Tech stocks get ready for a rocky road ahead October 24, 2022 BIG TECH braces itself for another testing earnings season, as the biggest names in Silicon Valley post their quarterly figures this week. Kicking off the tumble last Friday, Snapchat posted a rocky quarter, citing squeezed ad spend and ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty as the main driver. Not only has Snapchat’s parent firm lost a quarter of [...]
Pressure mounts to save end-to-end encryption cull in online safety laws October 21, 2022 The rallying cry to block new laws that could undermine end-to-end encryption have grown louder today, as free speech groups urge the government to rethink its strategy to online safety. In a fresh call this morning, the Global Encryption Coalition, which includes anonymity network Tor and Open Rights Group, said the online safety bill should [...]
Microsoft cuts more staff as Big Tech slowdown continues October 18, 2022 Microsoft continued to cull its workforce this week as the software giant feels the sting of stagnating growth, with sources telling the Business Insider that 1,000 people lost their jobs in a fresh wave of cuts. Impacted teams within the software giant included the Xbox division, the Strategic Missions team, and the office of the Chief [...]
Competition watchdog orders Facebook owner Meta to sell Giphy October 18, 2022 The competition watchdog told Facebook’s parent firm Meta this afternoon that it would need to dump Giphy, marking the first time the regulator has blocked a deal struck by a Big Tech firm. In its “final decision”, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ruled that the combination of the two companies would allow Meta to [...]
Big pay for Big Tech: Facebook UK staff bank £134k a year on average October 6, 2022 Despite reports that tech firms are facing job cuts and a slowdown of hiring, new filings reveal that the average salary for a Facebook employee in the UK hit £134,000 last year. Facebook’s headcount climbed 37 per cent to 5,148 in the UK, with the wage bill up to £693m in 2021. This made the [...]
Whatsapp boss warns govt against changes to encryption in online safety September 28, 2022 The chief of Whatsapp has warned the government against making drastic changes to message encryption in the online safety bill. Speaking with the Financial Times, Will Cathcart said that there were other ways of protecting children on apps rather than threatening encryption and explained that any move to undermine security could endanger the government’s own [...]
Report flags Meta content moderation concerns in Israel and Palestine September 22, 2022 A NEW report commissioned by Meta has found that content inciting hatred and violence against parties to the May 2021 conflict between Israel and the Hamas regime was not adequately removed by Facebook and Instagram.
Snap snaps and Big Tech feels the heat: What’s next for advertising? September 6, 2022 City A.M. chats with sustainable advertising platform WeAre8 to chat about the future of advertising in an age of distraction and economic turmoil.
Meta accused of breaching workers rights over union rep cleaner’s dismissal September 1, 2022 Meta has been accused by Amnesty International of breaching workers’ rights over claims a Bolivian cleaner working at its London offices was fired for being a union rep. The Facebook owner is set to face a protest outside its Brock Street offices on Friday ahead of the start of an unfair dismissal tribunal on Wednesday [...]
WhatsApp clampdown: Lawyers warn City firms about increasing scrutiny of app August 24, 2022 Lawyers have warned City firms to “dust off” their communication training handbooks amid fears that regulators could ramp up scrutiny of the use of WhatsApp in UK financial services.