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Meta to pay creators to post on Facebook
Meta has launched a new Creator Fast Track program to encourage creators from other social media, like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, to grow their platforms on Facebook. The program was created to make it easier for established creators who are new to or rediscovering Facebook. Creators who are part of the program will receive increased reach on eligible reels to boost their follower growth and three months of guaranteed pay for sharing content on Facebook. Creators in the program can earn $1,000 per month if they have at least 100,000 followers on Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube, or $3,000 per month if they have more than one million followers on at least one of those platforms. They will also have immediate access to Facebook Content Monetisation so they can earn more from eligible content even after the Creator Fast Track program ends. “We have heard from established creators on other platforms … that it can be hard or intimidating to get started,” Yair Livne, vice president of product for Facebook Creators, told CNBC. “So this program is really meant to address that need.” This comes as Facebook continues to pay creators more and more for their content. In 2025, Facebook paid creators nearly US$3 billion
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Oracle's stake in TikTok revealed to be around US$2bn
Oracle has finally disclosed its stake in TikTok at roughly US$2 billion (A$2.797 billion). In its financial filing, Oracle said it recorded “non-marketable debt investments and equity securities and related instruments” of US$2.2 billion. The “substantial majority” of its non-marketable investments were in TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, the filing said. This comes almost two months after TikTok’s U.S. operations were officially handed over to a group of investors. TikTok’s future in the U.S. became murky after former President Joe Biden signed a national security law in 2024 requiring China’s ByteDance to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations, or face a nationwide ban. President Donald Trump signed an executive order approving ByteDance’s divestment in September. According to Vice President JD Vance, the business was valued at $14 million. Adam Presser was named CEO of the TikTok USDS Joint Venture in January. Oracle, Silver Lake, Abu Dhabi’s MGX and a group of other investors made up the majority control in the new entity. Oracle owns 15% and has a seat on the board, which the company reiterated on its earnings call late Tuesday. Silver Lake and MGX each control 15% as well. ByteDance owns just under 20% of th
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TikTok parent ByteDance reportedly valued at US$550bn
TikTok parent company ByteDance is reportedly valued at US$550 billion (A$775.6 billion) under private equity firm General Atlantic’s plan to sell its stake in the company. General Atlantic aims to close its sale in March, according to Reuters. ByteDance was reportedly valued at more than $330 billion in an employee share buyback last August, and at $480 billion in a secondary market deal in November. The sale comes after TikTok’s United States business was reestablished as a joint venture with companies, including Oracle, two months ago. The U.S. passed a law in 2024 that would ban TikTok in the country if China-based ByteDance did not divest from its U.S. operations, citing national security concerns. “The majority American owned Joint Venture will operate under defined safeguards that protect national security through comprehensive data protections, algorithm security, content moderation, and software assurances for U.S. users,” wrote the joint venture TikTok USDS. General Atlantic first invested in ByteDance in 2017 when the company’s value was around $20 billion, and its CEO, Bill Ford, sits on ByteDance’s board. It has not disclosed the exact size of its stake or the financial terms of a sale. China-based vent
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TikTok's new US unit could bring big changes to the app
TikTok officially launched its new United States subsidiary in January, the final part of its process to avoid a ban in the country. The deal, which the U.S. government valued at around US$14 billion, separates the platform’s U.S. operations into a new joint venture with reduced involvement from China-based parent company ByteDance. For over 200 million U.S. TikTok users, this could result in differences in the videos they are recommended or are able to post, as well as the personal data the app collects. Downloads of alternative social media apps have spiked amid concerns about censorship.Why is this happening?TikTok’s U.S. joint venture subsidiary was finalised on 22 January. Under a law passed in 2024, TikTok was required to divest its U.S. operations or be banned, with lawmakers citing national security issues over its China-based owner, ByteDance. A ‘divest-or-ban’ law was first proposed in 2020, and its enforcement was delayed several times after U.S. President Donald Trump took office as prospective buyers courted the app. Software company Oracle, private equity company Silver Lake, and Emirati state-owned fund MGX will each have a 15% stake in the joint venture, known as TikTok USDS. ByteDance, TikTok’s parent com
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Reddit reports strong earnings for Q4 2025
Reddit beat expectations and gave guidance for the start of 2026 in its latest earnings release. The social media site’s fourth-quarter revenue soared 70% to US$726 million, far exceeding expectations of $665 million. Net income had an even bigger jump of 255% from $252 million to $181 million last year. Revenue accounted to 35% of this, with Reddit’s sales in the U.S. coming in at $583 million, topping analysts' estimates of $529 million. Earnings per share blew past expectations of 94 cents, coming in at $1.24 per share. Following positive earnings for Q4 2025, the company estimates revenue within the range of $595 million and $605 million for the first quarter of 2026. This is higher than Wall Street analysts' expectations of $577 million. The number of daily users also grew 19% year-over-year to 121.4 million, ahead of analysts' predictions of 120 million. The company said that logged-in daily active users from the U.S., referring to users who were signed into accounts, rose 5% year-over-year to 23 million, paling in comparison to the third quarter growth of 7%. This marks the sixth straight quarter where Reddit’s U.S. logged-in user growth has slowed. Investors monitor this metric as logged-in users

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Meta shares buoyed by quarterly results and outlook
Shares in social media giant Meta Platforms jumped it announced an increase in net income for the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2025 and made profit forecasts that beat market expectations. The parent of platforms including Facebook said net income rose 9% to $22.786 billion (A$32.57 billion) and diluted earnings per share (EPS) increased 11% to 8.88 cents on revenue which grew 24% to $59.893 billion in the three months ended 31 December. For 2025, net income fell 3% to $60.458 billion and diluted EPS dipped 2% to 23.49 cents on revenue which rose 22% to $200.966 billion.Source: Meta Platforms“We had a strong business performance in 2025,” Co-founder, Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said. Chief Financial Officer Susan Li said the company expected Q1 2026 revenue to be $53.5 billion-56.5 billion. Li said the company continued to monitor legal and regulatory headwinds that could significantly impact its business and financial results. “For example, we continue to see scrutiny on youth-related issues and have a number of trials scheduled for this year in the U.S., which may ultimately result in a material loss,” Lit said in a press release. Meta said family daily active people grew 7% year over year to 3.58 billion on ave
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TikTok enters new joint venture with US companies
TikTok has entered a new United States venture, according to a memo that TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew shared with employees. In the memo, Chew said the company has signed agreements with Oracle, Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi-based MGX. He said the deal’s closing date is 22 January. This comes after Oracle was named as a likely buyer for the social site that has faced legal issues in the U.S. since the start of the year. TikTok’s troubles began in April 2024 when former President Joe Biden signed a law giving ByteDance nine months to divest U.S. operations. This meant ByteDance had to sell TikTok to an American company, or have it removed from the U.S. app store. After this, TikTok went dark for 14 hours on 18 January 2025 after it wasn’t sold. Trump, who was previously a heavy critic of TikTok during his first term as president, signed many executive orders throughout the year to extend the deadline and save the app from being blocked from U.S. users. Chew noted that the joint venture would be “majority owned by American investors, governed by a new seven-member majority-American board of directors, and subject to terms that protect Americans’ data and U.S. national security.” A consortium of new U.S. investors will
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Australian social media ban for under 16's now in place
The social media ban for those under the age of 16 in Australia has come into effect. The divisive new law has seen any people under 16 blocked from a slew of social media platforms, such as Snapchat, TikTok, Reddit, YouTube, Instagram and more. These platforms will be responsible for ejecting those under 16 from their platforms, rather than the individual or parent, and will face fines of up to A$49.5 million for serious or repeated breaches. The government says firms must take "reasonable steps" to keep kids off their platforms and should use multiple age assurance technologies. These could include government IDs, face or voice recognition, or so-called "age inference", which analyses online behaviour and interactions to estimate a person's age. While some parents and teachers are celebrating the move, hoping it will deliver lower rates of distraction in classrooms and cyberbullying, others have concerns, especially about how age verification will work moving forward. Some cybersecurity experts have already flagged concerns about privacy and safety, as ID verification becomes required to prove that an account holder is over the age of 16. Platforms can also use age interference technology, which looks at pat
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Grindr shareholders withdraw bid after talks end
Grindr Inc’s two largest shareholders have reportedly withdrawn their planned US$3.46 billion (A$5.36 billion) offer for the company soon after it ended talks due to worries about how they would fund the bid. Ray Zage and James Lu, who own more than 60% of the same sex dating app’s shares, said they had received strong interest from lenders and investors to support the transaction, according to a Reuters story. They had offered $18 per share last month, which was a 51% premium over the company's stock price at the time. Grindr said the Special Committee of its Board of Directors had decided to cease engagement with respect to a non-binding, unsolicited take-private proposal from Zage and Lu. “The Special Committee made this determination due to continued uncertainty as to the financing for the Proposal,” the company said in a news release. The Committee had decided that further talks and discussions were not in the best interests of shareholders, but remained confident about Grindr’s ability to create significant value for all shareholders as the management team executed its long-term strategic plan. Zage said he intended to buy more Grindr shares and urged the board to expand stock buyback and consider dividends