Amazon faces its own misinformation challenge. A Wall Street Journal investigation found 4,152 items for sale on Amazon.com Inc.’s site that have been declared unsafe by federal agencies, are deceptively labeled or are banned by federal regulators—items that big-box retailers’ policies would bar from their shelves.
The company says... It uses automated tools to scan hundreds of millions of items every few minutes to screen would-be sellers and block suspicious ones from registering and listing items.
Nevertheless. The e-commerce giant says that, as a provider of an online forum, it is protected by the law—Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996—that shields internet platforms from liability for what others post there.
Out of control? "Amazon’s struggle to police its site adds to the mounting evidence that America’s tech giants have lost control of their massive platforms—or decline to control them. This is emerging as among the companies’ biggest challenges." (WSJ)
Faang losing bite. Shares of Facebook Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc., Netflix Inc. and Google parent Alphabet Inc., once darlings of the tech sector, have struggled over the last 12 months, with most lagging behind the S&P 500. (WSJ)
Google puts curbs on political debate by employees. The Alphabet Inc. unit said in a public memo on Friday that it would appoint employees to moderate its internal messaging boards. In recent years, the level of debate on the boards have at times driven a wedge between management and an increasingly activist workforce. (WSJ)
Tesla hereby orders new batteries. Tesla Inc. has agreed to buy batteries from LG Chem Ltd., a South Korean company, for electrical vehicles the U.S. carmaker plans to manufacture in China, seemingly defying a tweet Friday by President Trump demanding American companies cease doing business with China. (Bloomberg)
Facebook ad ban. Facebook Inc. has banned advertising from The Epoch Times, following an NBC News report that the Falun Gong-related publication and conservative news outlet had obscured its connection to ads promoting President Trump and conspiracy theories on the social-media platform. (New York Times)
When Snapchat came to Venice, Calif. Imagine young little techies zipping their Teslas through the thong-wearing roller-skating throngs of Ocean Front Walk. Hard to imagine, right? After a culture clash like no other, Snap Inc. has decamped to Santa Monica. (New York Times)
A swift retreat to save face. Taylor Swift is offering her seventh studio album directly on Spotify, after holding back previous releases from music-streaming services in a bid to boost sales. “Holding out from streaming now is really like cutting off 80% of your face,” Nielsen Music analyst David Bakula tells WSJ. (WSJ)
UPDATE: Friday's Morning Download contained a misspelling of Qantas Airways Ltd. We apologize for the error.
|