Tag Archives: facebook

WhatsApp is suing an Israeli company that it claims was behind a cyberattack that installed spyware on users’ phones and targeted human rights defenders, journalists, political dissidents, diplomats, and government officials. The Facebook-owned messaging service filed the complaint against NSO Group in the US federal court on Tuesday. “This should …

The woman who started France’s campaign to encourage other women to expose their sexual harassers has been found guilty of defamation by a Paris court. Sandra Muller, who created the “#balancetonporc” (“rat on your pig”) hashtag in 2017, has been ordered to pay damages to ex-TV boss Éric Brion. The …

Facebook has sanctioned Benjamin Netanyahu’s official page after a post called on voters to oppose a government composed of “Arabs who want to destroy us all – women, children and men.” The social media company said the post violated its hate speech policy. Facebook consequently disabled the page’s automatic chat …

Instagram is rolling out a new feature that allows users to flag misinformation. The Facebook-owned photo-sharing platform said in a statement that the tool will be available to all users by the end of August. “I’m proud that, starting today, people can let us know if they see posts on …

WhatsApp and Instagram are to be renamed as part of a Facebook re-brand. The two apps are to be known as “WhatsApp from Facebook” and “Instagram from Facebook”. The move is part of a broader change towards linking the three apps together and bringing them under the Facebook banner, according …

A blogger in Mauritania who drew international attention after he was sentenced to death over blasphemy has been released, his lawyer and campaign group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said. Cheikh Ould Mohamed Ould Mkhaitir, 36, was sentenced to death in 2014 over a Facebook post about Islam but was then …

Facebook Inc will pay a record-breaking $5 billion fine to resolve a government probe into its privacy practices and the social media giant will restructure its approach to privacy, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said on Wednesday. The FTC voted 3-2 along party lines to adopt the settlement, which …

Two US police officers in Louisiana have been fired over a Facebook post suggesting congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez should be shot. Charles Rispoli wrote that the Democrat needed “a round”, which was then “liked” by a fellow officer. The police chief of Gretna said it was “an embarrassment to our department”. …

Instagram started hiding “likes” on its platform in Australia, Brazil, and several other major markets Thursday, saying it wanted to ease pressure on users, following criticism about its impacts on mental health. The Facebook-owned social media giant’s trial changes mean users in the six countries will no longer be able …

A baby girl found inside a plastic bag in the US has families across the world “waiting in line” to adopt the “miracle” child, an official says. The baby, nicknamed India, was found on 6 June in Georgia after residents heard her crying and called the police. Police shared heart-rending …

Bitcoin tested 15-month highs on Monday after jumping more than 10% over the weekend, with analysts ascribing the spike to growing optimism over the adoption of cryptocurrencies after Facebook unveiled its Libra digital coin. The biggest cryptocurrency hit $11,247.62 on the Bitstamp exchange late on Sunday, its highest since March …

For the last year, Facebook has been signaling it wants in on the cryptocurrency phenomenon. At its F8 developer’s conference last month, co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he wants to make sending money as easy as sending a photo: digital, immediate, free and secure. On Tuesday, the company formally …

The video sharing and streaming service YouTube announced plans on Wednesday to get rid of thousands of videos and channels promoting white supremacy and hate; the move was made to prevent extremism and hate speech, the company said. “It’s our responsibility to protect that, and prevent our platform from being …

WhatsApp will be introducing adverts to its messaging app next year, Facebook has confirmed. The technology giant, which acquired WhatsApp in 2014 for $19 billion, revealed the update at its annual Facebook Marketing Summit in the Netherlands. Conference attendee Olvier Ponteville shared photos of the presentation on Twitter, together with …

An Indian company had stored the data of 49 million Instagram users in an unguarded online database. Photo sharing site Instagram says it is trying to find out how contact details of almost 50 million of its users were stored online in an unguarded database. TechCrunch, which broke the story, …

Facebook said on Thursday it had removed 265 Facebook and Instagram accounts, pages, groups and events linked to Israel due to what it called “inauthentic behavior” targeting users in Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa. The move is part of wider efforts by Facebook to address concerns over privacy lapses …

Five global technology companies have pledged to limit terrorist material online. Facebook, Amazon, Google, Twitter, and Microsoft will develop shared tools to detect and remove terrorist or extremist content among other measures. The pledge was made at a Paris summit, which was called after the terror attack in Christchurch, New …

Facebook is suing a South Korean firm it accuses of unlawfully using data to sell marketing and advertising. The social network is asking a judge to force Rankwave to allow it to audit the firm’s activities to see if user data was obtained and potentially sold. A source at Facebook …

Facebook has chosen London as its base for a payment system on WhatsApp, its mobile messaging service confirmed Wednesday, highlighting the capital’s attractiveness as a fintech hub despite Brexit strains. The Financial Times said that WhatsApp would hire about 100 staff, with most of the required software engineers based in …

Facebook has said that it expects to be fined up to $5bn by the Federal Trade Commission for privacy violations. The penalty would be a record by the agency against a technology company and a sign that the United States was willing to punish big tech companies. The social network …