Advertising companies can be made 'inclusion champions' next year
Following the establishment of the “All in Census” initiative in March 2020, UK Advertising companies can become “Inclusion Champions” next year if they can demonstrate progress towards Inclusion and Diversity. As part of a strategy to create a more inclusive workforce, the Advertising Association, IPA and ISBA have implemented an action plan designed around the results of an Industry-wide census which addressed how greater inclusivity across the industry can be achieved.
Why is this important?
The aim of the “All in” movement is to improve how ethnicity and disability are represented from entry levels through to leadership as well as addressing the gender balance and pay scales across the workforce. By adhering to the three actions developed by the Advertising Association’s Inclusion Working Group, the Advertising Industry can grow its levels of inclusivity and be awarded “All In Champion” next summer.
Twitter adds improved misinformation labels to tweets
Twitter is rolling out updated misinformation labels in order to help users better identify posts with potentially misleading claims in tweets. Twitter’s initial misinformation tags were introduced last year, however, after criticism that they were too small and unclear, the new labels will be displayed as a larger alert banner which also gives further context as to why the tweet was flagged.
Why is this important?
Misinformation on the internet is an ever-growing trend, especially on social media, as it allows potentially dangerous and misleading information to be spread to great volumes of people quickly and easily. Reports have shown that harmful trends often originate on Twitter before spreading to other platforms. These more prominent and contextual misinformation labels can help prevent this.
Windows 11 update forces users into edge, regardless of their default browser
A Windows 11 update will block third-party apps from enabling users to select which browser and search engine start menu searches open in. This means that start menu searches will open in the Edge browser including results from Bing regardless of the default browser the user has set.
Why is this important?
To switch between browsers has now also become more difficult than in Windows 10 as the users will have to take additional steps to assign a default browser. This new update will force more users into Microsoft-owned channels and consequently create more opportunities for Microsoft to show ads to these users. Advertisers have already seen an increase in Bing performance over the past month because of this and it may continue if users choose to keep this as their default browser.
Refuge draw attention to how technology is being used by abusers
Domestic abuse charity Refuge aims to draw attention to how technology is being used by abusers in a 40-second clip highlighting how victims can be controlled. The impactful video appears to be a new smartphone ad on the surface promoting the features that are included. However, the voiceover describes how these features can be used in controlling and abusive ways such as maps that can "keep you up to date with traffic in your area… and her movements".
In a world where technology is always developing it is more important than ever to be aware of how these advancements are not always used for good.
