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TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer says Facebook is launching a copycat product to undermine the popular app. Mayer also announced TikTok would make its algorithmic code and content moderation decisions public. Manjunath Kiran/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Manjunath Kiran/AFP via Getty Images TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer says Facebook is launching a copycat product to undermine the popular app. Mayer also announced TikTok would make its algorithmic code and content moderation decisions public. Manjunath Kiran/AFP via Getty Images The CEO of TikTok, the popular app for sharing short-form videos, is attacking Facebook for planning the launch of a "copycat" product, accusing the social media giant of trying to smear TikTok and put it out of business in the U.S. Kevin Mayer, who left Disney in May to oversee TikTok's U.S. operation, delivered his sharp criticism in a blog post on Wednesday, just hours before Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is scheduled to testify before Congress about whether the company's online dominance squashes competition. Mayer noted that Facebook-owned Instagram has announced Reels, the tech giant's answer to TikTok. It is expected to be rolled out in early August. The effort represents the second time Facebook has attempted to undercut TikTok's success. Earlier this month, Facebook shut down Lasso, a TikTok clone that never took off. Mayer says TikTok welcomes competition — "bring it on," he writes — but he suggests Facebook is attempting to tap into the growing pressure in Washington to squeeze TikTok out of the U.S. altogether. TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, is based in China. That has led both Democrats and Republicans in Washington to question whether TikTok poses a national security concern. "But let's focus our energies on fair and open competition in service of our consumers, rather than maligning attacks by our competitor — namely Facebook —…

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg (from left), Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos are scheduled to testify before a House Judiciary subcommittee. Bertrand Guay, Tobias Schwarz, Angela Weiss, Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Bertrand Guay, Tobias Schwarz, Angela Weiss, Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg (from left), Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos are scheduled to testify before a House Judiciary subcommittee. Bertrand Guay, Tobias Schwarz, Angela Weiss, Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images Updated at 3:06 p.m. ET Are Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple "emperors of the online economy" that stifle competition and hurt consumers? Not surprisingly, the tech giants' chief executives will tell Congress: absolutely not. The concern that too much power is concentrated in too few companies is unfounded, they plan to testify Wednesday. Panel chairman: Under coronavirus, big tech "likely to emerge stronger and more powerful" Up first is Rhode Island Democrat David Cicilline, chairman of the antitrust subcommittee that's holding this hearing. He is the driving force behind the year-long investigation of big tech. In his opening remarks, he describes the dominance of each company: Amazon in online shopping, Apple in smartphones and apps, Facebook in social media and Google in search and ads. And he points out that thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, all four "are likely to emerge stronger and more powerful than ever before." Watch the live stream here. "As American families shift more of their work, shopping, and communication online, these giants stand to profit. Locally owned businesses, meanwhile —mom and pop stores on Main Street — face an economic crisis unlike any in recent history," Cicilline said. The committee's investigation has turned up a pattern among the tech giants, he said.…

There's a new biggest Facebook bull on Wall Street.Rosenblatt Securities upped its price target to $315 from $244 on Tuesday, highest on the Street and well above the average $255 analyst target. The firm said revised revenue estimates was a catalyst for the increase.Todd Gordon, managing director of Ascent Wealth Partners, said the charts indicate an even bigger move before Facebook hits a ceiling."Strong uptrend," Gordon said Tuesday on CNBC's "Trading Nation." Facebook is "looking for resistance to come into play around $400, believe it or not," based upon Elliott Wave Theory, which plots 'impulse' waves of activity within a larger trend. Resistance at $400 implies more than 65% upside from current levels. It traded at $241.75 at Tuesday's close. "It's the best in brand — its portfolio with social led by Facebook and Instagram. Their ad targeting is the best in the industry. We have some ad boycotts that are acting as an overhang, but we don't diminish the long-term story — 33 times forward earnings on a 20% growth rate. We don't feel it's overvalued either," said Gordon.Facebook could join another tech company in dominating the social media space, said Boris Schlossberg, managing director of FX strategy at BK Asset Management."You really have to bet on a Google-Facebook duopoly, simply because both of those companies are the new version of global broadcast TV. They have this rare combination of having mass audience and micro targeting, which is just absolutely unbeatable," Schlossberg said during the same "Trading Nation" segment.Google's YouTube draws more than 2 billion users each month, according to parent company Alphabet. Users watch more than a billion hours of video a day."There's absolutely no beating Facebook and Google as far as their monopoly power goes and their pricing power goes going forward," said Schlossberg.Disclosure: Ascent Wealth Partners holds Facebook. Disclaimer

What news should people see when they come to Facebook? In the old days, your answer might have been “whatever they want to see,” or even “who cares?” But as Facebook’s dominance grew, and it became one of the most important arbiters of attention in the world, the question grew more pressing. If a country where the median voter leans to the political left has a News Feed occupied by links from the far right, that could cause concern. If right-wing and even openly fascist politicians began to take over countries around the world, that kind of disconnect between an electorate and one of their primary news sources might come under even stricter scrutiny. A nice thing about Facebook is that the company makes a tool that lets you see what links are popular there in real time. Or rather, it bought one, in November 2016. It’s called CrowdTangle, and it lets anyone slice and dice popular links on Facebook in a variety of ways. While it started as a tool for activists to manage their activity on social platforms, founders Brandon Silverman and Matt Garmur realized that the real money was in helping publishers master Facebook. After Facebook retooled its algorithms to promote fewer stories from publishers, CrowdTangle became more useful as a tool for academics and journalists to understand the pulse of Facebook. (Publishers still use it, too.) One of the journalists who took notice of CrowdTangle’s abilities was Kevin Roose, a columnist and podcast host at the New York Times. (And also my friend, in the interest of full disclosure.) For several years now, Roose has done a bit on Twitter where he uses CrowdTangle to assess the day’s most popular stories on Facebook. And what he has found, for the most part, is that the most…

Facebook could lose billions in revenue as Apple cripples the IDFA, especially if Google follows ... suit with the GAID. Photo by Barefoot Communications on Unsplash Facebook is one of the two most dominant companies in an $80 billion industry that impacts hundreds of billions of dollars, if not trillions, in consumer spend. But a huge percentage of that revenue is now at risk, thanks to an obscure privacy move by Apple at the company’s World Wide Developer Conference in June. The move? Deprecating a mobile device identifier called the IDFA. It’s a super-geeky term in a super-geeky industry: mobile advertising. But it represents a sea change in how advertisers and ad networks target ads to consumers. Good targeting leads to relevant advertising and high returns for both the advertiser and the ad network. Poor targeting? It’s literally worth 50% less by Facebook’s own numbers. The IDFA is the Identifier for Advertisers, and in every existing version of Apple mobile operating system for iPhones and iPads, it’s visible to ad networks and mobile advertisers. Unless consumers opt out in a little-seen out-of-the-way setting, which only about 30% of iPhone users have bothered to turn off. Facebook uses the IDFA — and the Android equivalent from Google, GAID — to accumulate data on what billions of people do in apps. Facebook then uses that data to target app install ads (ads that are aimed at getting you to install a new app or game). Because they have so much data via the IDFA, Facebook is likely to be able to find the people who are most likely to install the app and do specific things inside it. MORE FROM FORBESApple Just Crippled IDFA, Sending An $80 Billion Industry Into UpheavalBy John KoetsierLike register. Or buy something. Or complete a level…

An interesting question was asked Monday on the “Life In Blackfoot” Facebook page.“What kind of small business is Blackfoot missing?”The replies were interesting, and many of them had to do with giving the youth in Blackfoot something to do.Here is a sampling.Kayla Moffat: I think it would be nice to have a place with arcade games/pool tables and such for teens. Seems like all there is for teens is the skate park.Pete Dunham: A nice family friendly pool parlor with fun tournaments and league play. My family and I are likely moving to Blackfoot soon, if the demand/ support is there I have no problem with helping the community and opening up a good and family friendly place for folks of all ages to play pool.A league for teens that is well managed would be great for them.Nicole Dial: Definitely something for kids and teens to do.Bouse Babbitt Buzz: Shoe store.- Stephanie Bemis: How about a shoe/specialty sock store. And carry shoes in bigger sizes that are extremely hard to find?- Nikkie Leavitt: It sucks have to go out of town to find any decent shoes, Basketball, football, running shoes, shoes that are hard to find in bigger sizes. And it’s nicer to be able to try on the shoe before buying.Lou Mac: Sporting goods/shoe store. I remember what an asset Bill’s was when I was a kid.Clarence Worthen: A bike shop.Mary Folkner: A book store.- Debra Baron Wallace: B&R Crafts has a paperback book exchange.Karma Lyn: Pet store.Bob Roberts: Pet store.Jim Thompson: Pet store would be awesome.Jasmine Rose Kendall: A splash pad or swimming area. We only have gravel pits and Rose. The grove isn’t good to swim at. It would be nice to swim in actual pool water because that’s refreshing at times. We have to drive to…

For representational purposes By Express News Service BENGALURU: Acting swiftly on a false video posted on a social media platform, purportedly of a dedicated Covid-19 ward in Victoria Hospital, Central Crime Branch (CCB) police nabbed a man within a few hours after he posted the video. The accused, Sameer Ullah (46), is a resident of Tilaknagar and a timber merchant. On Saturday night, he posted a video from his Facebook profile, Saif Adds. The video is of scores of people wearing masks, gathered in a small space in a hospital, and the person filming it expresses concern that it is a threat to medical staff and patients. Saif Adds claimed it was a scene from Victoria Hospital in Bengaluru. Within minutes, the video went viral. Police, who took up the matter seriously, registered a case with the Cyber Crime police station, under provisions of the Information Technology Act, National Disaster Management Act and IPC. Sleuths zeroed in on the profile of Saif Adds. “Through the IP address and other details, he was traced to Tilaknagar and arrested on Sunday afternoon,” an official said. “The accused claimed that he had got the video on WhatsApp, and the sender had said it was Victoria Hospital, and he posted it without verifying. We are trying to find out who spread this false information,” the official added. JCP (Crime) Sandeep Patil said, “The video which went viral about Victoria Hospital is fake, and has no link to Victoria Hospital or any hospital in Karnataka. People should be careful not to share or forward any false video or message about the pandemic.” The profile of the accused revealed that he had links with some political leaders, and had shared photos of himself with a former minister and police officer. Stay up to date on all…

Australian internet community Ripple has been selected to join the global Facebook Community Accelerator program. Ripple GI, an Australian website and internet group that matches young people with curated career opportunities, is one of 13 web-based communities from across the Asia-Pacific region selected for the prestigious Facebook Community Accelerator program, a global development initiative that aims to help young go-getters expand their skills, influence and communities. Facebook’s Community Accelerator is a six-month program that will give Ripple access to global experts,  coaches and resources to create a customised curriculum for community growth. Ripple, which started in 2016 and has almost 11, 000 members will receive approximately $US30,000, which will be used to enhance both the reach and impact of their Australian community. Grace Clapham, Facebook’s head of community partnerships in the Asia-Pacific region, says Ripple was chosen from a vast array of other communities to join the program. “We received hundreds of applications across four countries in APAC – Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand,” Grace says.  “In the end, it boiled down to communities that are already driving positive, lasting change, but need help to scale their efforts and grow in size. We’re excited to welcome a diverse group of community leaders and look forward to working with them to meet their goals and create further impact in their communities.” Facebook will hand out up to $US3 million globally for the program, helping these selected communities to implement growth plans for their networks with assistance from a dedicated team from Facebook. The Community Accelerator is part of the Facebook Community Leadership Program – a global initiative investing in the leaders who are building communities around the world, bringing people together, offering encouragement, and driving change. Ripple supports purpose-driven young people to harness “their agency” and create impact in every sphere of…

BREAKING NEWS CAL FIRE responding to wildfires near Susanville and Yreka Full Story BREAKING NEWS Eight more cases of Covid-19 in Shasta County announced on Saturday Full Story

Facebook Messenger on iOS and Android has been upgraded with ability for users to share their screen with others.Facebook is expanding Messenger’s screen sharing capability, first available on desktop, to the iOS and Android mobile apps.Users can share their screen with other people one-on-one or in a group video call with up to eight participants.This feature is also being rolled out to Messenger Rooms which allows for up to 16 people in a chat at the same time.“Today, we’re excited to share that we’re expanding the availability of Messenger’s screen sharing feature in video calls and Messenger Rooms to our mobile apps…We know people are trying to stay connected more than ever and screen sharing is the latest feature we’re rolling out to bring people closer together.”Here’s more about how screen sharing in Facebook Messenger works.Screen Sharing in Facebook MessengerUsers can share a live view of their screen for others to see, which will show participants in the chat everything the user is doing on their mobile device.“Screen sharing lets you share a live view of your screen so you can share virtually anything together. Whether you want to share memories from your camera roll, shop together online, co-browse social media, and more…”Screen sharing was previously available on the desktop version of Facebook Messenger. This marks the first time screen sharing has been an option in the mobile app or Messenger Rooms.Speaking of Messenger Rooms – which is an app designed specifically for group chats – it will soon be upgraded with the ability to screen share with up to 50 people.Users who create a Messenger Room will be able to specify who has permission to screen share with the group.The ability to screen share in a Messenger Room can be given to just the room creator, or select participants, or…