Facebook isn’t just a company. It’s a behemoth, with 2.1 billion monthly users, $40 billion in revenue and more than 25,000 employees worldwide.
“It’s tricky and it’s going to be hard, but there are ways it can be dealt with,” says Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, a former tech executive who has led investigations into Russian interference on social media over the last year as the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee. “The idea that we’re going to keep the wild, wild West — I don’t think it’s sustainable.”
The picture will begin to come into focus next week. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is scheduled to testify April 10 and 11 before Senate and House committees as his company grapples with the privacy scandal involving Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting firm linked to President Donald Trump.
Facebook’s reckoning in Washington comes on multiple fronts. Russia’s use of the platform to meddle in U.S. elections, a regulatory investigation that could result in fines of hundreds of millions of dollars against the company for privacy violations, and the Cambridge Analytica episode are all topmost concerns.
But in the capital’s pro-business, anti-regulatory climate, it’s questionable whether the Republican-led Congress or Trump regulators have the appetite to rein it in.
Facebook is spending millions on lobbying to try to ward off regulations, even seeking to narrow a Senate bill that lawmakers call “the lightest touch possible.” It would require more transparency in online political ads, something Facebook says it is providing on its own.
But the stakes grew Wednesday when Facebook revealed that information belonging to as many as 87 million of its users may have been improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica, which gathered the data with the intent of swaying elections. That number was far higher than originally known.
Esta historia es de la edición Techlife News #336 de Techlife News.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición Techlife News #336 de Techlife News.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
7 CHINA BANS EXPORTS TO US OF GALLIUM, GERMANIUM, ANTIMONY IN RESPONSE TO CHIP SANCTIONS
China announced this week it is banning exports to the United States of gallium, germanium, antimony and other key high-tech materials with potential military applications, as a general principle, lashing back at U.S. limits on semiconductor-related exports.
FINANCIAL AND COMMUNITY HURDLES SLOW GEOTHERMAL ENERGY DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
Providing round-the-clock energy, using minimal space and considered a clean source of power-geothermal energy seems like an ideal option for countries like Indonesia and the Philippines, where the potential is high, and governments are seeking to transition away from highly polluting fossil fuels.
CANADIAN NEWS PUBLISHERS SUE OPENAI OVER ALLEGED COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
A coalition of Canadian news publishers, including The Canadian Press, Torstar, Globe and Mail, Postmedia and CBC/Radio-Canada, has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI for using news content to train its ChatGPT generative artificial intelligence system.
AUSTRALIA IS BANNING SOCIAL MEDIA FOR PEOPLE UNDER 16. COULD THIS WORK ELSEWHERE - OR EVEN THERE?
It is an ambitious social experiment of our moment in history — one that experts say could accomplish something that parents, schools and other governments have attempted with varying degrees of success: keeping kids off social media until they turn 16.
BANK OF AMERICA SIGNS AGAIN WITH FIFA FOR US-HOSTED CLUB WORLD CUP THAT STILL HAS NO TV DEALS
World Cup sponsor Bank of America teamed with FIFA for a second time, signing for the Club World Cup that still has no broadcast deals just over six months before games start.
AT&T SEES EARNINGS GROWTH OVER NEXT 3 YEARS; EYES MORE THAN $40B IN ANTICIPATED SHAREHOLDER RETURNS
AT&T anticipates earnings growth over the next three years thanks to the momentum of 5G and fiber services.
IN A WORLD OF GREAT NEED THERE ARE MORE WAYS TO DONATE MONEY THAN EVER.HOW SHOULD YOU GIVE?
Millions displaced by global conflicts. Communities reeling from unseasonably strong natural disasters. Lives upended due to healthcare inequalities.
US EXPANDS LIST OF CHINESE TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES UNDER EXPORT CONTROLS
The U.S. Commerce Department has expanded the list of Chinese technology companies subject to export controls to include many that make equipment used to make computer chips, chipmaking tools and software.
INTEL CEO GELSINGER RETIRES; ZINSNER AND JOHNSTON HOLTHAUS NAMED INTERIM CO-CEOS
Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger has retired, the struggling chipmaker said Monday in a surprise announcement.
LANDLORDS ARE USING AI TO RAISE RENTS.AND CALIFORNIA CITIES ARE LEADING THE PUSHBACK
If you've hunted for apartments recently and felt like all the rents were equally high, you're not crazy: Many landlords now use a single company's software - which uses an algorithm based on proprietary lease information ― to help set rent prices.