The creator of Ben & Jerry’s and Dove had paused its US ads on the platforms in June over concerns about hate speech and divisive content, which led to a sharp drop in Facebook and Twitter shares.
According to estimates from ad intelligence firm Pathmatics, Unilever was the 30th most paid on Facebook ads in 2019, depositing more than $ 42 million into the platform.
The boycott would in any case continue at the end of 2020. On Thursday, Unilever said it would resume advertising on the platforms next month as they “committed to concrete steps to further manage harmful content,” including independent audits.
“We will accurately assess the results of the platforms based on their timelines and commitments, as well as polarization in the post-election newsfeed environment on social media as the year goes on,” Unilever said.
It’s possible, of course, that this good news won’t do much to cheer up the spirits in Silicon Valley, which has been noted this week by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic in ways impossible to ignore.
As many as 38 attorneys general filed another antitrust case against Google on Thursday. The lawsuit alleges that the company has had an illegal monopoly in the online search and search advertising markets.
It echoes an antitrust lawsuit filed by the Justice Department 11 claims this fall that Google is using anti-competitive deals to gain a dominant position for its smartphone search engine.
But it also goes further and addresses additional allegations that Google has switched to block or downgrade results from search engines specializing in travel, home improvements, and entertainment.
Google responded to the latest lawsuit in a blog post, arguing that changes demanded by the attorney general would hurt the quality of search results and harm businesses.
Texas and nine other states sued Google on Wednesday for suppressing competition and having “monopolistic power.” So for those of you keeping track of the home, Google is now facing three antitrust cases in the United States.
The barrage of legal action comes as EU regulators unveil new legislation that would give them sweeping new powers to take over Big Tech, threaten hefty fines, and increase the prospect of breakup or bans for repeat offenders.
The largest players in the industry are facing new obligations to remove illegal and harmful content from their platforms under EU draft law, the Digital Services Act. A second proposal, called the Digital Markets Act, would subject companies to strict rules to avoid unfair competition.
Companies that fail to follow the proposed EU content policy could be fined up to 6% of global revenues, and repeat offenders could see their platforms temporarily banned. Powers to impose antitrust fines of up to 10% of global revenues will expand to more territories, and violators may be forced to sell parts of their businesses in the future if they continue to break the rules.
It may take years for the new EU rules or the US lawsuits to have much of an impact on Big Tech, but this could be seen as a pivotal week in the evolution of the Internet and how societies control the behavior of technology companies.
America is under attack
Microsoft said on Thursday that dozens of its customers were targeted in the attack, which was carried out by sophisticated hackers who gained access by planting malware into third-party software produced by SolarWinds.
As many as 18,000 SolarWinds customers – out of a total of 300,000 – may have used software containing the vulnerability, SolarWinds revealed this week in an investor filing.
According to Microsoft, the installation of the malware “created the ability for attackers to monitor and choose from among these customers the organizations they wanted to further attack.”
More than 40 Microsoft customers were “more accurately attacked and compromised by additional and sophisticated measures,” the company said. Of those, 80% were located in the United States. Microsoft said organizations in Canada, Mexico, Belgium, Spain, the United Kingdom, Israel and the United Arab Emirates were also targeted.
About 44% of the victims were in the information technology sector, Microsoft said, while 27% were targeted by the government or contractors. Another 18% were think tanks or non-governmental organizations.
It may take months or years to determine the full extent of damage caused by the attack. “It is certain that the number and location of victims will continue to grow,” Microsoft president Brad Smith wrote in a blog post.
“It is critical that we step back and assess the significance of these attacks in their full context,” added Smith. “This is not ‘espionage as usual’, even in the digital age. Instead, it represents an act of recklessness that has created a serious technological vulnerability for the United States and the world.”
The moment of truth for Brexit
Deal or no deal?
Months of negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union are about to end.
“It is the moment of truth. We have very little time left, just a few hours to work through these negotiations in a useful way,” said EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier on Friday.
The pound weakened 0.4% to $ 1.35 on Friday as both sides continued to say there were major differences to be resolved and that there was little time left if a deal had to be approved by lawmakers before the deadline at 1 January.
Analysts have warned that the pound could fall below $ 1.20 if negotiations fail and the UK has to trade under World Trade Organization terms with its largest export market next year. That would throw a lot of grit in the wheels of a relationship worth nearly $ 1 trillion and take $ 40 billion from UK GDP next year.
“This final could bring a sweet confirmation or a gross shock to the markets,” said Han Tan, market analyst at FXTM.
Next one
Darden Restaurants and Winnebago report results before US markets open.
Also today: Nike revenues are up after markets closed
Coming soon: Brexit trade talks may close shortly. On Monday, Tesla will make its debut on the S&P 500.