14%. Meta expects in 2023 to employ about the same number of employees as it did at the end of September. It also posted user growth figures roughly in line with expectations, including a year-over-year increase of monthly active users on flagship app Facebook. Total costs for the third quarter came in above estimates at $22.1 billion, compared with $18.6 billion the year prior. "Given revenues were down at a time when costs have grown significantly, modest user growth and impressions simply isn't going to bail you out."

☆ Alphabet properly preps its books for a downturn
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Jennifer Saba | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, Oct 25 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Alphabet (GOOGL.O) is better prepared than its ad-dependent rivals. The parent of Google reported on Tuesday third-quarter revenue growth slowed to 6% year-over-year to $69 billion, the worst performance since the pandemic. For the company run by Sundar Pichai, a looming downturn will be a little less painful. That shows up in Alphabet’s own results: Google’s search revenue for example rose 4%, while for YouTube, sales slipped 2%. Follow @jennifersaba on TwitterloadingCONTEXT NEWSAlphabet on Oct. 25 reported that third-quarter revenue increased 6% to $69 billion, missing analyst estimates according to Refinitiv.

☆ For widows on Facebook, updating relationship status is complicated
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

But on Facebook (FB), these changes come with additional complications due to the limited number of relationship status options available and the impact that changes to this status can have on whether a marriage is represented on the deceased’s Facebook (FB) memorial pages. “The relationship status is such a source of deep pain when a widow chooses to proceed with a new relationship,” she wrote in the letter. A separate Change.org petition started in September 2021 received nearly 20,000 signatures asking Facebook to retain the “widowed from” status permanently and allow users to create a new relationship status if they want. Facebook also allows users to change their relationship status to “widowed” and specify a partner’s name if a partner’s account has been memorialized. Sandberg lists Bernthal as her spouse on Facebook; Goldberg’s account is a memorial page, where it lists six former places of employment.

☆ First on CNN: Most people feel socially connected as Covid-19 precautions ease, but many still need support, survey finds
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Deidre Mcphillips | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

They found that most people around the world feel a sense of social connection as Covid-19 precautions ease, but many still need support or help from others – and the factors that drive feelings of connection vary by country. In-person connection still mattersEven amid a pandemic, in-person interaction was the most common method for social connection. The nonprofit consulting group is focused on building healthy and equitable communities but was not involved in the new survey. It might be easier to feel that sense of connection with an in-person connection, she said, but positive interactions and inclusivity are critical. Get CNN Health's weekly newsletter Sign up here to get The Results Are In with Dr. Sanjay Gupta every Tuesday from the CNN Health team.

☆ Landscapers find car buried decades ago in the yard of San Francisco Bay Area home
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Phil-Helsel-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Phil Helsel | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

A car was found buried Thursday in the yard of a home in the affluent town of Atherton in the San Francisco Bay Area, police said. Landscapers working in the yard discovered the car around 8:50 a.m. Cadaver dogs were brought in and “made a slight notification of possible human remains,” police said in a statement. No human remains have been found, Atherton police Commander Dan Larsen said late Thursday. Teams are working to excavate a vehicle that was found buried Thursday in the yard of a home in Atherton, California.

☆ Meta refuses to give up on campaign to disqualify FTC chair
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Alison Frankel | Thomson Reuters | Alison Frankel Has Covered High-Stakes Commercial Litigation As A Columnist For Reuters Since A Dartmouth College Graduate | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Her previous expressions of her policy views about alleged big tech monopolists, Boasberg said, did not require Khan’s recusal under the standard for federal prosecutors. (The petition and stay motion are not in the FTC docket but are exhibits in the preliminary injunction case.) We know this from an Oct. 6 letter from the FTC to Weil Gotshal in the administrative proceeding. Remember, Meta is not asking Davila to order Khan off either the preliminary injunction case or the administrative proceeding. We’ll know more about whether the stratagem accomplished anything when the preliminary injunction case goes to a hearing in December.

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