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Studio 55 details wave of senior appointments. by Billy Langsworthy Published 06.08.26 Lou Black, former SVP Brand Licensing, becomes Global SVP Brand & Commercial Partnerships. Will Scougal - EVP Brand & Commercial Partnerships at ITV Studios and the global lead for Studio 55 - has strengthened his team with a series of senior appointments. Lou Black, former SVP Brand Licensing, becomes Global SVP Brand & Commercial Partnerships. In her expanded role, Lou will drive global growth across two key pillars of the Studio 55 business: brand licensing and brand solutions. Reporting to Will, Amy Johal joins Studio 55 as VP Creator Partnerships, leading on global creator partnerships and production strategy. Amy joins Studio 55 from TikTok where she led entertainment partnerships. Also new to the team and reporting to Lou are Remy Kirk and John Taite who take up complementary roles in the UK and US respectively to build and expand relationships with agencies and brands. Remy Kirk joins as VP Brand Solutions while John Taite joins as VP Brand Partnerships, North America. "Lou's an excellent commercial and creative leader," said Will Scougal, EVP Brand & Commercial Partnerships at ITV Studios. "Her expanded remit, along with the hires of three hugely talented VPs in Amy, Remy and John, bring more focus to the growth and creative ambition of Studio 55 and open up even more opportunities for our partners."

TikTok withheld algorithm safety update from 15 million US users during engagement test, report says. August 6, 2026 1:31 pm A confidential internal review reportedly found that one teenager was placed in a control group where protections against repetitive harmful content were intentionally inactive. TikTok withheld an algorithm safety update from millions of people in the United States while it studied how the change would affect user engagement, according to a confidential company document reviewed by Bloomberg. The experiment reportedly left about 10% of TikTok's US users - roughly 15 million people at the time - on an older version of the recommendation system. The remaining 90% received an updated algorithm designed to prevent users from becoming trapped in repetitive streams of potentially harmful content. TikTok had publicly announced in December 2021 that it was developing ways to interrupt clusters of videos involving subjects such as sadness, loneliness, extreme dieting and breakups. The company said that individual videos might not violate its rules but could create a negative experience when repeatedly recommended together. However, the newly reported document indicates that the safeguard was not immediately activated for everyone. Safety feature became part of an engagement experiment. TikTok reportedly used an A/B test, sometimes described internally as a backtest, to compare users receiving the new safety system with those remaining on the previous algorithm. Such experiments are commonly used by technology companies to measure how product changes affect user behaviour. In this case, however, the feature being tested was intended to reduce repetitive exposure to sensitive and potentially dangerous material. According to the document, TikTok wanted to determine how the update affected daily active users and other engagement measurements. The test reportedly continued for between six months and a year, significantly longer than the short experiments commonly associated with minor product changes. Among the users assigned to the control group was Chase Nasca, a 16-year-old from New York who died by suicide in February 2022. A 14-page internal review prepared by TikTok's safety and algorithm teams in March 2023 found that Nasca's account had entered a recommendation loop dominated by videos involving depression, hopelessness, loneliness, self-harm and suicide. The review stated that TikTok's strategies for preventing filter bubbles did not apply to his account "by design" because he had been included in the control group. Thousands of videos examined. TikTok's internal teams reportedly examined 7,563 videos delivered to Nasca during the final two weeks of his life. Approximately 73% contained recurring themes involving emotional distress, relationship problems, mental-health struggles or suicide awareness but did not violate TikTok's rules. Nearly 10% were found to breach company policies prohibiting content that promotes or normalises suicide and self-harm. The findings do not, on their own, establish that TikTok or its recommendation system directly caused Nasca's death. They do, however, raise serious questions about the risks of excluding users - particularly minors - from safety updates for the purpose of measuring engagement. Nasca's parents later brought a wrongful-death case against TikTok. The lawsuit was dismissed after the company argued that Section 230 of the US Communications Decency Act protected it from liability for third-party content recommended through its platform. An appeal remains pending, according to the reporting. Internal review recommended major changes. The confidential review reportedly recommended reducing future control groups from 10% of users to less than 1%. It also proposed limiting such experiments to seven days rather than allowing the same users to remain without an update for months. Even a 1% control group would leave at least 1.8 million US users without a particular safety feature during testing, the document reportedly acknowledged. TikTok described the 2022 experiment as a routine test intended to determine whether the safety changes were functioning as expected. The company also said it has since refined the way it conducts similar tests, although it did not publicly provide detailed information about those changes. Questions over TikTok's statements to Congress. The timing of the internal review has also renewed questions about what TikTok disclosed to US lawmakers. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew appeared before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on March 23, 2023, approximately two weeks after the company examined Nasca's account. During the hearing, Chew described the safety and well-being of teenagers as a core priority for the platform. In written answers submitted to Congress on May 4, TikTok said it did not believe use of the platform had caused users to die by suicide. When lawmakers asked the company to identify cases in which algorithmic A/B testing had harmed users, TikTok responded that its community standards applied to all content shown during such tests. The answers did not mention the control-group experiment or the findings concerning Nasca's account, according to Bloomberg's reporting. In a statement addressing the confidential document, TikTok said it remained deeply committed to protecting users, particularly teenagers. The company said it continues to invest in content-detection technology, enforcement teams and other trust-and-safety operations. The disclosure adds to wider scrutiny of how social-media platforms test changes to recommendation systems and whether users are adequately informed when safety measures are being evaluated against growth and engagement targets. It also presents technology companies with a difficult question: whether safety systems should ever be treated like ordinary product features when withholding them could expose unsuspecting users to foreseeable risks. Discover more Arabs & Middle Easterners Brendan taylor. Add comment. Discover more political Newspapers Politics (Right) Executive Branch Geographic Reference Politics News Eastern Europeans

eBay continues to bet on live shopping after record quarter. eBay touted an increase in eBay Live's gross merchandise volume as it plans to expand it to more international markets in the coming weeks and months. As eBay tries to keep up with competitors like Whatnot and TikTok Shop, the online marketplace is making a bigger push into live shopping after seeing record results. During its second-quarter earnings call on Wednesday, the company noted that eBay Live's gross merchandise volume (GMV) jumped about eight times year-over-year across seven markets, along with increases in viewers, watch time, and items sold. It plans to expand eBay Live to more international markets in the coming weeks and months. "These results reinforce our confidence that Live can deepen engagement, broaden discovery, and increase velocity across the broader eBay marketplace," CEO Jamie Iannone told investors. However, it's important to note that eBay didn't share the exact GMV number, making it difficult to assess how significant the growth is. That said, eBay clearly sees Live as a key growth area, and the feedback from sellers and buyers looks promising. eBay reports that over 90% of sellers who stream regularly have seen their GMV grow, and those who use Live sell about three times more than those who don't. Buyers are also spending more. First-time shoppers in the collectibles category are dropping around 70% more than their non-Live shopping counterparts. eBay launched Live as invite-only in the U.S. in 2022, then expanded internationally, starting with a beta in the U.K. in 2024, and it has since rolled it out in countries like Germany, Australia, France, Italy, and Canada. Last month, the company moved past its invite-only model and now offers self-service onboarding for eligible sellers in over 300 categories, which include everything from electronics to fashion and collectibles. The company also pointed to recent product improvements, including discovery features across its homepage and mobile app to make live events easier to find. Iannone added that eBay also simplified event creation, inventory preparation, and live item management for sellers, while improving "bidding responsiveness" to create smoother, faster livestreams. The growth comes as live shopping in the U.S. moves beyond a niche trend, with more companies beginning to treat it more seriously rather than a side experiment. Even resale giant StockX recently introduced live shopping capabilities. Whatnot continues to find success, with a valuation of more than $11 billion. Additionally, TikTok Shop is reportedly testing a paid membership that offers free shipping and exclusive discounts.