Whistleblower Frances Haugen: Facebook extends users’ stay to drive advertising October 6, 2021 During a Senate Commerce subcommittee hearing last night, in which U.S. lawmakers pounced on Facebook, whistleblower Frances Haugen called for transparency about how the social media giant entices users to extend their stay on the site, giving them ample opportunity to advertise to them. Watch the full report.
Mark Zuckerberg loses $6bn in Facebook selloff spree following global outage October 5, 2021 Mark Zuckerberg has lost $6bn in a Facebook selloff spree that followed in the wake of a massive server outage yesterday, as well as accusations against the social media giant in relation to children’s interests through its flagship product Instagram. Zuckerberg came down a notch on the richest man’s list as Facebook’s stocks plummeted 4.9 [...]
Facebook shaken after its longest downtime in years with billions of users impacted October 5, 2021 Social media platform Facebook has come back up after suffering a six hours long outage crippling its nearly 3bn users globally. The technical glitch affected Whatsapp and Instagram too, both owned by Facebook. According to Downdetector, a portal that keeps track of major service outages, this was the longest lasting downtime reported by Facebook since [...]
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 [...]