Former competition tsar Rod Sims has called for Facebook to be designated under the news media bargaining code to force the social media company to pay SBS and the Conversation for their content.“I’m not saying designate them tomorrow,” Sims said. “The Treasury review is going on. And so let’s see where that goes. But on…
Critics have accused the European Commission of seeking to end encrypted communications after the EU’s executive body unveiled strict regulations for messaging apps intended to fight the spread of child sexual abuse imagery.Under the proposed regulations, messaging services and web hosts would be required to search for, and report, child abuse material – even in…
A former Facebook moderator has filed a lawsuit against its owner, Meta Platforms, alleging poor working conditions for contracted content moderators violate the Kenyan constitution.The petition, also filed against Meta’s local outsourcing company Sama, alleges that workers moderating Facebook posts in Kenya have been subjected to unreasonable working conditions including irregular pay, inadequate mental health…
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but there is a new app to know about. BeReal, touted as the “anti-Instagram”, is currently the No 1 free app on the App Store in the US. It promises, slightly unnervingly, “a new and unique way to discover who your friends really are in their daily…
I’m part of a generation used to living their life in full view – our collective adolescence measured in a succession of messaging apps and social networks. Each of them encouraged increasing levels of openness and entrenched the message: sharing prompts caring or, better yet, attention.For much of my life, almost everything became fodder to…
Facebook moderators have called on the company to let them take action against users who praise or support the Russian military’s atrocities in Bucha and across Ukraine.Almost a month after evidence of widespread murder and mass graves was uncovered by Ukrainian forces taking the suburb of Kyiv, the social network still has not flagged the…
The Snapchat founder, Evan Spiegel, has dismissed Facebook’s “metaverse” ambitions as “ambiguous and hypothetical” as he announced a raft of new augmented reality features coming to phones and Snap’s experimental AR Spectacles over the next year.Speaking ahead of the Snap Partner Summit, the company’s flagship annual event, Spiegel argued Snapchat was uniquely placed to guide…
Sheryl Sandberg, the Meta executive, allegedly pressured the Daily Mail to drop unflattering stories about her then-boyfriend Bobby Kotick, the Activision Blizzard CEO, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.The Journal reports that she persuaded the digital edition of the Mail not to run stories revealing that an ex-girlfriend of Kotick had obtained…
Mark Zuckerberg is looking to develop virtual coins, nicknamed “Zuck bucks” by staff, for users of Facebook and Instagram as part of a suite of products designed to reduce his platforms’ dependence on advertising in the future metaverse.Facebook’s parent group, Meta, is looking to develop a range of virtual products – including digital tokens and…
I am becoming a better person against my will. I was in no mood to change or grow. I had not reached a turning point and I have never declared that enough is enough. I was in the process of having a delightful nap right on my laurels. If anything, I was actively trying to…
Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram and other social media platforms, is reportedly paying a notable GOP consulting firm to create public distrust around TikTok.The campaign, launched by Republican strategy firm Targeted Victory, placed op-eds and letters to the editor in various publications, accusing TikTok of being a danger to American children, along with other…
A Russian court has banned Facebook and Instagram in the country, labelling its parent company Meta as “extremist” amid the Kremlin’s sweeping crackdown on western social media giants.Access to Facebook and Instagram had already been restricted earlier this month after Meta confirmed it was relaxing its policies on hate speech towards Russian soldiers and Vladimir…