By Zara Briggs in the news on December 14, 2021

In today’s ExchangeWire news summary: British lawmakers urge large technology companies to be punished for illegal advertising on their platforms; Meta acquired trademark assets from Meta Financial Group for US$60 million (£42.3 million); and business start-ups The company Whym raised $4.3 million (3.2 million pounds) in seed funding.

A cross-party group of British legislators announced that online services such as Google and Facebook should take legal responsibility for advertising on their platforms to curb online fraud. The new draft legislation aims to "finally" hold Internet service providers accountable for the featured content on their websites, for which the committee agreed that they need to clarify what is considered illegal online. Child abuse, fraud, racist abuse, self-harm promotion, and violence against women (previously few sanctions were enforced) will also be included in these new rules.

The joint committee urged the need to make "significant changes" to the online security bill, which aims to make the Internet a safer space for consumers because "large technology companies have gotten rid of lawlessness." Congressman Damian Collins, Chairman of the Joint Committee on the Draft Online Security Bill, said, “The committee has made recommendations to clearly propose more illegal activities within the scope of the Online Security Bill, and give Ofcom the power to establish the minimum security in the law and the service standards they will supervise. , And take enforcement actions against the company if the company does not comply.” After members of Congress heard a long list of online victims, including Rio Ferdinand, people believed that the tech giants had no chance to adjust themselves and strongly demanded They must abide by the decision to be made. The regulation will be submitted to Parliament for approval in 2022.

Cracking down on "Wild West Online" has been a considerable trend in recent months. At the end of November, Facebook (now Meta) was ordered by the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to sell Giphy, marking this major ruling as the first time CMA has lifted a completed acquisition. Fears that matchmaking could harm competition prompted British regulators to take action on a $400 million (302 million pound) transaction. A press release issued by the CMA reads: “The CMA found that Giphy’s advertising services may compete with Facebook’s own display advertising services.”

It was announced that Meta Platforms supported the acquisition of the global trademark assets of Meta Financial Group, a financial holding company headquartered in South Dakota, for US$60 million (£42.3 million). This news was confirmed by the spokespersons of the two entities. According to reports, 50 million U.S. dollars (37.7 million pounds) will be provided when the agreement is signed and delivered, and the remaining 10 million U.S. dollars (7.5 million pounds) will be escrowed by a third-party bank escrow agent. It will be released to the company within three working days."

In a regulatory filing on Monday (December 13), Meta Financial reported that Beige Key LLC, headquartered in Delaware, agreed to obtain the right to the company name. After submitting the application, Meta Platforms publicly participated in the transaction and confirmed to Reuters that "Beige Key is related to us and we have acquired these trademark assets." Beige Key LLC submitted the application on June 30, 2021, but The owner of the company has not been disclosed. In Meta Financial's regulatory documents, they announced that they would use the funds for the rebranding process within one year from the date of signing the agreement.

This arrangement confirms the importance of Metaverse in Meta's action plan and their ambition to dominate the shared digital space. The move also reaffirmed Meta's ambition to enter the financial sector, after regulators had reacted hostilely to the planned Diem cryptocurrency project (formerly Libra).

Business startup Whym has raised US$4.3 million (£3.2 million) in seed funding, led by Deciens Capital.

This round of financing includes participation from DNX Ventures, Unusual Ventures, Chaos Ventures, Reciprocal Ventures and Magic Fund, as well as angel investments from founders and executives of large technology platforms including but not limited to Google, Facebook, Snapchat and TikTok.

Whym was founded in 2017 by former Snap employees Kelly Nyland and Rhenee Bartlett to provide a simpler method for online mobile shopping. The service provides a fast one-click checkout experience, such as Apple Pay and Google Pay, to avoid consumers having to fill in card details. They hope to use the latest funds to develop and enhance their product features, as well as contact more brands.

Whym is a team of less than 50 employees and has raised a total of US$7 million (£5.3 million) after the most recent round of financing.

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