Facebook Inc. started adding its name to some screens on its Instagram photo-sharing platform this week, one of the first links it has given users to its ownership of the popular platform.
The move comes as the world’s largest social media company faces greater scrutiny from regulators around the world for more transparency over data privacy practices and how and with whom Facebook shares user information.
While not immediately visible to users, “Instagram from Facebook” can be seen a few clicks away at the bottom of the settings page in the Instagram app on some iOS devices.
“We want to be clearer about the products and services that are part of Facebook,” a company spokesman told Reuters.
Some US lawmakers, including Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic presidential candidate, have pushed for action to break up Facebook, Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc’s Google.
Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes in an opinion piece in the New York Times in May urged US regulators to split the company in three.
Facebook will also add its name to its WhatsApp messaging service, The Information reported https://www.theinformation.com/articles/facebook-to-add-its-name-to-inst... earlier on Friday.
Facebook bought Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014, and each is now used by more than 1 billion people.
Instagram has become especially important in adding to Facebook’s revenue as the app largely stayed out of its parent’s privacy scandals, and it pulls in younger consumers at a much faster rate, attracting more advertisers.
Facebook in July said new rules and product changes aimed at protecting users’ privacy would slow its revenue growth into next year. It also agreed to pay $5 billion to settle a US Federal Trade Commission data privacy probe
The FTC is also investigating Facebook for anti-competitive behavior.
Facebook begins adding its name to some screens on Instagram
Facebook begins adding its name to some screens on Instagram
- “Instagram from Facebook” can be seen a few clicks away at the bottom of the settings page of the app
- “We want to be clearer about the products and services that are part of Facebook,” a company spokesman said
Meta to charge Arab advertisers extra fee for reaching European audiences
- US tech giant told advertisers it will add fees ranging from 2 to 5 percent on image and video ads delivered on its platforms to offset digital service taxes
- Charges are determined by where the audience is located, not where the advertiser is based
LONDON: Meta will from July 1 impose location-based surcharges on advertisers targeting audiences in six European countries, a move that will directly affect Arab businesses that run campaigns across the continent.
The US tech giant announced it will add fees ranging from 2 to 5 percent on image and video ads delivered on its platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, to offset digital service taxes imposed by individual governments.
Crucially, the charges are determined by where the audience is located, not where the advertiser is based.
That means Saudi, Emirati, Egyptian or other Arab companies paying to reach consumers in the UK, France or Italy will face the additional costs regardless of their own country’s tax arrangements with Meta.
Fees will apply at 2 percent for ads reaching UK audiences, 3 percent for France, Italy and Spain, and 5 percent for Austria and Turkiye.
“If you deliver $100 in ads to Italy, where there is a 3% location fee, you will be charged $100 (ad delivery), plus $3 (location fee), for $103 total,” the company wrote in an email to an advertiser initially reported by Bloomberg. “Note that any applicable VAT will be calculated on top of the total amount.”
The taxes have been introduced at different points, starting with France in 2019, though not the EU as a bloc.
Many tech companies report substantial sales in Europe and millions of users but pay minimal tax on profits. The goal is to claw back locally derived economic value, Bloomberg reported.
The move follows similar decisions by Google and Amazon, which have also begun passing European digital tax costs on to advertisers.
For Arab brands with growing European footprints, particularly in fashion, travel, hospitality and media, the new fees add another layer of cost to campaigns already subject to currency and targeting complexities.
Digital services taxes, levied as a percentage of revenues earned by major tech platforms in individual countries, have drawn criticism from Washington, which argues they unfairly target US companies.
Meta has been reached for comments.
