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The Australian Parliament on Wednesday grilled two top executives of Meta from Facebook and Instagram. The executives were summoned by the parliament for a hearing involving ongoing probe of news practices on the social media networks. 

According to The Australian, Antigone Davis, Meta’s global head of safety at Meta, and Mia Garlick, a regional director of policy for Australia, were summoned back to parliament after attending a hearing in June.

Their appearance follows a June hearing where Garlick avoided confirming whether Facebook would ban news in Australia, stating, “all options are on the table.” This comes after Meta announced it would not renew deals under the News Media Bargaining Code, which requires the company to pay publishers for news content on the platform.
 
According to reports by The Australian newspaper, Sharon Claydon, the new chair of the social media committee, said she intends to probe Meta on the claims made during the previous hearing.

“Australians are increasingly concerned about the influence and impact of social media on so many areas of our society, including our mental health, wellbeing, safety, and social cohesion,” said the Labour MP. Claydon also expressed interest in clarifying Meta's decision to halt its agreements with Australian news outlets.

This follows Meta's announcement in June 2024 that it is considering blocking news content in Australia if the government forces the platform to pay licensing fees. Meta has previously struck deals with major Australian media outlets, including News Corp and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, but has indicated it will not renew these arrangements beyond 2024.

Publishers say such a move would be “catastrophic”. One claimed it would lose 52 percent of its income if the ban went ahead.

According to media reports, Garlick said, “We haven’t had any indication about which way things are progressing and so there’s nothing further to update.” She also confirmed that Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg had not yet met with anyone from the Australian government.

Garlick and Davis were also questioned over child safety on the company’s apps. Davis said the country should enforce laws that require parents to approve downloading of the Facebook and Instagram apps by children under 16 in their care.

Davis’ answer did not impress Member of Parliament Zoe Daniels, who said Meta was “shirking responsibility.”

“So you will support some level of age assurance or age verification, as long as you don’t have to do it yourselves,” she added.

Australian Parliament grills top Meta executives over digital news policy

Amit Ojha, head of marketing partners at Meta India, has stepped down. He announced his departure on LinkedIn. In his post, he said, “It's time for me to say goodbye to Meta/Facebook after 4 plus lovely years with them. I am grateful to all the people who contributed in this journey and helped me become a better version of myself. I will be taking a short break and then resume my journey.”

With an experience of over than 15 years, he joined the tech giant in 2018 as the head of agency business. As Facebook rebranded itself as Meta, he went on to head the company as the head of marketing partners.  

Ojha started his career with Bharti Airtel as the DGM of Brand and Media. From there, he went on to work at ibibo Group, Yatra Online Pvt Ltd, Publicis Groupe and Nestle.

Earlier this week, Meta, that owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, launched a no-cost EMI scheme in India. Advertisers will now be able to pay the platform over a period of three months through participating banks. Meta will bear the applicable interest payable to the bank, and give it as an upfront discount to the business on its ad spends. As per recent media reports, the company has also plans to introduce new features for its various platforms to enhance user experiences.

Amit Ojha logs off from Meta India

India has always been an important market for Meta. Now, in a bid to strengthen advertiser relations in the country, Meta has launched a no-cost EMI scheme.

Advertisers will now be able to pay the platform over a period of three months through participating banks. Meta will bear the applicable interest payable to the bank, and give it as an upfront discount to the business on its ad spends. 

Working capital access is a concern for many new and growing businesses in the country. With No Cost EMI billing, they can choose any amount between Rs 3,200 and Rs 5,00,000 to convert to EMIs.

Interestingly, India is the first market where Meta has launched the No Cost EMI scheme. 

Over the last three years, the Internet giant has been working to enable easier access to timely credit. It started in 2020, where as a part of their USD 100 million global grant for small businesses, grants were announced for small businesses across five cities in India. 

The following year a Small Business Loans Initiative was also launched to enable business loans for Meta’s small business advertisers through third-party lending platforms. This too was an India-first initiative within Meta.

This program has now expanded to 19000+ pin codes across India, which is almost the entire length and breadth of the country. This means that Meta advertisers from even the smallest towns and villages can now apply for collateral-free business loans from as little as Rs 30,000 to as much as Rs 1 crore.

The last few years have seen the boom of small businesses that have taken to digital platforms for all their marketing communication activities. 

At the annual Grow Your Business Summit where Meta announced the no cost EMI scheme, they also announced a 24 x 7 chat support for all their advertisers in India. This service can be accessed through the ‘support’ option on the Meta Business Help Center.

According to Ajit Mohan, VP and MD (Facebook India) Meta, with these initiatives, every advertiser on Meta in India, irrespective of their ad spends, will have access to financial and service support, at the click of a button to unlock new growth opportunities.

“We know that each business is on a distinct journey, and we are committed to building India-focused solutions keeping in mind their unique needs. We hope that the initiatives that we have announced during Grow Your Business Summit will help small businesses achieve their business goals with greater flexibility and ease,” he said.

India is the first country where Meta launched a No Cost EMI for advertisers

Which company powers video games such as Fortnite, Pokemon Unite, Call of Duty, League of Legends, Arena of Valor, Honor of Kings etc?

The answer is Tencent, the brainchild of Ma Huateng, also called Pony Ma.

Notwithstanding the fact that Jack Ma of Alibaba calls Tencent a copy cat company with no innovation, Tencent is one of the highest grossing multimedia companies in the world and ‘the largest’ video gaming company. It has been in the news in August 2022, for repurchasing its shares more aggressively than ever!

Pony Ma (not related to Jack Ma) built Tencent along with co-founders that he met in school; they would spend time competing to recite the digits of Pi in the hallway after class. School halls reverberated with the epigram shi bu wo dai, meaning ‘time will not wait for me.’ One part of the Tencent story could almost belong in a parallel universe like its products. One of three people in the world, use the web accessing it through a filter that obscures Facebook, Twitter Snapchat, Instagram, The New York Times and YouTube! This universe loves WeChat (called Weixin locally.) The other part of the Tencent story lives in the entire world of the eight billion. Flouting the irrational need for overnight success, Tencent has been built over two and a half decades, with tons of collaborative minds. That’s a good thing!

A few other great things about the book.

1. Pony Ma, a programmer, realised early that devices are not instantly scalable like internet platforms. He stepped out of his reticent shell much later in his life when he realised that there was a business need for it. Masterstrokes such as getting soccer superstar Lionel Messi to campaign for WeChat and negotiating with Elon Musk and Evan Spiegel for stakes in their companies made his voice heard.

2. Colleagues describe Pony Ma as temperate, stoic and almost irritatingly self-aware! With his dogged persistence, he rallies people, many of whom he considers smarter by his own account to undertake his mission. A master of creating products so convenient and intuitive that billions of users want to join his network, Pony Ma is a private entrepreneur in a state dominant economy with a gift for survival. And part of this gift is knowing how much and when to talk.

3. The story of the initial hustle is endearing - Pony himself posed as a woman and engaged users in the chat rooms of OICQ his initial venture, inspired by a service ‘ICQ' (I Seek You), a ground-breaking online chat system created by a bunch of Israelis in June 96. OICQ was built on the concept of a fully centralised service with individual user accounts focused on one on one conversation. When AOL bought ICQ, they filed a lawsuit accusing Tencent for violation of intellectual property rights. Tencent had to shut down OICQ. They found a way to rally back.

4. There is a wonderful lesson for modern business owners in the book. When Nasper’s Wallerstein offered Pony Ma a valuation of 60 million dollars, requesting that he become the largest shareholder in Tencent, he refused because he wanted the team to keep control over their company. It wasn’t until Naspers found a way for Tencent founders to maintain control, that the deal worked out.

5. Pony even found his future wife while chatting with a music teacher called Wang Danting for 3 months on his own Internet product QQ.

Naturally, in 2017, when Tencent took over Facebook to become the world's 5th largest company, for many, it came as no surprise at all. What is brilliant is that Tencent has transitioned into a global voice, producing Hollywood blockbusters like Wonder Woman, Men in Black International and Venom.

In being able to reach both the Chinese people and the worldwide audience by entertaining them, lies its ‘influence empire.’

Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta is a columnist and bestselling biographer. She is credited with the internationally acclaimed Red Dot Experiment, a decadal six-nation study on how ‘culture impacts communication.’ On Twitter @OfficialReetaRG.

Bookstrapping: Influence Empire - The story of Tencent and China’s tech ambition

Last week, my digital vastu aligned with my online grahan to create a perfect viral storm. I made two viral tweets in a gap of five days. Between the two tweets, I got about 270k impressions, 4000 likes, and 350 retweets. As a result of which, I added a grand total of 20 followers. Yes, twenty. 

This was heartbreaking and fascinating on so many levels. A year ago, if I did these kinds of numbers, I would add at least about 500-700 new followers. I don’t know what changed. The algorithm. The user behavior. Or both.

As the number of social media platforms grows, retaining users becomes a big issue. And users are harmfully spoiled for choice. Harmful because the platforms are built in such a way to ensure we don’t get bored even for a second. It’s like having a dopamine dealer on speed dial to ensure we never run out of stuff in this digital rave party. As a result of which our attention spans have begun nosediving all the way to the bottom.

Earlier, our Twitter feed was filled only with people whom we followed. We just saw their thoughts and tweets all day. But there was a slight issue: the limited set of creators/friends/influencers we followed couldn't be remarkable daily. So the overall content quality of the feed was just about alright. 

We didn’t feel this was a big issue because, during those good old days in the early 2020s, we had larger attention spans. That ensured we didn't get bored easily. We had the patience to look through our feed, and also a penchant for discovering and following new accounts when we came across interesting retweets.

But all that changed somewhere in the last couple of years. One, the algorithm has learnt a lot more about us through our data footprint and can target content that will keep us hooked far more effectively. And second, increased exposure to reels and short format videos have made us more impatient and less tolerant towards content that immediately doesn’t give us that dopamine hit. Short format video platforms are designed in a way to get their users surprised every few seconds. The videos change every few seconds.

The algorithm serves you different genres of content back to back, again ensuring you don’t get bored. You go from BeerBiceps asking you to not fap and meditate to Warren Buffet’s investment advice to Ronaldo’s best freekicks to Urfi Javed’s latest costume to chicken leg piss in less than two minutes. 



<blockquote>"The casino always takes home more than the players. The gatekeeper is winning, not the creator."</blockquote>



So much new information and surprises are offered to us at breakneck speed. It’s a black hole of mindless entertainment that we cannot get out of. And now suddenly, if we don't get that hook every few seconds, we tend to get bored. Since our time and attention isn’t unlimited, Twitter has found itself competing with these short format apps for screen time; and as a text platform, to hold your own against these video platforms can be quite a task. So well, they had to change in order to keep up with the TikTokers.
 
The Twitter algorithm has now pivoted our feed to what I call, 'The Best Of' format. Essentially, we get served the best tweets around our areas of interest regardless of whether we follow those profiles or not. The platform knows that our dwindling attention span has no patience for discovery and we are building resistance to dopamine inducing content. 

So now, when we see a good tweet, we are not excited by it enough. Because the tweet quality of our feed has gone up since we are being served only the best. Since the best is coming at us, why take the trouble of following? We are now trusting the curation of the platform to a higher degree than our own gut and intuition. This makes it harder for creators to build a following even if they are consistently good.

Creator life will only become tougher because the platforms don’t want you to own your audience. They don’t want your follower count to go up and they don’t want to guarantee you the engagement. Simply because the booming influencer economy business is not filling their pockets, adding to their revenue, or increasing the platform’s profits. 

The platforms want to retain viewers using your content but not give you the audience in return. Once they clip the influencer wings, they will encourage brands to invest that money in ads and performance marketing within the platform, directly benefiting the platform.

I’m not saying the influencer business is shutting down, I’m just doubting if it will be as lucrative because you are competing with the platform for a share of the cash. The creator economy dreamland is not as easy as most of us have envisaged. You have the biggest stage in the world if your content is working, but immediately the stage disappears if the next piece of content is not the best. 

You are continuously auditioning. In the long run, the casino always takes home more than the players. The gatekeeper is winning, not the creator.

Devaiah Bopanna is a founding member of SuperteamDAO. Views are personal.

View: The battle of Man versus Algorithm

Between 2015 and 2018, I ran 5 seasons of Pro Kabaddi. It had become the number 2 sport on television in India right after the very first season. Yet - all this while - I was also marketing cricket in every avatar – domestic, team India and multilateral ICC tournaments and in every format viz: test series, ODI, and T20 events. I viewed sports from a marketer and broadcaster’s perspective which is the key to commercialisation. I serve as the chairperson for the sports development and promotion committee of the Lawn Bowls Federation in India. It is a commonwealth medal sport with a storied history patronised by aristocracy and royalty in Britain and across the commonwealth. It is aiming to grow in popularity via the setting up of rudimentary infrastructure and getting people to play and watch.

In 2018-19, I served as pro bono advisor to the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, Government of India. This association came about as I had earlier developed the plan and launch for Khelo India, a marquee initiative of the government which has now become successfully institutionalised.

My exposure to sport as a fan, marketer, broadcaster, sponsor and administrator has made me aware of the dynamics of sport adoption, growth and fan following but I am still looking to understand why some sports flourish while others do not.

Mortal Combat

Dozens of sports are struggling with commercial viability whilst a few are richer than the richest banks. The globalisation of most sports continues unabated. This trend is aided by technology which makes 24/7 sports audiences a reality. Successful sports make for a short list. Football, Basketball, Cricket, Rugby, American Football, Motorsport, Tennis, Cycling are on it. There are challenges in commercial success for one and all.

Everywhere, revenues are flowing in with increasing viscosity. Attention spans are smaller and viewer engagement is shrinking. Aggregated minutes of live sports viewership has declined at a yearly rate of 3-5% worldwide, despite supply and screens multiplying manifold. It appears people are consuming content on toothpicks, not in laden plates.

Understandably, there is mortal combat between sports for advertising revenues, fan attention and growth of followership. Sports earns at least $100 billion in content consumption worldwide. Historically it was linear TV that thrived on sports and vice versa. That effervescence of live sports is still much valued by fans. Sitting with friends in front of a large screen is the next best to screaming your lungs out with them at a stadium.

In America ESPN has more than 90% penetration into more than 50% of households who are regular consumers of sports content. Netflix has eroded pay-tv viewership in General Entertainment Content (GEC) but not live sporting broadcasts. The 80/20 law applies with its full force here. The National Football League in America will be instrumental in charting the future of entertainment on the internet. The future of Television corporations may be largely determined from where Americans will watch football games in the coming years. Only by retaining football viewers can television companies thrive in the digital age by preventing TV viewership from shrinking too quickly and supporting their future in streaming.

The entertainment companies that have must-watch programming will be the ones that make the transition to streaming. Till now, the internet hasn’t transformed the way sports is broadcast. But innovations have become noted. The NBA enriches it via pop up statistics in games and gives viewers choices in camera angles.

In general entertainment, there are two basic paths for online video, namely with stuff that regular people make — on TikTok, Facebook and YouTube. Or like Netflix and the streaming video services from the big television entertainment companies with high cost, old-style programming. That is not possible in sports where access is based on winning rights. After that content can be screen agnostic.

Everyone can learn from football

Football is the most successful sport in the world. Its revenues, following, and clout are unmatched. At $45 billion a year its revenues are roughly 2x that of American football, 5x of basketball and 20x of cricket. The last FIFA women’s World Cup for women was watched by over a billion viewers. FIFA rules across the globe and the coherence and strategic clarity comes through at the ground level. Everyone can learn from football.

To be successful a sport must bear meaning. When I took Kabaddi to Indian TV, the intention was to make it synonymous with Indian pride for young Indians. Every aspect from the branding, visual presentation, language, rituals, connection and celebrity linkage was thought out with this in mind. It worked. I was putting 200 years of colonial legacy upside down. Until then, sports had meant western imports. After that Kabaddi stood for ‘Desi Cool’. Sports must adapt to modern viewing habits, not the other way around. Kabaddi arrived on the social scene as something new and aspirational but rooted and ancient. Growing a sport needs an easy-to-understand language, clear relational context and iconic heroes who spring up from the soil. Growth then demands expansion into newer markets.

Proudly desi sport

Here, I must give Cricket its due. Despite its limited global footprint, it has emerged stronger via a power-packed TV reincarnation. T20 is just what the doctors ordered. IPL is its best version. At three hours of end-to-end run time compared with eight hours for OD cricket or up to five days for Test matches, T20 was bound to become the rage it did. Rugby sevens, in which matches consist of two halves lasting seven minutes, compared with the usual 40 minutes, featured in the 2016 Olympic games for the first time. Three-a-side basketball, in which games last ten minutes as opposed to 48 minutes for NBA matches, is featured at the Olympics. This 3x3 basketball is a variation of basketball played three-a-side, with one backboard and in a half-court setup.

Cricket is unshakeable in India. It is – for all intents and purposes – an Indian sport. Its reinvention has made it proudly Desi. The Indian Premier League is by far the fastest-growing major league of any sport in the world. The next rights cycle bid process is currently on and, I predict, we shall see a never heard before the eye-popping number.

Indian money runs world cricket but, amongst world sports, cricket is unusual in relying so heavily on one market for sustenance. Other sports have grown apace across countries. Basketball has 32 teams competing in the men’s World Cup. Rugby’s cup has 24 teams vying for it. Football is at the top with 48 teams in the FIFA World Cup for men. Rugby took its world cup to Japan. Basketball’s World Cup got slated for Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines. The ICC ODI Cricket World Cup scarcely ever goes to expansion worthy geographies.

The success of Basketball in China is often attributed to one man. A tall man. Yao Ming became the first Chinese player to be the top pick in the NBA draft, two decades ago.

NBA’s physical expansion in China was fuelled by Yao’s popularity. There are now 600,000 basketball courts in China. The NBA has three academies in China, besides one each in Australia, Mexico, India, and Senegal.

Even the most conservative of sports bodies such as the venerable International Olympic Committee (IOC) is responding to change, even embracing it. Rock climbing, skateboarding, surfing and karate made a much-noticed debut at the last Tokyo summer Olympics. The IOC knows its commercial success depends on getting and keeping a younger crowd. Shooting, fencing, water polo or weightlifting may not be youth crowd pullers. Hence, the expansion is well aimed. The new sports alone created 54 medallists. In addition, baseball and softball made a comeback aimed at popularity in both the US and Japan.

The new sports are admitted in competitive formats that make them interest worthy, even riveting. For example, climbers do bouldering, lead climbing and speed climbing. The last has been an innovation to emphasise the edge and athleticism. It makes for gripping, suspenseful screen content.

Even outside medal events or formal sports, there is evolution. Take base jumping — the sport in which you leap from a fixed object, like a bridge or a cliff all the while piloting yourself at speeds of 100 m.p.h. or more before pulling a parachute. Fightball is a combative take on one-on-one street basketball. It repurposes it with more physicality for the unregulated intensity for the Instagram era.

Not all innovations are adrenalin-charged or high contact. There is (Cup) Stacking which is evolving into a fast-growing sport and part of the physical education curriculum at thousands of American schools. More than two dozen nations will field teams at the world championships, and stacking is growing fastest in Asia. Think of it - why should stacking cups be any less important than putting a ball in a hole, through a hoop or into a net?

It is not unreasonable to apply a lifecycle framework to a sport. The world is moving away from a purely western sensibility to sports and cross-pollination is happening as much in sport as in fashion or cuisine with the caveat that, for sport, it takes more time to strike root and grow. I am not going to get into the magic and might of e-sports as it deserves a separate piece.

Look at it anyway, India will become the world’s leading market for sport in the next 2 decades by volumetric criteria. It will be a top 3 market by value.

Play on.

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