TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Axios: Meta reorganization aims to decentralize Facebook’s AI efforts. “Facebook parent Meta announced a broad reorganization of its AI efforts Thursday, a move that will embed more work within product teams and will also see a top AI executive leave the company. Why it matters: Like rivals Google and Microsoft, Meta is looking to make sure that machine learning and AI are used broadly throughout the company, not locked away in research units.”

Washington Post: Top executive Sheryl Sandberg is leaving Facebook. “Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg is leaving the company, she announced Wednesday in a post on the flagship site.”

CNET: Facebook Parent Meta to Change Stock Ticker Symbol to META on June 9. “Facebook parent company Meta Platforms said Tuesday its stock will begin trading on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker symbol META on June 9, replacing the FB symbol it went public with a little more than a decade ago.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

CNN: Sheryl Sandberg’s complicated legacy at Facebook. “In the hours after Sandberg announced her planned departure on Wednesday, she was praised by a number of prominent figures in tech and media…. Other industry watchers, however, stressed the negative impacts from Facebook that emerged during her watch and pointed the finger at her for not doing more to prevent them.”

Axios: Sheryl Sandberg’s advertising jackpot. “Sheryl Sandberg grew Meta’s revenue from $272 million in 2008 to nearly $118 billion in 2021. That’s over 43,000% higher. Why it matters: Depending on who you ask, the corporate growth story she’s responsible for is one of the most impressive in history — or one of the most reckless.”

CNBC: Javier Olivan, who’s replacing Sheryl Sandberg at Meta, built his career on international expansion. “Sheryl Sandberg is one of the most visible figures in Silicon Valley. Javier ‘Javi’ Olivan, who’s succeeding Sandberg as operating chief at Facebook owner Meta, is a virtual unknown off campus.”

indy100: OnlyFans creator says she had sex with Facebook employees to get Instagram account back. “OnlyFans creator Kitty Lixo spilt the beans on the No Jumper podcast where she explained how she managed to get her profile (with over 196,000 followers) restored after she slept with Meta employees (previously known as Facebook).”

SECURITY & LEGAL

NBC News: Family sues Meta, blames Instagram for daughter’s eating disorder and self-harm. “The case was filed on behalf of Alexis Spence, who was able to create her first Instagram account at the age of 11 without her parents’ knowledge and in violation of the platform’s minimum age requirement of 13. The complaint alleges that Instagram’s artificial intelligence engine almost immediately steered the then-fifth grader into an echo chamber of content glorifying anorexia and self-cutting, and systematically fostered her addiction to using the app. The lawsuit was filed by the Social Media Victims Law Center, a Seattle-based group that advocates for families of teens harmed online.”

Gizmodo: Meta’s Updated Privacy Policy Is a Simplified (And Terrifying) Explanation of What Data They’re Constantly Capturing . “The company formerly known as Facebook wants you to know it takes your privacy seriously. Giving you the illusion of control with a flashy re-designed Privacy Policy that details the alarming amount of data Meta has access to. With your consent, of course.”

CNET: Peter Thiel Departs Meta Board, Shareholder Proposals Voted Down. “Peter Thiel, an early investor in Facebook, departed the board of social network’s parent on Wednesday, as Meta shareholders rejected most proposals voted on at the company’s annual meeting on Wednesday. Thiel’s departure was expected. A board member since 2005, he said in February he wouldn’t seek reelection to the company’s board.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

NBC News: Facebook’s 2018 algorithm change boosted local GOP groups, research finds. “A change to Facebook’s recommendation system likely accounted for a disproportionate boost in visibility and engagement to conservative political groups on the social media platform starting in 2018, according to research published Wednesday. The research, published in the journal Research & Politics, looked at posts from the pages of nearly every county party in the U.S. and found a marked increase in shares, comments and reactions to Republican posts.”

Phys .org: 1 in 5 state GOP lawmakers in far-right Facebook groups, study says. “In a year-long review of the 7,383 seats in state legislatures in the 2021-2022 session, the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights (IREHR) found that 4,011 seats were held by Republicans. Of those GOP lawmakers, 872—21.74%—had joined far-right Facebook groups, according to the report, ‘Breaching the Mainstream.'”

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