Monthly Archives: March 2022

A new ad from a group advocating for tech reform will slam industry giants over their handling of Russian disinformation amid the war in Ukraine.

The Tech Oversight Projects 30-second TV ad will run in the Washington, D.C., market starting Tuesday and accuses tech giants of helping spread Russian disinformation despite their public pledges to crack down on the state-controlled media.

Big Tech says theyre taking action, but new reports show some of them are still helping Russia spread disinformation, a narrator says, according to a copy of the ad exclusively shared with The Hill.

The group, which launched in January and is primarily funded by the Omidyar Network and the Economic Security Project, is pushing for antitrust reform as a way to curb companies power.

Simply put, Big Tech is not doing enough to stop Russian disinformation campaigns if they are still cashing Kremlin-backed checks on their platforms. This is part of a broader pattern of Big Tech concealing the truth from both the public and lawmakers this timewith devastating consequences for the people of Ukraine and shows why they cannot be trusted, Sacha Haworth, executive director of the Tech Oversight Project, said in a statement.

Americans are crystal clear where they stand: hold Big Tech accountable for their actions that harm small businesses, users, and national security by passing antitrust reform now, Haworth added.

The ad broadly attacks the four largest tech companies targeted in antitrust reform proposals Meta, Google, Amazon and Apple but specifically calls outMeta and Google based on reporting about ads on the platforms spreading pro-Russian disinformation.

Both Meta, Facebooks parent company, and Google said they would stop allowing Russian state media to run ads on their platforms at the end of February, after Russia launched its invasion into Ukraine. The companies also took further action to restrict access to Russian state-controlled media after calls from global leaders.

Last week, however, Axios reported that ads from Chinese state broadcaster CGTN are running on Facebook targeting global users with pro-Russian talking points.

AMeta spokesperson did not directly respond to the report or the ad but highlightedMeta's policy of labeling state-controlled media entities, including CGTN.

NewsGuard reported last week that dozens of websites promoting Russian disinformation about the war in Ukraine, including official Russian state media sources, continued to receive revenue from advertisements including ones served on Google.

A spokesperson for Google in a statement said the company had stoppedmonetizing Russia state-funded media last month.

"Since then, our teams have continued to evaluate sites across our network and we will take action as we detect additional state-funded media entities, the spokesperson said. "Further, all publishers must abide by our existing policies, which prohibit content that incites violence, promotes hate, or denies the occurrence of tragic events.

Link:

New ad slams tech giants over Russian disinformation | TheHill - The Hill

It is rumoured in the Chinese social media platform Weibo that tech giants Alibaba and Tencent employees are expecting around 30 per cent job cuts.

On March 13 and 14, Alibaba and Tencent layoffs appeared on Weibo trends, reported local media.

There was internal speculation among employees, that Tencent expects to lay off 10 per cent to 30 per cent of its employees, and Alibaba will lay off 30 per cent of its employees.

Since the pandemic began there have been many layoffs by the tech giants. Meanwhile, Alibaba and Tencent both of them are the biggest tech companies in China.

Alibaba's community group-buying business unit MMC is reportedly planning to lay off about 20 per cent of its employees, reported Chinese media publication Yilanshangye.

The reported layoffs come amid an ongoing crackdown on tech in Beijing. While iQiyi is reportedly letting go of around 20 per cent to 40 per cent of its current workforce, Kuaishou is looking to lay off 30 per cent of its staff.

Tencent started layoffs within small business departments in September 2021.

The posts on Weibo showed that the current economic situation is being reflected in the following things: internet tech layoffs; real estate debt crisis; salary cuts for government services and negative growth of residents' medium and long-term loans.

China has recorded the lowest economic growth in four decades as it grew by 2.3 per cent according to the latest data provided by the National Bureau of Statistics.

China, which is the second-biggest economy in the world, is facing a slowdown due to a slump in manufacturing, real estate, exports, inflation, and consumer spending, according to several reports, which added that the ongoing Ukraine crisis poses may further damage its economy.

This year, China has set a target of around 5.5 per cent for GDP growth, which is the lowest in decades.

The Hong Kong Post reported that rising crude oil prices and hurdles in the development of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) are going to worsen China's economic woes. China's GDP had grown by 8.1 per cent in 2021. However, it would not be easy for China to even reach 5.5 per cent growth this year.

Rising unemployment is another major problem China is facing as unemployment among fresh university graduates increased to 0.88 in the fourth quarter of 2021 from 0.79 in the second quarter of 2020, as per reports.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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Tech giants Alibaba, Tencent likely to trim workforce by up to 30% - Business Standard

The Russian invasion of Ukraine seems to herald a new era among Silicon Valley companies and bosses.

In the past, tech tycoons often chose to follow the traditional line observed by the bosses of companies in other sectors on geopolitical or political issues: remain neutral to avoid alienating a potential reservoir of customers or to avoid having the doors of a market closed.

This rule was particularly observed in tech because tech companies most often have global ambitions. These groups want to be everywhere and capture every possible audience.

Companies have often turned a blind eye to calls for violence using their platforms or refused to take a stand on issues of human rights and freedoms, particularly in China and other non-democratic countries.

MARCO BELLO/AFP via Getty/Shutterstock/TheStreet

You have to believe that things are about to change. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla (TSLA) - Get Tesla Inc Reportand SpaceX, has been helping Ukraine and Ukrainians for a few weeks now. The billionaire had Starlink terminals sent to the country to allow cities destroyed by Russian Shelling and bombing and remote areas to continue to have Internet access.

Musk has also had generators sent to supply electricity to Ukrainian areas whose infrastructure has been destroyed.

The richest man in the world on paper even went so far as to propose to Russian President Vladimir Putin to settle the conflict by a duel between them. Musk is still waiting for an answer.

Now another big name from Silicon Valley is following in Musk's footsteps. Jack Dorsey, the very discreet former CEO and founder of Twitter (TWTR) - Get Twitter, Inc. Reporthas just shown where his sympathies lie. He has just, through his Start Small, LLC fund, made donations of several million dollars to Ukrainians. Dorsey is the CEO of payment service company Block (SQ) - Get Block Inc Class A Report.

This money has been distributed to seven NGOs or charities involved in helping Ukrainians. This money -- $7 million -- was distributed on March 10 toCARE, World Central Kitchen, Sunflower of Peace, Razom, Mercy Corps,GlobalGivingand to Ukraine Nova.

Each of the non-profits received $1 million, according to the Start Small, LLC donation tracking site.

"Nova Ukraine is grateful to Start Small for supporting our mission - helping the people of Ukraine. As the situation on the ground in Ukraine changes daily, this donation gives us flexibility to respond quickly and provide humanitarian relief where it is needed most," a spokesperson said in an email statement.

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On its website, Nova Ukraine, describes itself as a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing humanitarian aid to the people of Ukraine and raising awareness about Ukraine in the United States as well as in the rest of the world.

"Through your generous donations, we fund a variety of efforts to help the people of Ukraine and to strengthen Ukraine's democratic society," Nova Ukraine said.

We are seeing immense demand from local partners on the ground that are bravely helping those in need neighbor to neighbor in some cases," GlobalGiving interim CEO, Donna Callejon said in an email statement. "These local leaders and their teams are deeply committed to their communities, and we are committed to supporting them at every step, with the help of generous donors around the world.

Shutterstock

Dorsey's generous donations come as Russia restricts access to Twitter, and in the midst of unprecedented generosity from the crypto space of which he is one of the evangelists.

The giants of Silicon Valley are also the target of the Russian authorities who have blocked access to Meta Platforms' (FB) - Get Meta Platforms Inc. Class A ReportFacebook and Instagram services.WhatsApp, the group's other messaging platform is restricted in the country.

These sanctions are part of a communication war between Moscow and Silicon Valley. Meta, formerly Facebook, for example decided to ban Russian state media channels on its platforms and dismantled and blocked Russian propaganda networks despite protests from Moscow. Twitter also did the same.

Between threats, blockages, the tech giants have not been in the odor of sanctity since the Russian invasion of Ukraine which started on February 24.

"At a meeting on organizing hatred for the Russian people," Russia's space chief tweeted recently, according to TheStreet's translation of the tweet, with a hijacked photo of seated uniformed generals. In the photo Dorsey and Zuckerberg are in the foreground.

Rogozin has already taken it out on Musk after he proposed the idea of a deadly fight between him and Putin.

"You, little devil, are still young," Rogozin tweeted at Musk, quoting a fairy tale by Alexander Pushkin, a Russian poet known for disguising political messages in his stories. "Compete with me weak;It would only be a waste of time. Overtake my brother first."

To which Musk responded by saying:

"And um [flicks wrist] we should form a book club," Musk tweeted.A fool with a heart and no mind is just as unfortunate a fool as a fool with a mind without a heart, he added quoting Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky's novel "The Idiot."

Continued here:

Jack Dorsey Takes Sides in the Russian Invasion of Ukraine - TheStreet

The tech world order that came together in the '90s at the Cold War's end is falling apart today as a new rift between Russia and the West opens and a great retrenchment begins.

Why it matters: The breakup of the USSR in the early '90s opened an era in which internet use rapidly spread around the globe and U.S. tech companies viewed the entire planet as both factory floor and market.

Driving the news: A new COVID outbreak that's spread from Hong Kong to nearby Shenzhen, China, has led Foxconn the gigantic Taiwan-based tech supplier to temporarily close production complexes there that manufacture, among other things, Apple's iPhone.

At the same time, Ukraine's plight has pushed many U.S.-based tech giants toward taking sides in a major international conflict, turning the power of their platforms toward blocking Russian state propaganda.

The big picture: Beginning in the '90s and accelerating after China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, China became the tech industry's foundry. The relationship brought benefits to both sides.

Now all that, plus the pandemic, has left the U.S. in a "bring production home from overseas" mood.

The result is the start of a vast withdrawal from a single global tech market.

Yes, but: A restructured international tech order, with native companies providing more software, services and even devices, could be more diverse, resilient, and vibrant than today's world, in which a handful of companies serve billions of customers in largely the same ways.

Our thought bubble: Decentralization is a watchword for industry visionaries, and that's exactly what's happening right now in the tech economy around the globe.

What's next: A modest retrenchment could see some tech manufacturing return to the U.S. while software services become less global in ambition.

Read more:

China, pandemic, Ukraine war are ending the tech industry's globalist dream - Axios

Accenture ( ACN 1.39% ) posted its second-quarter earnings report on March 17, easily beating analysts' expectations.

The IT services company's revenue rose 24% year over year (28% in local currency terms) to $15.05 billion, which cleared analysts' estimates by $380 million. Its earnings per share (EPS) grew 25% on an adjusted basis to $2.54, which also exceeded Wall Street's expectations by $0.13.

Does that earnings beat indicate it's safe to invest in Accenture? Let's review four reasons to buy the stock -- and one reason to sell it -- to find out.

Image source: Getty Images.

Accenture serves five main industries: communications, media, and tech (21% of its second-quarter revenue); financial services (19%); health and public services (18%); products (29%); and resources (13%).

Accenture's growth decelerated across all of those segments, except for health and public services, throughout the onset of the pandemic in 2020. However, all of its end markets recovered throughout 2021, and its year-over-year revenue growth accelerated over the past year.

Revenue Growth (YOY)

Q2 2021

Q3 2021

Q4 2021

Q1 2022

Q2 2022

Communications, Media, and Tech

9%

19%

23%

32%

32%

Financial Services

10%

16%

20%

24%

25%

Health and Public Services

14%

21%

18%

23%

21%

Products

2%

17%

25%

34%

34%

Resources

(7%)

3%

13%

17%

25%

Total

5%

16%

21%

27%

28%

YOY = Year over year. Local currency terms. Data source: Accenture.

Accenture mainly attributes its acceleration to its "strategic growth priorities," which include its higher-growth cloud, interactive, industry X (digital transformation), and security businesses. Expanding those divisions reduces its overall dependence on legacy IT services and widens its moat against smaller digital transformation specialists like Globant.

For the third quarter, Accenture expects its revenue to grow 22%-26% year over year in local currency terms.

For the full year, it expects its revenue to rise 24%-26% in local currency terms (with a five percentage point boost from acquisitions), compared to its 11% growth in fiscal 2021. That's much higher than its previous guidance for 19%-22% growth (which also included its acquisitions). Both its quarterly and annual estimates exceeded analysts' expectations.

Accenture's confident forecasts fully account for its recent exit from Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine. That impact should be minimal since only about 0.3% of Accenture's employees are based in Russia, but CFO KC McClure noted that its new guidance didn't account for any "significant escalation or expansion" of the ongoing conflict.

Accenture's operating margin dipped sequentially in the second quarter as it ramped up its investments, but remained flat year-over-year at 13.7%. Its adjusted earnings have also risen by more than 20% over the past four quarters.

Period

Q2 2021

Q3 2021

Q4 2021

Q1 2022

Q2 2022

Operating Margin

13.7%

16%

14.6%

16.3%

13.7%

Adjusted EPS Growth (YOY)

6%

26%

29%

28%

25%

Data source: Accenture. YOY = Year over year.

For the full year, Accenture expects its operating margin to expand by ten basis points to 15.2%, and for its adjusted EPS to increase 21%-23% -- which was also higher than its previous guidance for 17%-20% earnings growth.

Accenture expects to generate $8 billion to $8.5 billion in free cash flow (FCF) in fiscal 2022, compared to a FCF of $8.4 billion in fiscal 2021.

It returned $5.9 billion of its FCF through $3.7 billion in buybacks and $2.2 billion in dividends in 2021, and it expects to boost those shareholder returns to "at least" $6.5 billion this year. It currently pays a forward yield of 1.25%.

Accenture's stable FCF growth is impressive, especially considering it spent $4.2 billion on acquisitions in fiscal 2021 and plans to spend another $4 billion on acquisitions this year. Its ability to balance those acquisitions with consistent shareholder returns gives it an attractive blend of growth and value that many other blue-chip tech giants lack.

Accenture's financials look solid, but the stock is also richly valued relative to other tech giants at 31 times forward earnings. By comparison, Microsoft trades at 26 times forward earnings, while Alphabet has a forward P/E ratio of 23.

Accenture's higher valuation could limit its upside potential this year, especially if rising interest rates continue to push investors toward value stocks.

Accenture's stock isn't cheap, but I believe its stable growth, broad diversification, and superior scale easily justify its higher valuation.

It also remains a secular play on the digitization of aging businesses, many of which are hiring Accenture's IT professionals to shore up their cybersecurity defenses, migrate their data to cloud-based services, and reinvent their businesses for mobile apps. Its stock could remain volatile in this choppy market, but I believe it's still a great long-term investment.

This article represents the opinion of the writer, who may disagree with the official recommendation position of a Motley Fool premium advisory service. Were motley! Questioning an investing thesis even one of our own helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that help us become smarter, happier, and richer.

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4 Reasons to Buy Accenture, and 1 Reason to Sell - The Motley Fool

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Social media companies should be forced to report to the federal government on how they use algorithms and how they address harm online, a parliamentary committee has recommended.

The proposal was one of 26 recommendations made in the final report of the social media and online safety committee, which was handed down on Tuesday.

The committee also recommended social media companies be mandated to set the highest privacy settings as a default for people under 18.

A digital safety review was also proposed, which would further examine all online safety legislation and government programs in the space.

Federal funding should be increased to support victims of technology-facilitated abuse, the report recommended.

The committee also called for more work by the eSafety Commissioner, who would examine how social media companies prevent pile-on attacks or harms across multiple online platforms.

Committee chair Lucy Wicks said the report was a crucial step to making online spaces safer.

For too long, social media platforms have been able to set the rules, enabling the proliferation of online abuse, she said.

The balance of responsibility for the safety of users online, which until recently has been primarily on users, must be flipped to ensure that social medial platforms bear more of the burden of providing safety for their users.

The inquiry was launched in late 2021, and heard from nearly 60 witnesses, which saw large tech companies be questioned.

The report said the algorithms of social media companies needed further investigation to determine the scale of the harm they caused, as well as how they could be regulated.

While algorithms play a key role in the basic function of multiple types of online services, it is clear that they have the potential to enormously accentuate online harm, the report said.

More transparency is required of social media companies to demonstrate that these concerns are being addressed.

Although the report considered social media companies having a statutory requirement to report on how they were minimising harm from algorithms online, a review would be needed to determine how it would be achieved.

Ms Wicks said any response in how to protect online users needed to evolve quickly, given the nature of social media platforms.

Social media companies have to take responsibility to enforce their terms of service, prevent recidivism of bad actors, prevent pile-ons or volumetric attacks (and) prevent harms across multiple platforms, she said.

The recommendations in this report are an important next step in making our online world and social media platforms safer for all.

Although the report was unanimous, Labor members of the committee said the countrys online safety framework should be updated to enable action taken against group hate speech.

A glaring gap in the existing Australian regulatory regime compared to other nations is dealing with hate speech targeting groups, Labor members said in the report.

This is particularly concerning in the context of this report being handed down at the time of the third anniversary of the Christchurch terrorist atrocity We have yet to address the online material that normalises hate and radicalises people to commit these acts of real-world violence.

-AAP

See the original post here:

Tech giants urged to report algorithm harm to online safety - The New Daily

U.S.-listed China stocks launched into a rallyearlier this week, encouraged in part by indications from Beijing that the witch-huntagainst these companies will soon end. A Bloomberg report, however, suggested that it may be too early to call a truce.

What Happened: Media and entertainment conglomerate Tencent Holdings ADR(OTC: TCEHY), could soon find itself in the crosshairs of regulators yet again. Chinese authorities are mulling over plans to get Tencent to organize its WeChat Pay as a financial holding company, Bloomberg reported.

This issimilar to what was askedof Alibaba Group Holding Ltd - ADR(NYSE: BABA) founder Jack Ma's Ant Financial after regulators poured cold water on the fintech company's mammoth initial public offering plans.

If regulators do decide to go ahead with their proposed plan for Tencent's payment platform, the latter may have to apply for a new license, Bloomberg said. The Chinese conglomerate has to group all its fintech businesses, including banking, securities, insurance and credit rating services under a financial holding company, it added.

The pushback is that the unit has to comply with strict disclosure and capital adequacy norms that are applicable to traditional banks, the report said.

Separating WeChat Pay from the WeChat social media platform will introduce uncertainty and reduce the convenience of Tencent's mobile service offerings, Bloomberg said. It also poses risk to Tencent's "one-stop" appeal that has helped it to evolve as one of the world's most valuable companies, the report added.

Related Link: Alibaba Opens Up Walled Garden To Allow Rival Tencent's Payment System In Some Apps

Why It's Important: China's regulatory clampdown, apparently driven by the quest to bridge the widening chasm between the rich and poor, has weakened most of the high-profile domestic tech companies. The regulations served as speed bumps to check their unhindered growth that, according to the communist regime, was giving them an air of invincibility.

The tech giants were also taken to task for misusing their dominant position in the market to stifle competition and misuse user data.

The result of the regulatory crackdown has been apparentand in particular forAlibaba, which has seen its shares plummet from a high of around $319 in October2020 to under $100 last week.

Renewed clampdowns could only hurt these companies further, which in turn can impact the domestic economy that has taken baby steps toward recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic impact.

TCEHY Price Action: Tencent shares trading over the counter in the U.S. were up 6.72% to $51.85 Friday afternoon at publication.

Related Link: How to Buy Tencent Stock

Photo: Courtesy Tencent

2022 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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Chinese Regulators Aren't Done Yet: Authorities Reportedly Seek Overhaul Of Tencent's Payment Platform - - Benzinga

By Brian Fung, CNN Business

(CNN) -- As its troops have gotten bogged down in Ukraine, the Russian government has been fueling a conspiracy theory on social media about the purpose of US-funded biolabs in Ukraine.

In posts spread across Facebook, Twitter and YouTube viewed by CNN this week, Russia's foreign and defense ministries have repeated claims that Ukraine had been researching biological weapons an assertion that's previously been rejected as false by the United States, its allies and a top United Nations disarmament official.

In fact, the US-supported labs are part of a program to develop vaccines and perform peaceful research, the United States has said, while White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has described the Russian claim as "propaganda" and a potential pretext for Russia to deploy chemical or biological weapons itself in Ukraine.

The issue marks yet another front in the sprawling information war over Ukraine. And it highlights the challenge for social media platforms posed by Russian government accounts that critics say are freely allowed to spew disinformation to millions of users, even as those same platforms have moved to restrict Russian state media content over similar concerns.

Rather than announce blanket restrictions on Russian government accounts, as they've done with Russian state media, tech platforms have instead taken a more surgical approach by removing individual posts by government accounts that violate platform rules.

However, as the information war continues, and as US officials increasingly blast the Russian government for spreading false claims, tech platforms may come under more pressure to crack down on accounts linked to the Kremlin, disinformation experts say.

"We're in a serious crisis situation right now, and we're in an information warfare situation where maybe suspending these accounts, if not banning them for all eternity, would make a lot of sense," said Alina Polyakova, president of the Center for European Policy Analysis, a think-tank that receives support from some tech giants including Google and Microsoft. "For now [the platforms] have stuck to a more free-speech approach rather than a blocking approach, which I also understand, but again, we're in a very different situation when it comes to what's happening in Ukraine right now."

California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell put it more bluntly in a tweet last week: "RT NOW if @twitter should BAN the baby-killing country of Russia from its platform."

Earlier this week, Facebook removed a post by Russia's embassy in the UK for disputing reported facts about the bombing of a hospital in Mariupol. The post violated Facebook's policy against denying violent events, said Drew Pusateri, a spokesperson for Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.

Similar posts by Russian embassy officials were also removed from Twitter for violating that platform's policy against denying violent events, company spokesperson Katie Rosborough told CNN.

The affected Russian accounts remain active on both websites, along with the Russian foreign ministry and ministry of defense. On Twitter, an account run by the office of Russian President Vladimir Putin still shares Kremlin promotional photos and links to press releases. And on YouTube, a Russian government channel broadcasts speeches by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

"We don't remove accounts even when we disagree with the content they post but we do take action when they violate our rules," said Meta'sPusateri. "The world deserves the opportunity to hear and scrutinize the content of Russian leaders at this moment."

Like Facebook, Twitter labels government-run accounts, including Russia's, for transparency. Twitter added Wednesday that its moves to restrict Russian state media has led to a 30% decrease in that content's reach, and that it has also begun labeling accounts belonging to the Ukrainian and Belarusian governments.

"While we've had a policy around state-affiliated media and government accounts for years, the war in Ukraine raises a complicated set of challenges in how we handle the accounts," Rosborough said in a statement. "Our goal is to consistently enforce our rules while balancing the public interest."

Ivy Choi, a spokesperson for YouTube, said the platform's policies apply equally to all users, including Russian government channels, and that "our teams continue to monitor the situation closely." Asked to name an account linked to Russia that has been banned from the platform, Choi said YouTube had terminated Vladimir Solovyov, a pro-Russia broadcaster, for repeatedly violating YouTube policies, including its policy against incitement. But the company did not identify any official Russian government accounts that have been banned.

Russia has objected to what it's described as censorship at the hands of western tech platforms, and has moved to block Facebook, Instagram, and to a lesser extent, Twitter within its borders. Russian internet users have flocked to digital circumvention tools in response to defeat the government's information blackout.

Differences among platforms and how they work have in some cases led to varying policies and approaches to enforcement, said Polyakova, adding that greater regulation could lead to more uniform policies across the industry.

"We've seen this hodgepodge approach that hasn't always been coordinated or consistent; in general, this creates a lot of vulnerabilities and openings for spreaders of disinformation," Polyakova said.

Social media sites' handling of Russian government accounts also echoes how the companies have dealt with individual politicians for years.

Tech companies famously grappled with how to handle claims by Donald Trump both before and during his presidency with most platforms arguing it was important for users to hear what public figures have to say, if only to help keep them accountable. While some may argue it's in the public interest for Russia's claims to be documented and preserved, said Polyakova, there will always be ways to access Russia's propaganda without giving it a megaphone on social media.

The posts viewed by CNN this week containing the debunked claims about Ukrainian biolabs were not accompanied by content warnings or labels, though the platforms did label the Russian accounts as government-run in accordance with existing policies.

The rapidly unfolding military, political and diplomatic situation may prompt platforms to hesitate in many scenarios, said Karen Kornbluh, a disinformation expert at the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

"It's a tough balancing act for platforms," Kornbluh said. "They do not want to call the shots in foreign policy disputes."

But even though tech companies may be wary of getting caught in an uncomfortable position, Kornbluh said, social media platforms should nevertheless consider applying to Russian government accounts some of the same restrictions they've applied to Russian state-run media, "especially when that same government is criminalizing truth in Russia with the new 'fake news' law" that threatens over a decade of jail time for contradicting official narratives about the war.

The-CNN-Wire & 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.

Continued here:

Social media platforms tread carefully when it comes to the Russian government - WDJT

Seasonal affective disorder sufferers, rejoice! The Senate just voted to make daylight saving time permanent.

Anyways, onto today's tech news. Former Theranos president Sunny Balwani's trial starts today, and Tesla has been quietly raising the price on its cheapest model.

Let's dive in.

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1. Sunny Balwani's trial starts today. Balwani, the former president and COO of shuttered blood-testing startup Theranos and founder Elizabeth Holmes' ex-boyfriend, is finally getting his day in court. But, Adam Lashinsky writes, he's pretty much screwed.

What to expect from Balwani's trial.

In other news:

2. The price of Tesla's cheapest car has increased by $10,000 over the past year. The Model 3 now starts at $46,990, up from $36,990 about a year ago. Tesla drastically overhauled the pricing for its entire lineup this week, raising prices by up to $12,500. More on Tesla's price increases.

3. Some Googlers are pushing back on the company's return-to-office policy. Employees raised concerns about the company's hybrid work plan during an all-hands meeting last month. Some said the policy was applied inconsistently across teams, with some workers banned from remote work and others getting special treatment. Here's what employees are saying.

4. Amazon's acquisition of MGM was approved in the EU. The European Commission determined the $8.45 billion deal which would expand Amazon Prime's streaming selection to include big-name titles like James Bond wouldn't harm competition. Now, Amazon's last regulatory roadblock is the Federal Trade Commission. Here's a look at what that means.

5. We outlined tech giants' highest-paying cloud certifications. Demand for cloud skills is growing exponentially and so are the salaries for those jobs. Having a certification from Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Google Cloud, or other tech giants could help you earn more than $100,000. Check them out (and what it takes to earn them) here.

6. Politicians and warlords are responding to Elon Musk's challenge to fight Vladimir Putin. After Musk invited Russia's leader to "single combat" to decide Ukraine's fate, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and Russia's space chief chimed in to side with Putin. See their latest beef here.

7. Shopify is diving headfirst into the world of NFTs, Web3, AR, and more. The e-commerce company is growing its dedicated blockchain team and exploring more uses for augmented and virtual reality, signaling an interest in how the tech can be used to help merchants. How Shopify is defying metaverse critics.

8. Mark Zuckerberg just expanded on his vision for the metaverse. While speaking at the South by Southwest Festival in Texas, the Facebook founder and CEO said a more functional metaverse is still "a few years off," and said NFTs are coming to Instagram.

Odds and ends:

9. We outlined a few ways we could actually use NFTs (that don't involve cartoon apes). NFTs don't have to be limited to multimillion-dollar pieces of art. Instead, we could ultimately use them for concert or sports tickets, or as passports. Here are four ways we could use NFTs in the real world.

10. These are Netflix's 13 biggest TV shows of all time. "Inventing Anna," a new limited series from Shonda Rhimes, has quickly become one of the streaming service's most popular shows. From "The Witcher" to "Stranger Things," see what other Netflix shows made the list.

What we're watching today:

Keep updated with the latest tech news throughout your day by checking out The Refresh from Insider, a dynamic audio news brief from the Insider newsroom. Listen here.

Curated by Jordan Parker Erb in New York. (Feedback or tips? Email jerb@insider.com or tweet @jordanparkererb.) Edited by Michael Cogley in London.

Excerpt from:

10 Things in Tech: Theranos ex-COO in court - Business Insider

Good morning! South by Southwest returned to in-person programming this year after two years away, and a few Protocollers were on the ground to assess the vibe (and the tacos). As expected, the metaverse, crypto and climate change dominated conversations throughout the week.

The metaverse doesn't exist yet, but you wouldnt know that from attending SXSW. Technologists and creators alike descended upon Austin to hype up and criticize the possibilities and promises of it anyway. From fashion to film to sustainability, people wanted to talk about how everything and anything would work in a virtual world.

SXSW was awash in crypto. It wasnt just panels and talks, though seemingly every panel had some crypto or Web3 angle: Sponsors, events, parties and more leaned into the crypto hype.

Everyone at SXSW wanted to talk about climate change. (Everyones favorite new climate newsletter even launched there.) But your trusty Protocol Climate editor was particularly fascinated by who showed up from Big Oil. The Lone Star State is ground zero for the oil and gas industry in the U.S., but its rare to see folks from the industry at big, splashy climate events given fossil fuels are the main driver of the crisis itself.

Nat Rubio-Licht, Tomio Geron and Brian Kahn

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Qualcomms Cristiano Amon said were closer to the metaverse than people think:

Alex Rodriguez thinks blockchain tech could help sports fans invest in big teams:

Ukrainian crypto leader Michael Chobanian thinks crypto will change the world:

Rinki Sethi joined Bill.com as VP and CISO. Sethi previously worked in security roles at various companies, including Twitter and Rubrik.

Zipporah Allen is the new CMO of Strava. She was most recently the chief digital officer of Taco Bell.

Jonathan Farnell is Eqonexs new CEO. Farnell previously led Binances U.K. operations.

Scott Dresser is Ericssons new legal and compliance chief. Hes taking over for Xavier Dedullen, whos been the companys top lawyer for a few years.

Spotify is hiring two Web3-focused roles: A senior back-end engineer and a senior manager of Innovation and Market Intelligence.

Amazons MGM deal isnt just about the content. Sure Amazon is getting thousands upon thousands of movies and TV show episodes. But its also almost certain that a lot of this content will eventually show up on IMDb TV, Amazons free, ad-supported streaming service.

The EU is trying to take down Apples walled garden with a new anticompetition law that would force Apple to let users sideload apps.

WeCrashed is out on Apple TV+. The reviews aren't great, but the WeWork tale is still another entrant in the tech-chaos TV canon.

Matter wont arrive until at least the fall. The new connectivity standards launch was delayed again because more companies wanted in on it.

Lucid may raise prices for future cars. Prices for existing reservation holders wouldnt be affected.

Meta subpoenaed tech companies to prove it has competitors. But those companies, including LinkedIn, Twitter and Pinterest, dont want to hand over documents.

Amazon Flex drivers want the company to help offset soaring gas prices. The drivers protested in Los Angeles yesterday to urge Amazon to offer some sort of relief for gas costs.

Alibaba and Tencent might lay off tens of thousands of workers this year as China continues to crack down on tech giants.

Russians are turning to Clubhouse for information about the war. Its become a place for civilians to discuss and debate the conflict and understand whats happening in Ukraine.

Were only a couple of days away from the first day of spring, which means its time to swap out your winter clothes and declutter your home. But your work schedule could probably use some TLC, too, and Atlassian work futurist Dominic Price spelled out a few ways you can do it:

From fraudsters to hackers, the web has its share of bad actors. Auras all-in-one digital protection keeps them at bay, so you can do what you love to do onlinesafely. Sign up for your free trial to experience how our powerful security fits seamlessly into your life.

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Thoughts, questions, tips? Send them to sourcecode@protocol.com, or our tips line, tips@protocol.com. Enjoy your day, see you Sunday.

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Notes from SXSW: What's next for the metaverse, Web3 and climate tech - Protocol