meta platforms

Twitter helped South African police track down July riots instigators Major social media companies, including Twitter, helped the Hawks track down some of the alleged instigators of violent looting in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng that shook South Africa in July 2021. That is according to a City...

Facebook testing end-to-end encryption in Messenger Facebook has started testing automatic end-to-end encryption in Messenger with a small group of users, the company said in a statement. It also said that it has started testing secure storage for Messenger to allow users to backup their...

Instagram and Facebook in-app browsers track all user activity An analysis by software developer Felix Krause showed that Facebook and Instagram’s in-app browsers track every user interaction. “The iOS Instagram and Facebook app render all third-party links and ads within their app using a...

WhatsApp rolling out big privacy changes Meta Platforms-owned WhatsApp is rolling out several privacy features, including the ability to send messages while appearing offline and blocking screenshots of view-once messages. The messaging platform will also allow users to leave group chats...

Meta's new chatbot called Mark Zuckerberg "too creepy and insensitive" Only days after being launched to the public, Meta Platforms Inc.’s new AI chatbot has been claiming that Donald Trump won the 2020 US presidential election, and repeating anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. Chatbots —...

WhatsApp testing major changes — including group admin delete feature WhatsApp is rolling out several significant changes to its messaging platform, including the ability for group admins to delete any message for everyone. Other changes include a feature that lets group members view...

Facebook asks court to demand Snapchat hand over user numbers for monopoly lawsuit Meta Platforms Inc. is asking a judge to force Snap Inc. to hand over data it says is needed to help the Facebook owner defend against a US government antitrust lawsuit. In a filing with a federal court in...

Five changes coming to WhatsApp — including a voice note update WhatsApp is making several significant changes to its platform, including voice note waveforms for its Windows desktop app. Other changes include kept messages, quick reactions for statuses on iOS, and a footer for end-to-end...

Facebook and Instagram will push more content to compete with TikTok Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg plans to more than double the amount of recommended content pushed to Facebook and Instagram users by the end of 2023. According to Zuckerberg, recommended content currently makes up around...

Facebook parent hikes Meta Quest 2 VR headset price by around R1,690 Meta Platforms has announced that it will increase the Quest 2 VR headset’s price by $100 (R1,687) starting from August. The 128GB model will get bumped up to $399.99 (R6747.80, excl. VAT and duties) and the 256GB to $499.99...

Facebook introduces music revenue sharing Meta Platforms Inc. is introducing music revenue sharing on Facebook to help creators make money from videos that use licensed music, in an effort to better compete with rival TikTok. A new tool called Rights Manager, developed by Meta through...

WhatsApp group chat changes in the works WhatsApp is working on a feature that lets users view a group's past participants. You will be able to view and search for any participants who left the group in the past 60 days by navigating to the Group Info menu, WABetaInfo reported.

Facebook's new Feeds tab limits posts to friends and pages you follow Facebook has launched a new Feeds tab for its mobile app, allowing users to only see posts from friends, groups, and pages they follow. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the new feature in a post on his Facebook page on...

WhatsApp getting new voice and message reaction features WhatsApp will soon allow users to share a voice note as their status update and has started rolling out more emojis to use in message reactions. According to WABetaInfo, the popular chat app is developing a new voice status feature and...

Fake WhatsApp warning Using fake or modified versions of WhatsApp on Android could lead to your personal information being stolen, warned the company's CEO, Will Cathcart. Cathcart said that the company's security research team found hidden malware within apps offering similar services to...

WhatsApp multi-smartphone support on the way WhatsApp is working on adding support for syncing chats across multiple smartphones, WABetaInfo reports. The publication discovered the feature in WhatsApp's Android version 2.22.15.13, available through the Google Play Beta programme.

Quest VR will drop Facebook login for Meta account Meta Quest virtual reality (VR) headsets will no longer need a Facebook login, but it will require that users have a new Meta account, the company revealed in a blog post. The company will begin rolling out the new accounts to existing and new...

Fired employee accuses Facebook of breaking EU and FTC privacy rules for accessing deleted user data A former Facebook content screener says he was fired for raising alarms about a new company protocol allowing employees to resurrect data that users deleted. Brennan Lawson sued Meta Platforms...

Facebook launches lawsuit against scraper who posted data from 350,000 Instagram profiles Facebook's parent company Meta has instigated legal action against a man who scraped and published profile data from over 350,000 Instagram accounts, according to a statement from the company. The social...

WhatsApp working on "stealth mode" feature WhatsApp is working on allowing users to hide their online status on Android, iOS and its desktop application, WABetaInfo reports. There is no release date for when the future update will get rolled out to the public.