The Week Kick-off: G7 closes in on media tech, Nigeria outright bans Twitter
It was an explosive end to the week in the world of big tech last week, as the G7 closed in on multinational taxation and Nigeria banned Twitter. We’ve also got an exclusive interview with NFT company Flipkick, an explanation as to how oceanic internet cables are laid and a new lease of life for The Afropolitan magazine. Join us for another week in the wonderful world of media…
G7 closes in on media tech
News broke over the weekend that a “historic” deal to make multinational companies pay more tax has been struck between the G7 nations: US, UK, France, Germany, Canada, Italy and Japan, as well as the EU. The agreement not only shifts tax payments from where companies declare their profits to wherever they are operating in the world, but also seeks to put in place a global minimum corporation tax rate to avoid the possibility of countries undercutting each other in their attempts to woo big business.
Nick Clegg, VP of Global Affairs for Facebook, said: “Facebook has long called for reform of the global tax rules and we welcome the important progress made at the G7. Today’s agreement is a significant first step towards certainty for businesses and strengthening public confidence in the global tax system. We want the international tax reform process to succeed and recognize this could mean Facebook paying more tax, and in different places.”
Nigeria suspends Twitter ‘indefinitely’
Equally explosive at the end of last week was the announcement that the Nigerian Government had suspended Twitter indefinitely. In a statement, cited somewhat ironically here on Twitter, the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, Nigeria. said: “The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, announced the suspension in a statement issued in Abuja on Friday, citing the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.”
Many people in the country pointed out that they could simply login using a VPN, which has further angered the Nigerian Government. Additionally, there are those that say that the real reason behind the ban was retaliation for Twitter’s removal two days previous, of a post from President Muhammadu Buhari, which threatened to punish secessionists.
Flipkick on NFTs, monetising digital, and what the technology could mean for media owners
Non-fungible tokens or NFTs have catapulted their way into the media headlines this year, with high profile celebrities such as Paris Hilton, William Shatner, and Twitter’s very own Jack Dorsey all becoming involved.
One such example is Ja Rule, who is now Head of Artists and Repertoire for NTF company, Flipkick of New York, working with co-Founders Robert Testagrossa and James Kirk Cropcho. The latter is the company’s Chief Technology Officer, and we caught up with him to get a first-hand explanation of what NFTs physically are, how they might be monetised by publishers, and where this intriguing part of the digital media industry could be going next. You can read the full article here.
How are oceanic internet cables laid?
One thing that’s clear certainly from the first article of this week’s kickoff, is that we live in a multinational world now where traditional country boundaries have been eroded by the internet. But how did the cables that bring us all together digitally get laid in the first place? Especially when there are part of the ocean that are so deep that we have not yet actually visited them?
Cue TV & video producer, Cleo Abram, and a wonderful explainer video that’s been doing the rounds on the social this past week: Enjoy!
As for FIPP…
We’re busy putting the finishing touches to our hugely popular new D2C Summit, which begins next week. With 40+ speakers, the Peninsula Strategies-supported event is an exciting new event focused on all aspects of the direct-to-consumer market. You can find out more here.
