J57 Internet Publishing and Broadcasting

Australian streaming apps from TV brands chip away at Netflix dominance

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Original article by Josh Taylor
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 3-Aug-22

Data from Sensor Tower shows that the Disney+ app was downloaded almost two million times in Australia during the last 12 months. Disney+ retained its status as the top downloaded entertainment app in Australia, ahead of Amazon, TikTok and Netflix. The streaming apps of local companies Nine, the ABC, Seven and Stan were also among the 10 most-downloaded apps during the last year. Sensor Tower’s data is based on the number of new downloads from the Apple and Android stores. Netflix still dominates Australia’s streaming video sector; research by Roy Morgan in February found that Netflix has more than 12 million subscribers nationwide.

CORPORATES
SENSOR TOWER, DISNEY+, AMAZON PRIME VIDEO, TIKTOK, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Twitter deal could be terrific: Sims

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Original article by John Davidson, Tess Bennett, Yolanda Redrup
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 27-Apr-22

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s former chairman Rod Sims has welcomed the acquisition of Twitter by US billionaire Elon Musk. He says the $64.1bn deal will be "terrific" for Australian businesses if Musk follows through with his plans for Twitter, which including making its algorithms open source and cracking down on disinformation on the social media platform. However, Reset Australia’s executive director Chris Cooper says the Twitter buyout demonstrates the need for proper regulation of technology companies.

CORPORATES
TWITTER INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, RESET AUSTRALIA

ABC’s login plan to stem exodus fuels privacy fears

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Original article by Tom Burton
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 23-Feb-22

The ABC has defended its decision to require mandatory logins for users of its iview platform from 15 March. Amongst other things, the public broadcaster argues that personalised iview services will allow users to receive program recommendations and resume watching a show at any time and on any device. The ABC also claims that a more personalised iview experience could prevent the loss of younger audiences, which it says appear to favour the enhanced platform offerings of international video-on-demand services. However, privacy advocates have expressed concern about the ABC’s push for iview logins.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, IVIEW

New media reforms to hurt Australian TV production

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Original article by Rod Myer
The New Daily – Page: Online : 9-Feb-22

The federal government’s latest media reforms will require streaming providers to invest at least five per cent of their Australian revenue in local content. This is well below the 10 per cent local content quota that the government had flagged in September 2020, while streaming services will not be penalised for failing to meet the revised quota unless Communications Minister Paul Fletcher decides to intervene. Screen Producers Australia CEO Matt Deaner is concerned that streaming services will produce local content in name only, using all-American casts to make US-style programs in Australia.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS, SCREEN PRODUCERS AUSTRALIA

Andrew Forrest sues Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook over scam ads

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Original article by Danielle Le Messurier
The West Australian – Page: Online : 3-Feb-22

Fortescue Metals Group founder Andrew Forrest has filed criminal charges against social media giant Facebook in the Magistrates Court of Western Australia. Forrest alleges that Facebook has been "criminally reckless" in failing to take sufficient action to block fake advertisements that use his name and image to promote cryptocurrency scams on its platforms. Forrest has also accused Facebook of breaching Australia’s money-laundering laws. Forrest previously filed a US civil case against Facebook in September 2021.

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FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, FACEBOOK, META PLATFORMS INCORPORATED, MAGISTRATES COURT OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Forrest’s legal action over Facebook crypto scams

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Original article by John Rolfe
The Daily Telegraph – Page: Online : 22-Dec-21

Facebook is under scrutiny by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission for allowing scammers to place fake advertisements on its digital platforms. The ads feature ‘endorsements’ by high-profile individuals such as Andrew Forrest and Dick Smith to promote scams that have cost some Australians their life savings. Forrest has launched his own legal action against Facebook for allowing his name and image to be used in ads that promote online scams. He first raised concern about the practice in April 2019, and personally wrote to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg about the issue in November of that year.

CORPORATES
FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

News site losing millions but increasing in value

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Original article by John Rolfe
The Daily Telegraph – Page: Online : 2-Nov-21

The financial accounts of Industry Super Holdings shows that The New Daily lost $2.7m in 2020-21. The superannuation industry-backed news website has not booked a profit since it was founded nearly a decade ago, but its book value has been upgraded from zero to $4.4m following a review by an independent valuation expert. Liberal senator Andrew Bragg has questioned why super fund members are continuing to fund The New Daily, and reiterated his view that it is a "propaganda outfit" for union-linked super funds.

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THE NEW DAILY, INDUSTRY SUPER HOLDINGS PTY LTD, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Google paid just 7.6 per cent tax on billion-dollar profit in 2020

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Original article by John Rolfe
The Daily Telegraph – Page: Online : 26-Oct-21

Google Australia booked a profit of $186m in 2020, while its gross revenue was $5.2bn. However, Google pays tax on the revenue it generates in Australia via a Singapore-based subsidiary, Google Asia Pacific. This company made a profit of $US1.62bn ($2.17bn) in 2020, but its total tax bill in Singapore was only $US123m ($165m). The effective tax rate was just 7.6 per cent, while Australia and Singapore have corporate tax rates of 30 per cent and 17 per cent respectively. Both countries are signatories to a global deal to introduce a 15 per cent minimum tax rate for multinationals.

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GOOGLE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, GOOGLE ASIA PACIFIC PTE LTD

‘Stop trusting Facebook’, whistleblower Frances Haugen tells Australian MPs

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Original article by Lisa Visentin
Brisbane Times – Page: Online : 22-Oct-21

Federal Liberal-National MP Julian Simmonds says regulatory intervention is needed to ensure that Facebook is more transparent about how it operates. His comments follow an online briefing to federal MPs by Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, who said they should not trust the social media company’s promises that it is trying to make its platform safer. Simmonds co-ordinated the briefing with digital advocacy group Reset Australia. Haugen attracted much attention when she recently appeared before a US congressional hearing.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL-NATIONAL PARTY OF QUEENSLAND, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED

Social media’s self-policing plan laughable

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Original article by Paul Smith, Miranda Ward
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 & 23 : 12-Oct-21

Public interest groups have dismissed DIGI’s plans to establish an independent panel to oversee the voluntary code of conduct governing misinformation and disinformation that appears on the platforms of technology companies such as Facebook and Google. Dhakshayini Sooriyakumaran of Reset Australia says DIGI’s code is little more than a public relations stunt, and she contends that self-regulation of the sector does not work.

CORPORATES
DIGI, FACEBOOK AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, GOOGLE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, RESET AUSTRALIA