Joining the Clubhouse: Facebook launches push into booming audio market April 19, 2021 Facebook has today announced a three-pronged push into the audio market after in year in which demand for platforms such as Clubhouse has boomed. The social media giant said it would build a new set of audio creation features in order to support people using the site to make their own content. The first of [...]
Priti Patel warns Facebook’s encryption plans could harm child safety April 19, 2021 Facebook’s plans to roll out end-to-end encryption across its messaging platforms could mark a setback for efforts to protect children from online abuse, the home secretary is set to warn. The social media giant has unveiled plans to extend encryption — which means only the sender and recipient can view messages —— to Messenger and [...]
Facebook splashes out $23m on Mark Zuckerberg’s security April 14, 2021 Facebook forked out more than $23m (£16.6m) on security for its chief executive Mark Zuckerberg last year. In a filing published this week the tech giant said it handed the boss $23.4m in compensation in 2020 to cover personal security at his homes and during personal travel. Of this, $13.4m represented a security allowance while [...]
UK must make tech firms pay for news, says competition watchdog April 13, 2021 The UK must introduce a new code to ensure news publishers are fairly compensated for the use of their stories on tech platforms, the competition watchdog has said. Daniel Gordon, senior director of markets at the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), said his organisation agreed with the principles behind a new Australian law requiring tech [...]
Facebook News enters local news market in UK April 13, 2021 Facebook News is adding a local news section designed to give more prominence to regional stories as well as those from national publications. The social network’s news section launched in the UK earlier this year as a dedicated space for news articles on the site. Facebook pays publishers for their content, which is shown in [...]
England cricket star Stuart Broad supports social media boycotts as sport takes steps to tackle online abuse April 12, 2021 England cricketer Stuart Broad has become the latest high-profile sporting figure to back a boycott of social media. Football clubs Rangers and Swansea City have temporarily stopped posting on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook in protest at a perceived lack of action against online abuse. “There are great positives to social media but if we have [...]
Facebook has no plans to let 530m users know they were impacted by data breach April 7, 2021 Facebook has no plans to let 530m users know they were impacted by data breach
UK launches new competition watchdog for Big Tech crackdown April 7, 2021 Tech giants such as Facebook and Google are facing a tougher regulatory regime in the UK after a new watchdog aimed at curbing their power launched today. The Digital Markets Unit (DMU) will be charged with setting up new rules to give consumers more control over their data, promote online competition and crack down on [...]
Facebook’s Giphy takeover to face in-depth competition probe April 1, 2021 Facebook’s takeover of Giphy will face an in-depth competition probe in the UK after the social media giant declined to offer remedies to the regulator’s concerns. The Competition and Market Authority (CMA) last week gave the companies five days to address worries that their deal could harm the digital advertising market and the supply of [...]
Nick Clegg defends Facebook algorithms as platform revamps news feed March 31, 2021 Sir Nick Clegg has launched an impassioned defence of Facebook’s algorithms, insisting the platform had empowered people and denying it was responsible for increased polarisation. The former deputy prime minister, who is now Facebook’s vice president of global affairs, said people needed to “make their peace” with algorithms and acknowledge they were “here to stay”. [...]