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EU to probe Apple, Meta, Alphabet under new digital law

The Commission said it intends to conclude the proceedings opened within 12 months…reports Asian Lite News

The European Commission has opened its first “non-compliance” investigations against Alphabet, Apple and Meta under the Digital Markets Act, a law that is designed to stop Big Tech companies from cornering digital markets.

In a statement on March 25, the commission, which is executive of the 27-nation European Union bloc said that it was investigating Alphabet’s rules on steering in Google Play and self-preferencing on Google Search, Apple’s rules on steering in the App Store and the choice screen for Safari and Meta’s “pay or consent model”.

In addition, the Commission has launched investigatory steps relating to Apple’s new fee structure for alternative app stores and Amazon’s ranking practices on its marketplace.

According to the European Commission, some large online platforms act as “gatekeepers” in digital markets and the Digital Markets Act aims to ensure that these platforms behave in a fair way online.

Together with the Digital Services Act, the Digital Markets Act is one of the centrepieces of the European digital strategy.

The European Union regulator had in September 2023 designated as gatekeepers six companies – Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta and Microsoft, covering 22 core platform services.

The law requires the gatekeepers – which provide services such as search engines, social networks and chat apps used by other businesses – to comply with guidance to ensure a level playing field for their rivals and to give users more choices.

In its statement, the commission said that it “suspects that the measures put in place by these gatekeepers fall short of effective compliance of their obligations under the DMA”.

The DMA act took effect on March 7.

The Commission said it intends to conclude the proceedings opened within 12 months.

In case of an infringement of rules, the Commission can impose fines up to 10 per cent of the company’s total worldwide turnover. Such fines can go up to 20 per cent in case of repeated infringement.

“The Digital Markets Act became applicable on March 7. We have been in discussions with gatekeepers for months to help them adapt, and we can already see changes happening on the market. But we are not convinced that the solutions by Alphabet, Apple and Meta respect their obligations for a fairer and more open digital space for European citizens and businesses. Should our investigation conclude that there is lack of full compliance with the DMA, gatekeepers could face heavy fines,” Thierry Breton, Commissioner for Internal Market said. (ANI)

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No More Facebook News, Meta Ceases Payments

In early April, the company will kill Facebook News, a dedicated tab for news content, in the US and Australia….reports Asian Lite News

Meta has announced not to enter into new commercial deals for traditional news content in Australia, France and Germany, and will not offer new Facebook products specifically for news publishers in the future.

In early April, the company will kill Facebook News, a dedicated tab for news content, in the US and Australia.

Facebook News was deprecated in the UK, France and Germany last year.

“People will still be able to view news on Facebook in feed in these countries, and publishers will continue to have access to their Facebook accounts and Pages, where they can post their news article links and content,” the company said in a statement.

This update does not impact the existing agreements the company has in relation to Facebook News with news publishers in Australia, France and Germany until they expire.

“This is part of an ongoing effort to better align our investments to our products and services people value the most,” Meta said.

The number of people using Facebook News in Australia and the US has dropped by over 80 per cent last year.

“As we previously shared in 2023, news makes up less than 3 per cent of what people around the world see in their Facebook feed, and is a small part of the Facebook experience for the vast majority of people,” said the company.

News organisations can still leverage products like Reels and ads system to reach broader audiences and drive people to their website, “where they keep 100 per cent of the revenue derived from outbound links on Facebook”.’

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Meta purged over 26mn bad pieces of content in India in Dec

On Instagram, the company received 19,750 reports through the Indian grievance mechanism…reports Asian Lite News

Meta said that it took down over 19.8 million pieces of content across 13 policies for Facebook and over 6.2 million pieces of content across 12 policies for Instagram in India in December 2023.

Between December 1-31, Facebook received 44,332 reports through the Indian grievance mechanism, and said that it provided tools for users to resolve their issues in 33,072 cases.

These include pre-established channels to report content for specific violations, self-remediation flows where they can download their data, avenues to address account hacked issues, etc, Meta said in its monthly report in compliance with the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

“Of the other 11,260 reports where specialised review was needed, we reviewed content as per our policies, and took action on 6,578 reports in total. The remaining 4,682 reports were reviewed but may not have been actioned,” Meta added.

On Instagram, the company received 19,750 reports through the Indian grievance mechanism.

“Of these, we provided tools for users to resolve their issues in 9,555 cases,” it said.

Of the other 10,195 reports where specialised review was needed, Meta reviewed content and took action on 6,028 reports in total. The remaining 4,167 reports were reviewed but may not have been actioned. Under the new IT Rules 2021, big digital and social media platforms, with more than 5 million users, have to publish monthly compliance reports.

“We measure the number of pieces of content (such as posts, photos, videos or comments) we take action on for going against our standards. Taking action could include removing a piece of content from Facebook or Instagram or covering photos or videos that may be disturbing to some audiences with a warning,” said Meta.

In the month of November, Meta took down over 18.3 million pieces of content across 13 policies for Facebook and over 4.7 million pieces of content across 12 policies for Instagram.

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Meta faces new EU complaint over ‘pay for privacy’ consent

The new complaint, filed with the Austrian data protection authority, alleged that Meta is breaching EU law by framing a choice that makes it very difficult for users to withdraw consent to its tracking ads than to agree…reports Asian Lite News

Privacy rights advocacy group noyb on Thursday filed a new complaint against Meta, alleging that the social media platform unlawfully ignores the users’ right to easily withdraw consent and asks them to pay.

Since the beginning of November, Instagram and Facebook users who don’t want to be tracked have to pay a “privacy fee” of up to 251.88 euros per year.

The new complaint, filed with the Austrian data protection authority, alleged that Meta is breaching EU law by framing a choice that makes it very difficult for users to withdraw consent to its tracking ads than to agree.

While one (free) click is enough to consent to being tracked, users can only withdraw their consent by going through the complicated process of switching to a paid subscription.

“This is illegal, as the GDPR clearly states that withdrawing your consent must be ‘as easy as’ giving it,” noyb said in its complaint.

In the complaint, noyb said that the Austrian authority should order Meta to bring its processing operations in compliance with European data protection law and to provide users with an easy way to withdraw their consent — without having to pay a fee.

In addition, the privacy rights group suggested that the authorities should impose a fine to prevent further violations of the GDPR.

It has been six months since the European Court of Justice (CJEU) ruled that Meta’s handling of user data was illegal.

“Yet the social media giant has launched its third attempt to circumvent European privacy laws. Instead of asking users for their consent, Meta is now charging people for choosing a privacy-friendly setting,” the complaint said.

The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) mentions monetary costs as an example of a burden that is incompatible with the principle of Article 7 GDPR in its guidelines, making it clear that Meta is making the withdrawal of consent not nearly as easy as to give consent.

“The law is clear, withdrawing consent must be as easy as giving it in the first place. It is painfully obvious that paying 251,88 euros per year to withdraw consent is not as easy as clicking an ‘Okay’ button to accept the tracking,” said Massimiliano Gelmi, data protection lawyer at noyb.

ALSO READ-ONDC, Meta Join Forces to Boost Indian SMEs

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ONDC, Meta Join Forces to Boost Indian SMEs

To kick off the partnership, over the next two years, five lakh MSMEs will also be digitally upskilled through the Meta Small Business Academy….reports Asian Lite News

ONDC and Meta on Tuesday partnered to enable small businesses in India build seamless conversational buyer and seller experiences on WhatsApp through an ecosystem of Meta’s business and technical solution providers.

Meanwhile, ONDC will help these business solution providers become seller apps, bringing the businesses they service onto the ONDC Network and helping them drive commerce.

To kick off the partnership, over the next two years, five lakh MSMEs will also be digitally upskilled through the Meta Small Business Academy.

“Our partnership with Meta will not only digitally upskill these businesses but will also enable them to connect with a customer base far and wide,” said T Koshy, MD & CEO of ONDC.

“We are confident that our collaborative efforts will pave the way for millions of small businesses by providing them with the right impetus for growth,” he added.

As per its commitment to upskill 10 million small businesses across the country, Meta Small Business Academy offers a certification to empower entrepreneurs and marketers to gain critical digital marketing skills to grow on the Meta apps.

Sandhya Devanathan, Vice President, Meta in India, said that India’s digital transformation story is unfolding at a revolutionary pace.

“Our partnership with ONDC builds on supporting the government’s vision for Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and furthering our ongoing commitment to skilling small businesses and aiding this rapid digital transformation and growth story in the country,” she added.

As part of the partnership, Meta will also support Sahayak, ONDC’s WhatApp chatbot, in enhancing the services offered on the bot as the single point of seller communication and customer communication for ONDC.

Earlier this year, Meta launched the ‘WhatsApp Se Wyapaar’ programme to upskill 10 million traders across 29 states in 11 Indian languages on the WhatsApp Business app. Today, there are more than 200 million users of the WhatsApp Business app across the world, and more than 60 per cent of people on WhatsApp in India message a business account.

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IBM, Meta launch AI Alliance to build open, responsible AI

It aims to foster a vibrant AI hardware accelerator ecosystem by boosting contributions and adoption of essential enabling software technology…reports Asian Lite News

IBM and Meta on Tuesday launched the AI Alliance in collaboration with over 50 tech companies, founding members and collaborators globally.

The AI Alliance is focused on fostering an open community and enabling developers and researchers to accelerate responsible innovation in AI while ensuring scientific rigour, trust, safety, security, diversity and economic competitiveness.

“This is a pivotal moment in defining the future of AI. IBM is proud to partner with like-minded organizations through the AI Alliance to ensure this open ecosystem drives an innovative AI agenda underpinned by safety, accountability and scientific rigour,” said Arvind Krishna, IBM Chairman and CEO.

The AI Alliance plans to develop and deploy benchmarks and evaluation standards, tools, and other resources that enable the responsible development and use of AI systems at global scale, including the creation of a catalog of vetted safety, security and trust tools.

It aims to foster a vibrant AI hardware accelerator ecosystem by boosting contributions and adoption of essential enabling software technology.

The AI Alliance will launch initiatives that encourage open development of AI in safe and beneficial ways, and host events to explore AI use cases and showcase how Alliance members are using open technology in AI responsibly and for good.

The other participants in the AI Alliance are AMD, CERN, Cornell University, Dell Technologies, EPFL, ETH, Imperial College London, Intel, Linux Foundation, NASA, NSF, Oracle, Partnership on AI, Red Hat, Sony Group and Stability AI, among others.

Nick Clegg, President, Global Affairs of Meta, added that the AI Alliance brings together researchers, developers and companies to share tools and knowledge that can help us all make progress whether models are shared openly or not.

According to Lisa Su, AMD CEO and Chair, by embracing open standards and transparency across all aspects of the rapidly developing AI ecosystem, “we can help ensure the transformational benefits of responsible AI are broadly available”.

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Zuckerberg sells nearly $190 mn in Meta’s shares

According to Form 4 filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), he placed orders to sell another 28,009 shares on November 29…reports Asian Lite News

Meta Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold around $190 million in the company’s stock last month, the media reported.

Zuckerberg sold Meta shares every day in November, for a total of 560,180 shares last month, reports Market Watch.

According to Form 4 filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), he placed orders to sell another 28,009 shares on November 29.

With the stock closing of $327.15, the value of the shares sold would be $192.9 million, the report noted. The bulk of the shares sold were acquired in 2004 as part of a “founder stock purchase.”

Nearly 150,000 of the shares sold were acquired for $0 on the days they were sold through the exercising of options acquired in 2013, according to the report.

Meta registered $34 billion in revenue in its third quarter, up 23 per cent from the same quarter last year. Total costs and expenses were $20.40 billion, a decrease of 7 per cent (year-over-year) in the September quarter. Net income rose 164 per cent from a year earlier to $11.58 billion in the quarter.

However, the company is still burning cash with its Reality Labs division and Meta expects its operating losses there to increase “meaningfully” year-over-year. Meta’s AR-VR division has lost close to $25 billion since the start of last year.

ALSO READ-‘Meta knowingly designed platforms to hook kids’

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‘Meta knowingly designed platforms to hook kids’

Others acknowledged Facebook and Instagram also were popular with children under age 13 who, per company policy, were not allowed to use the service…reports Asian Lite News

Facebook parent Meta Platforms deliberately engineered its social platforms to hook kids and knew — but never disclosed — it had received millions of complaints about underage users on Instagram but only disabled a fraction of those accounts, according to a newly unsealed legal complaint described in reports from The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.

The complaint, originally made public in redacted form, was the opening salvo in a lawsuit filed in late October by the attorneys general of 33 states.

Company documents cited in the complaint described several Meta officials acknowledging the company designed its products to exploit shortcomings in youthful psychology such as impulsive behavior, susceptibility to peer pressure and the underestimation of risks, according to the reports.

Others acknowledged Facebook and Instagram also were popular with children under age 13 who, per company policy, were not allowed to use the service.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks during a news conference in New York, Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023. New York is bidding to put new controls on social media platforms that state leaders say will protect the mental health of younger users. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

‘Addictive’ social media feeds that keep children online targeted by New York lawmakers

Meta said in a statement to The Associated Press that the complaint misrepresents its work over the past decade to make the online experience safe for teens, noting it has “over 30 tools to support them and their parents.”

With respect to barring younger users from the service, Meta argued age verification is a “complex industry challenge.”

Instead, Meta said it favors shifting the burden of policing underage usage to app stores and parents, specifically by supporting federal legislation that would require app stores to obtain parental approval whenever youths under 16 download apps.

One Facebook safety executive alluded to the possibility that cracking down on younger users might hurt the company’s business in a 2019 email, according to the Journal report.

But a year later, the same executive expressed frustration that while Facebook readily studied the usage of underage users for business reasons, it didn’t show the same enthusiasm for ways to identify younger kids and remove them from its platforms, the Journal reported.

The complaint noted that at times Meta has a backlog of up to 2.5 million accounts of younger children awaiting action, according to the newspaper reports.

ALSO READ-Meta Spokesperson Wanted in Russia

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Meta Spokesperson Wanted in Russia

Meta listed as a “terrorist and extremist” organization could lead to criminal investigations and fines for users….reports Asian Lite News

A spokesperson for US tech conglomerate Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, has been added to Russia’s wanted list, according to an online database maintained by the country’s interior ministry, Voice of America has reported.

The spokesperson, Andy Stone was reported on the list by Russian state agency Tass and independent news outlet Mediazona on Saturday.

In October, Russian authorities classified Meta as a “terrorist and extremist” organization, opening the way for possible criminal proceedings against Russian residents using its platforms.

Meta listed as a “terrorist and extremist” organization could lead to criminal investigations and fines for users.

The interior ministry’s database does not give details of the case against Stone, stating only that he is wanted on criminal charges.

Mediazona, the independent news website that covers Russia’s opposition and prison system, claims that Stone has been on the wanted list since February 2022, but authorities made no related statements at the time and no news media reported on the matter until this week, reported Voice of America.

Facebook meta.(photo:Pixabay.com)

In March this year, Russia’s federal Investigative Committee opened a criminal probe into Meta. It was alleged that the company’s actions following Moscow’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 amounted to inciting violence against Russians.

Stone announced temporary changes to Meta’s hate speech policy following Russia’s troop invasion into Ukraine. The changes allowed for “forms of political expression that would normally violate (its) rules, like violent speech such as ‘death to the Russian invaders.'”

In the same statement, Stone added that “credible calls for violence against Russian civilians” will remain banned.

Mediazona claimed Sunday that an unspecified Russian court earlier this month issued an arrest warrant for Stone on charges of “facilitating terrorism.”

Western social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and X, formerly Twitter, were popular amongst young Russians before Moscow’s full-scale war on Ukraine. The popular apps have since been blocked in the country as part of a broad crackdown on independent media and other forms of critical speech.

These apps can still be accessed using a Virtual Private Network (VPN), which can be easily downloaded on phones and laptops.

In April 2022, Russia also formally barred Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg from entering the country, Voice of America reported. (ANI)

ALSO READ: Meta to require advertisers to disclose ads created via AI

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Meta to require advertisers to disclose ads created via AI

This may include image size adjusting, cropping an image, colour correction, or image sharpening, unless such changes are consequential or material to the claim, assertion, or issue raised in the ad…reports Asian Lite News

As side-effects of generative AI begin to haunt people, Meta has asked advertisers to disclose whenever a social issue, electoral, or political ad contains an image or video that have been digitally created or altered.

Advertisers will now have to disclose whenever political ads contain a photorealistic image or video, or realistic sounding audio, that was digitally created or altered to depict a real person as saying or doing something they did not say or do.

The policy will apply to ads that depict a realistic-looking person that does not exist or a realistic-looking event that did not happen, or alter footage of a real event that happened; or depict a realistic event that allegedly occurred, but that is not a true image, video, or audio recording of the event.

“Advertisers running these ads do not need to disclose when content is digitally created or altered in ways that are inconsequential or immaterial to the claim, assertion, or issue raised in the ad,” Meta said in a blog post late on Wednesday.

This may include image size adjusting, cropping an image, colour correction, or image sharpening, unless such changes are consequential or material to the claim, assertion, or issue raised in the ad.

The new policy will go into effect in the new year and will be required globally. Meta will add information on the ad when an advertiser discloses in the advertising flow that the content is digitally created or altered. This information will also appear in the Ad Library.

“If we determine that an advertiser doesn’t disclose as required, we will reject the ad and repeated failure to disclose may result in penalties against the advertiser. We will share additional details about the specific process advertisers will go through during the ad creation process,” said the company.

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