Facebook Messenger has added a forwarding limit to let users forward messages only to five people or groups at a time. The new development is aimed to reduce the spread of viral misinformation and curb the circulation of fake news through the messaging platform. In 2018, Facebook brought a similar forwarding limit to WhatsApp in
Social
Sale talks for TikTok’s US operations have been complicated by the key question of whether the app’s core algorithms can be included as part of a deal, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal that cited unidentified people familiar with the matter. Those algorithms decide what videos users see without first requiring them
Facebook said it will block news sharing on its platforms in Australia if the government goes ahead with a law to force it, and Alphabet’s Google, to pay local media outlets for featuring their content on its platforms. The matter is being watched closely around the world as it represents the biggest challenge so far
WhatsApp is reportedly working on a new Wallpaper feature that will allow users to choose different backgrounds for different chats, based on the theme used in the app. This new feature was spotted in a previous iOS beta version, and now it is said to be under development for Android users as well. Its development
Walmart may be the world’s largest retailer but it has mostly failed in its efforts to break Amazon’s online dominance. Could TikTok, a fast-growing 3-year-old app filled with goofy videos, be the answer? TikTok’s US business appears up for grabs, with the Trump administration trying to force a sale, claiming national-security risks due to its
Triller executive chairman Bobby Sarnevesht said on Friday that the short-video app had made a $20 billion (roughly Rs. 1,46,257 crores) offer with investment firm Centricus Asset Management for the assets of rival TikTok that China’s ByteDance is seeking to a divest. ByteDance and TikTok denied knowledge of the offer, raising questions over whether the
Facebook on Thursday told Reuters that Apple rejected its attempt to tell users the iPhone maker would take a 30 percent cut of sales in a new online events feature, forcing Facebook to remove the message to get the tool to users. Facebook said that Apple cited an App Store rule that bars developers from showing
TikTok Chief Executive Officer Kevin Mayer has left the company, less than three months after he joined the hit short video app, and US General Manager Vanessa Pappas will replace him on an interim basis, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters. The development comes days after TikTok sued the Trump administration over an
A Delhi Assembly panel on peace and harmony decided on Tuesday to summon Facebook officials as it initiated proceedings over complaints about the social media giant”s alleged “deliberate and intentional inaction to contain hateful content” in India, an official statement said. The development comes in the backdrop of a report published in the Wall Street
WhatsApp is reportedly redesigning the Storage Usage section of its chat app with a list of options to let you easily organise your storage and delete unnecessary files that were forwarded or shared through the app. While the messaging app is yet to enable the new storage tools for its users, a screenshot has been
Some US-based users of WeChat are suing President Donald Trump in a bid to block an executive order that they say would effectively bar access in the US to the hugely popular Chinese messaging app. The complaint, filed Friday in San Francisco, is being brought by the nonprofit U.S. WeChat Users Alliance and several people
Twitter on Sunday placed a disclaimer on US President Donald Trump’s tweet criticising the promotion of drop boxes by Democrats as an option for voters, saying the tweet violated the company’s “civic and election integrity” rules. “So now the Democrats are using Mail Drop Boxes, which are a voter security disaster. Among other things, they make
ByteDance investors are in talks to use their stakes in the Chinese technology firm to help finance their bid for its popular short-video app TikTok, according to people familiar with the matter. ByteDance has been in talks to divest TikTok’s North America, Australia and New Zealand operations to potential acquirers, including Microsoft and Oracle. President
Vietnamese technology firm VNG is suing TikTok, the popular short-form video app, saying it does not have adequate licences for the songs being used in its videos, sources said on Monday. VNG is accusing the Chinese-owned company of using audio tracks owned by Zing, a VNG subsidiary, without the company’s consent, two sources familiar with
A Delhi Assembly committee on peace and harmony will initiate on Tuesday proceedings in connection with complaints about the Facebook’s alleged “deliberate and intentional inaction to contain hateful content” in India, according to an official statement issued on Monday. The development comes in the backdrop of a report published in the Wall Street Journal recently,
The country’s antitrust watchdog – Competition Commission of India (CCI) – has dismissed a case against Facebook’s WhatsApp, saying the company has not abused its dominant position to expand in the country’s digital payments market, according to an official order. A case in March alleged that WhatsApp was bundling its digital payment facility, WhatsApp Pay,
In early 2019, Facebook hinted at its plan to merge Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp Facebook Plans to Merge Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram Facebook is planning to merge Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram. This would allow the messaging apps to work seamlessly together. Read More . The merger would allow for cross-platform messaging between all three apps.
US President Donald Trump has looked at banning additional Chinese-owned companies following his decision to ban the short-video app TikTok, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said on Monday. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Meadows said the administration was focused particularly on Chinese companies that collected personal data and could pose a
After several years operating as a secure text messaging and voice-only calling app, Telegram has finally added video calling to its roster. This feature is now available to both iOS and Android users, albeit in its alpha stage. Telegram Rolls Out Secure Video Calling In a Telegram Blog post, the Telegram team explains that all video
Indian politicians are trading barbs over a media report that Facebook’s content policies favoured Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party, putting the social network at the centre of a political storm in its biggest market by users. Lawmakers of PM Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have accused the social media giant of censoring nationalist voices, after
As COVID-19 continues to spread around the world, so does misinformation about the virus. In an effort to stop the spread of fake news about COVID-19, Facebook has removed and/or labeled millions of misleading posts. Facebook’s COVID-19 Takedown As you probably already know, Facebook has become a breeding ground for COVID-19 conspiracy theories and false
Facebook is testing a new ‘Short Videos’ feature inside its app in a bid to cash in on the TikTok ban in India and proposed ban in the US. This new feature shows up in the middle of the News Feed and works in the similar swipe-up manner as was popular on TikTok. Facebook recently
In a move to make Twitter a safer space for conversation, the platform has rolled out a new conversation feature that lets users limit who can reply to their Tweets. The change means that users can now feel more comfortable talking about sensitive topics without unwanted replies getting in the way. How Does Limiting Replies
WhatsApp is a popular choice for greetings of any kind, and Independence Day 2020 is no exception. Users will throng groups and chats with messages today, wishing each other, sharing patriotic messages, and even stickers and GIFs. Stickers in particular, have become a popular choice of expression, especially during special occasions and festivals. Therefore, on this
Although Facebook has had a ban on hate speech for a while, it has now expanded its definition of the term. Under Facebook’s new Community Standards, Facebook will remove any posts involving blackface and anti-Semitic stereotypes. Facebook’s War on Hate Speech Facebook’s quarterly Community Standards Enforcement Reports give users insight into what the tech giant
A security researcher was awarded with $6,000 (roughly Rs. 4.5 lakhs) bug bounty pay after he discovered that Instagram retained photos and private direct messages on its server even after deletion, as per an online report. The researcher reported the bug in October last year through Instagram’s bug bounty programme, and it was fixed earlier