The Impact Of The US TikTok Ban: New Study Proves Less Than Half Of The Nation Supports The Decision

The cat is out of the bag and it’s no surprise that the US Congress just voted in favor of a complete TikTok ban (or force selling of the platform) across the country.

President Biden signed the bill into law and has given the social media giant nine months to separate itself from Chinese parent firm ByteDance or face a complete shutdown in the American market.

While the company promises to fight back against the accusations hurled in its direction by US lawmakers, new studies are glaring into the mindset of Americans and how they feel about the country-wide ban.

Many critics are referring to the decision as a major one in terms of digital privacy as well as international relations. But interestingly, less than half of the country shows support for the government on this front.

They feel it’s controversial for obvious reasons with close to 42% being in agreement while the rest showing disapproval.

The study in question featured 2,000 American adults who took part in Talker Research’s latest initiative to find out what American mindsets were feeling about the bold decision. 31% of individuals felt they did not care while 23% showed great opposition.

What was interesting is how 42% of Gen Z and close to 35% of millennials generated a response in the app’s favor and spoke about using it regularly. But 36% voiced support for this ban.

The study was rolled out actually before the American President signed the bill into law on official grounds and warned that the only way out was to sell off algorithms elsewhere instead of turning back to Chinese roots.

25% feel they would be affected by the decision while 45% said it would have no effect on their daily lives. Meanwhile, 39% added how barring this app across America can be so uneventful for them while more than 50% reported about their kids using the platform.

21% always worry about the popular platform impacting their young kids’ minds and that was something they wish they didn’t have to deal with. The biggest concern on this front had to do with rolling out the most inappropriate content that was disturbing for underage viewers and could impact their minds.

Meanwhile, close to 45% of Americans felt their data privacy would be at stake while others had an issue with matters like cyberbullying. To generate concerns about what kids were posting did not seem to be a major concern here as only one in five parents spoke out about that.

With that being said, plenty of research is available that proves how TikTok is worrisome for Americans who feel strongly about it being the major source of misinformation online.

Other than top security issues, other researchers have delineated more about the app and its misinformation woes. Moreover, one study went as far as to reveal how nearly 50% of the content linked to health had fake data. Influencers were giving out incorrect health advice instead of doctors and that again was worrisome.

Playing with health was not something any user would wish to do at any cost and TikTok not doing enough to stop this act had users concerned despite them being avid fans of the leading digital app.

While plenty of factual data of great quality is seen online today including the likes of TikTok, it’s not easy to decipher what’s right from wrong because it’s portrayed so convincingly. Meanwhile, another study also shed light on how people were concerned about their kids meeting strangers through TikTok. While another 29% had the fear it would reduce attention spans and impact mental health.

Image: DIW-Aigen

Read next: Gen-Z Defies Stereotypes, Championing Change Despite Criticism of Laziness
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Gen-Z Defies Stereotypes, Championing Change Despite Criticism of Laziness

Gen-Z have never been regarded as a strong and activist generation by the people of the older generation. People born between 1997 to 2012 have often been called lazy, too soft, entitled and too soft but are never praised for what they stand for. The young people of this age are learned, educated and vocal about many issues around the world and they do their best to spread awareness about certain topics.

Gen-Z are not people who are waiting for a change to happen in this world, they are demanding it – and fiercely to say the least. Gen-Z are the reason for launching many movements these past six months that have left status quo elites uncomfortable and bothered in their comfortable lives. The decades of unbalanced use of power and authority is going to end soon because this young generation is becoming powerful enough to demand human rights and is quite enthusiastic to make the world a peaceful place.

America is seeing a ‘youthquake’ with university students raising their voices in the forms of anti-war protests and the university administrations have nothing to do other than suppress these voices with police intervention. After the incident involving Hamas on October 7th, many university students have started their campaigns for violence on innocent civilians. These campaigns have resulted in suspensions and walkouts of many students but they are still resilient and are protesting ahead of democratic primary elections.

These protests and campaigns aren’t just limited to elite universities like Columbia and Berkeley, as many other university students are actively taking part in them. One third of Gen-Z from these universities say that they are entirely or mostly with Palestinians while only 10% of the adults think so. 36% of the adults believe that President Biden is totally favoring the Israelis and this is not good for him as most of his voters are younger Americans.

The ongoing Palestine-Israel conflict shows us how Gen-Z are with equity, justice, inclusion and human rights. An Edelman survey shows that 70% of the Gen-Z are active on social media and participate in political causes. This makes them more digital fluent and they can easily distinguish facts from lies which helps them educate their fellows and advocate for change. Data also shows that Gen-Z is the generation which spends the least amount of time and spends at least 10.5 hours a week on TikTok and 6.9 hours a week on YouTube. The legislation to ban TikTok in America was also fueled after the outbreak of war and this angered the younger generation.

If you talk to an adult about the younger generation, they would probably complain that Gen-Z are always stuck to their screen and aren’t aware of real world issues. But when you talk to a person under 30, you will probably find out that they are people who are most in-touch with what’s happening around the world and are mostly aware of what’s right and what’s wrong. They are the ones raising voices for climate change, gender diversity and now Palestine, Westbank and Gaza. They are a hope for a bright future.

Image: DIW-Aigen

Read next: Meta Salary Breakdown In The Spotlight, How Much Are Median Employees Really Paid?
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Meta Salary Breakdown In The Spotlight, How Much Are Median Employees Really Paid?

On paper, you’ll see tech giant Meta’s CEO pop up as one of the firm’s lowest-paid workers. And many were shocked to see the figure get listed at just $1 last year.

But behind that awfully modest value lies a massive amount of compensation entailing a whopping $24 million figure (or $24,399,968 precisely) that arises under the ‘other compensation’ category as per the tech giant’s most recently published proxy filing.

And while the CEO's salary usually tends to be highlighted for obvious reasons, it's the median employee compensation at the company that is now in the spotlight, as Meta provides them with a staggering figure of $379K (or $379,050 to be exact). And just a mere reflection of how much it values giving the workforce rewards and staying committed on that front.

In stark comparison to what’s seen for Zuckerberg and his earnings, what does the average employee’s salary at Meta comprise? It’s said to be in the $35k and can go as far as the $120k figure as delineated by Indeed recently. This really does underscore a massive discrepancy when we look at the industry.

However, the majority of the compensation package arising from Mark Zuckerberg is not the usual salary or bonus that is allocated to cover security costs. Meta proved how the CEO’s personal services like security allowance rose by 40% from $10 million a few years back to a staggering $14 million just last year.

It’s a disclosure that arises against the firm’s decision to cut down on the figure of employees working today as it embraced a firing spree that had close to 11k people terminated. And that figure is equal to 13% of the overall workforce.

Despite such massive scrutiny regarding the decision that many did not appreciate when you look at how much the CEO gets for private security, the tech giant continued to prevail with its decision and even opted to reduce security expenses arising from the CEO’s front.

Back in 2022, Mark Zuckerberg’s expenses raised eyebrows when his travel and security costs were calculated. It was a luxury beyond words and plenty of personal travel trips happened to be included.

In comparison, we saw the company’s year of efficiency last year put forward $9 million for just security with $1 million just for private fleets for flying.

• Also read: Bad Bots Made 49.6% of the Internet Traffic in 2023 with Human Internet Traffic Decreasing Drastically

But Meta was forced to provide a defense statement to justify the act that comprised of threats aimed at Zuckerberg directly who was after all the brand’s leading face. And who better to turn to than him when setting the right example right?

The challenges that Meta has been facing in terms of criticism from across the board are very interesting since the profile is very public for Zuckerberg. And the fact that his name is taken again and again for sticking to the $1 salary club with plenty of others is proof of how people are not happy.

Meta has had a robust year financially and it is certainly going strong with quarterly earnings report noting down nothing but success. The successful turnaround is delineated to be more related to enhanced operation costs and a reduction of the employee count than anything else. Did we mention how the CEO’s network also ended up rising to a staggering $176 billion this month?

The massive rise is proof of how his leading position as one of the richest individuals from around the globe continues to solidify, going past tech billionaire Elon Musk to get the number three on rankings released by Bloomberg.

These recent compensation figures that were disclosed shed light on not only the CEO’s unconventional salary but also on the careful dynamics regarding exclusive compensation and security costs seen across the tech world.

Remember, Meta is slowly but surely navigating many challenges and chances it gets but with that being said, what Zuckerberg gets is a major matter of concern and scrutiny for many as discussions related to wealth inequality continue to take center stage today.

We would love to know what you think on this front and whether someone whose salary is listed as $1 is correct when hidden personal expenditures are mind-blowingly huge.

Image: AIgen

Read next: Study Shows Waste from Beverages and Food is a Big Contributor in Plastic Pollution
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

A New Study Shows that Plastic Waste from Beverages and Food is a Big Contributor in Plastic Pollution

A study published in journal Science Advances analyzed the data that was taken from different litter surveys between 2018 to 2022 in 84 countries. These data sets were collected from different volunteers who picked 1.8 million plastic from parks, beaches, roads and other public places around the world. By knowing this data, researchers did a rough estimation about how much plastic waste is being produced by plastic companies all over the world.

According to the findings, Coca-Cola Company is the biggest source of plastic waste and makes 11% of all the plastic waste in the world. Next comes PepsiCo with 5% plastic waste followed by Nestle and Danone which contributed to 3% each of the total plastic waste. Altria, which is the biggest producer of tobacco, cigarettes and products related to these things produce 2% of the total plastic waste in the world. These big five companies make 24% of the total plastic waste. 56 companies make half of plastic waste which is a concerning world’s litter problem.

When the volunteers were picking plastic waste, most of it didn’t have any brand or company name. The researchers say that this means that the percentage of plastic waste from these big five companies is probably higher than their estimation. The researchers also want relevant authorities to take preventive measures to decrease the plastic waste.

The biggest reason for global plastic waste is food and beverages. The single-use packaging is one of the biggest reasons for plastic pollution. The candy wrapper or plastic bottle you throw away immediately contributes to more plastic pollution than a detergent bottle being used for months before getting thrown away.

The researchers said that the solution to this plastic pollution is to decrease the plastic production. Brand managers and policy makers should do something to reduce plastic pollution that is very harmful for the environment.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Report by Pew Research Shows that 73% of US Citizens are in Favor or Press Freedom

Pew Research conducted a new study about the thoughts of US citizens on freedom of press. 73% of the Americans think freedom of press is extremely important while 18% say that it is somewhat important. 78% of Asians and White US citizens are in favor of freedom of press while 60% Black Americans and 61% of Hispanics have similar thoughts.

Pew says that the thoughts of Americans about freedom of press are not varied with the political party they support. What makes people differ from their opinion about freedom of press is educational income levels. The Americans with higher educational and salary levels are more likely to support freedom of press as compared to those who are less educational and have low income levels.

Even with the positivity of Americans about freedom of press, only 33% believe that the media is completely free to report whatever it likes while 46% are somewhat in favor of the media reporting anything. 18% of Americans are not very sure if the media can report anything it likes or not. What’s interesting is that 84% of the US media and news outlets are interested in reporting corporate and finance news while 83% are influenced by governmental and political interests. This diversity of news is influenced by what political party they support. 60% of the Republicans say that financial interests are influencing media while 45% of Democrats say media is influenced by governmental interests. 67% of the Republicans say that their interests affect the press while Democrats(34%) say the same.

38% of the Democrats also say that news outlets are free to report whatever they like as compared to 29% of the Republicans. Republicans are also worried about some restrictions in news outlets(49%). 51% of the Americans say that fake news should always be prevented even if this means restricting press freedom but 46% say that freedom of press should be developed no matter what.

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Google Search Ad Costs Rise as Click Growth Slows

Google Search remains the leading platform in paid media, but it is becoming an expensive option as the number of clicks continues to decline. In the first quarter of 2024, spending on search ads in the U.S. increased by 17% compared to the same period last year. However, the growth in clicks has slowed down significantly, with only a 4% increase this year, which is half the rate of the last quarter of 2023.

The cost per click (CPC) has risen by 13% over the past year, a higher increase than the 9% seen in the previous quarter. This increase in CPC is largely due to higher costs in both standard and PMax shopping ads. Specifically, PMax campaigns, which are designed to optimize ad performance, showed improved metrics over standard shopping campaigns. They had a conversion rate that was only slightly lower but a cost per click that was more favorable.

Retailers have been particularly affected, with a 40-50% rise in CPCs over the past five years. From the first quarter of 2023 to the same quarter in 2024, the median CPC for Google retail search ads went up by about 20%. This trend is problematic for advertisers as increasing costs and decreasing clicks reduce the effectiveness and affordability of their ad campaigns.

During the peak shopping season of the fourth quarter of 2023, 91% of retailers running shopping ads on Google were using PMax campaigns. This number remained stable into the first quarter of 2024, showing that PMax continues to be a key strategy for most advertisers on Google.

The report on these trends, produced by Tinuiti, uses data from advertising programs it manages. This data reflects consistent advertising strategies and provides insights into the same-client growth but does not necessarily represent the performance across all advertisers or platforms. This rising trend in CPC amidst falling clicks indicates challenging times ahead for advertisers who rely heavily on Google's platform.

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by Mahrukh Shahid via Digital Information World

TikTok Ban Threatens Jobs, California Senator Cautions

President Joe Biden recently signed a law that may lead to a ban on TikTok or force its sale. This decision followed quick approvals by both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The popular app, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, is now facing legal battles.

California Senator Laphonza Butler, who supported the legislation, has raised concerns about the impact of such a ban on American jobs.

She highlighted that around 8,000 people work for TikTok in the United States, primarily in California and New York. The potential ban or forced sale of TikTok could put these jobs and the workers' families at risk.

Butler urged the Biden administration to think about the American workers who might be affected by these decisions. She pointed out the significant role these employees have played in TikTok's success and emphasized the need for a balanced approach that considers labor and economic impacts alongside national security concerns.

Historically, attempts to ban TikTok have faced legal hurdles. Former President Donald Trump's executive order to ban the app was blocked by the courts in 2020. Similarly, a state ban in Montana was overturned in November 2023 after a judge ruled it unconstitutional.

Support for TikTok also comes from civil rights groups like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). They argue that banning TikTok could suppress free speech and limit Americans' access to international media and information. Activists stress that such a move would infringe on the First Amendment rights of U.S. citizens.

The debate continues as the administration weighs the risks against potential impacts on thousands of American workers and their families. Former President Donald Trump's executive order to ban the app was blocked by the courts in 2020. Similarly, a state ban in Montana was overturned in November 2023 after a judge ruled it unconstitutional.

Support for TikTok also comes from civil rights groups like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). They argue that banning TikTok could suppress free speech and limit Americans' access to international media and information. Activists stress that such a move would infringe on the First Amendment rights of U.S. citizens.

The debate continues as the administration weighs the risks against potential impacts on thousands of American workers and their families.

Image: DIW-Aigen

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