By Derrik J. Lang, Entertainment Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --"Minecraft" has built a big reputation on YouTube.
The video streaming service announced Wednesday that content featuring the virtual brick-building video game has been watched more than any other interactive title in the 10 years since YouTube launched.
"There are over 42 million 'Minecraft' videos on YouTube today," said Ryan Wyatt, YouTube's global head of gaming content. "It's crazy because 'Minecraft' is also the second most searched term on YouTube. It's a testament to (publisher) Mojang understanding the marketing capacity and power of our content creators."
The blocky indie game was originally released by Swedish studio Mojang and creator Markus "Notch" Persson more than five years ago and has gone on to become a cultural phenomenon spawning books, toys and other merchandise. The franchise's popularity prompted Microsoft to buy "Minecraft" for $2.5 billion in 2014.
"Minecraft" videos on YouTube range from crafters showing off their digital creations to virtual explorers traversing the game's procedurally generated landscape.
In honor of the streaming video site's 10th anniversary, YouTube released a list of the top 10 most popular games that have been streamed since the site debuted in 2005.
Rockstar Games' gangster series "Grand Theft Auto" arrived in second place, followed by Riot Games' multiplayer arena title "League of Legends" in the third spot, and Activision's "Call of Duty" military shooter franchise in fourth place. Electronic Arts' soccer simulator "FIFA" rounded out the top five most streamed games.
"It's funny that a lot of the titles on the list tie in with the theme of open imagination and entertainment," said Wyatt.
Other titles on the list included "Garry's Mod," ''The Sims," ''Five Nights at Freddy's" and "Puzzles & Dragon." The complete list from YouTube:
1. "Minecraft"
2. "Grand Theft Auto"
3. "League of Legends"
4. "Call of Duty"
5. "FIFA"
6. "Garry's Mod"
7. "The Sims"
8. "Five Nights at Freddy's"
9. "Puzzles & Dragon"
10. "Dota 2"
South Korea fines Meta $15 million for illegally collecting information on Facebook users
South Korea's privacy watchdog on Tuesday fined social media company Meta 21.6 billion won ($15 million) for illegally collecting sensitive personal information from Facebook users, including data about their political views and sexual orientation, and sharing it with thousands of advertisers.
It was the latest in a series of penalties against Meta by South Korean authorities in recent years as they increase their scrutiny of how the company, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, handles private information.
Following a four-year investigation, South Korea's Personal Information Protection Commission concluded that Meta unlawfully collected sensitive information about around 980,000 Facebook users, including their religion, political views and whether they were in same-sex unions, from July 2018 to March 2022.
It said the company shared the data with around 4,000 advertisers.
South Korea's privacy law provides strict protection for information related to personal beliefs, political views and sexual behavior, and bars companies from processing or using such data without the specific consent of the person involved.
The commission said Meta amassed sensitive information by analyzing the pages the Facebook users liked or the advertisements they clicked on.
The company categorized ads to identify users interested in themes such as specific religions, same-sex and transgender issues, and issues related to North Korean escapees, said Lee Eun Jung, a director at the commission who led the investigation on Meta.
"While Meta collected this sensitive information and used it for individualized services, they made only vague mentions of this use in their data policy and did not obtain specific consent," Lee said.
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