EU: Facebook cries foul on EU request for internal documents - by Andrew Rettman

Facebook, a US tech giant known for abusing its users' private information, has said the European Commission was now attempting to do the same to Facebook employees' data.

The firm filed its complaints at the EU court in Luxembourg, after the commission asked to see internal documents containing any of 2,500 search phrases as part of an anti-trust enquiry.

Brussels-based news agency MLex first revealed Facebook's legal counter-strike in a story on Monday (27 July), citing anonymous sources.

US congressmen were also due to cross-examine Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Monday in a separate investigation into alleged abuse of the firm's online "dominance", but the hearing was postponed due to a clash with a memorial service for a US civil rights leader.

Zuckerberg founded the California-based firm in 2004 initially as a platform for US students to talk to each other.

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Facebook cries foul on EU request for internal documents

Facebook: Donald Trump and Mark Zuckerberg’s Bromance and the US's Illusion of Democracy

Ever since Donald Trump was elected, you might have been wondering if you were still living in a democracy. Now it can be told: No, not really, you’re not. A Washington Post investigation into Facebook’s dealings with the Trump administration published on Sunday afternoon reveals the damning level of collusion between the CEO of one of the most powerful public companies in the world, Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook, and our toxic chief executive. Exhibit A: the Post reveals that after Trump posted about sending military troops to quell protests in Minnesota over George Floyd’s killing, leading to calls to remove or regulate the president’s incendiary words, Trump called Zuckerberg. According to the Post, on the call, Zuckerberg whined that “the post put the company in a difficult position.” His Washington-based staff had earlier that day pleaded with the White House to tweak the language of the post — or “simply delete it.” In other words, Facebook was telling the president that they could all avoid the controversy over imposing limits on incendiary or violent speech on the platform — with a little editing! Later in the day, Trump did just that, adding that his comments were a warning (and thus...

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Donald Trump and Mark Zuckerberg’s Bromance and Our Illusion of Democracy

Ukraine - Social Media: Facebook Is Pro-Russia, Senior Aide To Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko Says - by Kukil Bora

A senior official in the Ukrainian government on Thursday accused Facebook of pro-Russia bias, ahead of a question-and-answer session with the company’s co-founder Mark Zuckerberg. The official, who serves as an aide to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, is also reportedly in talks with the social networking giant to solve the problem.

According to Dmytro Shymkiv, deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, Facebook’s Russian moderators are overseeing Ukrainian users of the social networking site, and are influenced by Moscow’s political agenda in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

Note EU-Digest: This is called free press Mr. Dmytro Shymkiv  - Ukraine better wake up and smell the roses.

Read more: Facebook Is Pro-Russia, Senior Aide To Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko Says

Stock Market: Facebook goes Public and IPO could come with surprise twist

is expected to file as early as Wednesday to sell stock on the open market in what will be the most talked-about initial public offering since Google in 2004, maybe since the go-go 1990s.

Around the nation, regular investors and IPO watchers are anticipating some kind of twist — perhaps a provision for the 800 million users of Facebook, a company that promotes itself as all about personal connections, to get in on the action. "Pandemonium is what I expect in terms of demand for this stock," says Scott Sweet, senior managing partner at IPO Boutique, an advisory firm. "I don't think Wall Street would want to anger Facebook users."

Facebook is expected to raise as much as $10 billion US, which will value the company at $75 billion to $100 billion, making it one of the largest IPOs. A stock usually starts trading three to four months after the filing.

The highly anticipated filing will reveal how much Facebook intends to raise from the stock market, what it plans to do with the money and details on its own financial performance and future growth prospects.

Note EU-Digest: To show gratitude to the Facebook membership for making Facebook what it is today and to turn these members into true loyal stakeholders in the company,  Mark Zuckerberg  should give each Facebook member one share in the company at a value of $1.00 and make the share certificate downloadable. He should also give Facebook members the opportunity to buy preferred stock in the company. Why not?  

For more: Facebook IPO could come with surprise twist - Business - CBC News