Apple reclaims its title as the world’s most valuable public company February 5, 2019 Apple has taken back its crown at the top of the tech heap, becoming the world's most valuable public company for a second time after losing the title last year. Boosted by a small 1.7 per cent share price rise as markets opened this afternoon, Apple's market capitalisation rose to $820.8bn (£633.1bn), up from hitting [...]
Every day, we vote with our clicks that we value Facebook February 5, 2019 With front-page headlines including “Facebook paid kids and spied on them”, “Generation of web addicts”, “Wild West Web firms facing ban”, and “Stop online giants who help kill our kids”, it’s fair to say that it has not been the best UK press week for social media firms. Poor old Nick Clegg must have thought that [...]
Facebook must face the same regulation as other media outlets, says former Tory digital minister February 4, 2019 Facebook is not capable of regulating itself and should be subjected to strict government oversight, the former minister for digital and culture has said. Tory MP Ed Vaizey today waded into the debate around regulation of big tech companies, saying Facebook must take responsibility for the content published on its platform. Read more: Social media sites should [...]
More than a quarter of Brits believe Facebook will launch a banking service by 2023 February 4, 2019 More than a quarter of Brits believe that Facebook will offer a banking service within the next five years. The research, published on the 15th anniversary of the social media giant’s launch, revealed that 29 per cent of UK consumers believe technology companies such as Facebook and Amazon will offer high street banking services by [...]
Revolutionary is overrated – unsexy is the new black February 1, 2019 There was a time when pushy parents steered their children towards professions like medicine, banking, or law, while their offspring dreamed of being musicians, pilots, and firefighters. Now, it seems that having the next big idea or making money through your personal brand on social media is the common career goal. The entrepreneur is the [...]
Google’s GDPR fine may cost it more than just €50m – it will impact the tech industry too January 31, 2019 Back in December, I wrote an article asking why, six months after the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) had come into force, we had not yet seen any major fines or punishments for firms that had misused or mishandled personal data. The lack of sanctions, I argued, made the new regulatory powers toothless. [...]
Social media sites must take legal responsibility for child safety, states tech committee January 31, 2019 Social media sites must take on legal responsibility for the health and wellbeing of children of their platforms, a parliamentary committee has found. The Science and Technology Committee (STC) today said tech giants such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat must be subject to a formal legal duty of care for their users. Read more: Social media [...]
Facebook shares soar as it beats estimates on revenue and user numbers January 30, 2019 Shares in Facebook jumped more than eight per cent in after-hours trading tonight, boosted by a welcome set of positive fourth quarter results for the beleaguered social media firm. Revenue at Facebook rose to $16.9bn (£12.9bn) in the three months to 31 December, up 30 per cent compared to the same period last year and [...]
Facebook removes controversial app that pays teenagers for their iPhone data January 30, 2019 Facebook has taken down a research app that paid volunteers aged as young as 13 to gain unfettered access to data on their mobile phone. An investigation by Tech Crunch lifted the lid on the Facebook Research App, which bypassed the Apple App Store to seek out users via unofficial beta testing networks. The app [...]
Antisocial media: How to reform our narcissistic internet culture January 30, 2019 The social media and technology backlash – or “techlash” – has begun, and the tech companies are scrambling to catch up. Earlier this month, Sheryl Sandberg talked compellingly at the Munich DLD conference about Facebook’s challenges and the company’s acceptance of greater responsibility around the big issues of data safety, misinformation, and transparency. Good stuff, [...]