The day 3.5bn people lost access: Facebook blames global outage on ‘configuration change’ October 5, 2021 Facebook cited faulty configuration changes on its routers as the root cause of the nearly six-hour outage that prevented the company’s 3.5bn users from accessing its social media and messaging services. Watch the full report.
Facebook hits pause on new Instagram app for children after fierce criticism September 28, 2021 Instagram has hit pause on a new app it is creating for kids, the photo-sharing service owned by Facebook said late last night UK time. It’s a decision that comes amid growing opposition for the project. Watch the full report.
Twitter jumps on crypto bandwagon as it rolls out Bitcoin tipping functionality September 24, 2021 Twitter will now allow people to tip their favourite content creators with bitcoin and it will test new ways to help users have a safer experience on the social media app, the company said last night. Watch the full report.
Apple sales worth billions of dollars at risk after App Store ruling September 11, 2021 Apple has been declared “anticompetitive” by a US judge who has ruled that the tech giant must let developers use alternative payment methods, according to widespread reports. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said Apple “engaged in anticompetitive conduct” by stopping apps from using payment methods other than its own, which charges fees of up to 30 [...]
Twitter debuts ‘safety mode’ autoblocking to curb online abuse September 1, 2021 Twitter has unveiled a new feature called “Safety Mode” that will allow users to temporarily block accounts for seven days if they use harmful language or send uninvited replies and mentions. The social media giant said in a blog post today that it had begun testing the safety feature on a small feedback group of [...]
Wagatha Christie: Jamie’s phone could be probed in Rebekah Vardy’s libel battle with Coleen Rooney August 4, 2021 Footballer Jamie Vardy’s phone may now be inspected as part of his wife Rebekah’s libel battle with Coleen Rooney, a judge at the High Court has ruled. Rooney accused Vardy of leaking “false stories” about her private life in October 2019 after carrying out a months-long “sting operation”. The wife of former England star Wayne [...]
Hello Sunshine, Reese Witherspoon’s company behind hit Big Little Lies, valued at $900m in Blackstone deal August 2, 2021 Academy award-winning actress Reese Witherspoon’s media company, Hello Sunshine, is selling itself to a newly formed media firm backed by Blackstone Group Inc for an undisclosed sum. The sale will value the company at about $900 million, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Founded in 2016, Hello Sunshine is the women-led production house behind [...]
Sky News Australia Suspended from YouTube Over Covid-19 Coverage August 2, 2021 Sky News Australia has been banned from posting new videos or livestreams on YouTube as a result of Covid-19 coverage which the platform says breached misinformation guidelines. The week-long strike was issued on Thursday after a review of Sky News Australia’s channel alleged that it hosted content which denied the existence of Covid-19 and encouraged [...]
Tech professionals urge social media to verify user IDs after Euro 2020 racist abuse July 13, 2021 Social media giants such as Facebook and Twitter should require users to verify their identities following the racist abuse of England players after their Euro 2020 final defeat, according to a group of tech professionals. Despite boycotts and some technical changes from big tech companies, many people still see social media as “a consequence-free playground [...]
Saturday essay: It’s easy to hate social media, to truly make it work we need to learn to love it July 3, 2021 It’s fashionable to be irrationally critical of social media. Almost every policy relating to social media serves to restrain, rather than nurture it. The image of online platforms, amongst politicos and policymakers, is often that it is nothing more than an inflammatory cesspit of trolls and creeps who debase every conversation with racist and sexist [...]