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Bloomberg
14-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Brazil First Lady Complains to Xi About TikTok's Effects on Kids
Brazil first lady Rosangela da Silva complained to China's leader about potentially harmful effects of TikTok on women and children during an official dinner in Beijing, continuing a crusade against social media companies that has sparked controversy before. She raised the issue after President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva asked Xi Jinping to send someone he trusted to Brazil to discuss the regulation of TikTok, which is owned by Chinese internet firm ByteDance Ltd, and other platforms, Lula told reporters in Beijing.
The Star
14-05-2025
- Business
- The Star
TikTok, Meta face tough curbs in Asia even as US efforts stall
SOME of the toughest new laws attempting to rein in TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat aren't coming from Washington or Brussels. They are emerging from capitals such as Canberra, Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur. Governments across the Asia-Pacific region are leading the global charge to protect children from online harms, presenting an unprecedented challenge to the likes of ByteDance Ltd, Meta Platforms Inc and Snap Inc in markets with some of their largest and most youthful user bases. Australia late last year passed a law requiring social media platforms to keep children under the age of 16 off their services. New Zealand's governing party last week put forward a bill that mirrors Australia's move. Indonesia is formulating restrictions for those under 18 accessing social media. Malaysia is requiring social media firms to obtain licences to operate in the country, while Singaporean policymakers have signalled they're open to minimum-age laws. Meanwhile, Vietnam is requiring foreign social platforms verify their users' accounts and provide authorities with their identities on demand, and Pakistan wants such firms to register with a new agency. 'I've met with parents who have lost and buried their child. It's devastating,' Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in November. 'We can't as a government hear those messages from parents and say it's too hard. We have a responsibility to act.' To be sure, it's unclear how strictly some of the measures will be enforced. And social media titans face headwinds elsewhere, such as the European Commission's Digital Markets and Digital Services Acts, along with moves by other nations attempting to curb children's access to the platforms. In the United States, social media firms have come under fire in some states, but the federal government has yet to pass meaningful legislation requiring they establish more guardrails. The Senate in July passed the Kids Online Safety Act, which would force companies to prioritise children's well-being, but the measure has stalled in the House. Meta faces a landmark antitrust case by the US Federal Trade Commission, while TikTok could be banned in the country. Meanwhile, one US law firm is pursuing a new legal strategy, focusing on product liability, to hold tech giants accountable for harms to children despite longstanding protections afforded by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. New rules in Asia-Pacific could complicate companies' operations across the region, said Ewan Lusty, a Singapore-based director at political and regulatory consultancy Flint Global. 'If you've got each country implementing their own version of a regulation, then the cost of complying with that will multiply' for technology (tech) firms, he said. Emerging restrictions The emerging restrictions also pose a new threat because they could curtail the tech titans' growth in some of the world's most populous markets. South-East Asia is home to more than 650 million people, while South Asia's population stands at roughly two billion. Young Internet users across the region are expected to play a vital role in propelling digital firms' expansion in the years to come. China has for years blocked foreign online platforms, shutting them out of a market of some 1.4 billion people. In a bid to capitalise on growth across Asia Pacific, Inc, Alphabet Inc's Google, Microsoft Corp and other tech giants are investing billions of dollars in the region as young users increasingly communicate with friends online, shop, stream video and use generative artificial intelligence. Slow growth Social network titans do not typically break out user counts or sales by country, but they often derive most of their revenue from developed economies in the west, where advertisers pay more to reach wealthier consumers. User growth in many richer nations, though, has slowed over the years. For Meta, South-East and South Asian nations make up significant global shares of Instagram and Facebook user accounts, with those consumers tending to be younger, according to data from digital consulting firm Kepios Pte, which specialises in analysing online behaviour. Markets across the region also have some of the world's highest rates of user engagement for Meta's products, and many citizens depend on Facebook, especially, as a gateway to the Internet. Meta and other firms also often use such countries as testing grounds for new product initiatives. TikTok's largest market by users is the United States, but five of its 10 biggest globally are in South-East or South Asia, according to Kepios data. Snapchat has more than twice as many users in South Asia than in the United States, the data shows. Controversial law Australia, which has a track record of battling big tech, in November passed its controversial law banning young children from social media beginning at the end of this year. Platforms will be responsible for enforcing the age limit, with penalties of as much as A$50mil (US$32mil) for breaches. While opinion polls have shown that many Australian voters support the new rule in principle, some of the companies, academics and children's rights groups call it flawed and question how it might be enforced. — Bloomberg Newley Purnell writes for Bloomberg. The views expressed here are the writer's own.
Time of India
05-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Will extend TikTok deadline again: Prez
President Trump said he would give social-video platform TikTok another extension of a deadline to sell to a US owner if it was needed to reach a deal. Trump said he has "a little warm spot" in his heart for the popular app and he would like to complete a transaction that would keep it available for Americans. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Trump has already extended a deadline for TikTok's China-based parent company ByteDance Ltd. to divest the US operations for another 75 days in April. He said there may not be a need for another reprieve. He has previously indicated China's objections to his new tariffs stalled a deal to sell off the US TikTok arm, which Beijing has to sign off on.
Calgary Herald
01-05-2025
- Business
- Calgary Herald
Large AI projects present US$1.8 trillion capital pool for private credit
Article content The artificial intelligence boom is driving business to private credit firms, as tech companies seek funding to build data centres filled with computing chips to operate AI models. Article content Carlyle Group Inc. expects more than US$1.8 trillion of capital will be deployed by 2030 to meet that demand, and a chunk of that can be taken up by the private markets, chief executive Harvey Schwartz recently wrote in a shareholder letter. Article content Article content A slew of tech companies have already tapped private capital — both private equity and debt — to help build the physical infrastructure needed to support AI. Article content Startup Nscale is looking for US$2.7 billion, including a US$1.8 billion private credit loan, on the back of a pending ByteDance Ltd partnership. SoftBank Group Corp. has sought a US$16.5 billion loan to fund such investments in the United States. Meta Platforms Inc. is looking to raise billions in financing to develop data centres domestically, with Apollo Global Management Inc and KKR & Co. as potential investors. Article content Article content Private lenders have been searching for avenues outside of traditional corporate lending for growth and tap into areas of credit that can come with higher ratings. Financing AI infrastructure is one of those paths, according to market participants. Article content Article content Ares Management Corp. has estimated private investors could fund about US$5.5 trillion of capital across debt and equity in global infrastructure, including AI-focused projects, through 2035, according to a report this year. Article content Cloud computing firms, and tech companies generally looking to develop AI programs, need an immense amount of capital. That can come in the form of investment-grade loans backed by microchips or data centre leases with contracts tied to companies with top-tier credit scores.
Bloomberg
11-04-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
TikTok Drives ByteDance's 29% Growth While China Business Slows
ByteDance Ltd. 's revenue jumped 29% to $155 billion in 2024, after online video phenom TikTok drove a worldwide expansion that helped offset an economic downturn back home in China. Its international sales grew a much quicker 63% to $39 billion, contributing to roughly a quarter of the topline, according to people briefed on the numbers. Net profit for the year edged up to around $33 billion, they said, asking to remain anonymous discussing private information.
