 |
|
|
|||||
Meta is once again at risk of getting fined heavily by the European Commission. The bloc's regulatory arm is preparing its findings that Meta linked its Marketplace service to Facebook to undermine competitors, the Financial Times reports, citing sources familiar with the case. If found guilty, Meta could be on the hook for 10 percent of its global annual revenue a number that reached almost $135 billion last year. However, the fine could be much smaller, and Meta will almost certainly appeal it. The Commission launched its initial probe in 2019, announcing its preliminary findings three years later that "Meta ties its dominant social network Facebook to its online classified ad services called Facebook Marketplace," Margrethe Vestager, executive vice-president in charge of competition policy, stated at the time. "Furthermore, we are concerned that Meta imposed unfair trading conditions, allowing it to use of data on competing online classified ad services. If confirmed, Meta's practices would be illegal under our competition rules." Meta faces other investigations from the Commission into its election policies, addiction and safety concerns for minors and its consent or pay model. The news comes at a transitionary time for the European Commission, with President Ursula von der Leyen announcing her new team just yesterday. The shakeup for her second term will see Margrethe Vestager, head of competition for the last decade, replaced by Teresa Ribera. Reports that Vestiger would be stepping down this year first surfaced in August.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/meta-could-face-massive-eu-fines-over-marketplace-competition-113033743.html?src=rss
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
The reviews dont stop. This morning, were checking out how Apples latest wearable compares to its predecessors and competition. Deputy Editor Cherlynn Low says that, while the Series 10 is noticeably lighter, you wouldnt notice many differences compared to the Series 9 unless they were side by side. The latest Apple Watch is ever so slightly bigger (46mm), but if you need something even bigger, you should consider the Watch Ultra 2, which has a 49mm screen. Apple is also using a new wide-angle OLED to make its latest watch easier to read, even if your wrist is resting to the side. Again, the change is noticeable but not in a huge way. Upgraded charging should bring the Series 10 back to 80 percent in 30 minutes, but were still not hugely impressed with its battery life. You might notice we havent scored the Apple Watch Series 10. While shes sharing whats important for folks considering buying one, Cherlynn needs more time to test its sleep features. However, thanks to its similarity to its predecessors (and watchOS 11 bringing many similar features to the Series 9, Watch Ultra 2 and more), its hard to recommend to anyone wearing a Series 9 or Ultra. If youre coming from the Series 8 or older, the update might be worth it. Check out the full review. Mat Smith How Google will start helping you figure out which images are AI generated watchOS 11 is out now, with new Sleep Apnea feature Trump jumps into cryptocurrency, appears to know nothing about it AirPods Pro 2s new features have arrived Snaps new Spectacles look a mess But theyre standalone AR glasses. No separate processor or battery. Snap Snaps latest augmented reality glasses have a completely new and completely bonkers design, larger field of view and support for full hand tracking. But the company is only making the fifth-generation Spectacles available to approved developers willing to commit to a year-long $99/month subscription to start. These arent for consumers, but given how they look, I could have told you that. Karissa Bell tested them and was impressed. But competition is already on the horizon: Meta will show off the first version of its long-promised augmented reality glasses next week at its developer event. Continue reading. Microsoft says Russian troll farms are targeting the HarrisWalz campaign One made a fake video accusing Kamala Harris of a hit-and-run. Kremlin-affiliated Russian troll farms are running disinformation campaigns discrediting Kamala Harris and Tim Walz before this years US presidential elections, according to Microsoft. The Microsoft Threat Analysis Center noted several approaches: One video depicted a supposed attack by Harris supporters on Trump rally attendees. Another video used an actor to accuse Harris of being involved in a 2011 hit-and-run incident, which paralyzed a 13-year-old girl. A second troll farm shared a fake video showing a New York City billboard claiming Harris wants to change childrens gender. Microsoft warned we should expect more Russian-made disinformation materials online, including more staged and AI-edited videos, as we get closer to the election. Continue reading. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-engadget-newsletter-111537179.html?src=rss
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
Kremlin-affiliated Russian troll farms are running disinformation campaigns that aim to interfere with this year's US presidential elections, and according to Microsoft, they're focusing their efforts on discrediting Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. The company has published a new report detailing the movements of two troll farms being monitored by the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center. These Kremlin-backed actors apparently struggled to find the right approach shortly after President Biden stepped down as a candidate, but in late August and early September, one of them started circulating inauthentic videos that managed to generate millions of views. One video depicted a supposed attack by Harris supporters on Trump rally attendees. Another video used an actor to accuse Harris of being involved in a 2011 hit-and-run incident that paralyzed a 13-year-old girl. The second video, which went viral, was released by a days-old website pretending to be a San Francisco based media outlet. Meanwhile, the second troll farm stopped producing content about the 2024 Paris Olympics games and started creating videos showing Harris in a bad light. One fake video showed a New York City billboard claiming that Harris wants to change children's gender. It was initially published on Telegram, before being shared on X and getting more than 100,000 views within just a few hours. Microsoft warned that people should expect more Russian-made disinformation materials, including more staged and AI-edited videos, to circulate online as we get closer to the election. Earlier this month, the US government indicted two employees of Russian state media outlet RT, accusing them of planning to pay a Tennessee company $10 million to spread 2,000 propaganda videos on social media. The Treasury Department also sanctioned ANO Dialog, a Russian nonprofit that was allegedly involved with a campaign known as "Doppelganger," to create fake websites that would appear to American readers as legitimate major news sites. Microsoft said in its new report that it suspended more than 20 accounts connected to ANO Dialog. Meta also recently banned RT and other Russian state media outlets "for foreign interference activity." According to its notes, which the company shared with Engadget, it had seen Russian state-controlled media try to interfere with foreign governments and to evade detection in the past. It said that it expects them to keep trying to "engage in deceptive influence attempts across the internet." It's not just Russia that's trying to influence the outcome of this year's US presidential elections, though. Microsoft, Google and even the feds published reports back in August that Iranian hackers had been trying to spear-phish several advisers of the Biden-Harris and Trump campaigns. Microsoft also found campaigns made to sway votes in the US by groups connected with the Iranian government. One such group created a website that attacks and insults former President Donald Trump.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/microsoft-says-russian-troll-farms-are-targeting-the-harris-walz-campaign-031321352.html?src=rss
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||