:00:00. > :00:25.Now it's time for World Business Report.
:00:26. > :00:34.Like it or loathe it, it is bigger and more controversial than ever.
:00:35. > :00:48.Facebook closes in on 2 billion users but can it see off the
:00:49. > :00:59.controversy. Also France and youth unemployment. Also in the programme,
:01:00. > :01:01.China's answer to Boeing prepares for its maiden flight.
:01:02. > :01:04.because despite the ongoing controversy over everything
:01:05. > :01:06.from fake news to extremist and violent content,
:01:07. > :01:09.the social network just keeps getting bigger and more profitable.
:01:10. > :01:13.Facebook has been warning for some time it can't keep growing at this
:01:14. > :01:16.rate but the latest results show no sign of a slowdown yet.
:01:17. > :01:26.Facebook made profits of just over $3 billion in the first three months
:01:27. > :01:30.That's a jump of more than 76% on the same period last year
:01:31. > :01:34.and more than investors were expecting.
:01:35. > :01:40.Facebook is creeping ever closer to two billion users -
:01:41. > :01:52.1.94 billion people are now actively using the social media platform
:01:53. > :01:56.every month, up 17% on this time last year.
:01:57. > :01:58.But in recent months there's been growing criticism over
:01:59. > :02:01.how Facebook polices its content - failing to stop extremist or violent
:02:02. > :02:04.material - or the spread of 'fake news' that some claim
:02:05. > :02:11.It's planning to hire 3000 more people to monitor
:02:12. > :02:30.The first impression when one hears that Facebook is hiring 3,000
:02:31. > :02:33.employees to monitor posts and to try to find the fake news
:02:34. > :02:36.that's out there amongst the Facebook posters is that it's
:02:37. > :02:38.really about public relations and trying to improve
:02:39. > :02:48.So for Facebook making an announcement and doing whatever
:02:49. > :02:51.they can to prevent everything from post that are violent
:02:52. > :02:54.being being posted on their sites, to trying to fight fake news,
:02:55. > :02:57.all of that is very important to their shareholder base
:02:58. > :03:06.and to the value that they're creating."
:03:07. > :03:09.With me is Peter Veash, founding partner and MD of The BIO
:03:10. > :03:12.Agency which helps companies with their digital marketing
:03:13. > :03:26.Good morning and thank you for coming in. We heard one view on how
:03:27. > :03:32.Facebook is doing and what needs to change. They have had phenomenal
:03:33. > :03:39.results. Profits are up. Revenue is up and stop a very strong
:03:40. > :03:42.performance, more than was predicted. There is a question as to
:03:43. > :03:48.whether that continues into the future. There is not much further
:03:49. > :03:55.they can push it, they admit that themselves. Every time they come out
:03:56. > :04:00.with numbers, they say they cannot continue this momentum and Facebook
:04:01. > :04:07.shares were down on concerns about future sales. What do they have to
:04:08. > :04:13.do to try and keep up? They need to look to widen as their portfolio.
:04:14. > :04:17.Virtual reality, artificial intelligence and conductivity is
:04:18. > :04:26.something they are delving into. They had to drop prices and a
:04:27. > :04:30.product which has not really sold. What they do next and how they
:04:31. > :04:37.connect the platform together is the question. Valid concern about what
:04:38. > :04:44.is on the social media site, the violent material, material of abused
:04:45. > :04:48.children which they are not taking down quickly enough. They are
:04:49. > :04:53.employing 3000 people to help with that. Human beings are needed to
:04:54. > :04:58.make that happen? It feels a bit outside of the control today. It is
:04:59. > :05:04.quite surprising given that they are a technology business. I think they
:05:05. > :05:10.are playing catch up and they are on the foot and do not how to control
:05:11. > :05:17.it. When it comes to the data they collect in, it is the huge and so
:05:18. > :05:23.valuable, I assume, because it is getting data about what we like,
:05:24. > :05:28.what we're of buying, where we are going, it is extremely value. Should
:05:29. > :05:34.we be concerned about it? At the moment they are using it to make
:05:35. > :05:42.sure we get the right content and advertising but to be frank about
:05:43. > :05:45.it, 2 billion users, matching data, and they are getting artificial
:05:46. > :05:51.intelligence, the world is their oyster. Watch this space, I think.
:05:52. > :05:57.They know a lot more about us than we think. It is a scary thought.
:05:58. > :06:01.Thank you for coming in and sharing your oils. Lots more analysis on our
:06:02. > :06:05.website. -- your thoughts. As you have been hearing
:06:06. > :06:08.Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen have been squaring off
:06:09. > :06:11.in a TV debate ahead of France's Presidential
:06:12. > :06:12.election this Sunday. Whoever wins will inherit a raft
:06:13. > :06:15.of economic challenges. Unemployment at 9.6% is far higher
:06:16. > :06:19.than in Germany or the UK. Youth unemployment is
:06:20. > :06:21.a particular problem - nearly a quarter of 15-24
:06:22. > :06:24.year olds are out of work, and in some areas the figure
:06:25. > :06:36.is even greater. Must say it is one of France's
:06:37. > :06:40.biggest cities. More than 150,000 people live here in what is a
:06:41. > :06:45.relatively prosperous region but inequality and social division are
:06:46. > :06:50.right. You get a good impression of the sheer scale of the problem by
:06:51. > :06:54.coming here. Intel is like the one behind me, thousands of families
:06:55. > :06:59.that lived, many in poverty and the youth unemployment rate is 45%. Many
:07:00. > :07:03.of those young people stand little if any chance of getting a job.
:07:04. > :07:09.Breaking the cycle of low expectation, poor quality patients
:07:10. > :07:13.is difficult. In this area, a foundation is trying to help people
:07:14. > :07:18.find work but there are many obstacles. They do not have
:07:19. > :07:30.something inside and to drive them and want something else. To make
:07:31. > :07:35.easy money, to pay for things. Also the social system around them is not
:07:36. > :07:40.helping them. It is just assisting them, making them dependent. The
:07:41. > :07:45.young people who want to help themselves, there are opportunities.
:07:46. > :07:51.Further to the north, in Lyon, intensive classes are held in
:07:52. > :07:54.computing. The courses here are free and they are offered to people who
:07:55. > :08:00.left school without proper qualifications. The aim is to find
:08:01. > :08:06.work in the technology. We have 95% success with our students who now
:08:07. > :08:11.work in good jobs. It is a really Gate thing to have taken people who
:08:12. > :08:14.are marginalised by society because of their lack of education and to
:08:15. > :08:22.help them to become reductive members of society. The academy is
:08:23. > :08:26.funded by private businesses. It is a lifeline for unqualified people
:08:27. > :08:30.but it is a drop in the ocean for the next president, tackling youth
:08:31. > :08:32.unemployment will have to be a priority.
:08:33. > :08:35.To Asia now where China is poised to enter the airliner business.
:08:36. > :08:39.The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China -
:08:40. > :08:42.or COMAC - has announced that tomorrow will be the maiden flight
:08:43. > :08:44.for this - the C919 - its first home-produced
:08:45. > :08:57.Rico has been looking at this in Singapore
:08:58. > :09:07.Nice to see you. People could soon be boarding this new plan? Keeping
:09:08. > :09:14.our fingers crossed, hopefully by 2019 and that is that when most of
:09:15. > :09:23.the airlines which avoided it will be having their aircraft. At this
:09:24. > :09:32.point, China is indeed an ambitious and the world will be watching the
:09:33. > :09:38.maiden flight of the C919. It is intended to compete with the Boeing
:09:39. > :09:47.737 and the Airbus 320 family of planes in a single aisle market. If
:09:48. > :09:51.all goes to plan, the C919 could be in service in about two years time.
:09:52. > :09:57.The test flight has really been pushed back from 2016 so this is
:09:58. > :10:01.maiden flight tomorrow is very critical. If successful, the
:10:02. > :10:05.manufacturer could take a significant chunk of Chinese
:10:06. > :10:11.business, forecasts of over $1 trillion over the next 20 years.
:10:12. > :10:22.China will need 6000 100 aircraft over that period. -- 6,800.
:10:23. > :10:26.In other news Europe's largest bank HSBC says first quarter profits fell
:10:27. > :10:32.It made just under 5 billion dollars for the first three months
:10:33. > :10:35.of the year - down from 6.1 billion this time last year -
:10:36. > :10:39.but better than analysts were expecting.
:10:40. > :10:42.HSBC says the fall was mostly down to accounting changes
:10:43. > :10:45.and the fact last year's results included earnings from its Brazil
:10:46. > :10:53.business that it sold in July last year.
:10:54. > :10:59.I will see you in a moment when we reviewed the other stories in the
:11:00. > :11:02.press.