Apple is in trouble again due to poor working conditions. YouTube slashes advertising from thousands of channels, and things aren’t looking good for General Electric.
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On Facebook, reports of poor working conditions in one of Apple’s partner supply chains, Catcher, surfaced on Wednesday. The news comes on the heels of 24 class-action lawsuits lodged against Apple for throttling the performance of iPhones as their batteries age. The China Labour Watch says workers were often in contact with chemical components that are noxious for the human body. Spray fluid and metallic particles, used to polish Apple cases, frequently hit workers in the face. Both Apple and Catcher have denied the allegations.
Also on Facebook, a fierce discussion about YouTube’s new advertising policies. The new rules now require channels to have at least 4,000 hours of watchtime in the past 12 months, 1,000 subscribers and 10,000 lifetime views before ads are displayed. YouTube says the move will stop spammers from taking advantage of creators. The outcry on social media, however, has been fierce. People are worried that the video sharing website is punishing smaller channels for the mistakes of bigger YouTube celebrities who have recently put the website in hot water. YouTube has changed the rules for the second time in nine months.
And lastly, on LinkedIn, a disappointing end to 2017 is forcing General Electric to go back to the drawing board. During a recent conference call, the company’s chief executive John Flannery said “all options are on the table” when it comes to selling some of its assets after taking a $6.2 billion after-tax charge for the fourth quarter of 2017. Flannery, who took over as CE in August, described the news as “deeply disappointing.”