Fringe, extremist figures have found a refuge in the private groups of Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) where they can post hate content such as attacks against Muslims and transgender people among others, The New York Times reported.
This was exemplified by Alex Jones, the founder of Infowars who was suspended for repeated violations of bullying and hate speech. A private Infowars Facebook group which has 110,000 followers survived the crackdown against Jones.
Facebook chief executive Mark zukerberg is building a physical war room at their Menlo Park, California, headquarters to snuff out interference in the US midterm elections, a report by Business Insider said.
In other news, slowing growth and rising regulation led to a downgrade in Facebook stock, a report by CNBC said.
Shares of Facebook fell 2.5% to US$171.22.
FAANG Report: Facebook calls for tech summit on 2018 election meddling; Apple pirates Tesla employees
Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) and Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) will be forced to dedicate a portion of their catalog to local TV shows and films under proposals said to be close to becoming law in the European Union, a report by AppleInsider said.
The proposal would require services such as Amazon Instant Video and Netflix, among others, to ensure at least 30% of their on-demand catalogs are produced within Europe, though this could be raised to a minimum of 40% by individual countries, the report said.
Roberto Viola, in charge of the European Commission's department that regulates communications networks, content, and technology, advised the new rules are on the path to be approved by December.
The proposal may also cover Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), which is planning to bundle music, news and other content in its services. The proposed law could force Apple to consider increasing its overseas investment in content.
Apple stock crawled up 0.1% to US$227.71, having hit a record peak at US$228.94 on Tuesday.
Netflix stock slipped 0.6% to US$365.38.
Amazon.com shares gained 0.9% to US42,030.74, also touching a record high of US$2,034.19.
FAANG Report: Trump raises specter of anti-trust against Facebook, Google and Amazon; Apple stock rallies
Alphabet Inc's (Google) and Facebook were harshly criticized by Europe's biggest news agencies of "plundering" news for free as they called on the internet giants to share more of their revenues with the media, a report by PhysOrg said.
In a column signed by the CEOs of around 20 agencies including France's Agence France-Presse, Britain's Press Association and Germany's Deutsche Presse-Agentur they called on the European Parliament to update copyright law in the EU to help address a "grotesque imbalance".
Google shares were down 1.5% to US$1,200.29.