COPENHAGEN: The Danish toy company Lego said Saturday it won’t advertise anymore in Britain’s Daily Mail, one of several British newspapers targeted by a social media campaign for their anti-immigrant stances.
The maker of multi-colored Lego building bricks tweeted Saturday “@StopFundingHate We have finished the agreement with the Daily Mail.”
Roar Rude Trangbaek, a spokesman for the privately-held company, told The Associated Press that Lego has “no plans to make additional marketing activities with the newspaper.”
“We spend a lot of time listening to what children tell us. And when parents and grandparents take the time to tell us what they think, we listen,” he said in an email. He declined to elaborate on the advertising.
The Stop Funding Hate campaign has urged companies to drop advertising in several British newspapers due to their resistance to helping child refugees.
In 2014, the Danish company said it would not renew its contract with oil group Shell whose logo was on Lego sets sold at gas stations in Europe. The move came after weeks of pressure following a video against oil drilling in the Arctic region.
The western Denmark-based group has more than 18,000 employees around the world and ranks among the world's biggest toymakers.
In March, the group said its 2015 revenue soared 25 percent to 35.8 billion kroner, and said some 100 million children played with Lego products or used Lego materials in schools.
Campaigners claim victory as Lego drops ‘Daily Mail’ adverts
Campaigners claim victory as Lego drops ‘Daily Mail’ adverts
Apple, Google offer app store changes under new UK rules
LONDON: Apple and Google have pledged changes to ensure fairness in their app stores, the UK competition watchdog said Tuesday, describing it as “first steps” under its tougher regulation of technology giants.
The Competition and Markets Authority placed the two companies under “strategic market status” last year, giving it powers to impose stricter rules on their mobile platforms.
Apple and Google have submitted packages of commitments to improve fairness and transparency in their app stores, which the CMA is now consulting market participants on.
The proposals cover data collection, how apps are reviewed and ranked and improved access to their mobile operating systems.
They aim to prevent Apple and Google from giving priority to their own apps and to ensure businesses receive fairer terms for delivering apps to customers, including better access to tools to compete with services like the Apple digital wallet.
“These are important first steps while we continue to work on a broad range of additional measures to improve Apple and Google’s app store services in the UK,” said CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell.
The commitments mark the first changes proposed by US tech giants in response to the UK’s digital markets regulation, which came into force last year.
The UK framework is similar to a tech competition law from the European Union, the Digital Markets Act, which carries the potential for hefty financial penalties.
“The commitments announced today allow Apple to continue advancing important privacy and security innovations for users and great opportunities for developers,” an Apple spokesperson said.
The CMA in October found that Apple and Google held an “effective duopoly,” with around 90 to 100 percent of UK mobile services running on their platforms.
A Google spokesperson said existing practices in its Play online store are “fair, objective and transparent.”
“We welcome the opportunity to resolve the CMA’s concerns collaboratively,” they added.
The changes are set to take effect in April, subject to the outcome of a market consultation.
