Platform Executive

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found here: Twitch launches tool to catch channel ban evaders Amazon.com Inc's live-streaming site, Twitch, is launching a tool to detect users who try to access channels where they have been banned, it has said. The new tool, called Suspicious User Detection, will flag "likely" or "possible" channel ban evaders so that creators and moderators of those channels can decide whether to take action. Twitch has been under pressure from users to combat abuses on its site, including targeted harassment and so-called hate raids where streamers' chats are flooded with harassing messages. The platform, which is popular with video gamers, said it was launching the tool in response to user feedback on the need for ways to better combat ban evaders. "It is addressing that core problem of targeted harassment," Alison Huffman, Twitch's director of product for community health, said i...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found here: Microsoft shareholders back proposal seeking report on harassment Microsoft Corp has said its shareholders had approved a proposal by Arjuna Capital, which sought a report from the software firm on the effectiveness of its policies to battle sexual harassment in the workplace. About 80% of the votes that were cast at the company's annual meeting were in favour of producing such a report, Microsoft said in a filing. Arjuna Capital is a Boston-based investment adviser and frequent filer of shareholder resolutions pressing companies for changes like disclosing more data on pay equity. Microsoft already internally shares annual data on the volume of sexual harassment concerns raised and the results of the investigations into them. It has now adopted plans to make that data public. The vote comes as big mutual fund firms increasingly support investor challenges to companies on environmental, social...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found here: New York accuses Amazon of backsliding over worker safety New York state's attorney general has asked a state judge to appoint a monitor to oversee worker safety at an Amazon.com Inc fulfilment centre in New York City, citing the retailer's alleged rollbacks of COVID-19 safety measures that were "already inadequate." Letitia James, the attorney general, also wants a court order requiring the rehiring of Christian Smalls, who Amazon fired for allegedly violating a paid quarantine by leading a March 2020 protest over conditions at the Staten Island facility. Amazon did not immediately respond to requests for comment. James, a Democrat running to become New York governor, sued Amazon in February in a New York state court in Manhattan over its safety protocols for thousands of workers at the Staten Island facility and a distribution centre in the New York City borough of Queens. She s...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found here: Tech regulation leads the agenda at UK G7 forum Governments, tech leaders and policymakers discussed working together to ensure the internet remains open and democratic, and to improve online safety by better regulation at a conference in London, a prominent British minister said. The two-day Future Tech Forum, which marked the end of Britain's G7 Digital and Tech Presidency, built on a declaration in April to create a more productive and resilient global economy with digital technology at its heart, Minister for Tech and the Digital Economy Chris Philp told journalists at our partner news agency Reuters. "The conference has been about setting the future agenda for the way we cooperate and collaborate on technology," he said in an interview on Tuesday. "It's been about how we can harness technology for good, around for example the challenges of climate change, around health c...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found here: Salesforce forecasts lower revenue as cloud competition heats up Salesforce.com has forecast first-quarter revenue below Wall Street's estimates, casting a shadow on an upbeat performance in the third quarter, and sending its shares down 6% in extended trading. The San Francisco, California-based company also picked insider Bret Taylor to co-lead the company alongside top boss Marc Benioff. Taylor was named the chairman of Twitter Inc's board on Monday. He will also be the vice chair of Salesforce's board, effective immediately, the company said. Salesforce, a bellwether in the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) sector, has seen a boost in demand due to the pandemic accelerating businesses' transition to cloud-based platforms. However, the company continues to face stiff competition from competitors including Microsoft Corp's Azure, Amazon.com Inc's Amazon Web Services...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found here: Lawsuit: Google failed to honour ‘don’t be evil’ pledge in firing engineers A group of former Google employees are suing the Alphabet Inc unit alleging that it breached their employment contracts by not honouring its famous motto "don't be evil." In the lawsuit filed in California state court in Santa Clara county, former Google employees Rebecca Rivers, Sophie Waldman and Paul Duke alleged that they were fired two years ago for fulfilling their contractual obligation to speak up if they saw Google violating its "don't be evil" pledge. Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company has said before that the employees violated data security policies. Their firings also have led to an ongoing National Labor Relations Board trial over whether the company engaged in unfair practices to stem growing worker organizing. Rank-and-file engineers and other...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found here: Who is Twitter’s new CEO Parag Agrawal? Twitter Inc has promoted company insider and technology head Parag Agrawal to replace Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey. The social media networking platform joins tech giants Apple, Amazon and Alphabet in tapping a company insider for the top job. Here are some facts about Agrawal: DECADE WITH TWITTER Agrawal joined Twitter as a software engineer and has been with the company for over a decade. He was appointed chief technology officer in October 2017. He oversaw Twitter's technical strategy and was responsible for improving the pace of software development, while advancing the use of machine learning across the company. PROJECT BLUESKY Since December 2019, Agrawal has also been working on Project Bluesky, an independent team of open source architects, engineers and designers to combat abusive and misleading information on Twitter. Bluesky is seek...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found here: Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey hands reins to technology chief Agrawal Twitter Inc CEO Jack Dorsey is stepping down from his role and CTO Parag Agrawal will now lead the company, the social networking platform has announced. The appointment of Agrawal, a 10-year veteran of Twitter , signalled a tacit endorsement by the board of a strategy the company previously laid out to double its annual revenue by 2023, even if investors were not so sure. Twitter shares surged nearly 10% after the announcement and closed down 2.7%. Dorsey, who co-founded Twitter in 2006, is leaving after overseeing the launch of new ways to create content through newsletters or audio conversations while simultaneously serving as CEO of his payments processing company Square Inc . He also navigated the tumultuous years of US President Trump's administration before banning the Republican from the platform after the Jan. 6 attack on ...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found here: Australia challenges Facebook to back anti-troll defamation law Facebook Inc will show it has no interest in making the online world safe if it quits Australia over laws holding it liable for defamation on its platform, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Monday. In the latest of several attempts to hold global internet companies to greater account for content on their platforms, Australia plans to make them share the identities of people with anonymous accounts if another person accuses them of defamation. If the social media company fails to give that information, it must assume legal liability. The proposed law would also make social media operators legally responsible for defamatory comments beneath publishers' posts on their platforms. Asked on TV station Nine News if he was worried Facebook might quit Australia over the new law, Morrison said doing that "would be an admission that ...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found here: News Short: FT suggests UK regulator set to block Meta’s Giphy deal The UK competition regulator is expected to block Meta Platforms' acquisition of online GIF platform Giphy in the coming days, the Financial Times reported on Monday . The Competition and Markets Authority is set to reverse the deal in what would be the first time the watchdog has reversed a Big Tech acquisition, the report said, citing individuals close to the matter. Meta Platforms and the regulator did not respond to requests for comment from journalists at our partner news agency Reuters sent outside working hours. The regulator had in October fined the US social media giant Facebook, now Meta , 50.5 million pound (approximately $67.35 million) for breaching an order that was imposed during an investigation into its purchase of the GIF platform, Giphy . Facebook bought Giphy, a website for making and sharing animated images,...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found here: Google makes pledges on browser cookies to appease UK regulator Google has pledged more restrictions on its use of data from its Chrome browser to address concerns raised by Britain's competition regulator about its plan to ban third-party cookies that advertisers use to track consumers. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has been investigating Google's plan to cut support for some cookies in Chrome - an initiative called the "Privacy Sandbox" - because it is worried it will impede competition in digital advertising. Google has said its users want more privacy when they are browsing the web, including not being tracked across sites. Other players in the $250 billion global digital ad sector, however, have said the loss of cookies in the world's most popular browser will limit their ability to collect information for personalising ads and make them more reliant on Goog...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found here: Amazon exec says Omicron’s impact on holiday spending uncertain A senior Amazon.com executive said it remains too early to predict how the Omicron coronavirus variant will impact consumer spending during the holiday season but suggested that shoppers will press ahead for now. "It’s very early in the process of understanding what’s happening with the new variant," said Dave Clark, chief executive of Amazon's worldwide consumer business, during a Sunday morning interview on CBS' "Face the Nation." Clark said he was "incredibly optimistic" about the ability of scientists and pharmaceutical companies that have developed effective vaccines to respond to the new variant while shoppers take stock of developments. "Consumers are going to wait and see in terms of what happens ... but are going to move on with their lives into this holiday season," Clark said. ...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found here: Australia to introduce new laws to force media platforms to unmask online trolls Australia will introduce legislation to make social media giants provide details of users who post defamatory comments, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said. The government has been looking at the extent of the responsibility of platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook , for defamatory material published on their sites and comes after the country's highest court ruled that publishers can be held liable for public comments on online forums. The ruling caused some news companies like CNN to deny Australians access to their Facebook pages. "The online world should not be a wild west where bots and bigots and trolls and others are anonymously going around and can harm people," Morrison said at a televised press briefing. "That is not what can happen in the real world, and there is no case for it to be...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found here: Chinese e-commerce platform Pinduoduo slumps after revenue miss US-listed shares of Pinduoduo plunged as much as 18% in early trading on Friday after the Chinese e-commerce platform missed quarterly revenue expectations as new coronavirus outbreaks hit consumer spending. Shares of Shanghai-based Pinduoduo Inc had already fallen nearly 54% this year as Chinese authorities clamped down on large tech companies to keep a check on monopolistic practices and protect personal data. Pinduoduo reported total revenue of 21.51 billion yuan (approximately $3.37 billion) for the third quarter, below analysts' average estimate of 26.59 billion yuan, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. New clusters of COVID-19 outbreaks in China have prompted consumers to become more cautious about spending. CEO Chen Lei said on an earnings call the company would focus more on investing in research and development. "...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found here: Beijing presses Didi to delist from US over data security fears Chinese regulators have pressed top executives of ride hailing giant Didi to devise a plan to delist from the NYSE due to concerns about data security, two people with knowledge of the matter told journalists. China's powerful Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) has asked the management to take the company off the U.S. bourse due to worries about leakage of sensitive data, said one of the people. It also wants the ride-hailing giant to promise it would solve the delisting issue within a certain period of time, said the person. The cyberspace regulator said, according to the person, the prerequisite for the relaunch of Didi's ride-hailing and other apps in China is that the company has to agree to delist from New York. Proposals under consideration include a straight-up privatisation or a second listing in Hong Kong followe...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found here: WhatsApp wins approval to double payments offering to 40 million users in India WhatsApp has won regulatory approval to double the number of users on its payments service in India to 40 million, a source with direct knowledge has told journalists. The company had requested that there should be no cap on users of its payment service in India. Instead, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) this week told the company it could double the user base to which it can offer its payment service - currently restricted to 20 million - the source said. WhatsApp is owned by Facebook, which recently changed its name to Meta. The source said the new cap would still hinder the company's growth prospects given that WhatsApp's messenger service has more than 500 million users in India, the company's biggest market. It was not clear when the new cap would come into effect. WhatsApp did not i...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found here: Cryptocurrency exchange Coinstore enters India despite pending curbs on trade Singapore-based virtual currency exchange Coinstore has begun operations in India at a time when the Indian government is preparing legislation to effectively bar most private cryptocurrencies. Coinstore has launched its web and app platform and plans branches in Bangalore, New Delhi and Mumbai which will act as its base in India for future expansion, its management said. "With nearly a quarter of our total active users coming from India, it made sense for us to expand into the market," Charles Tan, head of marketing at Coinstore told journalists at our partner news agency Reuters. Asked why Coinstore was launching India despite the pending clampdown on cryptocurrencies, Tan said: "There have been policy flip-flops but we hope things are going to be positive and we are optimistic that the Indian government w...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found here: EU countries agree on common stance on new rules for US tech giants EU countries have now agreed on a common position on new rules to curb the power of US tech giants and force them to do more to police their platforms for illegal content. However, they will have to iron out the final details with European Union bureaucrats and lawmakers, who have proposed tougher rules and higher fines. Frustrated by the slow pace of antitrust investigations, EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager has proposed two sets of rules known as the Digital Markets Act and the Digital Services Act targeting Amazon, Apple, Alphabet unit Google and Facebook. The DMA has a list of dos and don'ts for online gatekeepers - companies that control data and access to their platforms - reinforced by fines of up to 10% of global turnover. The Digital Services Act (DSA) forces the tech giants to do more to tackle illegal content ...