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Russia's communications regulator Roskomnadzor on Friday said it would partly restrict Facebook, citing the social network as a "violation of fundamental human rights and freedoms, as well as the rights and freedoms of Russian citizens."

Why it matters: It’s part of a greater effort by Russia to silence dissent amid protests against Russia’s Ukraine offensive. 

Earlier this week, Roskomnadzor said media outlets could publish only information from official Russian sources, per Reuters. 

Details: A message posted to Telegram from Roskomnadzor said it was moving to restrict Facebook after the company restricted accounts of four Russian media outlets, including Zvezda TV channel, RIA Novosti news agency, the Lenta.ru website and the Gazeta.ru site.

Roskomnadzor said such actions "are prohibited by Federal Law."

Meta, Facebook's parent company, says Russia's move is retaliation for the company's refusal to "stop the independent fact-checking and labeling of content posted on Facebook by four Russian state-owned media organizations." 

In a Twitter post, president of global affairs Nick Clegg wrote, "Ordinary Russians are using Meta's apps to express themselves and organize for action. We want them to continue to make their voices heard, share what’s happening, and organize through Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger."

Between the lines: On Thursday, Facebook said it established a Special Operations Center to respond to the crises in real time. 

“It is staffed by experts (including native speakers) so we can closely monitor the situation and act as fast as possible,” Facebook’s head of security policy, Nathaniel Gleicher ,tweeted.

The big picture: Russia has a history of shutting down access to the internet and social channels during political upheaval. 

Russia pressured both Apple and Meta to remove a mobile app created by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny last year. 

The Kremlin also shut down websites linked to opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Go deeper: Russian internet prepares to go solo

Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional comment from Facebook.

Russia moves to restrict Facebook access amid Ukraine invasion

It’s part of a greater effort by Russia to silence dissent amid protests.

Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

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Big Tech

From the Valley to D.C., Big Tech players like Facebook, Google and Amazon are under more scrutiny than ever as new technology develops and privacy and antitrust concerns grow in lockstep with companies’ ambitions.

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Facebook parent company Meta on Wednesday detailed several research efforts that it insists are key to its project of building a metaverse.

The big picture: While some of the work, like a new type of haptic gloves, is closely tied to virtual reality, a number of the efforts Meta talked about on Wednesday predate the company's metaverse push and have wide use beyond it.

Of note: Meta touted self-supervised machine learning as a key technology to helping create and make sense of a future with many digital worlds.

Unlike other approaches, AI systems of this type learn the rules of the realm they are trying to understand through observation, rather than based on human classification.

What they're saying: "The road to the metaverse goes through AI," Meta AI research managing director Antoine Bordes told Axios. 

Bordes also said that computer vision systems based on self-supervised AI have the potential to be less biased, since humans aren't adding their own labels to the data.

Among the projects that Facebook touted was a language translation system capable of converting texts directly among 100 languages in real-time without needing to use English as an intermediary step. 

That means being able to solve for 10,000 language-to-language pairings and allowing the technology to go "beyond the populations that have been well served with technology," Bordes said — something that wasn't possible two years ago.

Overall, Meta says that currently more than 20% of the world's population uses a language not covered by commercial language translation systems. "We don't have to wait for the metaverse to happen to have impact," Bordes said.

Between the lines: Facebook tried to paint its work as a contribution to the broader field of artificial intelligence. The company pledged to be transparent about its research as well as to share some of the code through open source releases.

Meta plans AI-driven universal translator

Self-supervised machine learning is a key to building future digital worlds, Facebook's parent company says.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, speaking at an online event Wednesday. Screenshot: Axios

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Automation and AI

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Tech companies were among the first to send workers home, and they're likely to have vast numbers of jobs that can be done fully remotely — but they're still betting that offices will be the future.

Stunning stat: Tech companies held 36 of the 100 biggest office leases in 2021, up from 18 in 2020, per a new CBRE analysis.

That amounts to 11.4 million square feet of office space.

In second place is the federal government, which has 5.1 million square feet of the 100 biggest leases — less than half of what the tech industry has.

Overall, office leasing in the U.S. was up nearly 27% last year, CBRE's Manish Kashyap notes. "The tech industry is the big engine there.”

The bottom line: The fact that some of the most remote-capable companies in the country are gobbling up office space and expecting employees to come back to work in person signals that fully remote work won't be the norm once the pandemic is behind us.

Go deeper: Companies might face resistance as they call workers back 

Big Tech bets big on offices

Tech companies are still betting that offices will be the future.

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Equity performance since Tim Cook became CEO of Apple. Data: FactSet; Chart: Axios Visuals

How much is too much when it comes to CEO compensation?

Driving the news: Apple wants to award CEO Tim Cook a $99 million pay package — but shareholder advisory firm ISS this week recommended a "no" vote.

State of play: ISS says the package is too much — triple the peer median pay — and that it does little to help with retention as much of it is stock that'll be earned in retirement no matter what. Another advisory firm, Glass Lewis, approved the comp package.

Reality check: Shareholders will likely ignore the recommendation, Daniel Ives, managing director at Wedbush Securities, tells Axios.

The big picture: Shareholders need Cook, says Ives. The last thing they want is to make him unhappy.

Without him, Apple’s share price would sink. “Cook’s worth $500-600 million in stock,” he says, pointing to the company’s meteoric share price. 

"Compare what Cook’s done to the disaster of Zuckerberg and to other CEOs of similar stature," Ives added, referencing Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, whose shares recently plummeted. "The success of Apple is unparalleled."

The fight over Apple CEO Tim Cook's $99M pay package

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Google will help its Cloud users save energy and reduce emissions by providing new tools to let them manage energy use from their idle projects.

Driving the news: Google on Wednesday introduced the Carbon Sense suite. It's a collection of features that aims to help companies quantify and report their emissions, as well as reduce them.

Zoom in: The company says its "Active Assist" feature will allow customers to spot their energy-intensive idle projects and help manage them better to reduce their carbon footprint.

The recommendations given by the feature estimate the impact of removing an idle project in kilograms of CO2 reduced per month. 

For example, users can choose cleaner regions to run their data-hungry projects. 

“It can be difficult for businesses to accurately understand, reduce, and report on carbon emissions,” said Google Sustainability lead Chris Talbott, in a statement.  

Flashback: Google is working to meet a 2030 goal for running its data center operations on carbon-free energy 24/7. 

Google focuses on idle Cloud projects to reduce carbon emissions

Google is looking to help its Cloud users save energy and reduce emissions.

Illustration of the google search bar with the words CO2 in place of their logo

Carbon

Illustration of the google search bar with the words CO2 in place of their logo.

Climate Truths

Ominous forecasts about the impact of climate change serve as the backdrop for the world — led by U.S. lawmakers and companies — to debate big action on the problem, which could upend energy systems and our way of life.

Energy & Environment

Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Thursday accused the Securities and Exchange Commission of undertaking a "harassment campaign" in an effort to "chill his exercise of First Amendment rights."

Driving the news: "[T]he SEC seems to be targeting Mr. Musk and Tesla for unrelenting investigation largely because Mr. Musk remains an outspoken critic of the government," a lawyer for Musk said in a court filing.

The big picture: Musk's accusation came in a letter to U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan, who had presided over a 2018 settlement with the SEC.

As part of the settlement, Musk and Tesla each had to pay a $20 million fine, which was supposed to be distributed to shareholders. Musk also agreed to have company lawyers preapprove his social media posts.

In 2018, the SEC sued Musk of making "false and misleading" statements related to his abandoned efforts to take Tesla Motors private.

Musk had tweeted in August of that year that had "funding secured" for a takeover of the company at $420 per share.

Details: The court document says that the SEC has failed to pay Tesla's shareholders "the $40 million it collected as part of the settlement in these cases and that it purports to be holding for them."

 "Instead, it has been devoting its formidable resources to endless, unfounded investigations into Mr. Musk and Tesla."

Later on Thursday, the judge responded to the letter ordering the SEC to file a response to Musk's letter by Feb. 24. 

Musk's attorneys also accused the SEC of failing to distribute the shareholders' funds and asked the court to schedule a conference on the matter.

gov.uscourts.nysd.501881.24.0

Elon Musk accuses SEC of attacking his right to free speech

The SEC is "targeting" Musk for being "an outspoken critic of the government," court filings say.

Photo: Yichuan Cao/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Elon Musk

President Biden has made the COVID-19 crisis and a post-Trump return to national unity and traditional democratic ideals his top priorities. From vaccinations to stimulus to schools, Biden is seeking bipartisan compromise while showing a willingness to use executive authority and bare Democratic majorities in the U.S. House and Senate to implement his policies. Republican leaders are navigating deep party divisions over if and how to move beyond former President Trump.

Politics & Policy

Facebook parent Meta is reorganizing its communications and public affairs team to combat an onslaught of negative press and try to repair its reputation.

Why it matters: The new structure, according to internal memos obtained by Axios, gives communications and public affairs executives more power across the organization to respond to public relations crises. 

Details: In an internal note to employees posted Monday, Nick Clegg — Facebook’s newly promoted president of global affairs — said the communications team will be restructured to be more “cross-functional … to make sure our product and innovation story is heard loud and clear by the audiences we need to reach.“

The team will be led by David Ginsberg, a senior product executive who‘s been with Facebook since 2017. Ginsberg's new title will be VP and global head of communications and public affairs, and he will report to Clegg.

Be smart: In a different staff memo posted Monday, Ginsberg said the new team will be renamed "Communications and Public Affairs" and will focus not just on adopting a new communications structure, but also on getting employees and external stakeholders more excited about the metaverse. 

As a part of that mission, the company will build a new global public affairs team under Tucker Bounds, a former DC political operative who currently serves as a vice president of communications at the company. 

Catch up quick: Prior to his new role, Ginsberg led the company's Choice and Competition Team (CCT), a unit responsible for developing product innovations in response to new regulations. He also served as a senior research executive.

In his memo, Clegg noted, "With David's move to lead communications, he will bring with him the bulk of the CCT remit, which has had a heavy cross-functional, strategic public affairs focus."

The big picture: The new structure gives Clegg full responsibility for making policy decisions on behalf of the company, absolving CEO Mark Zuckerberg from that duty on a day-to-day basis.

Microsoft made a similar move in 2015, when it promoted its general counsel and chief legal officer Brad Smith to president, effectively shifting all public policy responsibilities away from CEO Satya Nadella, The Information notes.

Meta reorganizes comms team to go on PR offense

The social network giant is aiming the changes at repairing its battered reputation.

Illustration of the Facebook "f" carved in stone.   

Meta (company)

Google announced Wednesday it will phase out cross-app ad trackers on Android smartphones, a move aimed at increasing data privacy for consumers using its operating system.

Why it matters: It's a major upheaval to how advertising and data collection will work on Android devices and comes after Apple last year placed new restrictions on apps that track behavior to tailor ads to users.

Apple's new restrictions had profound effects on companies that sell mobile ads based on user data, including Snapchat and Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook.

Meta said earlier this month that it expects Apple's ad tracking changes to cost it $10 billion in ad revenue in 2022.

How it works: Currently, people using Android devices are assigned special IDs that advertisers use to build a behavioral profile of the user. They use this profile to eventually place highly targeted ads on the person's screen.

Google said it will now phase out the ID system and develop a new privacy-focused advertising system that will limit sharing of user data with third parties.

Thought bubble, via Axios' Sara Fischer: Google's efforts to change privacy practices in Chrome, its web browser, have faced challenges, including industry pushback on its initial proposal and delayed timelines.

The company's efforts on Android will likely be met with similar industry disagreement, given how many players are involved in the app economy.

The big picture: Operating systems and web browsers are pushing to introduce more privacy standards amid increased regulatory pressure in the U.S. and Europe.

Democrats last month introduced a bill that would essentially ban most targeted advertising.

Google said last month it would also change how targeted ads work on its Chrome web browser after privacy advocates criticized its previously-announced plan.

Go deeper: Meta's price drop shakes tech's confidence

Google to phase out cross-app ad tracking on Android devices

It's a major upheaval to how advertising and data collection will work on Android devices.

An Android statue near a Google sign at a Google campus in Mountain View, California.

An Android statue on Google's campus in Mountain View, Calif. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Google

Data privacy

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued social media giant Meta on Monday for allegedly capturing and using biometric data without properly obtaining informed consent. Meta has vowed to fight the lawsuit.

Our thought bubble, via Axios' Ashley Gold: Similar suits are likely to come from other states as lawmakers grapple with how to treat the use of biometric data, and this one just adds to Facebook’s many regulatory woes.

What he's saying: Paxton is accusing Meta's Facebook of storing millions of biometric identifiers, including fingerprint and voiceprint, without obtaining "informed consent," as mandated by Texas law.

Facebook has "exploited the personal information of users and non-users alike to grow its empire and reap historic, windfall profits," stated a release from Paxton's office.

Court documents allege that Facebook also disclosed users' personal information to "other parties who further exploited it."

"Facebook will no longer take advantage of people and their children with the intent to turn a profit at the expense of one’s safety and well-being," Paxton said in a statement. "This is yet another example of Big Tech’s deceitful business practices and it must stop. I will continue to fight for Texans’ privacy and security."

Paxton has asked the court to order Meta to pay the state $25,000 for each violation of Texas’ Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier Act and $10,000 for each violation of the state's Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

The other side: "These claims are without merit and we will defend ourselves vigorously," a Meta spokesperson said in a statement to Axios.

Worth noting: Facebook paid $650 million to settle a similar lawsuit involving biometric data in Illinois two years ago.

Editor's note: This article has been updated with comment from Meta. 

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Texas AG sues Meta for allegedly exploiting users' biometric data

Ken Paxton is accusing Facebook of capturing and using biometric data without properly obtaining informed consent.

Founder and CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg makes a speech as he attends the 56th Munich Security Conference at Bayerischer Hof Hotel in Munich, Germany on February 15

Meta's co-founder Mark Zuckerberg. Photo:  Abdulhamid Hosbas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Facebook

Three-quarters of Americans say that U.S. democracy could be at risk without stronger regulation of false information online, according to a poll by bipartisan advocacy group the Future of Tech commission, results of which were shared first with Axios. The same survey found broad bipartisan support for stronger privacy regulation and increased spending on cybersecurity.

Why it matters: Congress is considering a range of new restrictions on tech, including bills related to privacy, competition and possible limits to Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which protects online platforms from being sued for user-contributed content.

"Voters across party lines overwhelmingly support a range of government actions," Common Sense Media CEO Jim Steyer told Axios. Steyer is a co-chair of the Future of Tech commission, along with former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and former Education Secretary Margaret Spellings.

By the numbers: The survey of 1,000 Americans, conducted by Benenson Strategy Group on the commission's behalf, found especially strong support to limit collection of users' personal data — and even stronger support to limit it for users under 18.

78% of Americans believe consumers should have to “opt-in” before their personal data is shared.

76% of those surveyed say companies should not be able to collect and use personal data beyond what's necessary for the service being provided.

75% said they support prohibiting companies from collecting personal data on anybody 16 or under.

Yes, but: It's one thing to call for these limits in the abstract — and another once users realize they might be asked to pay for or give up services that are now supported by targeted advertising.

Between the lines: While there is strong bipartisan support, in both polls and among legislators, for reining in Big Tech, the consensus often disappears once the problems described and solutions proposed get more specific.

Steyer acknowledged a steep partisan divide when it comes to questions about  content moderation and Section 230 reform.

"That doesn’t mean we can’t get major stuff done this year," he said, noting a broader consensus around privacy regulation, as well as support for better broadband and improved cybersecurity.

The big picture: While the politics of getting anything passed by Congress are complicated, other countries are poised to act, with the EU and U.K. both considering fresh legislation.

"We have birthed the extraordinary tech revolution," Steyer said. "We should lead the world in smart, common-sense, thoughtful guardrails."

What's next: Steyer, Patrick and Spellings will present the group's legislative recommendations at a gathering next week. Also expected to attend are FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel, Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Surgeon General Vivek Murthy.

Exclusive: U.S. majority supports tech regulation to preserve democracy

Americans polled also support regulating privacy and spending more on cybersecurity.

Illustration of numerous internet browser windows showing the US Capitol Building in red repeating

Misinformation

Axios AM

Meta will reinstate former President Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts "in coming weeks" following a two-year suspension, according to Nick Clegg, the company's president, global affairs.

Why it matters: The decision sets a new precedent for how the company treats world leaders, and it could change the trajectory of the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

"We've always believed that Americans should be able to hear from the people who want to lead the country," Clegg told Axios. "We don't want to stand in the way of that."

Flashback: Facebook, along with Twitter and many other social media platforms, barred Trump soon after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol for breaking their rules and over fears of further incitements to violence. 

The big picture: The reinstatement of Trump's accounts will allow him to run ads via his Facebook and Instagram pages, which have 34 million and 23 million followers, respectively.

Trump relied heavily on Facebook ads in previous election cycles for fundraising and list-building. 

Under Elon Musk, Twitter has also reinstated Trump's account, but he has not posted yet, continuing to rely on his account at Truth Social instead.

Yes, but: Trump will be subject to new policies that Meta has created following feedback from its independent Oversight Board that could restrict his accounts — including his ability to run ads — should he violate the company's policies in the future.

"We just do not want — if he is to return to our services — for him to do what he did on January 6, which is to use our services to delegitimize the 2024 election, much as he sought to discredit the 2020 election," Clegg said. 

His accounts will not be reinstated immediately, Clegg said, because Meta's engineers will need time to build out some of the new functionality necessary to restrict certain posts or ad capabilities in the future, if needed. 

How it works: Trump will be subject to new policies around restricting accounts by public figures during civil unrest. Under those policies, Meta can decide to restrict the account of a public figure that violates its community standards for a time ranging from one month to two years.

Trump will also be subject to a crisis policy protocol, introduced by Meta in August, that will consider both on and off-platform risks of imminent harm to evaluating whether the actions or speech of any public figures requires sanctioning.

"If he now posts further violating content, that content will be removed, of course, and he could be suspended for between one month and two years, depending on the severity of the violation," Clegg said.

Be smart: For actions or speech that don't explicitly violate Meta's community standards, Clegg said the company will retain discretion to take action, and may enforce different types of guardrails, including limiting the distribution of posts without removing them or temporarily restricting access to its advertising tools.

"Oblique references to QAnon content, for instance ... is the kind of material that — even if it's done obliquely, and doesn't violate our community standards — we would seek to restrict the distribution of the content and/or restrict his ability to advertise," he said. 

These steps would allow content to remain visible on Trump's account but not get distributed in users' feeds, even for those that follow the former president.

For example, Meta may opt to remove the "re-share" button from such posts, and may stop them from being recommended or run as ads. 

Of note: If Trump posts content that violates the company's standards, but falls within Meta's characterization of "newsworthy content" — meaning the public interest in understanding what Trump said outweighs any potential harm — the company may opt to restrict the distribution of the content but leave it up. 

What they're saying: After Axios reported the news of Facebook's decision, Trump, in a post at Truth Social, said, "FACEBOOK, which has lost Billions of Dollars in value since 'deplatforming' your favorite President, me, has just announced that they are reinstating my account. Such a thing should never again happen to a sitting President..."

Between the lines: Clegg said Meta did not speak with Trump or any of his associates leading up to the decision being made and has no insight as to whether he plans to use his accounts once reinstated.

"We saw that his team had written to us publicly — I think they were asking for a meeting with Mark and myself and Joel [Kaplan]. That meeting did not take place," Clegg said, referring to Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg and Meta vice president for U.S. public policy Joel Kaplan. 

Trump was not briefed on the decision to lift his suspension before it was made public, Clegg said. He noted that the company will "always make ourselves available to explain and emphasize the policies that we've laid out."

Exclusive: Facebook to reinstate Trump

The decision will end a two-year ban and allow Trump to post and raise money using the platforms.

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