KK5 - TNCs Flashcards
Trans National Corporations (TNCs)
-A TNC is a company whose operations and investments extend beyond the boundaries of the state in which it is registered (i.e., it conducts business and investment in more than one state)
Note: for purposes of the course: TNCs are not Non-state actors. Non state actors strictly refer to legal organisations (e.g., Amnesty) and global terrorist movements (e.g., Boko Haram)
Meta - Key facts
-Founded in 2004
-CEO Mark Zuckerberg
-Employs around 76,000 full-time employees (2024)
-Total number of daily active users is 2 Billion
-3% of Facebook users are 18-24 years old
-Revenue in 2022: 116.61 billion
-Facebook ad revenue in Q4 2022 decreased was $32.17 billion
Aims of Meta
(Meta specific) - “to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together”
(All TNCs (including meta)) - MAXIMISE PROFITS and return dividends to shareholder
Roles of Meta
-Supply goods and services to its global users (offer a product) - e.g., Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp
-Provide employment opportunities (according to Statista (2023), Meta had 67,000 full-time employees in 2023).
-However, In November 2022, Meta announced that 11,000 jobs would be cut from the organisation.
-In March 2023, Meta announced a further 10,000 redundancies, as well as a freeze on hiring new staff.
-Actively engage in foreign direct investment (FDI) outside its “home” state
-Land purchases (including rent)
-Infrastructure development
-Meta has offices in 80+ cities worldwide
Types of power that TNCs have
-Raw power (e.g. Individual users and businesses)
-Power to challenge the sovereignty of states
The raw power of Meta (strength)
Facebook’s algorithm, which controls the posts and content which appears on a user’s News Feed, is another large source of power for the TNC
Sean Parker, 2017 (former Facebook president) -“It is a social validation feedback loop… That exploits a vulnerability in human psychology”
The power of meta (weakness) - Facebook, Cambridge Analytica & 2016 US presidential Election
-Cambridge Analytica, political consulting firm, has been accused of harvesting the data of up to 87 million Facebook users’ profiles without their knowledge to help it design software to predict and influence voters’ choices at the ballot box in the 2016 US election
-“This highlights a larger debate over how much users can trust Facebook with their data. “ - Alvin Chang, Vox, 2 May 2018
Power of Meta to challenge state sovereignty - (Limitations) India and Meta
October 2022, the Indian government announced it will establish grievance committees to oversee content moderation on social media platforms.
-The new committees will have the power to overrule companies’ decisions, effectively giving the government authority over online content moderation
-Advocacy groups worry that the ne regulation will curb free speech rather than enhance security online
Power of Meta to challenge state sovereignty (strengths) Canada’s Online News Act
June 2023: Inspired by Australia’s News Media Bargaining Code, Canada introduced its Online News Act, which similarly requires Meta (Facebook) and other tech platforms to pay local media for the news stories on their sites
August 2023: Meta commenced blocking all news content on its platforms in Canada in order to avoid being forced to pay for content under the legislation
-Challenged legislative sovereignty
Australia’s News Bargaining Code - background
2020, the Australian government, in consultation with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), proposed a new piece of legislation to address bargaining power imbalances between Australian new media businesses and digital platforms, specifically Google and Facebook
-In practice, it would compel these platforms to pay local news publishers for using their content on their sites
Australia’s News Bargaining Code - action
On 18 February 2021, Facebook restrict publishers and people ion Australia from sharing or viewing Australian and international news content
-ABC and other news corporations had their pages blocked, as well as organisations like Queensland government, BOM, Fire rescue, Harvey Norman
Australia’s News Bargaining Code - outcome
Facebook negotiated with the Australian Government to install amendments in the legislation before it passed the Senate on 25 February 2021
-Facebook restored all news services in Australia on 26 February 2021.
-However, Facebook was unable to challenge the judicial sovereignty of Australia, and had their reputation tarnished greatly
Australia’s news bargaining code
1 March 2024: Meta announced it will not renew the agreements it made with Australian media outlets under the code and consequently not display any news on its platforms in Australia once these current deals lapse
