Zuckerberg finally spoke out about Facebook’s debacle with Cambridge Analytica harvesting data, claiming that it had already put preventative measures in place in 2014 to ensure that this wouldn’t happen again. Mozilla disagrees, opting to pull its advertisements from the platform, deeming Facebook to be unclear in its stance regarding …
Read More »EU outlines new tax rules for ‘digital’ companies, like Google, Amazon and Facebook
It is no secret that large tech companies often use various methods to lower the amount of tax they owe in different continents. This has riled up the European Union in the past and now, they intend to do something about it. A couple of weeks ago, reports began surfacing …
Read More »Zuckerberg finally pipes up about Cambridge Analytica data harvesting scandal
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been noticeably absent since news broke of Cambridge Analytica harvesting millions upon millions of its users’ data, but he’s finally come out of hiding to address the scandal. Admitting the company’s “mistakes,” Zuckerberg focused more on what actions the firm will take to clean up …
Read More »Zuckerberg summoned to testify to UK MPs on Facebook data harvest scandal
Concern surrounding Facebook has been growing for the past week, as countries begin to question the user data scandal between the platform and Cambridge Analytica. Now, founder Mark Zuckerberg has been sent a formal request to testify on the privacy failure. The news broke earlier this week, when data firm …
Read More »EU set to investigate alleged misuse of Facebook user data
It looks like Facebook could find itself in trouble with the European Union again, as the EU Parliament announced today that it will be investigating the social network on suspicion of data misuse. The EU reckons that more than 50 million Facebook users have had their data misused, violating the …
Read More »Facebook moves on Twitch’s territory, adding in-game rewards & deeper analytics to livestreaming
Earlier this year, Facebook announced that it plans to improve its livestreaming features in hopes to attract more content creators. Livestreamers aren’t the only focus, however, as Facebook has now revealed its new SDK, allowing developers to reward viewers with in-game items and keep an eye on deeper analytics. Facebook has been testing these new …
Read More »The Oculus Go VR headset to finally launch in May
It has been almost six months since Facebook first announced the Oculus Go, the company's first standalone VR headset. At the time, it was announced that the headset would launch in 2018 with a $199 price tag. Now, we have a more specific launch date to look forward to, with …
Read More »BlackBerry is suing Facebook for allegedly copying BBM features
BlackBerry may have given up when it comes to building its own smartphones directly, but the company still owns a fairly extensive patent portfolio, and it intends to draw money from it. This week, we learned that BlackBerry has filed a lawsuit against Facebook, claiming that the social media network …
Read More »WhatsApp is giving users more time to delete sent messages
Since being acquired by Facebook in 2014, many of WhatsApp’s feature updates have revolved around encryption and bolstering user privacy. In October, WhatsApp took another step in that direction by allowing users to revoke sent messages under certain conditions and within a strict time window. Now this week, the messaging …
Read More »EU reportedly plans to introduce new revenue based tax rules targeting tech giants
It is no secret that large tech companies often use various methods to lower the amount of tax they owe in different continents. This has gotten the likes of Facebook, Apple, Amazon and Google into varying degrees of trouble over here in the Europe. So with that in mind, the …
Read More »Facebook cancels plans to introduce a separate news feed for content posts
Facebook constantly experiments with the news feed and its various features. Over the last year, it has been putting publishers in an increasingly tough position with various algorithm changes. Last year, the social network began testing a new idea, splitting the news feed into two, one for ‘friends and family' …
Read More »The Left 4 Dead 3 Facebook tease was fake, Valve has updated the Left 4 Dead website
Update (13/02/18): Over the weekend, someone managed to get the rumor mill swirling by hijacking the Left 4 Dead 2 Facebook page link. The troll in question managed to assign the link to a fake personal page for Valve developer, Ted Carson, who has been tied to Left 4 Dead …
Read More »Facebook managed to cut the time its users spent on the platform by 50 million hours in Q4 2017
Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg announced on Wednesday that Facebook has managed to cut the time its users spend on the platform by 5%, which is roughly 50 million hours a day total during its fourth quarter. This is just the beginning, however, as Zuckerberg has more features in the works …
Read More »Facebook bans cryptocurrency ads following a surge of scams
Over the course of 2017, the cryptocurrency market boomed with Bitcoin reaching heights of $20,000. This has caused a surge of interest in Bitcoin and other forms of digital currency, with many more companies and a few scam artists advertising heavily across the web to lure new people in with …
Read More »Facebook to improve its livestreaming features, enticing more content creators
Just as Twitch is pushing on YouTube’s turf by introducing its own on-demand video feature, it seems that Facebook is pushing into Twitch’s territory. Its new Gaming Creator Pilot Program is aimed towards gaming broadcasters on the social media site, with its tools set to be showcased this weekend. Facebook …
Read More »Even Facebook thinks Facebook is bad for your health
Last week, former Vice President for growth at Facebook, Chamath Palihapitiya came out against the platform, stating that it tears society apart. Now, it seems that Facebook itself thinks it’s bad for your health, but it has steps in place to help with that. Facebook has taken a lot of …
Read More »Facebook responds to ex-employee’s expression that social media tears apart society
Facebook has been stepping up its effort in many departments this year, from password recovery to its attack on fake or promoted news. One ex-employee, however, is more concerned over Facebook’s contribution to social media tearing apart society. Former Vice President for growth at Facebook, Chamath Palihapitiya spoke to Stanford …
Read More »New Facebook tool will enable users to see propaganda pages they’ve liked
Just last week, Facebook announced that it will add ‘trust indicators’ to combat the spreading of false information. Further progressing on its plans to ‘combat fake news and propaganda’, the social media page is now adding a tool to allow users to identify whether or not they have interacted with …
Read More »Facebook is missing the option to delete posts on desktop
By now, Facebook users are accustomed to jarring changes every once in a while, often resulting you hating your own force of habit due to buttons shifting around. This time, the company has decided to take an entire button away, leaving many unable to delete their own posts from the …
Read More »Facebook is adding ‘trust indicators’ to combat the spreading of false information
Over the last year, the idea of ‘fake news' has become a hot button issue on social media, with politicians calling for the likes of Facebook, Twitter and Google to combat the spreading of false information. Now Facebook is stepping up to the plate with ‘trust indicators', intended to identify …
Read More »Facebook adding security to combat fake news and propaganda
Facebook owner, Mark Zuckerberg took to the company’s earnings call earlier today to announce that it has exceeded $10 billion in quarterly revenue, thanks to its 500 million users. It wasn’t all sunshines and rainbows, however, as Zuckerberg swiftly moved onto the topic of security, discussing the future of the …
Read More »WhatsApp now lets you delete sent messages
Since being acquired by Facebook in 2014, many of WhatsApp’s feature updates have revolved around encryption and bolstering user privacy. Over the last week, the messaging service took another step in that direction by rolling out a feature to all users, allowing them to revoke sent messages. WhatsApp has been …
Read More »Facebook’s new ‘explore tab’ test is worrying for publishers
It is no secret that Facebook has been putting publishers in a tough position over the last few years. Constant news algorithm changes make it difficult for publishers to get their content seen without ‘boosting’ specific posts and now, it seems that Facebook is testing a new way of displaying …
Read More »Oculus wants its wireless Santa Cruz VR headset in developers hands next year
Last year, Oculus demonstrated a prototype for its own wireless headset, dubbed Santa Cruz. Developers excited at the prospect of the standalone headset can rejoice, as Facebook announced at its Connect event that it could be in their hands “next year,” and will make use of new positionally tracked controllers. …
Read More »Oculus is launching a $199 standalone VR headset
Oculus Connect kicked off earlier this evening, leading to plenty of VR news. Not only has Facebook announced that the Oculus Rift CV1 and Touch bundle received a permanent price cut, but the company has also announced a brand new headset. It’s called ‘Oculus Go’ and it is indeed the …
Read More »Microsoft and Facebook complete trans-Atlantic high-speed data cable
For the past two years, Microsoft and Facebook have been working with telecoms infrastructure company Telxius on a huge 4,100 mile long sub-sea cable for high-end data transmission. The cable, known as Marea, has been installed across the Atlantic Ocean, offering 160 terabits of data per second by 2018. With …
Read More »Facebook shuts down ad targeting due to hate speech filter
Facebook has had a lot of difficulties developing its AI, particularly in its inability to discern hate speech. This has now resulted in the social media giant having to temporarily suspend advertisers from targeting people via employer or education, as the AI continued to let keywords like “Jew hater” slip …
Read More »Facebook enter the modular device world with mysterious patent
The idea of a modular smartphone has been around for a while, with many big name brands trying to tackle the ambitious journey to bring it to life. These projects have always come to an abrupt and disappointing end, but where companies like Google and LG have failed, Facebook plans …
Read More »Oculus to launch $200 standalone/wireless Rift headset
While the current Oculus Rift might be at its cheapest price ever, the current headset still isn't quite ready for the ‘mass market'. To combat this, a standalone, wireless version of the Oculus Rift has been in the works for a little while now and according to reports this week, …
Read More »Facebook Messenger to begin showing ads globally
Last year, Facebook forced mobile users to move over to a separate messenger app for private messages. In January, the reasoning behind this became more clear, with Facebook announcing that it would begin showing adverts within the messenger app. In-app ads have been tested in a handful of countries but …
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