Society

The clock is ticking on TikTok’s U.S. business

21 Oct 2019

A senator wants parents to delete the popular video app owned by China’s ByteDance. Even Facebook is taking potshots. TikTok, meanwhile, is building lobbying strength in Washington. But the mood in D.C. is ripe for curbs on any Chinese upstart with global ambitions.

Canada’s election could bring climate-change chill

18 Oct 2019

Even if Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party loses to Conservatives next week, his national carbon tax looks safe. Yet the rate is too low, and unlikely to get tougher. Having a big, pollution-happy neighbor doesn’t help. Canada’s green wave may be reaching its political limits.

Opioid crisis pile-on reaches legal critical mass

17 Oct 2019

The imminent start of a key trial has precipitated $50 billion of combined settlement offers from U.S. companies. Drugmakers and distributors prefer one-off payouts to open-ended uncertainty, while localities want cash as soon as possible. That’s a recipe for deals.

Facebook would be wise to just give up on politics

15 Oct 2019

Over the past 90 days, political ads brought in less than 1% of forecast Q3 sales. But after presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren showed up Facebook’s patchy vetting, they continue to garner way more in the way of negative vibes. Mark Zuckerberg can afford to exit the category.

Google could buff its browser-privacy blemishes

11 Oct 2019

Chrome’s owner lags both Mozilla’s Firefox and Apple’s Safari in trying to make the web less creepy. The prospect of losing revenue may explain Google’s resistance to blocking certain ad trackers. If more users abandon the web’s most popular browser, Google is likely to act.

Tech firms show usefulness in the face of tragedy

10 Oct 2019

Twitter, Facebook and others worked together to remove footage of a gunman who attacked a German synagogue. Social media is a potential channel for extremism, and Silicon Valley is making amends for past slow responses. This at least helps their claim to be part of the solution.

Facebook gives Match’s parent a reason to split

20 Sep 2019

Barry Diller’s IAC may separate its holdings in the $22 bln dating site to uncork value. It would give some agility to a company already experimenting with new ideas like video and gaming. Mark Zuckerberg moving on Match’s turf provides another good excuse to make the move.

Climate strikes give governments cover to act

20 Sep 2019

Millions are downing textbooks and tools to demand more action against global warming. People power fueled a mass aversion to plastic. And many ideas and financing vehicles to enable the climate fight already exist. The worldwide protests allow politicians to take a tougher line.

U.S. antitrust effort cries out for a monopoly

19 Sep 2019

The U.S. Department of Justice and FTC admit to squabbling over turf as they target the likes of Amazon and Facebook. Both agencies also could use more money and people to take on deep-pocketed tech giants. Pooling resources and power through a merger is a natural solution.

Data turns from asset to M&A liability

17 Sep 2019

Minority stakes in U.S. firms with sensitive information on Americans may soon be subject to national security reviews – a sensible acknowledgement that data has value. There’s a cost though. Casting the net that wide will put a chill on inbound deals, and not just from China.

Some startups truly make the world a better place

16 Sep 2019

Silicon Valley likes the idea of doing good, but it’s undermined by the power and missteps of firms like Facebook. New ventures aim to help people directly, connecting students at non-elite colleges to job leads or helping teachers buy homes. The trick will be making money, too.

U.S. unions are in need of reinvention

30 Aug 2019

Labor Day originally celebrated full-time and fairly paid employment. The unions which helped win such jobs have declined, in part because the people doing them are now mostly comfortable. Organising workers who are left behind is harder, but would be good for the U.S. economy.

Uber labor bill risks straying from righteous road

29 Aug 2019

The ride-hailing giant’s home state of California wants gig-economy firms to give workers paid vacation and sick time, following similar cases in Europe. Yet some old-school industries may get carve-outs. That would be a pity. It’s a chance to rethink protections for all earners.

Climate-denying magnate stoked potent opposition

23 Aug 2019

Billionaire David Koch’s funding for anti-global warming causes helped delay a response to a mounting crisis. He died as record fires beset the Amazon. But governments, companies and investors have already consigned his belief that free markets cure all ills to the scrap heap.

American CEO pay inflation is down but not yet out

16 Aug 2019

A new study shows top company bosses made 278 times an average employee’s pay in 2018 – a quarter less than the 2000 peak. At this rate, it will only take another 50 or so years to get back to the 30 times ratio of 1978. There might be an anti-elite revolution before then.

Epstein case shows lingerie giant’s fraying seams

8 Aug 2019

Leslie Wexner, CEO of Victoria’s Secret owner L Brands, is in the spotlight for letting the financier charged with sex trafficking manage his money. His firm needs scrutiny, too. For investors, Wexner’s slow response to online threats and falling margins are another worry.

Top Trump beneficiary gets it from the other end

7 Aug 2019

Few stocks have surfed the president’s term like the New York Times. Far from “failing,” the publisher tripled in value and is nearly halfway towards its 2025 goal of 10 mln total subscribers. But as Q2 results show, dopey headlines are less of a threat than Trump’s exit.

Breakdown: Silicon Valley privacy caught in a jam

29 Jul 2019

IBM is the latest to call for changes to a 23-year-old law that exempts the likes of YouTube and Facebook from lawsuits over content on their sites. The provision no longer encourages the kind of policing their platforms need. Yet scrapping it wouldn’t solve that, either.

Viewsroom: UK’s new PM looks for the exit

25 Jul 2019

Boris Johnson helped persuade Britons to vote to leave the EU. London’s former mayor now leads the country – and may find his pledge to quit the European bloc hard to keep. Meanwhile, U.S. watchdogs are circling Amazon, Alphabet, Apple and Facebook. Plus: Protests rock Hong Kong.

Puerto Rico leadership change offers second chance

25 Jul 2019

Governor Ricardo Rossello is resigning after mass protests over crude chat messages and a corruption probe. Political turmoil has stymied efforts to restructure the U.S. territory’s debt and strengthen fiscal oversight. The next leader can’t afford to waste Puerto Rico’s crisis.