Tue, 21-Oct-2025

WhatsApp is developing a new private newsletter feature

WhatsApp

WhatsApp is reportedly working on a private newsletter feature. The tool will most likely be a new way to receive useful updates from individuals or groups. The messaging platform unveiled new status features such as “Voice Status” and “Status Reactions”. WhatsApp, which is owned by Meta, is apparently working on a new private newsletter feature … Read more

Elon Musk says ‘inevitable’ as Meta unveils paid verification on FB, Insta

Elon Musk

Musk called the new paid verification for Instagram and Facebook “inevitable” in response to Meta’s announcement. “ Meta revealed that it is testing premium Instagram and Facebook verification for $11.99 per month for the web. Several users criticized the idea, with one saying it is a waste of money. Twitter CEO Elon Musk called the … Read more

Meta to test monthly subscription service priced at $11.99

Meta

Meta Platforms is testing a monthly subscription service called Meta Verified. The service will allow users to verify their accounts with a government ID and receive a blue badge. The service will be launched in Australia and New Zealand this week. Meta Platforms (META.O) stated on Sunday that it is piloting a monthly subscription service … Read more

Mark Zuckerberg security allowance increased by $4 million by Meta

Mark Zuckerberg

Meta Platforms Inc. increased Mark Zuckerberg’s security allowance by $4 million to $14 million. Zuckerberg has cut thousands of jobs and trimmed expenditure projections. Meta has yet to reveal his salary for last year. Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) announced on Wednesday that it had increased the security allowance paid to CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg … Read more

WhatsApp allows users to record videos hands-free on iOS beta

WhatsApp videos

WhatsApp is rolling out a new camera mode that allows users to capture videos hands-free on the iOS beta. The new camera option will be available to more customers in the coming days. Users can now easily switch to video mode with a tap and record videos hands-free by tapping and holding. WhatsApp, which is … Read more

WhatsApp may soon allow users to schedule calls within group chats

WhatsApp calls

WhatsApp is developing a new feature that will allow users to arrange calls within group chats. This feature will be useful for users who frequently call the same person. The option to plan a call within group chats is presently in development. WhatsApp, which is owned by Meta, is apparently preparing a new feature that … Read more

WhatsApp will allow users to ‘pin messages’ within chats and groups

WhatsApp pin messages

WhatsApp is working on a feature that would allow users to pin messages within conversations and groups. This feature makes it easier for users to find essential messages in a conversation. The feature will be included in a future app version. WhatsApp, which is owned by Meta, consistently releases the greatest updates for its users, … Read more

WhatsApp is developing a calling shortcut feature for Android

WhatsApp new feature

WhatsApp preparing a new feature that will allow users to create calling shortcuts. The feature will allow you to create a calling shortcut by simply touching the contact cell within the list of contacts. The new calling shortcut will be added to the user’s device’s home screen. WhatsApp, which is owned by Meta, is apparently … Read more

WhatsApp is facing global privacy setting problem on iOS 

WhatsApp

WhatsApp is experiencing a server-side issue that makes it impossible to adjust the privacy setting. The company has yet to issue an official statement or provide any information about the cause of the problem. This downtime is not the result of a faulty update. WhatsApp, owned by Meta, is experiencing a server-side issue that makes … Read more

Social media apps by Meta back online after brief outage: Downdetector

meta social media apps

Social media apps by Meta appear to be back online in the United States. The social networking apps from Meta Platforms Inc experienced a brief outage on Wednesday. Downdetector keeps track of outages for big tech platforms. The social media apps from Meta Platforms Inc, which experienced a brief outage on Wednesday in the United … Read more

Social media apps by Meta down for thousands of users: Downdetector.com

meta social media apps

Social media apps by Meta Platforms Inc. were unavailable for thousands of users in the US. Downdetector.com says around 13,000 occurrences involving the Facebook app. Earlier Microsoft had a networking outage that affected millions of customers worldwide. According to the outage monitoring website Downdetector.com, Meta Platforms Inc.’s (META.O) social media apps were unavailable on Wednesday … Read more

WhatsApp fined €5.5 million for GDPR violations

WhatsApp

WhatsApp has been fined €5.5 million by Ireland’s DPC for violating the GDPR. Facebook’s parent company intends to appeal such a judgment. According to the complainant, this is a major violation of GDPR rules. WhatsApp’s platform has been fined a whopping €5.5 million for GDPR violations. The incident occurred when a user in Germany filed … Read more

WhatsApp starts testing new feature, voice recordings as status updates

WhatsApp voice status

WhatsApp beta users can now share voice notes as status updates. Voice notes sent via status will be deleted after 24 hours. A voice note can only be recorded for 30 seconds. San Francisco: Meta-owned messaging network WhatsApp is reportedly launching a new “voice status updates” feature on Android beta, allowing users to submit voice … Read more

Samsung predicts a 69% decline in profits

Samsung

Samsung is expected to release its complete financial statement soon. Due to worldwide inflation, global technology titans have recently taken a hit. The final three months of 2022 are projected to see Samsung’s profits decline by 69% The final three months of 2022 are projected to see Samsung’s profits decline by 69% to their lowest … Read more

Son sues Meta for father’s death in Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Abrham Meareg’s father died in the civil war. The case has been submitted to the High Court of Kenya. A judicial complaint asserts that Facebook’s algorithm played a role in contributing to the widespread dissemination of hatred and violence during Ethiopia‘s civil war. Abrham Meareg, whose father was an Ethiopian academic who was assaulted in … Read more

WhatsApp introduced feature that allows users to find, message, and buy 

WhatsApp

Users of WhatsApp now have the option to Find, Message, and Buy something. Customers can use this to securely pay with their credit or debit card. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, made the announcement. At the first WhatsApp Business Summit in Brazil, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of the platform’s parent company, Meta, made the announcement. Users … Read more

Facebook, owned by Meta, will reduce its employment by 13%

Facebook Meta

Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp owner Meta has announced that it will reduce its employees by 13%. From a total of 87,000 employees worldwide, 11,000 will lose their employment as a result of the company’s first major layoffs. The adjustments, according to Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive of Meta, were “the most challenging changes we’ve ever done.” … Read more

Facebook owner Mark Zuckerberg is expected to announce a lot of job cuts

Mark Zuckerberg

Meta, the company that owns Facebook, is rumoured to be planning to lay off thousands of employees this week. CEO Mark Zuckerberg expects certain teams to “stay flat or shrink” next year. Meta employs 87,000 people across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Meta, the company that owns Facebook, is rumoured to be planning to lay off … Read more

Instagram, Twitter account of Kanye West restricted

kanye west

Kanye West’s Twitter and Instagram accounts were suspended over the weekend. The social media platforms stated that they had removed the rapper’s anti-Semitic messages. Twitter confirmed Sunday that his account was likewise locked. Twitter and Instagram accounts of Kanye West were suspended over the weekend, with the social media platforms stating that they had removed … Read more

Facebook will soon let users “Show More” or “Show Less” of a feed content

Facebook feed content

Facebook will soon give users the option to “Show More” or “Show Less” of a certain post in their feeds. Facebook will use data from both options to make a rating score for each post on the platform. Users can also see more posts from friends and family and less from pages and groups. Facebook, … Read more

Meta launches new tool that turns texts into video

Meta launches tool that generates videos from text
  • Zuckerberg’s Meta has developed an AI that can produce videos using straightforward language instructions.
  • Make-A-Video system “understands motion in the actual environment and applies it to traditional text-to-image generation”.
  • The tech behemoth has not yet specified when the tool would be accessible to the general public.

According to Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, the company has developed an AI that can produce videos using straightforward language instructions. This AI has been used to establish a new tool for producing art.

The CEO described the tool’s outcomes as “quite outstanding” and highly impressive.

The artificial intelligence in the Make-A-Video system “understands motion in the actual environment and applies it to traditional text-to-image generation,” using already-existing images.

In a statement, Zuckerberg added, “You give it a text description, and it makes a movie for you.”

In the past, it has been particularly challenging to create video since the AI must not only create pixels but also anticipate how they will change over time.

By including “unsupervised learning” as a feature, this issue is resolved.

The tech behemoth has not yet specified when the tool would be accessible to the general public or whether there will be requirements such as joining up for the system or subscribing.

The business did promise to shortly release demos.

There are always moral quandaries surrounding AI given the potential for its abuse in disinformation and deep fakes.

Meta proposed adding a watermark to the videos produced by Make-A-Video as a fix.

To make sure that each step of release is safe and deliberate, Meta added, “for the time being we will continue to evaluate, test, and try Make-A-Video.”

 

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Facebook looks to reopen offices in Pakistan

Facebook looks to reopen offices in Pakistan
  • Facebook representatives reportedly discussed opening local offices in Pakistan with the director of the FIA.
  • Pakistan currently has over 40 million Facebook users and anticipates its internet user base to quadruple in the next years.
  • Officials from the social network company promised that they will soon visit the country.

Facebook, which is owned by Meta, has been requested to reopen offices in Pakistan, much like it has in other countries like India.

Facebook representatives have vowed to visit Pakistan shortly after being contacted by the Pakistani authorities about the situation.

The invitation was sent out during a meeting between Meta representatives from Romania and Federal Minister for Information Technology (IT) Syed Aminul Haq.

For the Ministerial Conference of the International Telecommunication Union, around 186 ministerial delegations assembled in the European country (ITU PP-22). Romania’s capital city of Bucharest hosted the summit.

The IT Minister mentioned during the conference that Pakistan currently has over 40 million Facebook users and anticipates its internet user base to quadruple in the next years.

Employees at Meta expressed happiness with Pakistan’s internet development and pointed out that the number of Facebook users in that nation has increased significantly in recent years.

The IT Minister used the chance to request that Facebook establish local offices in Pakistan.

Officials from the massive social network company promised that they will soon visit the nation.

It’s important to note that this is not the first time a report of this kind has appeared.

Facebook representatives reportedly discussed opening local offices in Pakistan with the director of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) earlier this year.

Both parties apparently spoke for more than 3.5 hours, covering a wide range of topics.

The Director made it plain that, like other South Asian nations like India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh, creating a local office in Pakistan was a prerequisite for Facebook.

Later, the FIA refuted rumors that Facebook intended to set up shop in Pakistan.

Later that day, the agency released a press release claiming that all such accusations are unfounded and unconfirmed.

 

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TikTok accused of being more lenient with popular accounts

TikTok popular accounts

Company has an internal feature called “creator labels”. This goes against the company’s Community Guidelines. TikTok doesn’t have any moderation queues based on the number of followers. TikTok is one of the most popular apps right now, but it sometimes gets in trouble for something bad. For example, a few months ago, it was accused … Read more

YouTube, Meta to expand policies, inquiry to fight online extremism

Meta policies

YouTube will remove violent content even if the creators aren’t affiliated with a terrorist group. Microsoft will give schools and smaller groups a basic version of its artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning tools. Major tech companies pledged to remove more violent content and promote media literacy with young users as part of a White … Read more

Meta donates Rs 125 M for flood victims in Pakistan

Meta donates Rs 125 M for flood victims
  • Over a million dollars have been generated by communities on multiple Meta-owned sites.
  • The contribution will help students in Sindh, Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan return to school.
  • The funds will be used to renovate schools, provide cleanliness and health with dignity kits, and support life skills programs.

The parent company of Facebook, Meta, announced on Wednesday that it would provide Rs125 million to UNICEF, Hands, and Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) to aid communities affected by the floods in Pakistan.

The contribution will help students in Sindh, Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan return to school while also supporting emergency aid, food, water, and sanitation.

When the flooding started prior to the donation, Facebook’s Safety Check tool was activated, enabling users to notify friends and family that they were safe.

Additionally, a crisis page was created where individuals may utilize the Community Help function to solicit and provide assistance from other communities.

“One of the worst natural disasters we have ever witnessed is currently occurring in Pakistan.”

“The entire country is coming together to support the millions of people who are impacted during this trying time.”

“We hope that the people affected by the disaster can benefit from our donations, and we are thinking about these families and towns as they work to rebuild,” said Jordi Fornies, Director for Emerging Markets, Asia-Pacific at Meta.

Furthermore, Meta’s “Data for Good” initiative started its Disaster Maps program and is currently supplying information to local response partners.

One of those partners, CrisisReady (a Direct Relief and Harvard University partnership), has concentrated on merging data sources into situation reports that are used every day by thousands of first responders on the ground.

The President and CEO of UNICEF USA, Michael J. Nyenhuis, expressed his gratitude to Meta for all of the assistance.

“Millions of people, including children, have been severely impacted by the relentless monsoon rains over the past few weeks, which have severely damaged or entirely washed away people’s homes.”

“We urgently need assistance to continue our relief work in Pakistan and support for children and their families as winter approaches in various areas of the nation in the coming weeks.”

Over a million dollars have been generated by communities on multiple Meta-owned sites for charities supporting flood relief efforts.

Leading NGOs from all across the world have also successfully raised significant funds using Facebook and Instagram.

Baela Raza Jamil, CEO of ITA, commented on the news, saying, “We will renovate schools, guarantee 2nd Chance Accelerated learning programs with life skills (psychosocial support, climate change, and digital literacy), and provide cleanliness and health with dignity kits.”

“By addressing homes, communities, schools, parents, kids, and especially adolescent girls and teachers entrenched inside government institutions for effective emergency response and preparedness, this is a complete and inclusive strategy to #BuildingBackBetter.”

Meta is constantly looking into new ways to help not just families in the damaged areas, but also NGOs and other causes in their endeavors.

 

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Google, Meta penalized over privacy violations by South Korea

Google Meta penalized over privacy violations by South Korea
  • Google and Meta have been fined $71 million ($49.7 million and $22.1 million) for violating South Korean data protection laws.
  • This is the biggest data protection fine ever levied in the country.
  • The fines were imposed by the country’s Personal Information Protection Commission.

According to regulators, South Korea has penalized Google and Meta a total of more than $71 million for collecting customers’ personal information without their knowledge in order to deliver customized advertisements.

This is the biggest data protection fine ever levied in the country.

According to the Personal Information Protection Commission, investigations into the two US IT behemoths revealed that they had been “gathering and analyzing” information on their users and keeping tabs on how they were using their websites and applications.

It said that neither Google nor Meta had clearly disclosed this practice to South Korean consumers or gotten their prior agreement.

Instead, it claimed that the data was used to “infer the users’ interests or used for customized online adverts”.

Google and Meta each received fines of 69.2 billion won ($49.7 million) and 30.8 billion won ($22.1 million), respectively.

The commission declared in a statement that the fine was “the greatest for a violation of the Personal Information Protection Act.”

Regulators claimed that the majority of South Korean users — 82% for Google and 98% for Meta — had unintentionally permitted companies to collect information about their internet behavior.

The statement stated that “it may be said that the probability and risk of infringing on users’ rights are significant.”

For abusing its control in the mobile operating system and app marketplaces last year, South Korea fined Google about $180 million, claiming it was undermining market competition.

Massive US technology giants are frequently criticized for edging away competitors to dominate markets, and numerous governments throughout the world are working to curb them in.

The European Union has targeted Apple and Microsoft in addition to punishing Google with historically high antitrust fines.

 

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