YouTube, Meta, Twitter and ByteDance in the viewfinder – Image
The world of digital and platforms did not remain inactive during the festive season. A small anthology of incomplete information.
– Youtube In a press release on December 22, a first for its parent company Google, the NFL has acquired the rights to broadcast American football championship games in the United States. According to a number of American media, Google will pay about two billion dollars a year for seven years to be able to rebroadcast matches played on Sundays through YouTube TV, a paid video service available only in the United States. In order to access the meetings in this way, subscribers of the YouTube TV channel package will have to pay an additional amount to the subscription price. They will not be able to see the games in their immediate geographical area, that is, the games of their local team, which are the subject of a separate contract. The deal does not provide exclusivity, as the two national channels, Fox and CBS, already jointly hold the rights to these meetings and will continue to broadcast them in the United States.
– Meta, the owner of Facebook, has agreed to pay $725 million to end a 2018 lawsuit seeking damages from the social network, which was accused of allowing third parties, including Cambridge Analytica, to access users’ personal data. “The $725 million offered by the settlement is the largest amount ever obtained in a personal data lawsuit and paid by Facebook to end such a lawsuit,” defense attorneys said in a court filing filed in San Francisco court. released on December 23. Facebook has not admitted any breach under the terms of this agreement that has not yet been approved by a judge in this court.
– On December 22, Germany called on the European Commission for more regulation Twitter following “sudden changes” to the messaging platform’s rules after it was taken over by Elon Musk. In a letter to the European Commission, the State Secretary of the German Ministry of Economy, Sven Giegold (Greens) wrote that the new “regulation of the Twitter platform, its sudden changes and arbitrary implementation” are “of great concern”. Mr Giegold, who is in charge of competition issues, is calling on the Brussels executive to carry out a legal review “as soon as possible” to designate Twitter as a “gatekeeper”. Digital Markets Directive (DMA). “Access controllers” are companies with particularly strong market positions, such as Google or Facebook, which subject them to specific requirements, such as restrictions on the processing of users’ personal data. Twitter does not yet meet these strict criteria within the meaning of the directive, Mr. Giegold admits, but the platform “has a huge impact on the formation of public opinion around the world and also in Europe,” which justifies closer monitoring, he argues.
– Employees of a new Chinese technology company ByteDance The company admitted on December 23 that it illegally accessed data from the TikTok platform to track journalists to identify sources of leaks to the media. According to an email from ByteDance general counsel Erich Andersen seen by AFP, they hoped to establish links between the staff and the Financial Times reporter as well as the former BuzzFeed reporter. Two journalists covered the issues related to this company through the information they obtained confidentially. Employees identified by Bytedance as having had contact with these journalists no longer work for the company, Andersen said, without elaborating on the total number of employees in the case. In a statement to AFP, ByteDance condemned this “unfortunate initiative that seriously violates the company’s code of conduct.”
