Since 2010, the Benton Foundation and the New America Foundation have partnered to highlight telecommunications debates from countries outside the U.S.
Stories from Abroad
Google and Facebook dominance forecast to rise
Google and Facebook are set to attract 84 percent of global spending on digital advertising, excluding China, in 2017, according to a forecast from GroupM, the WPP-owned media buying agency, underscoring concerns that the two technology companies have become a digital duopoly. The research predicts that total global ad spending will increase by about $23 billion, or 4.3 percent, in 2018.
UK class action accuses Google of unlawfully harvesting personal data
More than 5 million people in the United Kingdom could be entitled to compensation from Google if a class action against the internet giant for allegedly harvesting personal data is successful. A group led by the former executive director of consumer body Which?, Richard Lloyd, and advised by City law firm Mischon de Reya claims Google unlawfully collected personal information by bypassing the default privacy settings on the iPhone between June 2011 and February 2012. They have launched a legal action with the aim of securing compensation for those affected.
President Trump Is Commander-in-Chief of the War on Mainstream Media
[Commentary] President Donald Trump is right. There is an epidemic of “fake news” in America. Only it’s being perpetuated not by his political opponents but by him and his supporters. Trump is quickly undoing America’s traditional role as a champion of free speech and free press in the world. He sounds very much like an authoritarian, even if he lacks the power of one, and actual authoritarians are cheered by his words.
President Trump retweets inflammatory and unverified anti-Muslim videos
President Donald Trump shared three inflammatory anti-Muslim videos on Twitter posted by a far-right British activist. The videos — whose authenticity could not be independently verified — were first shared by Jayda Fransen, the deputy leader of Britain First, which bills itself as a political party but has been widely condemned as an extremist group that targets mosques and Muslims.
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President Trump and Russia Seem to Find Common Foe: The American Press
President Donald Trump attacked CNN International hours after President Vladimir Putin signed a law that requires certain American media outlets working in Russia to register with the government as foreign agents, essentially identifying them as hostile entities. Putin’s allies had previously signaled that CNN International could be affected. For now, CNN appears untouched by the new regulations in Russia.
The US net neutrality fight affects the whole world
[Commentary] The United States is a nation quarreling with itself right now. Most of the country’s population wants to keep the internet an equitable and free place, embracing net neutrality rules as a necessary guardian against corporate overreach. But the current political administration seems hellbent on dismantling net neutrality and handing internet service providers the freedom to mold, shape, manipulate, and price internet access in whatever fashion they like.
EU agrees to end country-specific limits for online retailers
The European Union has agreed a plan obliging online retailers operating in the bloc to make electrical goods, concert tickets or car rental available to all EU consumers regardless of where they live. Putting an end to “geoblocking”, whereby consumers in one EU country cannot buy a good or service sold online in another, has been a priority for the EU as it tries to create a digital single market with 24 legislative proposals.
Eric Schmidt Says Google News Will 'Engineer' Russian Propaganda Out of the Feed
Eric Schmidt, Executive Chariman of Alphabet, says the company is working to ferret out Russian propaganda from Google News after facing criticism that Kremlin-owned media sites had been given plum placement on the search giant’s news and advertising platforms. “We’re well aware of this one, and we’re working on detecting this kind of scenario you’re describing and deranking those kinds of sites,” Schmidt said, after being asked why the world’s largest search company continued to classify the Russian sites as news. Schmidt name-checked two state-owned enterprises.
Apple’s iPhone X assembled by illegal student labour
Apple’s main supplier in Asia has been employing students illegally working overtime to assemble the iPhone X, as it struggles to catch up with demand after production delays. Six high school students said they routinely work 11-hour days assembling the iPhone X at a factory in Zhengzhou, China, which constitutes illegal overtime for student interns under Chinese law.
Hey, Mark Zuckerberg: My Democracy Isn’t Your Laboratory
My country, Serbia, has become an unwilling laboratory for Facebook’s experiments on user behavior — and the independent, nonprofit investigative journalism organization where I am the editor in chief is one of the unfortunate lab rats. Facebook allowed us to bypass mainstream channels and bring our stories to hundreds of thousands of readers. But now, even as the social network claims to be cracking down on “fake news,” it is on the verge of ruining us. That’s why Mark Zuckerberg’s arbitrary experiments are so dangerous.