Tiktok bans direct messaging for under-16s amid safety concerns April 16, 2020 Tiktok will ban users under the age of 16 from sending direct messages as the platform looks to improve safety and stave off concerns about harmful material. The video-sharing platform, which is popular with teenagers, today said that from 30 April new and existing users who do not meet the age requirements will no longer [...]
London fintech firm Previse secures $11m in funding round April 16, 2020 London-based fintech startup Previse has secured $11m (£8.8m) in fresh funding as the invoice payment platform defied wider economic gloom sparked by the coronavirus crisis. Previse, which was founded in 2016, uses artificial intelligence to help suppliers get invoices paid instantly when no manual intervention is needed. The King’s Cross-headquartered firm currently processes more than [...]
Tesla to face shareholder lawsuit Elon Musk’s ‘funding secured’ tweet April 16, 2020 Tesla boss Elon Musk must face a shareholder lawsuit over a tweet in which he stated the company had secured funding for a go-private deal worth $72bn (£58bn), a judge has ruled. Shareholders have filed a suit alleging the billionaire founder attempted to defraud them with a 2018 tweet that read: “Am considering taking Tesla [...]
Apple unveils second generation version of budget iPhone SE April 15, 2020 Apple today unveiled the second generation model of its budget iPhone SE as the tech giant looks to tap into demand for more affordable smartphones. The new iPhone SE resembles the design of the iPhone 7 launched in 2016, with a smaller 4.7-inch retina display and the traditional Touch ID fingerprint sensor, rather than facial [...]
Guardian, Financial Times and Telegraph furlough staff as coronavirus hits newspaper revenue April 15, 2020 The Guardian, Financial Times (FT) and Telegraph today said they will furlough dozens of employees as the coronavirus outbreak decimates advertising revenue for news organisations. Guardian Media Group (GMG), which runs the Guardian and Observer, said it expects revenue for the first six months of the financial year to fall by £20m due to a [...]
Citi profit halves as US banks brace for coronavirus impact April 15, 2020 Citigroup’s profit slumped almost 50 per cent in the first quarter as it became the latest US bank to beef up its loan reserves in a bid to mitigate the impact of coronavirus. The bank’s net income dropped 46 per cent year on year to $2.5bn (£2bn), or $1.05 per share. This was down from [...]
WHO launches coronavirus chatbot on Facebook Messenger April 15, 2020 The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched its coronavirus chatbot on Facebook Messenger as it expands its efforts to tackle online misinformation. The interactive Health Alert service will allow the messaging app’s 1.3bn users to ask questions and get the latest information about the Covid-19 outbreak. It follows the launch of a similar service on [...]
Hope opera: Andrea Bocelli’s Milan concert breaks streaming record April 15, 2020 Andrea Bocelli has smashed multiple records after his live-streamed solo performance from the deserted Duomo in Milan racked up millions of viewers worldwide. The Italian tenor’s Music for Hope concert reached a peak of more than 2.8m live Youtube viewers on Easter Sunday, while the video received more than 28m views worldwide in the first [...]
Tiktok owner Bytedance to hire 10,000 new staff amid lockdown boom April 15, 2020 The Chinese company behind hit social media platform Tiktok is looking to hire 10,000 new employees as it defies a wider downturn that has forced global tech firms to lay off staff. Bytedance has opened applications for the vacancies, with roughly a third of the roles in high-level research or software coding, according to an [...]
Standard Chartered bans staff from using Zoom and Google Hangouts April 15, 2020 Standard Chartered has become the first major bank to ban staff from using Zoom during the coronavirus crisis due to cybersecurity concerns. In a note to managers, seen by Reuters, chief executive Bill Winters last week also warned against holding virtual meetings on Google Hangouts. It comes amid growing scrutiny of Zoom’s security standards as [...]
