Facebook’s ‘Big Tobacco’ moment

Facebook executives have long boasted that its platforms are safe, even as they invested in ways to keep teenagers hooked and hid what they knew about the side effects. Sound familiar? Critics say Big Tobacco once used the same playbook, and it’s fueling a whole new level of outrage against the social media giant. Almost a third of young teen girls told Facebook they feel worse about their bodies after scrolling through the site. Despite that knowledge, Facebook is dedicating more resources to reaching even younger consumers, including developing a children’s version of Instagram. The revelations are prompting some lawmakers to compare Facebook’s actions to a decades-long campaign by the country’s biggest tobacco companies to mislead the public about the cancerous and habit-forming effects of cigarettes. “Its executives knew about the addictive chemicals in tobacco and yet they did nothing to try and keep the product out of the hands of children,” says Representative Bill Johnson, an Ohio Republican. “They knew that if they could get children addicted early, they’d have a customer for life.”

(Adapted from “Is This Facebook’s ‘Big Tobacco’ Moment?” by Naomi Nix, David McLaughlin and Anna Edgerton, published on September 23, 2021, by Bloomberg Businessweek)

Tips for fresh grad job hunt

There is disconnect between graduate recruiters and university students. Students think employers value experience and high grades while businesses want strong communication skills and employees who are passionate. Here are some tips: 1) Get experience at small businesses — there are 75 applications for every graduate role; you might be brilliant but if somebody has got work experience then they will out edge you for that job, says James Uffindell, CEO of Bright Network. 2) Build an experience log — record instances when you had a personal challenge that can be narrated in interviews, says Irina Fransson, Bloomberg early-careers recruiter. 3) Diversify your skillset — students should build skills in areas like coding and data analysis because these skills are useful in any role. 4) Start a side hustle — “if students show a bit of entrepreneurialism that’s really powerful,” says Mr Uffindell. 5) Build your social media brand — Bloomberg does ‘direct sourcing’ on LinkedIn for graduates. 6) Find mentors — “people love helping, if you meet somebody, don’t be afraid to reach out and ask a few questions.

(Adapted from “Graduate Recruiters Give 6 Ways Students Can Boost Their Resumes for Jobs — And None Mentioned Top Grades,” by Sawdah Bhaimiya, published on September 24, 2021, by Business Insider)

China’s crypto crackdown

China has expanded its crackdown on cryptocurrencies by declaring that all activities related to digital coins are ‘illegal’. The People’s Bank of China (PBoC), the country’s central bank, is now specifically targeting overseas cryptocurrency exchanges, declaring that it is illegal for them to provide online services to residents in China. The move is an apparent bid to close a loophole that remained after the PBoC in May banned domestic financial institutions from providing cryptocurrency transaction services. In the months since, Chinese traders have continued to invest in cryptocurrency using foreign platforms. Despite China’s crackdowns, the country remains an important global crypto market. Crypto wallets controlled by users thought to be in China received $150m worth of digital coins from January to June, second only to the US, according to a report from analytics providers Chainalysis.

(Adapted from “China Expands Crackdown By Declaring All Crypto Activities ‘Illegal’,” by Eleanor Olcott and Eva Szalay, published on September 24, 2021, by the Financial Times)

Confused policies

Youth constitutes the largest segment of Pakistan’s population. Approximately, two-thirds of the total population is below the age of 30. With the formation of PTI’s government, the prime minister’s office mandated itself to spearhead efforts for the youth of Pakistan at the federal level. Mr. Usman Dar was appointed as special assistant on youth affairs and created a youth affairs wing in the secretariat. While efforts have been made, an apparent issue in each policy is that there is indicative budget for the initiatives promised — endowment funds and public-private partnerships have been mentioned but with no concrete action plan. Another glaring issue that the policies aim for are big achievements but the implementation strategies or action plans do not match up with these. For example, each youth policy talks about creating jobs for the youth but does not say how exactly that will be done.

(Adapted from “A Study Of Youth Policies In Pakistan,” published by Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development And Transparency in April 2020)

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, October 4th, 2021