Digital Content

Facebook will start removing misinformation that could spark violence, a response to mounting criticism that the flow of rumors on its platform has led to physical harm to people in countries around the world. Facebook will rely on local organizations of its choosing to decide whether specific posts contain false information and could lead to physical violence, company officials said. If both hold true, the posts will be taken down.

[Analysis] Digital platforms that (a) provide a two-sided or multi-sided market; (b) are accessed via the internet; and (c) have at least one side that is marketed as a “mass market” service, share a set of characteristics and raise a similar set of concerns so that we should consider them as a distinct set of businesses. This does not make laws of general applicability such as antitrust inapposite. Nor are these distinct capabilities and incentives intrinsically bad or good.

The European Commission has hit Google with a €4.3 billion (~$5.6 billion) fine, imposing a record penalty on the US group for abusing its dominant position in the Android operating system for mobile phones. The decision takes aim at a core part of Google’s business strategy over the past decade, outlawing restrictions on its Android operating system that allegedly entrenched Google’s dominance in online search at a time when consumers were moving from desktop to mobile devices. The commission found that Google had used illegal “tying” methods to force phonemakers to pre-install Google serv

Facebook, Google and Twitter on Tuesday sought to defend themselves against accusations from Republican lawmakers who say the tech giants censor conservative news and views during a congressional hearing that devolved into a political sniping match. 

Netflix chief Reed Hastings — who has been an ardent and vocal supporter of net neutrality rules to ensure service providers don’t discriminate against internet content companies — said the US reversal on net neutrality won’t have an impact on the streamer’s business. “Around the world, net neutrality has won as a consumer expectation,” Hastings said. “I would say the net neutrality advocates have won the day, in terms of those expectations, so we don’t see any changes of that in the US or other countries.”

[Analysis] As digital platforms have become increasingly important in our everyday lives, we’ve recognized that the need for some sort of regulatory oversight increases. We have reached the point where we need sector-specific regulation focused on online digital platforms, not just application of existing antitrust or existing consumer protection laws.

Mobile devices have become one of the most common ways Americans get news, outpacing desktop or laptop computers. Roughly six-in-ten U.S. adults (58%) often get news on a mobile device, 19 percentage points higher than the 39% who often get news on a desktop or laptop computer, according to a Pew Research Center survey.

Politicians on the left and right are manipulating the news to bolster their election efforts with fake headlines, websites, and articles. Politicians are harnessing internet stories and websites to mislead voters because users are less discerning over what is real and fake online. Media manipulation has always been a part of the political playbook, but technology has enabled politicians to take the practice a step further by changing or mimicking real stories and news outlets to mislead voters.

At the end of June, California enacted what has been billed as a comprehensive privacy law. By all accounts, it was a rush job, negotiated in a week behind closed doors in a desperate and successful attempt to keep Californians for Consumer Privacy Campaign Chairman Alaistair MacTaggart’s privacy initiative off the November ballot. As sometimes happens, the law’s proponents and a few reporters may have overhyped the legislation – both given its current contents and because many expect it to change before its effective date in January 2020.

 AT&T now owns an internet service provider, a cellular service provider, a satellite cable TV provider, and Time Warner media properties including CNN and HBO. With AppNexus, AT&T controls a programmatic advertising network it can use to plaster ads on the web, within mobile apps, and on television. AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson put it plainly: “AT&T has an amazing amount of data,” but he added that his company didn’t have a “very targeted advertising approach.” Tapping into customer insight from media properties in combination with its telecom business could be the key.