#SocialStocks: EU fines for relaxed election AI content moderation coming soon

Steven Mnuchin to form group in hopes of buying TikTok, Meta alleges former VP of stealing documents and other notable stories from this week

Welcome to “#SocialStocks,” The Fly’s weekly recap of Wall Street’s reactions to social media stock news.

SWIPE TO LIKE: 

“New thing we’re testing out: swipe to like or tell us you’re not interested in a post. It’s an easy way to let us know what you want to see more of on your feed,” said Meta Platforms (META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a Threads post. To access Threads, Meta directs users to sign in through their Instagram account.

DOWN: 

User reports indicated problems at both Meta’s Instagram and Facebook, according to Downdetector.

EU CRACKS DOWN ON AI CONTENT MODERATION: 

EU Commission rules, set to be adopted as soon as next week, will fine X, TikTok, and other big platforms over lax election AI content moderation, The Financial Times’ Javier Espinoza reported. Other platforms covered by the requirements include Snapchat (SNAP), YouTube (GOOGL) and Facebook. Under the requirements, platforms that fail to adequately tackle AI-powered disinformation or deepfakes could face fines of up to 6% of global turnover, Espinoza noted.

COMPLIANCE MANAGER: 

Zoom Video (ZM) announced the launch of Zoom Compliance Manager, an all-in-one offering that provides archiving, eDiscovery, legal hold, and information protection capabilities to help organizations fulfill regulatory requirements and mitigate organizational communications compliance risks across the Zoom platform. “Zoom currently provides compliance and information protection for enterprise customers within regulated industries like financial services, healthcare, and the public sector through integrations with key communications compliance providers,” said Ritu Mukherjee, head of Product Business Acceleration and Readiness at Zoom. “With Zoom Compliance Manager, we are making it easy for our customers to have an end-to-end experience – seamless buying, easy setup, centralized management, and simplified support – with a comprehensive solution that addresses their communications compliance needs across the Zoom platform.”

MENTORSHIP PROGRAM: 

Sprout Social (SPT) announced that its virtual community platform, The Arboretum, has launched a new mentorship program for social media and marketing professionals. “The Arboretum has become an inspiring place for so many professionals across every level of their careers to come together and connect with peers, learn new skills and exchange actionable advice,” said Scott Morris, CMO of Sprout Social. “By launching an official mentorship program, The Arboretum will be able to build on the foundation of connection within the community and create even more mentorship opportunities for members centered around shared goals and visions. I’m incredibly excited to see the career-changing connections and ideas that stem from this program.”

TIKTOK CREATOR REWARDS PROGRAM: 

“Hometo a global community powered by our creators and their creativity, TikTok brings together people around the world through content that connects, entertains, and inspires. With a community as unique and diverse as ours, we remain committed to investing in the best tools and technology for our creators to unleash their creativity, build their community and monetize in a way that’s most authentic to them. And as we constantly look to enhance the TikTok experience for everyone on our platform, we learn from how tools and features are embraced.. We first introduced longer videos in 2022, and since then, interest in longer-form storytelling has only grown. So much so that the TikTok community now spends 50% of their time on TikTok watching videos longer than one minute. We introduced the Creativity Program Beta to encourage creators on their TikTok journey to generate higher earnings and unlock more opportunities by sharing their longer content. During the beta period, we spent time gathering valuable feedback from our community, ensuring the program meets the needs of our creators…. we’re excited to share that the Creativity Program is out of beta. As we officially introduce Creator Rewards Program, we look forward to continuing to partner with our creators and helping them realize their full potential,” said the company in part in a blog post on Monday.

LATEST META PROBE: 

U.S. prosecutors in Virginia have been sending subpoenas and asking questions as part of a criminal grand jury probe looking into whether Meta’a social-media platforms are facilitating and profiting from the illegal sale of drugs, Andrea Fuller, Salvador Rodriguez and Khadeeja Safdar of Wall Street Journal wrote, citing people familiar with the matter. The prosecutors have been requesting records related to drug content or illicit sale of drugs via Meta’s platforms, sources told the Journal. The Food and Drug Administration has also been helping with the investigation, the paper adds. A spokesperson for Meta told the Journal: “The sale of illicit drugs is against our policies and we work to find and remove this content from our services. Meta proactively cooperates with law enforcement authorities to help combat the sale and distribution of illicit drugs.”

OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW: 

Meta plans to shut down CrowdTangle in August and replace it with Meta Content Library, available to academic and nonprofit researchers, not news outlets. In an update on its website, Meta said “We let users know that CrowdTangle will no longer be available after August 14, 2024. This five-month notice period should give people time to complete any current projects they are using it for and, if eligible, to get up to speed with our new research tools, Meta Content Library and API, or others that serve their needs. People from qualified academic or nonprofit institutions who are pursuing scientific or public interest research can apply for access to these tools through the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research at the University of Michigan. Meta Content Library and API are designed to give researchers access to comprehensive, publicly-accessible content across Facebook and Instagram. In April, researchers will be able to download publicly-accessible content posted by widely-known figures and organizations, and ‘comments’ will be added as a new data type within ICPSR’s virtual clean room. We will continue to gather feedback from researchers and add new features and datasets over time.”

NEW CPO: 

Sprout Social announced the appointment of Crystal Boysen to chief people officer, effective March 25. As CPO, Boysen will oversee Sprout’s global people function and have an essential role in building and elevating Sprout’s team. Prior to Sprout, Boysen was the CPO at Vimeo (VMEO).

BUYING OPPORTUNITY: 

Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is putting together an investor group to buy TikTok, Mnuchin told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” last week. “It’s a great business and I’m going to put together a group to buy TikTok.” Mnuchin’s statements come shortly after the House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill that would force ByteDance to divest TikTok or the social media site would face a ban in the U.S.

ALLEGED DOCUMENT STEALING: 

Meta is suing Dipinder Singh Khurana, a former VP, following his decision to join an AI startup, claiming the former worker took sensitive documents about Meta’s business and employees, Bloomberg’s Kurt Wagner reported. Meta called the move a “stunning” betrayal and accused Khurana of being “brazenly disloyal.” It claimed Khurana uploaded internal documents, including the company’s “Top Talent” dossier, to his personal Google Drive and Dropbox just before departing.

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Originally Posted March 20, 2024 – #SocialStocks: EU fines for relaxed election AI content moderation coming soon