Senator tells Facebook 'accountability is coming'; Activision dips on SEC action

All eyes were on Facebook Inc. this week as the social media giant faced a smattering of controversies about its platforms.

Shares of the company slid about 5% for the week-to-date ended Sept. 23. Reporting from The Wall Street Journal revealed Facebook was aware of its Instagram LLC platform's destructive effects on younger users, mainly teenage girls. Documents reviewed by the Journal also found that Facebook knew its platform was being used by drug cartels and human traffickers.

In a Sept. 21 Senate Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust and Consumer Rights hearing, lawmakers grilled public policy executives from both Google LLC and Facebook to examine how Big Tech's collection of user data poses a threat to competition and harms consumers.

Senators on both sides of the aisle raised concerns to Facebook Vice President of Privacy and Public Policy Steve Satterfield about Instagram's effects on teenagers. Claiming Facebook hid its research on teens' mental health, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., drew comparisons to Big Tobacco hiding knowledge of harmful effects of smoking.

"Your platforms aren't safe, they're dangerous," said Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., to Satterfield. "It's time for some accountability. And all I can say is accountability is coming."

Facebook closed Sept. 23 at $345.96 per share.

In gaming, Activision Blizzard Inc. shares dropped as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission launched an investigation into how the company handled employees' allegations of sexual misconduct and workplace discrimination.

An Activision Blizzard spokeswoman said the company is cooperating with the SEC, The Wall Street Journal reported. The SEC has reportedly subpoenaed CEO Bobby Kotick and other senior executives and asked for company documents, including minutes from board meetings and separation agreements with staffers.

Bloomberg News reported Sept. 21 that Chacko Sonny, the executive producer of Overwatch at the company's Blizzard Entertainment unit, is leaving the company, the latest high-ranking executive to leave following the allegations.

Activision shares closed at $74.67 apiece for the week ended Sept. 23, down 6% for the week-to-date.

In media & entertainment, shares of The Walt Disney Co. slid this week. Company CEO Bob Chapek announced Disney+ subscriber growth is slowing in the current quarter.

"Our core market sub growth will continue both domestically and internationally in Q4, but we hit some headwinds," Chapek said at a Sept. 21 virtual investor conference. He added that Disney's global paid streaming subscriber base will increase by low single-digit millions in the September period, which marks the media conglomerate's fiscal fourth quarter.

That compares to a sequential increase of 12.4 million subscribers during the company's fiscal third quarter, which ended July 3. Disney+ reported 116 million global subscribers at the time.

Disney closed Sept. 23 at $176.25 per share, down 4% for the week-to-date.

In other media, Netflix Inc. shares were up slightly as the streaming titan dominated the 2021 Emmys, winning 44 trophies, highlighted by its first win for outstanding drama series with the fourth season of "The Crown."

Netflix also announced Sept. 22 it agreed to purchase The Roald Dahl Story Co. Ltd. in efforts to bolster its subscriber growth. The U.K.-based company controls the rights to children's classics including "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "Matilda."

Netflix shares closed Sept. 23 at $593.26 apiece, up less than 1% for the week-to-date.

The S&P 500 closed up 0.36% at 4,448.98 for the week-to-date ended Sept. 23 as the Federal Open Market Committee signaled an end to its pandemic-era monetary policy, among other events.