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☆ Facebook, Instagram Ban Ads Targeted at Teens Based on Gender
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Joseph De Avila | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is facing increasing regulatory pressure over its advertising policies. Meta Platforms Inc. is removing gender as an option for advertisers to target teens on Facebook and Instagram, part of a broader overhaul aimed at tightening the company’s advertising policy for young users. User activity on Facebook and Instagram will also no longer be used to tailor ads for teens, the company said in a blog post Tuesday. For example, engagement on certain Instagram posts or Facebook pages will no longer inform the types of ads that teens will see, the social-media company said.

☆ Factbox: FACTBOX Tech firms, Wall Street lead job cuts in Corporate America
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Jan 10 (Reuters) - Big Tech firms and Wall Street titans are leading a string of layoffs across corporate America as companies look to rein in costs to ride out the economic downturn. Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO.O):The networking and collaboration solutions company said it will undertake restructuring which could impact roughly 5% of its workforce. The effort will begin in the second quarter of the fiscal year 2023 and cost the company $600 million. HP Inc (HPQ.N):The computing devices maker said it expected to cut up to 6,000 jobs by the end of fiscal 2025. Consumer and retail companies:Beyond Meat Inc (BYND.O):The vegan meat maker said it plans to cut 200 jobs this year, with the layoffs expected to save about $39 million.

☆ GOP-Led House to Probe Alleged White House Collusion With Tech Giants
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( John D. Mckinnon | Ryan Tracy | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—Republicans in the House plan to scrutinize communications between the Biden administration and big technology and social-media companies to probe whether they amounted to the censorship of legitimate viewpoints on issues such as Covid-19 that ran counter to White House policy. House Republicans are expected as soon as Tuesday to launch the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. The panel is expected to seek to illuminate what some Republicans say have been efforts by the Biden administration to influence content hosted by companies such as Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. and Alphabet Inc., owner of YouTube and Google.

☆ Facebook Starts Effort to Boost Equity in Housing Ads
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Salvador Rodriguez | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Meta technology is designed to show housing ads to audiences that more closely reflect the eligible target audience for that advertisement. Meta Platforms Inc. said Monday that it has begun implementing technology designed to improve the equity of housing advertising displayed to Facebook users as part of a June settlement agreement with federal officials. The adoption of new online advertising practices was a crucial component of a settlement among the Justice Department, federal housing officials and Meta regarding housing discrimination charges against the tech company.

☆ Inside the turmoil at Cheddar News, where an editorial 'identity crisis' and misfired social media strategy divided the newsroom and drove staffers to the exits
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Reed Alexander | Elaine Low | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +21 min

16 insiders described unrest and discord partly fueled by the site's revamped social media strategy. Malaspina's plan was for Cheddar to look and feel like a social media platform and to position its stars as influencers. Concerns inside Cheddar intensified when Malaspina, a newcomer to journalism, refocused its coverage on social media content. Multiple segments and even an entire show — "Trending" at 7 p.m. — centered on social media trends and TikTok challenges. It's very troubling to think that news professionals would inflate or distort their social media followings.

NSO had argued that it is immune from being sued because it was acting as an agent for unidentified foreign governments when it installed the "Pegasus" spyware. "NSO's spyware has enabled cyberattacks targeting human rights activists, journalists and government officials," Meta said. In one notorious case, NSO spyware was used - allegedly by the Saudi government - to target the inner circle of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi shortly before he was murdered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. According to court papers, the accounts of 1,400 WhatsApp users were accessed using the Pegasus tracking software, secretly using their smartphones as surveillance devices. The U.S. government in November 2021 blacklisted NSO and Israel's Candiru, accusing them of providing spyware to governments that used it to "maliciously target" journalists, activists and others.

☆ Seattle public schools blame tech giants for social media harm in lawsuit
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The lawsuit says the companies' actions have been a substantial factor in causing a youth mental health crisis. Students with mental health issues perform worse, causing schools to take steps including training teachers to identify and address such symptoms, hire trained personnel, and create additional resources to warn students about the dangers of social media, the complaint said. In 2021, U.S. lawmakers accused Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg of pushing for higher profits at the expense of children's mental health following testimony by whistleblower Frances Haugen. "We make money from ads, and advertisers consistently tell us they don't want their ads next to harmful or angry content. And I don't know any tech company that sets out to build products that make people angry or depressed."

After the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. said it wanted to scale back how much political content it showed users. The company went further than almost anyone knew. The results of the effort are gradually reshaping political discourse on the world’s biggest social-media platform, even though the company backed off the most aggressive approach: hitting the mute button on all recommendations of political content.

☆ It's too early to share Wall Street's renewed optimism for mega-cap tech stocks
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Some Wall Street analysts are starting to like Big Tech again, following the sector's beatdown in 2022. What Wall Street is saying Piper Sandler called out Club stocks Alphabet (GOOGL) and Amazon (AMZN) as top buys. As a result, Snapchat (SNAP) and Club name Meta Platforms (META) can now only track your activity outside of their own apps if you allow it. Piper analysts note that year-over-year comps for Amazon will be easier in 2023 than they were last year. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio.

The nonfarm payrolls rose by 223,000 jobs in December, data from the Labor Department showed, while a 0.3% rise in average earnings was smaller than expected and lower than the previous month. The numbers for November were revised to show nonfarm payrolls rose by 256,000 and average earnings grew by 0.4%. Another set of data showed U.S. services activity contracted for the first time in more than 2-1/2 years in December amid weakening demand, with more signs of inflation abating. Except healthcare stocks (.SPXHC), all the major S&P 500 indexes were in the green led by gains in energy shares (.SPNY). The S&P index recorded 13 new 52-week highs and five new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 45 new highs and 52 new lows.

In recent years, U.S. tech majors have stepped up hiring and made diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) a priority. But as the industry grapples with over-hiring since mid-2020, rising interest rates and changes in business and consumer behavior, tech companies have announced deep cuts, risking their diversity efforts. The rare shakeup in big tech companies risks further disrupting diversity pledges that have already grown stagnant as companies de-emphasize DEI efforts. Equal Employment Opportunity data for 2008-2016, found that about 7% of tech firms are actively trying to diversify their workforce. This will disrupt diversity efforts even further, said Benjamin Juarez, a recruiting consultant and co-founder of Latinos in Tech.

☆ Amazon layoff signals more pain for tech sector as recession fears mount
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 5 (Reuters) - The massive job cuts by Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O), one of the biggest private employers in the United States, show the wave of layoff sweeping through the tech sector could stretch into 2023 as companies rush to cut costs, analysts said on Thursday. The drop in demand amid a steep rise in borrowing costs has led several executives from the sector to admit they hired in excess during the COVID-19 crisis. "Some of us will remember 2000 to 2003 after a massive bubble fed by cheap money, high investor expectations and plentiful cash," said Mould. "Whether we see a repetition or not will be very interesting as there is a danger of that." Reporting by Nivedita Balu, Yuvraj Malik and Bansari Mayur Kamdar in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun KoyyurOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ WhatsApp announces new proxy support feature to bypass internet shutdowns
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A proxy server is an intermediary between users and web services and acts as a web filter that allow netizens to circumvent restrictions and censorship. WhatsApp said proxy support on the app is now officially available for users with the latest version. Users in countries such as Iran and Syria have used virtual private network (VPN) services to navigate around internet censorship. The messaging service said, "in case these shutdowns continue, we hope this solution helps people wherever there is a need for secure and reliable communication." WhatsApp "will do anything" within its technical capacity to keep the service accessible and that it was not blocking Iranian phone numbers, the messaging service had said in September.

☆ Meta Fined Over $400 Million in EU for Serving Ads Based on Online Activity
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Sam Schechner | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Meta said it disagrees with the ruling and plans to appeal it. A top European Union privacy regulator ruled that Meta Platforms Inc. can’t use its contracts with Facebook and Instagram users to justify sending them ads based on their online activity, delivering one of the bloc’s biggest blows yet to the digital-advertising industry. The ruling, announced Wednesday by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission, also imposed fines of 390 million euros, or $414 million, on Meta, saying that the company violated EU privacy laws by saying such ads are necessary to execute contracts with users.

☆ Meta Fined More Than $400 Million for Serving Ads Based on Online Activity
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Sam Schechner | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Meta, the parent of Instagram and Facebook, said it disagrees with the ruling and plans to appeal it. A top European Union privacy regulator ruled that Meta Platforms Inc. can’t use its contracts with Facebook and Instagram users to justify sending them ads based on their online activity, delivering one of the bloc’s biggest blows yet to the digital-advertising industry. The ruling, announced Wednesday by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission, also imposed fines of 390 million euros, or $411 million, on Meta, saying that the company violated EU privacy laws by saying such ads are necessary to execute contracts with users.

☆ Google and Meta’s Advertising Dominance Fades as TikTok, Streamers Emerge
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Patience Haggin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

For the first time in nearly a decade, the two largest players in online advertising are no longer raking in the majority of U.S. digital-ad dollars, a decline that industry insiders expect to continue in years to come. Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. accounted for a combined 48.4% of U.S. digital-ad spending in 2022, according to estimates from research firm Insider Intelligence Inc. Their combined U.S. market share hadn’t been under 50% since 2014, said Insider Intelligence, which expects that number to drop to 44.9% this year.

☆ Coinbase is paying a $50 million fine over allegations it fell behind on a mountain of internal warnings
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Coinbase is paying a $50 million fine after a New York agency found fault with its crypto platform. It will also invest $50 million into improving its own vetting of customers and transactions. Coinbase said it has taken "substantial measures" to improve its monitoring tech and protocols. The settlement, which the New York Department of Financial Services disclosed on Wednesday, includes a $50 million fine, and also calls for Coinbase to spend another $50 million on a monitoring plan overseen by the agency. Coinbase, a crypto exchange founded in 2012, has more than 100 million users on its platform.

☆ Factbox: Tech firms leading job cuts in Corporate America
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

Jan 9 (Reuters) - Big Tech firms are leading a string of layoffs across corporate America as companies look to rein in costs to ride out the economic downturn. Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O):The software giant laid off under 1,000 employees across several divisions in October, Axios reported, citing a source. However, Bloomberg later reported Twitter was reaching out to dozens of employees who lost their jobs, asking them to return. HP Inc (HPQ.N):The computing devices maker said it expected to cut up to 6,000 jobs by the end of fiscal 2025. CNN:Warner Bros Discovery-owned (WBD.O) CNN's top boss Chris Licht informed employees in an all-staff memo that job cuts were underway.

☆ Irish privacy regulator fines Meta more than $400 mln
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A security guard stands watch by the Meta sign outside the headquarters of Facebook parent company Meta Platforms Inc in Mountain View, California, U.S. November 9, 2022. REUTERS/Peter DaSilvaDUBLIN, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Ireland's data privacy regulator fined Meta (META.O) 390 million euros ($414 million) on Wednesday for breaches at its Facebook and Instagram services and said both must reassess the legal basis on how they run advertising based on personal data in the European Union. Ireland's Data Privacy Commissioner (DPC), which is the lead privacy regulator for many of the world's largest technology companies within the EU, directed Meta to bring its data processing operations into compliance within three months. The penalties brought the total fines levied against Meta to date by the DPC to 1.3 billion euros. The DPC said that as part of its decision, the EU's privacy watchdog had purported to direct the Irish regulator to conduct a fresh investigation that would span all of Facebook and Instagram's data processing operations.

☆ Amazon to lay off over 17,000 workers - WSJ
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 4 (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) is planning to lay off more than 17,000 workers, a higher number than the e-commerce giant initially planned, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. Some of the additional layoffs are from Amazon's corporate ranks, according to the WSJ report. The Seattle-based company began laying off staff in its devices division in November, with a source telling Reuters at the time that Amazon was targeting 10,000 job cuts. Amazon, America's second-largest private employer with more than 1.5 million workers including warehouse staff, has been bracing for likely slower growth as soaring inflation forces businesses and consumers to cut back spending. Reporting by Uday Sampath in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Sherry Jacob-PhillipsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Jan 4 (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc's (AMZN.O) layoffs will now stretch to more than 18,000 roles as part of a workforce reduction it previously disclosed, Chief Executive Andy Jassy said in a public staff note on Wednesday. The layoff decisions, which Amazon will communicate starting Jan. 18, will largely impact the company's e-commerce and human-resources organizations, he said. Amazon has more than 1.5 million workers including warehouse staff, making it America's second-largest private employer after Walmart Inc (WMT.N). It began letting staff go in November from its devices division, with a source telling Reuters at the time it was targeting 10,000 job cuts. In number, its layoffs now surpass the 11,000 job cuts at Facebook-parent Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) as well as reductions at other tech-industry peers.

☆ Meta fined more than $400 million by Irish regulator over EU privacy breaches
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta Platforms Inc., left, arrives at federal court in San Jose, California, US, on Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022. Facebook parent company Meta on Wednesday was slapped with a pair of fines totaling more than $400 million as the Irish privacy regulator concluded the company's advertising and data handling practices were in breach of EU privacy laws. Combined, the penalties amount to 390 million euros ($414 million). The fines mark the conclusion of two lengthy investigations into Meta by the Irish regulator, which had been criticized over delays in the process. Meta was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC Wednesday.

Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) fell nearly 10% as the electric-vehicle maker missed Wall Street estimates for quarterly deliveries. Other rate-sensitive technology and growth stocks such as Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O), Meta Platforms Inc (META.O), Microsoft (MSFT.O) and Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) were up between 0.6% and 2.0%. The S&P 500 shed 19.4% in 2022, marking a roughly $8 trillion decline in market cap, while the Nasdaq fell 33.1%, dragged down by growth stocks. The S&P index recorded no new 52-week high and one new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 73 new highs and 23 new lows. Reporting by Shubham Batra, Ankika Biswas and Amruta Khandekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak DasguptaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Google and Meta’s Advertising Dominance Fades as TikTok, Netflix Emerge
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Patience Haggin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

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