TikTok bans political fund-raising as Adobe acquires Figma for $20bn + more

This week offers another opportunity to stay updated with exciting stories making rounds and causing major trends in the tech space globally.

This week saw creators being looked out for, through the rollout of features and plans for them to earn income and connect with fans more while politicians were at the receiving end as fund-raising was banned by TikTok.

If you missed out on the major tech updates across the world, this week, don’t fret. We have got you covered. Here is a roundup of major Global Tech news from across the world.

Here is a summary of the bulletin:

• TikTok has banned political fund-raising
• YouTube to roll out new monetisation plans for creators
• Facebook has added new “Pages features” to help creators connect with fans
• Bitcoin dropped to its lowest level in 3 months
• Adobe is set to acquire Figma for $20bn

Read also: Netflix layoffs 70 more staff as Iran joins the crypto club + other stories

TikTok bans political fund-raising

TikTok has blocked politicians and political parties from fund-raising on its platform.

In a blog post on Wednesday, the social media platform said it would prohibit solicitations for money by political groups. The company said that political accounts would immediately lose access to advertising features and monetization services, such as gift giving, tipping and e-commerce capabilities.

Over the next few weeks, TikTok will clamp down on politicians’ posting videos asking for donations, or political parties directing users to online donation pages, the company said.

Excerpts from the post

TikTok has long prohibited political advertising, including both paid ads on the platform and creators being paid directly to make branded content. We currently do that by prohibiting political content in an ad, and we’re also now applying restrictions at an account level.

This means accounts belonging to politicians and political parties will automatically have their access to advertising features turned off, which will help us more consistently enforce our existing policy.

YouTube to help creators make money

Earlier in the week, there was an indication that YouTube would announce more opportunities for content creators to earn money on its video service in the hope to guard its role as home to popular personalities as well as gaining an edge against rival TikTok.

So, on Tuesday, the platform rolled out major changes to its YouTube Partner Program. The new update will allow creators to earn ad revenue on Shorts, its TikTok competitor.

Now, Shorts creators can qualify for the Partner Program, which allows creators to earn ad revenue from YouTube. The existing Partner Program requires YouTubers to have over 1,000 subscribers on the platform and 4,000 watch hours in the last year.

Also, Shorts creators can now join the Partner Program if they have at least 10 million views on the platform over the last 90 days. As members of the Partner Program, these creators will earn 45% of ad revenue from their videos.

I’m proud to say this is the first time real revenue sharing is being offered for short form video on any platform at scale

YouTube Chief Product Officer Neal Mohan

He’s right. TikTok has started experimenting with ad revenue sharing, but its efforts seem to focus more on the advertiser than the creator, as only the top 4% of all videos on TikTok can be monetized through its TikTok Pulse program. For the most part, creators have found it increasingly difficult to make money from TikTok’s Creator Fund.

Facebook adds new Pages features

Now, a piece of similar news, Facebook is introducing new Pages features that are designed to help creators get discovered and connect with their followers on its platform, the company announced Tuesday.

Most notably, the social network is rolling out a new setting for creators that makes content exclusively available to top fans and subscribers. Creators can select the option by going into their Audience settings and selecting the “Top fans” option when sharing a new post.

In the future, Facebook plans to roll out a new setting for creators that will allow them to give some fans early access to special content.

The company is also launching “Creator Endorsements,” which gives creators the option to spotlight each other and invite their followers to follow another creator that they like. Once a creator that you follow endorses another creator, you will receive a notification that will ask you if you want to follow the recommended creator.

In addition, Facebook is adding “Rising Creator Labels” to make it easier for users to discover up-and-coming creators on the platform.

Bitcoin drops to lowest in 3 months

Bitcoin fell to its lowest level in three months on Monday as investors dumped risk assets amid expectations of higher interest rates.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency dropped as much as about 5% on Wednesday to hit an intraday low of $18,276, its lowest level since June 19. It was last down 2.9% at $19,166.00. Bitcoin is down 7.2% this month and on pace for the second straight negative month after plunging 15% in August.

Currently, the price of Bitcoin has continuously fluctuated around the $19,000.00 point. As of the time of this report, it sits at $19,008.64 according to Binance.

“Regulatory pressure, rising base rates, and inflation are pressing heavily on riskier asset classes, especially crypto, and are thus forcing liquidations, reducing the capital available for investment, and increasing concerns over undefined regulatory controls”, said Sadie Raney, co-founder and head of operations at Strix Leviathan.

“These forces may mute the overall crypto complex until the financial system stabilizes and a regulatory framework becomes more clear.”

Ether also fell a similar 5% to $1,281 apiece Monday, hitting its lowest level since July 15. It was last lower by 1.9% at $1,354.86. It’s currently down 17% this month, on track to post its worst month since June.

Adobe acquires Figma for $20bn

One of the biggest news this week that got mouths talking was an acquisition deal involving Adobe and Figma.

In what could be one of the biggest buys for a design platform, Software giant, Adobe Inc has announced the acquisition of Figma, a leading web-first collaborative design platform for $20 billion.

The deal is expected to close in 2023 and is valued at $20 billion in cash and stock, Technext reports.

This is Adobe’s largest acquisition in its 40-year history. According to the company, the acquisition of Figma is in line with Adobe’s mission of changing the world through digital experiences.

In the announcement post made by the Official Adobe blog, the acquisition of Figma is intended to usher in a new era of collaborative creativity and expand tools for creative professionals as both companies are passionate about empowering people to be more creative and productive.

Shantanu Narayen, Chairman and CEO, Adobe said:

Adobe’s greatness has been rooted in our ability to create new categories and deliver cutting-edge technologies through organic innovation and inorganic acquisitions. The combination of Adobe and Figma is transformational and will accelerate our vision for collaborative creativity.