THE WEEK THAT WAS: The things you need to know
Millions of leaked documents and the biggest journalism partnership in history uncovered financial secrets of current and former world leaders in 91 countries and territories, and a global lineup of fugitives, con artists and murderers. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) calls the investigation the Pandora Papers.
Controversial Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who made a sketch with the Prophet Muhammad’s head on a dog’s body, has died in a car accident together with two policemen. Vilks had been under police protection since he 2007 made the controversial sketch.
The US Senate hearing about Facebook’s controversial study on Instagram and teenagers started and will continue in the coming week. Instagram’s CEO Adam Mosseri said the app’s effects on teenagers’ mental health were “quite small”. The Wall Street Journal accused Facebook of hiding a study showing that Instagram could harm teenagers’ wellbeing.
YouTube expanded its medical misinformation policies announcing it will not allow content that poses a serious risk of egregious harm by spreading medical misinformation about currently administered vaccines that are approved and confirmed to be safe and effective by local health authorities and by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The introduction of Instagram Kids was paused following reactions by parents and policymakers. The company said it is freezing the project to ‘allow time to work with parents, experts, policymakers and regulators, to listen to their concerns, and to demonstrate the value and importance of this project for younger teens online today’.
US digital media company Ozy Media closed down. The board’s decision came days after the New York Times published a story on how Ozy has been exaggerating its audience and reach and trying to deceive investors.
Zoom’s USD 15 billion acquisition of cloud-based call center operator Five9 was stopped when Five9’s shareholders voted down the deal. The shareholders’ no came after proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS)and Glass Lewis recommended Five9 shareholders to vote against the deal.
Advertising company Magna Global raised its US advertising revenue forecast to 23% in 2021 and 12% in 2022 after advertising spending grew 32% in the first half of 2021. In 2022, the US market is expected to reach USD 300 billion for the first time.
UK advertising spending grew 49% during the first half of 2021 compared to the same period 2020 and 42% compared to the first half of 2019, according to IAB UK and consultancy PwC. Search remains the single biggest digital channel.
Facebook announced a USD 50 million investment in global research and program partners to create the “Metaverse” – future virtual spaces. Metaverse – a combination of the prefix “meta”, meaning beyond, and “universe” -is an idea about future virtual platforms.
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