Vice Media is consolidating its online brands like Noisey, Munchies, and Motherboard and bringing all of its content under Vice.com as feature sections like News, Identity, Entertainment, Music, Food, Tech, Games, Health, and Drugs. Vice says the move will “unify and strengthen its offering to audiences and advertisers alike.” Its redesigned website will also feature Vice Stories, a home for vertical video.
Hootsuite has laid off dozens of staff at its Vancouver headquarters. The social media and marketing management giant declined to reveal the exact number of staff let go, their positions or which departments were affected Tuesday, but a report by CTV suggested the cuts amounted to more than 100 employees. Hootsuite shared a statement saying the changes are aimed at driving “greater alignment” with its strategic priorities. Valued at $1 billion dollars, the company previously made layoffs in 2015 to help it achieve cash-flow positive status. Hootsuite’s social management platform boasts 16 million global users. The company has nearly 1,000 employees in 13 cities, including Toronto and Mexico City.
Tubular Labs, a leader in digital video measurement and sponsored video intelligence, has announced that Viacom, Ellen Digital Network and Corus Entertainment have joined the Global Video Measurement Alliance (GVMA) to establish new digital video measurement standards, beginning with social video. They join VICE, BuzzFeed and Group Nine as additional founding members. As a result of its work with GVMA, Tubular Labs has announced that new global, cross-platform reach and engagement metrics will be available this summer including de-duplicated unique viewers and minutes watched.
Facebook and Canada’s privacy commissioner are heading to Federal Court following a report that finds the digital giant has ignored guidance bringing it into compliance with Canadian privacy laws. Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien said the situation highlights the lack of enforcement tools at his disposal as his office is unable to levy fines or compel companies to produce evidence. The report concludes Facebook failed to get meaningful consent from users installing third party quiz apps that gathered data from participating users and their friends, which was then passed along to political consulting agency Cambridge Analytica. Therrien also indicated The Office of the Privacy Commissioner plans to delete its Facebook presence to dissolve any association with the social platform.
Frank Giustra
Lionsgate Entertainment founder Frank Giustra has filed suit against Twitter for publishing tweets during the 2016 U.S. election that he claims amounted to a targeted attack. The B.C. businessman, who is also CEO of the Fiore Group of Companies, has filed a civil claim in B.C. Supreme Court. Giustra is seeking a mandatory permanent injunction requiring Twitter to delete or prevent publication of the tweets, and prohibit publication of defamatory tweets against him on an indefinite basis, in addition to general damages and costs. The tweets in question included allegations that Guistra, who sits on the board of the Clinton Foundation, was involved in the ‘pizzagate’ conspiracy theory.
Postmedia has joined the list of Canadian media organizations using audience engagement company Viafoura to moderate online user comments. Viafoura uses a combination of human and AI moderation to identify disruptive user comments and enhance the overall user experience. National Post onboarded Viafoura in January, which is also used by the CBC and Sportsnet.
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