When Joe Sullivan, Facebook’s chief security officer, and Elliot Schrage, the company’s head of public policy, flew to Washington DC on Monday for a grueling four-hour “showdown” meeting with a senior UK child protection official, the company wanted to send a strong signal that it was ready to listen and act on local concerns.
Facebook is desperate to draw a line under an escalating controversy in the UK over child safety. Always a target for scare stories over everything from spreading venereal disease to teenage depression, Facebook has recently come under scrutiny following the conviction of Peter Chapman, a serial rapist who used Facebook to meet a 17-year-old girl, who he went on to rape and murder. Read more
Twitter has unveiled its long-awaited monetisation plans. Through a programme called Promoted Tweets, the company will allow businesses to bid on keywords, similar to Google’s highly successful AdWords system.
Richard Waters
Chris Nuttall
Maija Palmer
Robin Kwong
Tim Bradshaw