Facebook, Twitter to defend companies against charges of bias in elections

Facebook and Twitter executives plan to defend their companies in two congressional hearings, arguing they are aggressively trying to root out foreign actors who want to do the United States harm just weeks before the mid-term elections.

Twitter's CEO will also face angry Republicans who claim the companies have shown evidence of bias against conservatives.

In prepared testimony released ahead of a House hearing Wednesday afternoon, Jack Dorsey says his company does not use political ideology to make decisions.

Congress has sharply criticised the social media companies over the last year as it has become clear that they were at the forefront of Russia's interference in the 2016 elections and beyond.

That scrutiny has led to additional criticism over the companies' respect for user privacy and whether conservatives are being censored frustrations that are particularly heightened ahead of the mid-terms.

Beware Google, Facebook! Amazon sets sights on the $88 bn online ad market

Verizon doesn’t sell its mobile phones or wireless plans over Amazon. Nor does it offer Fios, its high-speed internet service. But Verizon does advertise on Amazon.

On Black Friday last year, when millions of online shoppers took to Amazon in search of deals, a Verizon ad for a Google Pixel 2 phone — buy one and get a second one half off — could be seen blazing across Amazon’s home page. And on July 16, what Amazon calls Prime Day, an event with special deals for its Prime customers, Verizon again ran a variety of ads and special offers for Amazon shoppers, like a mix-and-match unlimited service plan.

Amazon, which has already reshaped and dominated the online retail landscape, is quickly gathering momentum in a new, highly profitable arena: online advertising, where it is rapidly emerging as a major competitor to Google and Facebook.

The push by the giant online retailer means consumers — even Prime customers, who pay $119 a year for access to free shipping as well as streaming music, video and discounts — are likely to be confronted by ads in places where they didn’t exist before.

Fake news: Companies say top bosses may quit over persecution fears

The blow-hot-blow-cold relationship between the government and social media and technology-backed firms seems to have taken a turn for the worse. Some companies now fear exits of their India heads and senior management if the government goes ahead with its plans to carry out criminal proceedings against top bosses over spread of fake news via their platforms.

Apart from global technology giants Google and Facebook (which together have four to five social media platforms), Twitter, LinkedIn, smaller social media portals and payments apps with chat capabilities are planning to approach the government on putting back its plans of booking their top bosses.

While it has not been decided if they would form a common front, the public policy teams in these firms are getting ready for a long discussion with the government. “We are constantly in touch with government officials. We want them to know that we are taking steps to prevent spreading of fake news and such drastic actions are unnecessary,” said a senior public policy executive at one of the tech firms.

Facebook and Google chase a new trillion-dollar payments market in India

Surendrasingh Sucharia always has a few thousand rupees in his pocket, but can’t recall the last time he used cash. The 29-year-old product manager in Bangalore uses a string of smartphone apps including ones from Google and India’s Paytm to pay for everything from $40 bags of groceries to street food that costs pennies.

A bewildering array of digital payment businesses from global names like Facebook Inc.’s WhatsApp to Google are in a slugfest to win Indian users. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is acquiring a stake in the company behind payments leader Paytm.

Meanwhile, a string of other big-name players are also expanding in the country’s digital payments market including its banks, its postal service, and its richest man, Mukesh Ambani.

India saw a brief spurt in digital payments two years ago when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government banned most of the nation’s existing bank notes, although the spike petered out as new bills were printed. But over the past year, a string of new apps have made payments increasingly easy, and the discounts and cash bonuses they offer are proving irresistible to young, urban users like Sucharia.

Facebook, Google's digital advertising dominance crushing ad firms: Report

The dominance of Google and Facebook of digital advertising has led to the number of independent and smaller ad tech companies falling 21 per cent since 2013 to 185 in the second quarter of 2018, the media reported.

According to a report in The New York Times on Sunday, venture capital money going into ad-tech start-ups is falling sharply.

"Online advertising companies have struggled for several years as Google and Facebook solidified their grip on digital dollars, slowing revenue for the others," added the report, citing global marketing research firms including LUMA Partners.

While spending for online ads was more than $88 billion last year, over 90 per cent of that went to Google or Facebook.

"Amazon is also making inroads into advertising, with a new advertising arm, raising the possibility that it will become a top competitor," said the report.

The company generated $2.2 billion in revenue from its advertising business in the second quarter this year.

Fake news menace: You can share WhatsApp messages with only up to 5 people

In response to the government's crackdown on the circulation of fake news, especially using its platform, WhatsApp, the Facebook-owned instant messaging mobile app, has limit the number of people to whom you can forward a message to five.

The move follows several other steps with the same objective, such as issuing guidelines on how to identify forwarded messages and be a responsible user of the service.

The new feature would roll out as part of an app update from this week itself. The step came soon after the government asked WhatsApp and other social media platforms to take onus and help curb fake news circulation, which had been causing violence -- even lynching in some recent cases.

WhatsApp has also reportedly been testing more features to crack down on fake news on its platform. Recently, the company had started testing a feature in its beta app for Android in which the app recognises authenticity of the link and marks unusual links as ‘suspicious’.

Fake news crackdown: Govt seeks options to block Facebook and WhatsApp

In a bid to check the spread of fake news through social media and messaging platforms — leading to mob lynching in some cases — the government is exploring the possibility of blocking mobile applications such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and Telegram. The government is also trying to curb child abuse and pornography spread through these platforms.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had written to telecommunications service providers (TSPs) and internet service providers (ISPs) on July 18, seeking inputs about options for blocking mobile applications, especially when national security and public order are under threat.

According to officials, the DoT had a meeting on July 4 with telcos and ISPs to discuss measures. “Issues have been raised by the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) and law enforcement agencies for blocking of certain mobile apps... Therefore, you are requested to explore various possible options and confirm how the Instagram/ Facebook/WhatsApp/Telegram and such other mobile apps can be blocked on internet,” said the July 18 letter.

Curbing Facebook, Google's access to data may not affect their monopoly

Google’s recent record €4.3 billion (£3.9 billion) fine is the latest action in a growing movement to tackle the dominance of big tech firms. Until now, most attention has been on the impact of this dominance on privacy, for example, the recent Cambridge Analytica scandal that saw Facebook criticised for failing to tackle the unauthorised use of user data by a political campaigning firm. As a result, some analysts and commentators have called for users to be given more control over their information. But this is a serious mistake.

Google and Facebook make money from their monopoly of our attention, not their access to our personal data. Even if, starting tomorrow, they had no access to our personal data for the purposes of targeting ads, they would still be dominant and hugely profitable because they can advertise to so many people, just like TV networks once were.

US lawmakers demand Facebook to come clean over Chinese data sharing

Facebook Inc faced criticism on Wednesday from Republican and Democratic US lawmakers who demanded that the social media company be more forthcoming about data it has shared with four Chinese firms. 

The bipartisan criticism reflected rising frustration in Congress about how Facebook protects the privacy of the more than 2 billion people who use its services worldwide. The leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee accused Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg of failing to disclose the company’s agreements with the Chinese firms when he appeared before them in April and testified about Facebook’s sharing of users’ personal information with third parties.

Google steps into Facebook's turf with hyperlocal query app Neighbourly

Google is stepping into social networking giant Facebook’s territory with its new app called Neighbourly that will allow users to ask queries and get them answered by other users in their vicinity.

The internet giant on Thursday launched the beta version of the hyperlocal app for the users in Mumbai, and said it would take a call on rolling out in other cities based on the response the company receives. Available on Google Play Store, the app supports smartphones with Android Jelly bean and higher versions operating systems.

While Google has existing platforms like Search, Assist and Local Guides to cater to a number of different queries that users may have, the new app will be a standalone platform without integrating any of these services for the time being, said Josh Woodward, Group Product Manager at Google’s Next Billion Users team.

“Google Search got started by connecting people to information on the web. We found that most of life happens within one km radius of where you live, so we created an experience from the collective knowledge within the range,” said Woodward. Neighbourly lets people share their own expertise and keep up with their neighbourhood safely through multiple queries they can post and view on the app.

Facebook argues against company break-up, says 'we keep you safe'

Faced with new questions about whether it’s a monopoly, Facebook Inc. is making a bold argument: owning so many communications platforms helps keep users safe.

On Tuesday, the European Parliament asked Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg whether he should be allowed to own two of the world’s largest chat applications, Messenger and WhatsApp, in addition to the biggest social network and the photo app Instagram. The company answered Wednesday in an online post, saying there are “many consumer benefits” to having Facebook control so much of the world’s communication. “By working together we have been able to improve safety across all these services," the company wrote. When Facebook sees spam, exploitative images or illegal content, for example, it can obliterate it on all platforms at once.

European regulators may not buy the argument, especially since they spent some of Tuesday’s hearing critiquing Facebook for not being effective enough in its treatment of harmful content. Though Facebook is investing in computer-based solutions, the company still relies heavily on users to flag the worst offenders on its apps. Also, Facebook has shown it doesn’t necessarily have to own something to help keep it safe. The social network shares its tips on terrorist content with other companies, including Twitter Inc. and Google, through the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism, for example.

Microsoft bans cryptocurrency ads on Bing; calls it a risk for its users

After Facebook and Google, Microsoft has now banned advertisements showing cryptocurrencies and related products from its Bing search engine.

"Because cryptocurrency and related products are not regulated, we have found them to present a possible elevated risk to our users with the potential for bad actors to participate in predatory behaviours, or otherwise scam consumers," Melissa Alsoszatai-Petheo, Advertiser policy manager at Microsoft, said in a blog post on Wednesday.

"To help protect our users from this risk, we have made the decision to disallow advertising for cryptocurrency, its related products, and un-regulated binary options," she added.

Bing Ads will implement this change globally in June, with enforcement rolling out in late June to early July.

Google in March announced that it would ban advertisements for cryptocurrencies and other "speculative financial products" across its ad platforms.

Behind Seattle's Amazon Tax: A tech boom that sent house rents soaring

It was, as the local public radio station said, the day “Seattle Nice” died. On May 2, the residents of Seattle were hit with a one-two punch. For months, the city council had been debating a new tax on large employers to raise $75 million for new affordable housing and services for the homeless, whose growing population had burst out of shelters and into tents around the city.

In the late morning, just before a council hearing, a columnist for the Seattle Times broke the news that Amazon.com Inc., the city’s largest employer, was playing hardball. The typically hermetic company said it paused expansion plans for buildings that would house about 7,000 employees pending the outcome of the upcoming tax vote.

Later that night, hundreds of residents packed a Methodist church in the gentrifying Ballard neighbourhood, turning what was supposed to be a civil town hall discussion into a scrum that exposed deep division in the city.

Facebook suspends 200 apps over data misuse investigation

Facebook said today it has suspended "around 200" apps on its platform as part of an investigation into misuse of private user data.

The investigation was launched after revelations that political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica hijacked data on some 87 million Facebook users as it worked on Donald Trump's 2016 campaign.

"The investigation process is in full swing," said an online statement from Facebook product partnerships vice president Ime Archibong.

"We have large teams of internal and external experts working hard to investigate these apps as quickly as possible. To date thousands of apps have been investigated and around 200 have been suspended -- pending a thorough investigation into whether they did in fact misuse any data." Archibong added that "where we find evidence that these or other apps did misuse data, we will ban them and notify people via this website."

Modi beats Trump, Trudeau to become the most liked world leader on Facebook

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the most liked world leader and far ahead of others, including US President Donald Trump, when it comes to popularity on Facebook, according to a study which said 43.2 million people follow the Indian premier on the social media platform.

Trump, who rules the other social media platform Twitter, is in second place with 23.1 million followers, according to the study "World Leaders on Facebook" released today by Burson Cohn & Wolfe.

The study analyses the activity of 650 Facebook pages of heads of state and government and foreign ministers from January 1, 2017 using aggregate data from Facebook's Crowdtangle tool, it said in a statement.

Over the past 14 months, the Facebook page of Trump had by far the most interactions of any world leader on Facebook, with a total of 204.9 million interactions (defined as the total number of comments, likes and shares), almost twice as many as Modi with 113.6 million interactions, the study said.

Modi, 67, has always encouraged use of social media platforms to stay in touch with the public.

WhatsApp 'Restrict Group' feature allows admin to censor members' posts

Facebook-owned WhatsApp is rolling out its "Restrict Group" for all iOS, Android and Windows Phone users -- a feature that gives the group administrator powers to restrict other members from sending text messages, photographs, videos, GIFs, documents or voice messages in case the admin thinks so.

According to WABetaInfo, a popular fan site that tests new WhatsApp features early, you need to update your WhatsApp version to the 2.18.132 Android update in order to remotely receive the activation of the feature.

The "Restrict Group" feature, first spotted in last December, adds "Privacy settings" in the group.

"All participants can normally edit the group description, icon and subject, but finally the administrator can restrict this feature today, preventing no-administrators to modify the group description," the website said.

By leaving Facebook to play Frisbee, WhatsApp co-founder to lose $1 billion

Jan Koum’s exit from Facebook Inc. could prove costly. A speedy departure may prevent him from collecting as much as $1 billion in stock awards.

The chief executive officer of messaging unit WhatsApp confirmed in a Facebook post-Monday afternoon that he was leaving the company. The announcement comes before the final three vesting dates of restricted stock unit awards tied to Facebook’s $22 billion purchase of WhatsApp in 2014.

Koum, 42, got about 24.9 million restricted shares as part of the deal. The stock vests in increments until late 2018, with 1.9 million shares due to vest in mid-May and mid-August, plus a final tranche of 2.1 million set to be issued in November.

The awards are contingent on him still being employed through those dates. He would forfeit 5.8 million shares, worth $997.5 million as of Monday’s close, if he left before May 15, unless his exit is categorized as an involuntary termination or a good-reason resignation, regulatory filings show.

Facebook trying to weaken WhatsApp privacy? Co-founder Jan Koum quits

The co-founder of WhatsApp, a messaging service owned by Facebook Inc with more than 1 billion daily users, said on Monday he was leaving the company, in a loss of one of the strongest advocates for privacy inside Facebook.

Jan Koum's plan to exit comes after clashing with the parent company over WhatApp's strategy and Facebook's attempts to use its personal data and weaken its encryption, the Washington Post earlier reported, citing people familiar with the internal discussions.

"It's been almost a decade since Brian and I started WhatsApp, and it's been an amazing journey with some of the best people," Koum, WhatsApp's chief executive, said in a post on his Facebook page referring to co-founder Brian Acton.

"But it is time for me to move on." He did not give a date for his departure and could not immediately be reached for comment.

Acton left the messaging service company in September to start a foundation, after spending eight years with WhatsApp.

'Who is going to protect us from Facebook?': US lawmakers ask Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg was confronted Wednesday by lawmakers scoffing at his apologies over lapses in protecting user privacy and pledges to do better, with one member asking, “Who’s going to protect us from Facebook?”

The question by Representative Janice Schakowsky, an Illinois Democrat, was echoed by members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee from both parties as the founder of Facebook Inc. was questioned on Capitol Hill for a second consecutive day.

Representative Greg Walden of Oregon, the House panel’s Republican chairman, said Zuckerberg needed to account for “alarming reports of breaches of trust between your company -- one of the biggest and most powerful in the world -- and its users.”

While the criticism was bipartisan, members of the Democratic minority were more assertive in saying expanded government regulation is the answer.

Will ensure fair elections in India: Mark Zuckerberg at senate hearing

Testifying before US senators in the wake of Facebook's data breach scandal and foreign interference in election, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has told them that his company will do everything to ensure fair polling takes place in India and other countries.

"2018 is an important year for the whole world. Several countries like India, Pakistan will have elections. We'll do everything possible to ensure these elections are safe," Zuckerberg said in the joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary and Commerce Committees, at the Capitol Hill here.

Earlier, the CEO and founder of the world's most popular social networking website said he was "sorry" that Facebook did not take a "broad enough view" of the responsibility when their platform was being used for circulating fake news and was becoming a tool for foreign interference in elections.

The 33-year-old billionaire also expressed regret that his company was slow in identifying the Russian operations in 2016, which allegedly benefitted the then presidential candidate, Donald Trump, who is now USA's 45th president.