Calls For TikTok Ban Increase After CEO Testimony
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew Faces Calls For Sale Or Ban After Poor Capitol Hill Performance
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew’s testimony on Capitol Hill was a disaster, which will likely increase calls for the platform to be sold or banned. Analysts predict it has 3–6 months to work out a sale before the US bans it. Chew admitted some ByteDance employees could still access user data and lawmakers criticized TikTok’s failure to police harmful content. It is more likely there will be a sale due to TikTok’s popularity with voters, but Snap Inc.’s stock rose as Chew testified. China opposes a forced sale of TikTok despite its assurance that the Chinese Communist Party has no ties with it.
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Current Trending Score: 22
What else is trending right now?
1. Greedflation: are large firms using crises as cover to push up their profits?
Current Trending Score: 21
Large companies have been accused of exploiting the pandemic and Ukraine war to drive profits higher, while protecting shareholder dividend payments. Analysis has shown that average profit margins have increased significantly since 2019, and some firms’ margins have exceeded 17%. Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey mentioned the need for restraint in corporate pricing behaviour, while economist Paul Donovan called for a rebirth of the “Rip-Off Britain” campaign. Isabella Weber has argued that some companies can benefit from a crisis by charging more than necessary. Central banks are now encouraged to research into corporate pricing behaviour further.
2. Iran-backed militants launch missiles on US base in Syria
Current Trending Score: 18
Iran-backed militants launched rockets at a US military base in Syria on Friday, but they were ineffective and caused no casualties. In response, President Biden had ordered “precision airstrikes” from F-15 fighter jets targeting groups linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps which killed 11 people. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that the US will respond to any further attacks with appropriate measures and Gen. Michael Kurilla informed Congress that Iran has been behind 78 attacks since January 2021.
3. Idaho Republicans block ‘woke’ free tampons in schools proposal
Current Trending Score: 13
Republicans in the Idaho House blocked a bill that would provide free menstrual products to public school students, calling it “liberal” and “woke”. Advocates argued that the state already funds toilet paper, soap and other hygiene products for students. The bill failed on a tie vote with one Republican stating why schools should be obsessed with private parts of children. Fifteen states and Washington D.C., have passed legislation mandating free menstrual products for students while five more have set up grant systems to do so. A survey found one in four students who menstruate had trouble accessing period supplies and four in five either missed class or knew someone who did due to lack of access.
4. Tim Cook visits China for in state-sponsored summit
Current Trending Score: 7
Apple CEO Tim Cook is in China this weekend attending a state-sponsored “China business summit.” He is one of the few US executives attending, as there are only a hundred foreign representatives registered and most are not from the US. Cook also visited an Apple Store and attended a “Creative Camp” session for Apple’s retail initiative. This visit comes as Apple diversifies its supply chain away from China to India and the United States.
5. Dylibso raises $6.6M to help developers take WebAssembly to production
Current Trending Score: 6
Dylibso is a startup dedicated to helping developers take WebAssembly (Wasm) to production. It has released Extism, an open source plug-in system allowing code compiled from different languages to run inside another program. Modsurfer is its system of record and diagnostic tool for WebAssembly which has gone into general availability. It recently secured $6.6 million in seed funding led by Felicis with participation from Boldstart Ventures, Pebblebed and Crew Capital.
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