Meta

Meta removes millions of pieces of harmful content in India

Meta released its monthly report, revealing that it removed over 13.8 million pieces of harmful content from Facebook and over 4.8 million pieces from Instagram in India during February. The actions were taken across multiple policies to maintain community standards and safeguard user experience.

The report highlighted Meta’s response to user reports, with Facebook receiving 18,512 reports through the Indian grievance mechanism in February. Meta provided users with tools to resolve issues in approximately half of the cases, demonstrating its commitment to addressing user concerns promptly.
The company emphasised its compliance with India’s IT Rules 2021, which require digital platforms with over 5 million users to publish monthly compliance reports. These reports detail the number of content pieces acted upon, including removals or warnings, in line with platform standards.

Why does it matter?

In January, Meta’s content moderation efforts resulted in the removal of over 17.8 million pieces of content from Facebook and over 4.8 million pieces from Instagram, underscoring the ongoing challenge of maintaining a safe and healthy online environment amidst evolving user behaviours and content trends.

Turkey imposes provisional restriction on Meta amid market abuse probe

Turkey’s competition authority has enacted a provisional restriction on Meta, limiting data exchange between Instagram and Threads during an ongoing market abuse investigation. The interim measure now will be maintained until a definitive ruling is made.

The regulator had initiated the probe into Meta back in December due to potential competition law breaches and significant market damage from the data merging of Instagram and Threads. The regulator stated that the company’s data sharing communication across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp lacked clarity and sufficient information. Additionally, the user prompts for data sharing approval were seen as inadequate for addressing competition issues.

Previously, on a separate matter, the Turkish authority had also imposed a daily fine of $148,000 on Meta for its data sharing notification practices.

Meta passes in-app ‘Apple tax’ to advertisers

Meta plans to capitalize on the discontent among advertisers in its own conflict with Apple regarding in-app purchase fees by announcing its intention to transfer the 30% service charge imposed by Apple to its own customers. Starting later this month, advertisers who wish to promote a post in the Facebook or Instagram iOS app will now be billed through Apple where this additional charge will be applied.

Meta offers an alternative for advertisers to avoid the additional charge imposed by Apple by paying to boost posts from the web on Facebook or Instagram, accessible through both desktop and mobile browsers. However, it recognizes that customers may not perceive this as a convenient option since in-app purchases are the most convenient way to transact on Apple’s devices. Therefore, those who opt for in-app purchases will now incur higher costs.

By passing on the burden of Apple’s commission to advertisers, Meta hopes to garner public support and, ultimately, influence lawmakers and regulators to bring about a change in Apple’s business practices. The current commission rates and the introduction of the ‘core technology fee’ have also faced criticism from companies such as Epic and Spotify.

UK calls for mandatory identity verification on Meta’s marketplace to combat shoplifting

The UK’s National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), has called on Meta to implement mandatory identity and location verification on Meta’s marketplace platform. The NPCC Chief Superintendent Alex Goss, believes that online platforms such as Meta need to take a more proactive approach in combating shoplifting by considering criminality when designing their platforms.

Shoplifting of high-value items, such as alcohol, steak, and cosmetics, continues to be a significant problem. Thieves target these items due to their value and demand on the market. Goss’s call for Meta to enforce identity and location verification aims to deter potential shoplifters and make it harder for them to anonymously sell stolen goods on the platform.

Under the plan, police forces are now prioritising shoplifting incidents and attending the location where a suspect is being held by store staff. This indicates that shoplifting has become a growing concern, requiring immediate attention and stronger preventive measures.

China aims to establish advanced metaverse industrial cluster

China has unveiled a national plan to develop its own metaverse by 2025, with the goal of creating three to five globally influential metaverse companies. This plan was published by five Chinese ministries led by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in a policy document.

The policy blueprint covering the time period of 2023 to 2025 highlights the application of metaverse technology in various industries, such as home appliances, automotive, and aerospace.

The development of artificial intelligence, blockchain, and virtual reality technologies will be key to achieving the metaverse vision and the Chinese government aims to establish three to five industrial clusters around these emerging technologies. The document also suggests that manufacturing industries, including steel and textiles, can adopt related technologies to optimize scheduling, material calculation, and other parts of the production process.

Previously, some local authorities in China like Henan and Shanghai province have also issued their own policies to promote metaverse development, emphasizing on how it can support the economy and traditional industries.

Canadian media groups challenge Meta’s news content block

Canadian media industry organizations have urged the country’s antitrust regulator to look into Meta Platforms’ decision to block news content on its platforms within the nation. The groups claim that Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is abusing its dominant market position.

Meta initiated the news content block on its Facebook and Instagram platforms in Canada in response to a forthcoming law that mandates tech giants to compensate for news articles. Although this law, the Canada Online News Act, was enacted in June, its implementation is pending the finalization of rules, which would require the platforms to share advertising revenue.

Industry bodies like News Media Canada, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, and CBC/Radio-Canada have submitted an application to the Competition Bureau requesting an investigation into Meta’s actions and a halt to the news block. The media groups assert that Meta’s behavior is anti-competitive and detrimental to Canadian journalism.

The Competition Bureau is presently reviewing the matter to determine if it contravenes the Competition Act. Meta has defended its stance, arguing that the law incorrectly assumes undue advantage from news content on its platforms and that such compensation is unsustainable for its business model.

Meanwhile, the Canadian government contends that Meta has no legal obligation at the moment and accuses the company of avoiding discussions during the rule-drafting process. This situation parallels Google’s intention to also block news in Canada upon the law’s enforcement.

Why does it matter?

This situation highlights a more overarching concern regarding the consolidation of power within a handful of significant tech corporations. This level of dominance provides them with the ability to shape market dynamics, dictate consumer access, and establish industry norms. In response to these issues, numerous nations have initiated measures to modernize their competition policies for the digital era. As an illustration, the United Kingdom has unveiled a legislative proposal to safeguard online consumers and foster equitable competition within digital markets.

Harmful content spreads on Meta’s Threads, with no fact-checking in place

Since its launch, Meta’s Threads platform has amassed over 100 million users, but the social network is quickly becoming a breeding ground for harmful content and misinformation. Meta launched Threads without the fact-checking program that aims to prevent the spread of misinformation on Facebook and Instagram and has allowed exceptions to its community guidelines. Despite the guidelines, the platform has allowed exceptions for right-wing accounts, leading to the spread of election and health misinformation, conspiracy theories, and anti-LGBTQ rhetoric.

The fact-checking program that aims to prevent the spread of misinformation on Facebook and Instagram was not implemented on Threads, and hate speech policies were seemingly abandoned. Right-wing users have been able to peddle unchecked misinformation about the ‘rigged’ 2020 election, COVID-19 vaccines, and abortion. Additionally, the platform has allowed the posting of anti-LGBTQ, racist, and anti-immigrant rhetoric, including transphobic slurs and dangerous claims about the LGBTQ community. Despite the presence of harmful content, Meta has not moderated or taken down these posts.

Chief AI scientist at Meta states that AI won’t permanently displace jobs

Prof. Yann LeCun, the Chief AI Scientist at Meta and one of the people dubbed “godfathers of AI”, believes that AI technology will not take over the world or cause permanent job loss. In 2018, Prof. LeCun, Geoffrey Hinton, and Yoshua Bengio won the Turing Award for their breakthroughs in Artificial Intelligence, earning them the nickname “godfathers of AI.” He disagrees with his fellow pioneers on the issue of AI posing a threat to humanity.

Prof. LeCun believes those who worry about AI being a threat to humans cannot imagine how it can be made safe. He also believes that computers will eventually surpass human intelligence, but that this is still years away. If it is determined that creating this technology is not safe, it should not be pursued.

Regarding AI’s impact on jobs, Prof. LeCun states that AI has the potential to change many jobs but will not permanently displace many people. Instead, he believes it will create a new renaissance for humanity. He also commented on Europe’s AI Act, stating that AI start-ups believe it is too broad and restrictive and that each AI application should have its own rules.

Meta Platforms loses court case in the EU over data information request

Meta Platforms’ legal challenge against EU antitrust regulators has been unsuccessful as Europe’s court upheld the European Commission’s request for information regarding its investigation into Facebook’s data and online marketplace. Meta complained that the EU antitrust regulator’s search requests were like a “fishing super trawler” as it investigated the company’s practices and had already handed over a million documents to the European Commission. Meta criticized the necessity and proportionality of the data requests.

The EU General Court dismissed the challenge. It ruled that Meta failed to prove that the request went beyond what was necessary, or that EU measures taken didn’t sufficiently protect sensitive data. It further stated that the European Union’s antitrust watchdog’s requests for information related to its investigation into Facebook’s data and online marketplace are legal. Meta could not prove that “establishing a virtual data room failed to ensure that sensitive personal data was sufficiently protected”. ‘Virtual data room’ is a name for an online repository of documents and data that is used for due diligence process, or compliance requests.

The concerned cases are T-451/20 Meta Platforms Ireland v Commission and T-452/20 Meta Platforms Ireland v Commission.
Meta Platforms now has the option to appeal to the EU’s highest court – the Court of Justice.

The metaverse might add up to a 2,5 percent of the US GDP in the next decade

The metaverse, a virtual world where people can interact with each other in a fully immersive way, could become a massive economic force, according to a commissioned study by Meta (former Facebook). The study estimates that by 2035, the metaverse could contribute to 2,4% of the US economy (around $750 billion) creating new jobs and generating trillions of dollars in revenue.

The metaverse could transform various industries, including entertainment, education, and retail, offering new ways for businesses to reach customers and creating new job opportunities for creators, developers, and engineers. It could also change the way people work, socialise, and consume content, creating a new era of virtual experiences.

However, the report also acknowledges the potential risks of the metaverse, such as privacy concerns, security risks, and the possibility of widening social inequalities. It calls for a collaborative effort between industry, government, and civil society to ensure that the metaverse is developed in a responsible and inclusive way. Overall, the study suggests that the metaverse has the potential to become a significant economic force in the near future, but it will require careful consideration and collaboration to ensure that it benefits everyone.