DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Facebook approved ads promoting violence in wake of Brazil riots, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Martin Coulter | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Ueslei MarcelinoLONDON, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Facebook approved a series of online ads promoting violence in Brazil, days after protesters ransacked government buildings, according to a new report. However, four days after the uprising, human rights organisation Global Witness found Facebook was still allowing ads containing death threats and other calls to violence on its platform. Using fake accounts, the group submitted 16 bogus ads to run on the platform, 14 of which were approved for publication. Global Witness said it withdrew the ads from Facebook before any other users could see them. “In the aftermath of the violence in Brasilia, Facebook said they were ‘actively monitoring’ the situation and removing content in violation of their policies.

☆ UK parliament considers recalling Amazon exec after lawmaker "unhappy" with testimony
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Martin Coulter | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

An Amazon spokesperson strongly denied the executive - European policy chief Brian Palmer - misled the committee. It cited legal filings related to U.S. court cases and testimony from workers at five warehouses in the UK. "We were extremely unhappy with his testimony," McDonald told Reuters. An Amazon spokesperson said that Amazon used CCTV cameras "to ensure the safety of employees and security of products". "To suggest that the use of these standard business practices amount to surveillance of employees is wrong," the Amazon spokesperson added.

☆ Facebook owner Meta removing content backing Brazil assault
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Supporters of Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro demonstrate against President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, in Brasilia, Brazil, January 8, 2023. REUTERS/Adriano MachadoSTOCKHOLM, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Facebook parent Meta (META.O) said on Monday it was removing content supporting or praising the weekend ransacking of Brazilian government buildings by anti-democratic demonstrators. "We are actively following the situation and will continue removing content that violates our policies." Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes has ordered social media platforms to block users spreading anti-democratic propaganda. During a demonstration by Trump supporters in January, 2021, social media companies were criticised for not doing enough.

"As counterintuitive as it may sound, this layoff left me in a really good position," the 24-year-old said. U.S. tech giants including Meta, Microsoft (MSFT.O), Twitter and Snap (SNAP.N) have purged more than 150,000 staff, according to Layoff.fyi, which tracks technology job losses. Day One Ventures, an early stage venture fund in San Francisco, launched a new initiative in November to fund startups founded by people who had been laid off from their tech jobs, touting the slogan "Funded, not Fired". Silicon Valley investor U.S. Venture Partners and Austrian VC firm Speedinvest have meanwhile earmarked a similar amount for newly founded companies. Fong told Reuters that experience in Big Tech firm gave founders a "strong brand that can be leveraged to meet investors, potential customers, and recruit team members".

☆ Internet providers warn against EU plans to make Big Tech cover telcos costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Martin Coulter | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, Jan 3 (Reuters) - A group representing internet service providers across Europe said on Tuesday that a proposal to make Big Tech companies pay towards telecom operators' network costs could create systemic weakness in critical infrastructure. In September, European Commission’s industry chief Thierry Breton said he would launch a consultation on so-called “fair share" payments in early 2023, before proposing legislation. Sanghani added that legislators should not prioritise "administrative rules [over] technical necessity or a high-quality internet" for those in Europe. Critics of the proposed SPNP (Sending Party Network Pays) model have warned the so-called "traffic tax" could lead content-driven platforms like Facebook and other social media platforms to route their services via ISPs (internet service providers) outside of the EU. This could have a knock-on effect for users in Europe, with platforms potentially compromising quality and security for the sake of avoiding fees.

☆ App store avalanche forecast as Apple bows to EU demands
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Martin Coulter | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The bloc's Digital Markets Act (DMA) will force Apple and fellow tech giant Google to provide space for third-party app stores on their respective iOS and Android devices. Ben Wood, CMO of industry analysis firm CCS Insight, said he expects "an avalanche of app stores" in the near future. "There's an emerging 'coalition of the willing', and all of them have a vested interest in no longer having to pay what they see as a tax to Apple," Wood told Reuters. Deals for exclusive content could drive competition in app stores in the same way as it has in the "streaming wars" between Netflix and challengers like Disney+ and Amazon Prime, Trezentos said, adding: "Netflix has content that HBO doesn't have ... App stores can be like that." "The biggest hurdle they are going to need to overcome is the consumer," Wood at CCS Insight said.

The phased rollout of its “EU data boundary” will apply to all of its core cloud services – Azure, Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365 and Power BI platform. Big businesses have become increasingly anxious about the international flow of customer data since the EU introduced the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in 2018, which protects user privacy. "The first phase will be customer data. And then as we move into the next phases, we will be moving logging data, service data and other kind of data into the boundary," she said. Microsoft has previously said it would challenge government requests for customer data, and that it would financially compensate any customer whose data it shared in breach of GDPR.

☆ Ericsson sees margin at lower end of target; pushes for cost cuts
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SummarySummary Companies Company to reach lower end of 15-18% EBITA range by 2024Accelerating cost cuts of 9 bln SEK by end of next yearSTOCKHOLM, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson (ERICb.ST) said on Thursday it would reach the lower end of its long-term target of a profit (EBITA) margin of 15-18% by 2024 as several of its more profitable markets show signs of slowing down. While U.S. and other markets are slowing down, Ericsson is hoping newer markets such as India would help it balance some of the lower demand for 5G equipment. The company is now accelerating plans to cut costs by 9 billion crowns ($880 million) by the end of 2023. While demand for 5G equipment has been strong, the early stages of rollouts tend to have lower margins, meaning telecom groups such as Ericsson and Finnish rival Nokia (NOKIA.HE) rely on patent royalties to boost profits. On Wednesday, Ericsson said U.S. regulators had extended its monitoring of the company for compliance following the 2019 settlement for one more year.

LONDON/STOCKHOLM, Dec 7 (Reuters) - The European tech industry saw $400 billion in value wiped out this year and an 18% decline in venture capital funding, according to a report from venture capital firm Atomico. "The European tech ecosystem is facing the most challenging macroeconomic environment since the global financial crisis," Tom Wehmeier, partner at Atomico, told Reuters. Venture capital funding in Europe was down to $85 billion for the year, based on data collected across 41 countries, an 18% decline from the $100 billion raised in 2021. In a survey of founders and investors on the continent, 77% said they were either as enthusiastic, or more so, about the future of the European tech industry than in 2021. "The financial markets have changed, and with that, the expectations of everyone working within the European tech industry need to evolve."

Google recently conducted an experiment in Europe where it sought to counter anti-refugee narratives online in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Like other countries, misinformation spreads rapidly across India, mostly through social media, creating political and religious tensions. Indian government officials have called on tech companies such as Google, Meta, and Twitter to take stronger action against the spread of fake news. Inflammatory messages have also spread via Meta's messaging service Whatsapp, which has more than 200 million users in India. The company's recent research on the subject suggested viewers were 5% more likely to identify misinformation after watching such videos.

☆ Man behind the iPod launches new cryptocurrency wallet
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Martin Coulter | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Tony Fadell, a well-known Silicon Valley executive known as the father of the iPod, on Tuesday unveiled his latest project - a hardware wallet used to store cryptocurrency offline. Now Fadell has teamed up with Ledger, the French technology firm, to design a new offline cryptocurrency wallet. Previous models released by Ledger, such as the Nano S and Nano S, have been shaped like USB memory sticks. Fadell's new design, the Ledger Stax, is a credit-card sized device featuring a curved spine and electronic-ink display. The Ledger Stax will sell for $279 online from early 2023.

☆ Spotify CEO renews attack on Apple after Musk's salvo
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

loadingEk tagged a number of sympathetic business leaders in his 21-tweet thread, including Musk, Microsoft president Brad Smith, and Proton founder Andy Yen. Spotify has previously submitted antitrust complaints against Apple in various countries, alleging the 30% charge has forced Spotify to "artificially inflate" its own prices. Tim Sweeney, the CEO of "Fortnite" maker Epic Games, tweeted on Wednesday that fighting Apple's "monopoly" was "an American issue transcending party politics". Musk is expected to talk with European Commissioner Thierry Breton via videocall on Wednesday afternoon, though the agenda was unknown. The pair previously met in Texas in May, ahead of Musk's $44 billion purchase of Twitter, where they signaled broad agreement on EU tech regulation policy.

Musk also suggested Apple had threatened to block Twitter from its app store, although he did not explain why. loadingSpotify has previously submitted antitrust complaints against the iPhone-maker in Europe, and Epic Games sued Apple in the United States in 2020. The European Commission has been investigating whether Apple's rules for app developers violate its rules after Spotify filed an antitrust case against Apple in 2019. "Apple continues to disadvantage competitors, and the impact is huge - on consumers, app developers, and now, authors and publishers. Apple, Twitter and Spotify did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

☆ Don't like Musk? Work for us! Tech firms woo ex-Twitter staff
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Martin Coulter | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

That's the pitch being used by talent-starved technology firms trying to lure thousands of former Twitter Inc employees laid off by the social media company under its new owner. Twitter has fired top executives and enforced steep job cuts with little warning following Musk's tumultuous takeover of the social media platform. Other big U.S. tech firms including Meta (META.O) and Amazon (AMZN.O) have also laid off thousands of staff in recent weeks due to the uncertain economic environment. But the public criticism of Musk highlights strong demand in parts of the industry for highly skilled digital workers. Mass job cuts and public resignations at Twitter have prompted worries the firm is shedding vital staff and fears the social media "town square" could face technical troubles.

In a private chat on Signal with about 50 Twitter staffers, nearly 40 said they had decided to leave, according to the former employee. A separate poll on Blind asked staffers to estimate what percentage of people would leave Twitter based on their perception. Blue hearts and salute emojis flooded Twitter and its internal chatrooms on Thursday, the second time in two weeks as Twitter employees said their goodbyes. By 6 p.m. Eastern, over two dozen Twitter employees across the United States and Europe had announced their departures in public Twitter posts reviewed by Reuters, though each resignation could not be independently verified. Early on Wednesday, Musk had emailed Twitter employees, saying: "Going forward, to build a breakthrough Twitter 2.0 and succeed in an increasingly competitive world, we will need to be extremely hardcore".

The U.S. congressional elections posed a fresh test for social media companies, which for years have struggled to balance free expression against amplifying potentially harmful commentary. Voices on the right sought on social media on Tuesday to falsely blame Democrats for voting glitches reported in some places. Common Cause also noted a "big slowdown" in Twitter's response time since Friday, when layoffs gutted many of the company's teams responsible for elevating credible information. Before Tuesday, both Musk and Twitter's head of safety and integrity Yoel Roth tweeted that the company would uphold and enforce its election integrity policies through the midterms. The falsehoods appeared to originate on messaging app Telegram before spreading to more mainstream social media services, according to Common Cause.

☆ Elon Musk's Twitter girds for surge in U.S. midterm election misinformation
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Katie Paul | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Nov 8 (Reuters) - Days after Twitter Inc fired half its staff and new owner Elon Musk tweeted a recommendation to vote for Republican candidates, election experts are anxiously bracing for a surge in online misinformation as Americans head to the polls on Tuesday. Researchers who study election misinformation say threats, offensive language and false rumors of election fraud have been circulating widely ahead of the U.S. midterm elections, which will determine control of Congress for the next two years. Musk tweeted last week that Twitter would uphold and enforce its election integrity policies, after meeting with activist groups that have pressured advertisers to pull their Twitter ads. Musk tweeted a link to Twitter's content rules on Monday that caused confusion because it appeared to leave out rules for misleading content. Asked if Twitter had stopped enforcing against misinformation, Roth later tweeted "no".

The groups said on Friday they are escalating their pressure and demanding brands pull their Twitter ads globally. Staff who worked in engineering, communications, product, content curation and machine learning ethics were among those impacted by the layoffs, according to tweets from Twitter staff. Shannon Raj Singh, an attorney who was Twitter's acting head of human rights, tweeted on Friday that the entire human rights team at the company had been cut. Musk tweeted that his team had made no changes to content moderation and done "everything we could" to appease the groups. Employees of Twitter Blue, the premium subscription service that Musk is bolstering, were also let go.

The company's content moderation team is expected to be a target of the cuts, tweets from Twitter employees suggested on Friday. Twitter employees vented their frustrations about the layoffs on the social network, using the hashtag #OneTeam. User Rachel Bonn tweeted: "Last Thursday in the SF (San Francisco) office, really the last day Twitter was Twitter. The company's office in Piccadilly Circus, London, appeared deserted on Friday, with no employees in sight. Employees told Reuters they were left to piece together information through media reports, private messaging groups and anonymous forums.

☆ Fictiv raised $100 million in funding backed by Bill Gates for on-demand manufacturing. See the 15-slide pitch deck that persuaded investors.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Martin Coulter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Supply-chain startup Fictiv recently raised $100 million in a Series E funding round. Insider got an exclusive look at the pitch deck Fictiv used to bring investors on board. Fictiv, a supply-chain-management startup, recently raised $100 million in a Series E funding round backed by Bill Gates and Accel. Activate Capital led the Series E round, with participation from new investors Angeleno Group, Cross Creek, and the Westly Group. Insider got an exclusive look at the pitch deck Fictiv used to bring investors on board.

Search resuls for: "Martin Coulter"

20 mentions found