Big Tech

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law hearing on

US readies Facebook anti-trust suit

US Federal Trade Commission is preparing a possible antitrust lawsuit against Facebook that it could file by the end of the year.

Brent Kendall, John D. McKinnon and Ryan Tracy

CommentaryTechnology

Why the media bargaining code matters

The government is right to seek to ensure that media advertising revenues support quality journalism and not fake news.

Dave Poddar

MediaMedia

(FILES) This file illustration taken on October 1, 2019 shows the logos of mobile apps Facebook and Google displayed on a tablet in Lille, France. - Google and Facebook have told most employees to keep working from home for the rest of 2020 as part of a response by the tech giants to the deadly coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by DENIS CHARLET / AFP)

Brands to flee ‘junk’ news

The removal of news by Facebook and Google from their sites in Australia may significantly weaken their appeal to advertisers.

Lilly Vitorovich

Cut & PasteCut & Paste

Does Google ever lie? Decide for yourself

Big tech is being a little loose with the truth as it seeks to defend itself as an honest broker.

CommentaryMedia

Prepare for Google, Facebook without news

It looks like Australia will call the tech giants’ bluff and legislate a news bargaining code. But imagine life without them sharing news.

Alan Kohler

TechnologyMedia

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA-NCA NewsWire Photos SEPTEMBER 01 2020.Question Time in the House of Representatives in Parliament House in Canberra.Treasurer Josh Frydenberg , during question time in the House of Representatives at Parliament House, Canberra.Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

‘We don’t respond to coercion’, Treasurer warns Facebook

Josh Frydenberg says he won’t be intimidated by Facebook’s scare tactics, after the tech giant threatened to block news content in Australia.

David Swan

RegulationFinancial Services

(FILES) In this file illustration picture taken on April 20, 2018 in Paris shows apps for Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple (GAFA) and the reflexion of a binary code displayed on a tablet screen. - Big Tech, its hands full with antitrust probes and complaints growing from activists and politicians, turns its attention to quarterly earnings in the coming days expected to show the growing power of Silicon Valley giants. (Photo by Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP)

Watchdog wants better oversight of digital economy

Existing regulatory frameworks ‘have not held up well’ to the challenges of digitalisation, says Rod Sims.

John Durie

CommentaryMedia

TikTok is running out of time

Why would the Trump administration suddenly place such a heavy hand on such a flimsy, unimportant little social media company?

MARK RITSON

COMMENTARYTechnology

(FILES) In this file photograph taken on September 28, 2017, shows a smartphone being operated in front of GAFA logos (acronym for Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon web giants) as background in HÃ©dÃ©-Bazouges, western France. - Big Tech, its hands full with antitrust probes and complaints growing from activists and politicians, turns its attention to quarterly earnings in the coming days expected to show the growing power of Silicon Valley giants. (Photo by Damien MEYER / AFP)

Litigation looms in tech-media deal

The government has backed media companies’ arguments that Google and Facebook should compensate them for their news content.

John Durie

UpdatedTechnology

Tech giants forced to pay for news

Google and Facebook will be required to pay media companies or face massive fresh penalties under landmark Australian laws.

Richard Ferguson, David Swan and Geoff Chambers

Big TechMedia

New big tech code sidelines ABC, SBS

Detailing the code between big tech and media, Communications Minister Paul Fletcher confirmed the ABC and SBS will not share in the revenue.

Kieran Gair and Geoff Chambers

COMMENTARYEconomics

(FILES) This file picture taken on October 1, 2019 shows the logos of mobile apps Facebook and Google displayed on a tablet in Lille. - Australia announced on April 20, 2020 it will begin forcing Google and Facebook to pay news companies for content, in a landmark move aimed at shielding traditional media from the tech giants' digital dominance. (Photo by DENIS CHARLET / AFP)

Taxing big tech can’t wait any longer

Debts are mounting, and Australia, like the rest of the developed world, has a deep corporate tax problem. What to do?

Robert Gottliebsen

Big tech fightTechnology

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Chairman Rod Sims speaks to the media in Sydney, Thursday, February 13, 2020. A $15 billion merger between Vodafone Australia and TPG has been given the green light, but the consumer watchdog says it will cause mobile data prices to rise. (AAP Image/Joel Carrett) NO ARCHIVING

Google’s secret tracking exposed

Google is facing a blockbuster court showdown in coming months.

David Swan

tech giantsTechnology

More to come, Google warned

Tech giants like Google can expect more Federal Court action in the months to come, says Australia’s competition tsar.

David Swan

TechnologyThe Wall Street Journal

NBA star Zion Williamson. PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: WSJ, PHOTO; CHRIS GRAYTHEN/GETTY IMAGES

Google pushes YouTube over rivals

Facebook and other competitors host the same videos, but engineers have made changes that preference YouTube.

Sam Schechner, Kirsten Grind and John West

The Wall Street Journal

TikTok said it couldn’t “comment on ongoing regulatory processes.” PHOTO: CHINA STRINGER NETWORK/REUTERS

TikTok ventures warily into politics

One of the world’s biggest distractions during the pandemic, the app has started allowing US protest videos and fled Hong Kong, while facing flak in Washington over its Chinese control.

Georgia Wells

Big techTechnology

Google news payments won’t cover search

The tech giant’s local boss says media companies get enough value from click-throughs, and shouldn’t be paid any extra.

David Swan

Paying for newsTechnology

(FILES) In this file photo taken on January 21, 2020 A man passes by a sign of Google at Google's stand during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, on January 21, 2020. - Google has begun auto-deleting new users' search data and location history on a rolling 18-month basis, CEO Sundar Pichai announced, as the tech giant moves to tighten privacy settings. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)

Google agrees to pay for news content

Google has changed its mind in an about-face that shows the tech giant is ready to begin paying for news.

David Swan

COMMENTARYTechnology

LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 15: Megan plays Pokemon Go, a mobile game that has become a global phenomenon, the day after it's UK release on July 15, 2016 in Trafalgar Square, London, England. The app lets players roam using their phone's GPS location data and catch Pokemon to train and battle.The game has added millions to the value of Nintendo, which part-owns the franchise. (Photo by Olivia Harris/Getty Images)

Making money out of where you are

People might care a lot more about their location data if they could sell it to the highest bidder rather than just hand it to Google or Apple for free.

John Durie

PropertyTechnology

Atlassian’s new 40-storey behemoth

The Sydney tech giant says its new headquarters will be the world’s tallest hybrid timber building, and generate 2500 jobs.

David Swan

MarketsMarkets

TOPSHOT - Traders work during the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on March 18, 2020 at Wall Street in New York City. - Wall Street stocks plunged again March 18, 2020 as the economic toll from the coronavirus mounts and economists warn of a deep recession. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 6.3 percent, or more than 1,300 points, to close the day at 19,903.50. The index sank by as much as 10 percent earlier in the session, which saw trading halted yet again. (Photo by Johannes EISELE / AFP)

Index divide challenges investors

A tech surge appears behind the biggest divergence in the performance of major US stock indexes in more than a decade.

Karen Langley

Code of conductMedia

(FILES) This file photo taken on November 20, 2017 shows logos of US online social media and social networking service Facebook. The European Commission said on February 15, 2018 that US social media giants have made an effort to comply with EU consumer protection rules, but that Facebook and Twitter have not made all the required changes. / AFP PHOTO / LOIC VENANCE

Facebook won’t share ad revenue

Facebook has rejected demands to share advertising revenue with local media organisations.

Lilly Vitorovich

Big TechMedia

(FILES) In this file photo taken on May 1, 2018 Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks during the annual F8 summit at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California. - Facebook is leaping into the world of cryptocurrency with its own digital money, designed to let people save, send or spend money as easily as firing off text messages.

Facebook plays down value of news content

News content is ‘highly substitutable’; most users not coming to Facebook for news, the platforms says.

Lilly Vitorovich

CompetitionTechnology

The Giphy Cam app lets users create animated gifs for sharing online or with friends, and delivers plenty of filters and stickers to make them more interesting.

ACCC plans new Facebook probe

The ACCC campaign against the big tech platforms is continuing, with the regulator opening an investigation into Facebook’s Giphy acquisition.

John Durie and Lilly Vitorovich

TechnologyTechnology

Atlassian co-CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes speaking on Zoom. Source: The Australian.

‘Cut the cord with California’

Atlassian’s Mike Cannon-Brookes says Australia needs to build its own Netflixes and Ubers to remain globally competitive.

DAVID SWAN

MediaMedia

President Donald Trump speaks as he receives a briefing on the 2020 hurricane season in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, May 28, 2020, in Washington. Watching are Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Neil Jacobs, assistant Secretary of Commerce for Environmental Observation and Prediction, and Pete Gaynor, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

‘Fed up’ Trump takes aim at Twitter

US President Trump signs an executive order calling for social media companies to be held liable for content posted on their platforms.

Lachlan Moffet Gray

Big TechMedia

(FILES) This file photo taken on July 4, 2019 in Nantes shows logos of the US online social media and social networking service Facebook. - Facebook on May 21, 2020 bulked up the Workplace version of its social network that helps employees get their jobs done remotely, investing in a trend it believes will outlast the pandemic. Workplace is taking advantage of innovations in other parts of Facebook, adding virtual

Facebook ad revenue to grow 7pc: Morgan Stanley

Facebook’s ad revenue in Australia was at an estimated $700m for 2019, and likely to grow to $1.6bn in 2024.

LEO SHANAHAN

CommentaryMedia

Watchdog calls out big tech on ‘rubbish’ news claims

Rod Sims says Google and Facebook claims they don’t make any money from news media are ‘rubbish’.

LEO SHANAHAN

Digital platformsMedia

ACCC Chair Rod Sims. Picture: Zak Simmonds

Media, tech giants split on revenue sharing

ACCC’s Rod Sims says negotiations between the tech giants and media firms broke down over a proposed revenue sharing model.

DAVID SWAN

MediaMedia

$1bn bill for BigTech news content ‘possible’

News Corp Australasia boss Michael Miller backs Peter Costello’s demand that Google and Facebook pay for news content.

LEO SHANAHAN

Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/topics/big-tech/page/5