Tech Roundup: Australia Privacy Bill, Facebook's Teen Troubles & More

[A recurring feature on the latest in Science & Technology.]

• Facebook turns in US$ 9 billion in profits for Q3 2021 as the social media giant announces plans to earmark US$ 10 billion in 2021 on its ambitious metaverse division; reports monthly active users of 2.91 billion, up 6% from a year ago, as new revelations show that the company's namesake service is grappling with retaining, engaging and attracting young users (with U.S. teenage users declining by 13% since 2019) and that it killed a highly publicised plan to hide like counts on Instagram owing to the fact that the change hurt ad revenue and led to people using the app less, not to mention prioritise growth of its business over product safety by allowing engagement based ranking systems to routinely amplify extreme, radicalising content. (What's more, Facebook's News Feed algorithm is believed to have treated emoji reactions as five times more valuable than Likes starting in 2017, amplifying controversial content.)
• Digital payments giant PayPal says "it is not pursuing an acquisition of Pinterest at this time," following rumours of a potential US$ 45 billion deal that would have been one of the biggest consumer internet takeovers in a decade.
• Google's YouTube begins rolling a "New to you" feature across mobile, desktop and TV devices that allows users to "discover new creators and fresh content, beyond the recommended videos"; to demonetise YouTube channels on its platform that market themselves as "made for kids" if the content they produce is low-quality, encourages negative behavior or attitudes, or is heavily commercial starting next month.
• Apple releases iOS 15.1 and iPadOS 15.1 with SharePlay, iPhone 13 ProRes video capture, a toggle for automatic macro mode, vaccine cards in Wallet, and improvements to Shortcuts; watchOS 8.1 with SharePlay, Fitness+ group workouts, and fall detection enhancements; and macOS Monterey with AirPlay to Mac, Live Text, redesigned Safari, and new Shortcuts app.
• Australia unveils new Online Privacy Bill to make social media companies, including Facebook, Reddit, Bumble, and WhatsApp, obtain parental consent for users under the age of 16, with multimillion dollar fines of up to US$ 7.5 million for failing to comply, as part of legislation to enhance online privacy protections.

• Switzerland-based Proton AG, the company behind ProtonMail and ProtonVPN, wins a Swiss court appeal confirming email services are not considered telecom providers and thus not subject to data retention requirements.
• Adobe announces Photoshop and Illustrator web apps to improve collaboration and make quick edits; unveils Content Credentials for Photoshop, letting NFT sellers link their Adobe ID to authenticate the artwork using IPFS.
• Retail and entertainment behemoth Amazon reportedly planning a new live audio app as part of "Project Mic" that lets users host live radio shows a la Clubhouse, complete with the company's music catalog; partners with Verizon to enable the telecom carrier to use its Kuiper satellite network for expanded global 4G and 5G coverage in rural and remote locations, and signs a contract with U.K.'s GCHQ, MI5, and MI6 to host top-secret material, with data stored within the region.
• Google's parent Alphabet reports Q3 revenue of US$ 65.1 billion, up 41% YoY, net income of US$ 18.9 billion, up from US$ 11.2 billion YoY, Google Cloud revenue of US$ 5 billion, up from $3.4 billion YoY, and YouTube revenue of US$ 7.2 billion, up from US$ 5 billion YoY; reports traffic acquisition costs of US$ 11.50 billion, as the company's "Other Bets" posts an operating loss of US$ 1.29 billion, up from US$ 1.1 billion YoY, on revenue of US$ 182 million primarily generated by Verily and Fiber, up from US$ 178 million YoY.
• Twitter reports Q3 revenue of US$ 1.28 billion, up 37% YoY, with monetisable daily active users hitting 211M, up 13% YoY, and a net loss of US$ 537 million following a one-time settlement to the tune of US$ 809.5 million over charges that the company misled investors about user growth.
• Microsoft reports Q1 revenue of US$ 45.3 billion, up 22% YoY, net income of US$ 20.5 billion, up 48% YoY, and overall gaming revenue of US$ 3.6 billion, up 16% YoY, with hardware revenue up 166% YoY fuelled by continued demand for Xbox Series X and S consoles.