Platform Executive

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Facebook denies fuelling polarization, launches tools to control feed Facebook will let its users customize their content feed and give them control over who can comment on their public posts, the social media giant has said. The company will also offer a Feed Filter Bar that would allow users to switch between algorithmic ranking of their feed or show content in the order it was posted. The changes come as the world's largest social network has been under fire for amplifying hate speech and misinformation globally across its platforms. Users can manage the comments for any public post by choosing from options such as anyone who can view the post can comment or only people and pages they tag, Facebook said in a post on its blog . Separately, Nick Clegg, VP of Global Affairs at Facebook and former Deputy Prime Minister of the UK, claimed in a Medium post that the company's ...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Oracle offers to move clients to cloud for free as it plays catch-up Oracle Corp has announced it will migrate companies' most complicated computer programs to its cloud for free as it tries to catch a new wave of potential cloud-computing clients by aiming to save them time and money. The pandemic prompted many businesses and governments to shift from in-house digital storage and computing to leased cloud servers from Amazon's AWS and other providers. A laggard in the cloud industry, Oracle is counting on its free support to persuade organizations that have not made a switch - or done so only partially - to opt for a move to its infrastructure. More than 100 customers have taken advantage of what Oracle is calling its Cloud Lift Services over the last six months, and the program is opening globally on Wednesday. "I'll be surprised if any customer says I don't...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: One billion for every chip-maker who ‘makes in India’ India is said to be offering more than $1 billion in cash to each semiconductor company that sets up manufacturing units in the country as it seeks to build on its smartphone assembly industry and strengthen its electronics supply chain, two officials said. Prime Minister Modi's 'Make in India' drive has helped to turn India into the world's second-biggest mobile manufacturer after China. New Delhi believes it is time for chip companies to set up in the country. "The government will give cash incentives of more than $1 billion to each company which will set up chip fabrication units," a senior government official told journalists at our partner news agency Reuters, declining to be named as he was not authorised to speak with media. "We're assuring them that the government will be a buyer and th...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: ByteDance says it is ‘bleeding’ due to India bank account freeze An Indian court has granted no relief to the developer of TikTok in a case where the company challenged the local tax authority's decision to block its Indian bank accounts, dealing a blow to its operations. Indian authorities in mid-March blocked ByteDance's bank accounts for alleged tax evasion, prompting the company to ask a court to quash the directive which it feared would hurt its operations. A two-judge bench at the High Court in Mumbai heard the plea of a ByteDance counsel who said the company was "bleeding" and needed funds to pay staff salaries and rent, but the court gave no relief. "I’m completely hanged. I need some oxygen to survive. All bank accounts are frozen. I have to pay salary to the staff," ByteDance's counsel Prakash Shah told the court, adding that four of the co...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Facebook to curb hate speech as Indian states go to polls Facebook Inc said it was taking steps to combat hate speech and misinformation in India as the world's biggest democracy started its months-long multi-phase elections in four big states. "We recognize that there are certain types of content, such as hate speech, that could lead to imminent, offline harm," the social networking giant said in a post to its blog . India is Facebook's biggest market by users. Its WhatsApp chat service is among the most popular in the country, counting around 500 million users alone. Facebook has been under fire globally for alleged lapses in controlling hate speech. In the US, the social media giant put a months-long freeze on political, electoral and social ads to crack down on misinformation and abuses around the November the 3rd presidential elections. In India, the company...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Google: ‘not up to us’ to dictate how news companies spend its $1 billion Google has reached licensing deals with over 600 news outlets around the world and is seeing a "huge increase" in users requesting more content from specific publications as part of a new program. The update comes as big internet service providers including Facebook have been locked in bitter disputes over fair compensation to publishers. Google is continuing to negotiate with additional publishers, including in the US, to spend $1 billion for what it calls News Showcase. The program through 2023 is Google's biggest effort to invest in an industry that blames tech giants for siphoning its advertising revenue. When combined, Facebook and Google have control over approximately half of the entirety of the digital advertising sector. Google is exercising little oversight over publishers' use of ...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: India blocks bank accounts of ByteDance, company mounts challenge Indian authorities have blocked at least two of ByteDance's bank accounts for alleged tax evasion, prompting it to ask a court to quash the directive that it fears will hit its operations, two sources with direct knowledge told journalists. ByteDance in January cut its Indian workforce after New Delhi decided to retain a ban on its popular video app TikTok, first prohibited last year following a border clash between India and China. China has repeatedly criticised India's move and said it suspected it was against WTO rules. ByteDance, which issued a statement contesting the Indian decision, has around 1,300 employees in India, most of whom service its overseas operations, including work on activities, such as content moderation. In mid-March, authorities ordered two of ByteDance India's bank accounts in ...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: FCC commissioner urges tougher steps on Chinese network equipment Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr has called for new steps to ensure Huawei and ZTE equipment is barred from US telecommunications networks and ensure no electronic devices produced with forced labour enter the US. The FCC last year adopted rules requiring US telecom carriers to remove and replace equipment produced by Huawei or ZTE if purchased using an $8.3 billion government fund, but carriers could still purchase equipment from the Chinese companies with private funds. Carr, a GOP politician, called for closing the "glaring loophole ... It makes no sense to allow that exact same equipment to get purchased and inserted into our communication network as long as federal dollars are not involved." Huawei said in a statement that "extending the FCC's evaluation and approval process to...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Facebook messaging service gets delayed Brazil nod for payments Brazil's central bank has cleared the way for Facebook-owned WhatsApp to let its users send each other funds using the Visa and Mastercard card networks, months after vetoing WhatsApp's initial attempt. When WhatsApp tried to launch the transfer service last June, the central bank said it could damage Brazil's existing payments system in terms of competition, efficiency and data privacy, adding that the service had failed to obtain the needed licenses. The regulatory friction was the latest setback for Facebook's effort to use its social media platforms to compete with banks and fintechs in allowing fast electronic funds transfers. The regulatory approval comes months after the central bank launched its own instant payments system in November, called Pix, which has since been widely adopted. After initi...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: GOP lawmakers press Big Tech for internal research on kids’ mental health Four GOP lawmakers in the US have requested Facebook, Twitter and Google turn over any studies they have done on how their services affect children's mental health. The request follows a joint hearing last week of two House Energy and Commerce subcommittees at which the companies' chief executives discussed their content moderation practices in the wake of the siege on the Capitol in January. Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the committee's ranking Republican, had asked the CEOs at the hearing whether their companies had conducted internal research concerning children's mental health. Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg said he believed the company had, while Twitter's Dorsey said he did not believe so. Google's CEO Sundar Pichai said the company consulted with outside experts and inv...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Ballot review in watershed Amazon union election stretches into Wednesday The National Labor Relations Board's review of ballots from Amazon.com's landmark union election in Alabama will continue on Wednesday, with momentum for future labor organizing at America's second-largest private employer hanging in the balance. Labor board staff have begun sifting through ballots sent to more than 5,800 workers at Amazon's Bessemer, Alabama-based warehouse, as part of a prolonged process expected to last days and spark legal challenges. Tuesday's non-public hearing concluded after 4:30 pm and is expected to resume at 8:30 a.m. local time on Wednesday. The public tallying of votes is still not expected to begin until later this week or next, after both Amazon and the union check the eligibility of ballots cast, said a person familiar with the process. Subsequent procedures ...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Google Maps to start directing drivers to ‘eco-friendly’ routes Google's Maps app will start directing drivers along routes estimated to generate the lowest carbon emissions based on traffic, slopes and other factors, the company has announced. Google said the feature would launch later this year in the US and eventually reach other countries as part of its commitment to help combat climate change through its services. Unless users opt out, the default route will be the "eco-friendly" one if comparable options take about the same time, Google said. When alternatives are significantly faster, Google will offer choices and let users compare estimated emissions. "What we are seeing is for around half of routes, we are able to find an option more eco-friendly with minimal or no time-cost trade-off," Russell Dicker, a director of product at Google, told reporters...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Japan government halts use of message app Line for sensitive information The Japanese government has decided to temporarily halt its use of messaging app Line, owned by SoftBank Corp's Z Holdings, to handle sensitive information, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said. The decision comes after domestic media reports this month that four engineers at a Line affiliate in Shanghai were allowed to access servers in Japan from 2018 that contained the names, telephone numbers and email addresses of users. Following the reports, a spokesman for Line, which has 186 million users worldwide, said the company has since blocked access to user data at the Chinese affiliate. "The government will halt the use of Line when handling sensitive information for now, and set up a task force swiftly, so that usage guidelines can be compiled soon," Kato told a regular news conference. ...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Visa moves to allow payment settlements using cryptocurrency Visa has said it will allow the use of the cryptocurrency USD Coin to settle transactions on its payment network, the latest sign of growing acceptance of digital currencies by the mainstream financial industry. The company told journalists at our partner news agency Reuters it had launched the pilot program with payment and crypto platform Crypto.com and plans to offer the option to more partners later this year. Bitcoin, the most popular crypto coin, jumped to a one-week high on the news, rising as much as 4.5% to $58,300 and heading back toward a record-high above $61,000 hit earlier this month. Visa Inc subsequently confirmed the news in a statement. The USD Coin (USDC) is a stablecoin cryptocurrency whose value is pegged directly to the US dollar. Visa's move comes as finance firms including BNY Mellon , BlackR...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Recovery strategy awaited for bug-ridden Cyberpunk 2077 game CD Projekt, the Polish studio behind one of the most anticipated and derided games of 2020, will have a lot of explaining to do when it updates investors on its strategy. Cyberpunk 2077, a futuristic role-playing game featuring Keanu Reeves, launched in December to scathing reviews amid reports of bugs. Analysts say it must present a credible plan to fix those problems and to start regaining the trust of gamers and investors. "(We expect) a sensible post-mortem of what went wrong in the CY77 development process and how the studio would prevent this from happening again with other games," Jefferies analyst Lyra Li said. The company, which has lost 50% of its market value since December, was unlikely to flag any new games in development and would instead focus on repairing the damage caused by Cyberpunk's botch...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Facebook, Google plan new undersea cables between Southeast Asia and America Facebook has said it planned two new undersea cables to connect Singapore, Indonesia and North America in a project with Google and regional telecommunication companies to boost internet connection capacity between the regions. "Named Echo and Bifrost, those will be the first two cables to go through a new diverse route crossing the Java Sea and they will increase overall subsea capacity in the trans-pacific by about 70%," Facebook Vice President of Network Investments, Kevin Salvadori, told journalists at our partner news agency Reuters. He declined to specify the size of the investment, but said it was "a very material investment for us in Southeast Asia." The cables, according to the executive, will be the first to directly connect North America to some of the main parts of Indonesia,...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Venezuela calls Facebook suspension of Maduro ‘digital totalitarianism’ Venezuela's government has accused Facebook Inc of "digital totalitarianism" after it froze President Nicolas Maduro's page for 30 days for violating its policies against spreading misinformation about COVID-19. Facebook told journalists at our partner news agency Reuters that it had also taken down a video in which Maduro promoted Carvativir, a Venezuelan-made remedy he claims, without evidence, can cure the disease. Facebook said it followed guidance from the WHO that there is currently no medication that can cure the virus. In a statement on Sunday, Venezuela's information ministry said Facebook was going after "content geared toward combating the pandemic" and described Carvativir as a retroviral of "national production and engineering." "We are witnessing a dig...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: German union calls four-day strike at Amazon sites ahead of Easter The trade union Verdi has called for workers at six Amazon sites in Germany to go on strike from Sunday evening for four days in the latest attempt to try to force the US e-commerce group to recognise collective bargaining agreements. Verdi said the strikes at Amazon's sites in Rheinberg, Werne, Koblenz, Leipzig and at two locations in Bad Hersfeld signalled an "unofficial start" to wage talks for the retail and mail order industry, which are due to begin in the next few weeks. "Amazon is making a mint in the coronavirus crisis. For this reason alone, wage evasion must be stopped there," said Verdi representative Orhan Akman. Verdi is demanding a pay increase of 4.5% for workers in the retail and mail order industry. "This must also be possible at Amazon this year," Akman said. Ama...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Amazon’s social media team bares its teeth in Washington Amazon.com's social media team bared its teeth this week to go after two big critics in Congress, namely Democrat Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Amazon first struck out Wednesday with tweets by Dave Clark, CEO of Amazon's worldwide consumer business, who criticized Sanders for pushing for a $15 minimum wage and supporting Amazon workers in Alabama who are considering unionizing. On Friday, the day that Sanders met with Amazon workers in Alabama, Amazon News tweeted that Sanders' home state of Vermont's minimum wage was $11.75. "Sanders would rather talk in Alabama than act in Vermont," the company tweeted. In his meeting, Sanders urged Amazon workers to vote for the union, "When you stand up and fight, you are taking on here not only one of the most powerful corporations in this co...