Facebook increases fake news safeguards, SoftBank becomes Uber’s largest stakeholder and Snap struggles to hang on to its employees and internal memos.
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Starting this week, Facebook will be testing a new algorithm that will prioritize news from publications the community rates as trustworthy. In a recent blog post, Facebook says it will use data collected from a diverse and representative sample in the US to inform the ranking on its updated News Feed. The social media giant says it will roll out the new system out internationally in the near future. The announcement comes shortly after Facebook said it plans to root out false news reports and other attempts to interfere with Italy’s upcoming general election in March.
On LinkedIn, Softbank wrapped up its long awaited investment agreement with Uber, making the Japanese multinational telecommunications corporation the ride-sharing company’s largest stakeholder. The $8 billion deal also provided Uber co-founder and former CEO, Travis Kalanick, with a massive paycheque of $1.4 billion. Softbank enters the picture as Uber continues to recover from a massive data breach and damaging workplace culture reports.
And finally, still on LinkedIn, Snap employers leak an internal memo that says employers leaking internal memos could be sued or even jailed. Snap’s stern warnings come after employers recently leaked confidential user metrics to the media. Snap also laid off at least two dozen employers, most of whom belonged to its content team amid slowed user growth. Snap has gone through several layoffs in the last year. In late 2017, it let go several dozen employees in its hardware and recruiting divisions.