Social Media & Big Tech news and discussions

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UK Class Action Lodged Against Meta Seeks $3.1 Billion Breach of Competition Law
by Mike Butcher
January 13, 2022

https://techcrunch.com/2022/01/13/uk-cl ... ition-law/

Introduction:
(TechCrunch) A competition legal expert, backed by a powerful litigation fund, is set to mount a multibillion-dollar class action suit against Facebook/Meta for breach of competition law on the basis that it abused its dominance of social networking in the U.K. for several years. If successful, the action would see Facebook having to pay $3.1 billion (£2.3 billion) in damages to Facebook U.K. users.

The class action lawsuit was lodged against Meta, Facebook’s parent company, yesterday with the U.K.’s Competition Appeal Tribunal in London.

The unusual approach claims Facebook should pay its 44 million U.K. users compensation for the exploitation of their data between 2015 and 2019. Effectively, it’s saying Facebook took all the personal and private data of its users — who, due to Facebook’s dominance, had no other viable social platform — and in return all its users got, in effect, was the ability to post pictures of babies and kittens to their friends and families.

The action is being mounted by international competition law expert Dr Liza Lovdahl Gormsen (pictured above) who has made submissions before the U.K.’s Parliament regarding Facebook’s market dominance, as well as written academic legal papers about it.

Dr Lovdahl Gormsen’s case rests on the idea that Facebook (recently renamed Meta) set an “unfair price” for U.K. Facebook users.
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The FTC is Reportedly Investigating Meta’s VR Division for Antitrust Violations
by Adi Robertson
January 14, 2022

https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/14/2288 ... -antitrust

Introduction:
(The Verge) The US Federal Trade Commission and at least three states are investigating Meta for antitrust violations in its virtual reality division, according to Bloomberg. The report says the FTC and attorneys general from New York, Tennessee, and North Carolina began speaking last year with third-party VR developers who have concerns about Meta’s business practices. It’s one of multiple probes into Meta’s dominance in the small but growing market of VR.

The Bloomberg report references well-known controversies around Meta (formerly Facebook) and its VR division (formerly Oculus). Regulators have reportedly asked developers if the Oculus app store discriminates against third-party apps whose features overlap with its own offerings, and they’ve apparently questioned Meta’s strategy of selling the Meta Quest (formerly Oculus Quest) headset at a $299 price point that heavily undercuts the price of other VR headsets. The FTC declined to comment on Bloomberg’s report.

The FTC has allegedly already opened a probe into Meta’s acquisition of Within, the company behind VR fitness app Supernatural. The US Justice Department also reportedly investigated similar claims in late 2020. German regulators publicly announced an investigation around the same time.

So far, VR has still gotten little attention compared to other Meta divisions. The FTC is currently pursuing an antitrust lawsuit against the company over its acquisition of Instagram and WhatsApp; after a setback last year, a judge revived the suit earlier this week. But as Meta has begun emphasizing its role as a steward of a VR-heavy “metaverse,” the area may invite more legal scrutiny as well.
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Latino Lawmakers Demand Meeting with Tech CEOs on Spanish-Language Misinformation Campaigns
by Pablo Manríquez
January 24, 2022

https://www.latinorebels.com/2022/01/24 ... formation/

Introduction:
(Latino Rebels) WASHINGTON, D.C. — Last week, members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) went public with letters sent on January 14 to the CEOs of Meta (formerly Facebook), Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok “respectfully requesting a meeting” to discuss Spanish-language misinformation on their platforms.

“Addressing Spanish-language misinformation Facebook must remain an urgent
priority,” said the letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg signed by 22 of the 38 member caucus.

“Many federal and state agencies, Members of Congress, and public health organizations rely on platforms like Facebook to communicate life-saving health information and share federal resources during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

A spokesperson for the caucus told Latino Rebels on Friday that the companies have acknowledged receipt of the letters, but the requested meetings have yet to be scheduled with the four CEOs: Zuckerberg of Meta, Shou Zi Chew of TikTok, Parag Agrawal of Twitter, and Susan Wojcicki of YouTube.

“When it comes to misinformation campaigns on social media, as we’ve seen in past elections, and even when it comes to COVID, those information campaigns are allowed to fester and to spread,” Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA) told Latino Rebels on Wednesday. “That’s one of the biggest challenges we had trying to get our community to get vaccinated. We need to hold the social media companies accountable and bring them in and do it in a way that we can actually deliver some change.”
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Spotify share price is rapidly declining. Numerous other musicians are joining Neil Young and Joni Mitchell in boycotting the platform.
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^^^^More on that:

Joni Mitchell Joins Spotify Misinformation Protest
by Julia Conley
January 29, 2022

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/ ... on-protest

Introduction:
(Common Dreams) Standing with hundreds of physicians and medical experts who have called on Spotify to develop a policy on misinformation to counter the Covid-19 falsehoods podcast host Joe Rogan has aired on his wildly popular show, singer and songwriter Joni Mitchell announced late Friday that she would remove her music from the streaming platform.

"I've decided to remove all my music from Spotify. Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives," Mitchell wrote in a brief message on her official website, asking her fans to read an open letter to Spotify signed by more than 270 people in the medical community earlier this month.
An Open Letter to Spotify:
On Dec. 31, 2021, the Joe Rogan Experience (JRE), a Spotify-exclusive podcast, uploaded a highly controversial episode featuring guest Dr. Robert Malone (#1757). The episode has been criticized for promoting baseless conspiracy theories and the JRE has a concerning history of broadcasting misinformation, particularly regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. By allowing the propagation of false and societally harmful assertions, Spotify is enabling its hosted media to damage public trust in scientific research and sow doubt in the credibility of data-driven guidance offered by medical professionals. JRE #1757 is not the only transgression to occur on the Spotify platform, but a relevant example of the platform’s failure to mitigate the damage it is causing.

We are a coalition of scientists, medical professionals, professors, and science communicators spanning a wide range of fields such as microbiology, immunology, epidemiology, and neuroscience and we are calling on Spotify to take action against the mass-misinformation events which continue to occur on its platform. With an estimated 11 million listeners per episode, JRE is the world’s largest podcast and has tremendous influence. Though Spotify has a responsibility to mitigate the spread of misinformation on its platform, the company presently has no misinformation policy.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Joe Rogan has repeatedly spread misleading and false claims on his podcast, provoking distrust in science and medicine. He has discouraged vaccination in young people and children, incorrectly claimed that mRNA vaccines are “gene therapy,” promoted off-label use of ivermectin to treat COVID-19 (contrary to FDA warnings), and spread a number of unsubstantiated conspiracy theories. In episode #1757, Rogan hosted Dr. Robert Malone, who was suspended from Twitter for spreading misinformation about COVID-19. Dr. Malone used the JRE platform to further promote numerous baseless claims, including several falsehoods about COVID-19 vaccines and an unfounded theory that societal leaders have “hypnotized” the public. Many of these statements have already been discredited. Notably, Dr. Malone is one of two recent JRE guests who has compared pandemic policies to the Holocaust. These actions are not only objectionable and offensive, but also medically and culturally dangerous.

The average age of JRE listeners is 24 years old and according to data from Washington State, unvaccinated 12-34 year olds are 12 times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID than those who are fully vaccinated. Dr. Malone’s interview has reached many tens of millions of listeners vulnerable to predatory medical misinformation. Mass-misinformation events of this scale have extraordinarily dangerous ramifications. As scientists, we face backlash and resistance as the public grows to distrust our research and expertise. As educators and science communicators, we are tasked with repairing the public’s damaged understanding of science and medicine. As physicians, we bear the arduous weight of a pandemic that has stretched our medical systems to their limits and only stands to be exacerbated by the anti-vaccination sentiment woven into this and other episodes of Rogan’s podcast.

This is not only a scientific or medical concern; it is a sociological issue of devastating proportions and Spotify is responsible for allowing this activity to thrive on its platform. We, the undersigned doctors, nurses, scientists, and educators thus call on Spotify to immediately establish a clear and public policy to moderate misinformation on its platform.
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Spotify's Dilema
by Alex Wilhelm
January 31, 2022

https://techcrunch.com/2022/01/31/joe-r ... e-the-ccp/

Extract:
(TechCrunch) Music streaming is a commodity business. This means that many platforms have mostly the same music on offer and charge a roughly similar price. This is a tricky situation for artists to be in, as they are torn between not offering their music where fans have congregated (streaming services), and accepting prices that many consider are too low for their art (Spotify streaming rates). Fair enough.

Spotify has a different issue stemming from the same roots: Because music is commoditized, it has minimal pricing leverage. That’s to say that it can’t charge $15 per month for the same thing that Apple charges $10 per month for.

This means that Spotify’s economics are largely fixed, and that it can’t have too much of an impact on its gross margins with pricing changes. This limits its profitability, which isn’t good. So, the company embarked on an investing spree in the podcasting world, buying startups and shows in hopes of owning enough unique material in time that it could perhaps charge more for its service, thus improving its revenue quality and overall economic profile.

As part of this podcasting push, Spotify spent a lot of money to bring Joe Rogan’s podcast to its platform in what the company called an “Exclusive Partnership.” The mountain of cash that Spotify spent on this was a wager, part (of) its larger podcasting strategy, and was an editorial choice by the platform company.

Sure, losing Neil Young and a few others would not constitute a platform-breaking amount of missing music, but if the trend continues, Spotify could become a bit underpopulated with music, sending its subscribers elsewhere. Apple Music, for example. Spotify needed to calm the waters, because if it lost music, no amount of Rogan fandom was going to be able to make the math pencil out — the company remains a music streaming service with a podcasting business, not the other way around.
Last edited by caltrek on Tue Feb 01, 2022 5:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Big Tech Boycotts Tend to be Short-lived
by Sara Fischer and Neal Rothschild
February 1, 2022

https://www.axios.com/spotify-boycott-b ... 6c183.html

Introduction:
(Axios) Spotify's weekend of boycott threats may have made headlines, but recent history suggests the controversy won't dent Spotify's business.

Why it matters: Boycotts of tech services have become more frequent amid growing political polarization and frustration over misinformation. But data shows that boycotts and the press attention around them are typically fleeting.

Driving the news: Spotify's stock was up more than 13% Monday, after its most popular podcaster, Joe Rogan, said he agreed with Spotify's newly announced platform changes to label any podcast episodes with COVID-19 discussion.
  • Some critics argued the streamer didn't go far enough, but by making some changes and unveiling its policies, Spotify was able to reassure investors without triggering much further backlash from mainstream artists.
Additional Extract:
Yes, but: Boycotts have also sometimes forced tech firms to make policy changes or to be more forthcoming about their content-moderation policies.
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Pandemic Pits Health Care Experts Against the Media
by Sarah Fischer and Caitlin Owens
February 1, 2022

https://www.axios.com/pandemic-pits-hea ... eb2f7.html

Introduction:
(Axios) Health care professionals and scientists no longer feel that they can rely on media and tech companies to effectively combat misinformation, so they're hitting the airwaves themselves.

Why it matters: The tension between the health and science industries and media and tech has been building for years, but now it's "on steroids," said Celine Gounder, an infectious disease specialist and clinical professor at NYU.
  • "We've definitely seen this with respect to vaccines for decades now, but it's on a whole other level now," she said.
Driving the news: There's been a huge spike in doctors, nurses and scientists starting their own media channels and building brands as medical news experts since the onset of the pandemic.
  • "It fills a void, a gap," said Peter Hotez, a vaccine researcher at the Baylor College of Medicine who has appeared on TV almost every day since the pandemic started.
The article goes on to discuss the Spotify case as an example.
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Facebook: Daily active users fall for first time in 18-year history

Published 4 hours ago

Social media giant Facebook has seen its daily active users (DAUs) drop for the first time in its 18-year history.

Facebook's parent company Meta Networks says DAUs fell to 1.929bn in the three months to the end of December, compared to 1.930bn in the previous quarter.

The firm also warned of slowing revenue growth in the face of competition from rivals like TikTok and YouTube, while advertisers are also cutting spending.

Meta's shares slumped by more than 20% in after-hours trading in New York.

The slide in Meta's share price wiped around $200bn (£147.5bn) off the company's stock market value.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60238565
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