INSIDER
Meta lays off staff at WhatsApp and Instagram to align with 'strategic goals'
Read full article: Meta lays off staff at WhatsApp and Instagram to align with 'strategic goals'Meta says it has laid off some employees, including staff at WhatsApp And Instagram, to realign its resources with its “strategic goals.”.
Iranian hackers targeted WhatsApp accounts of staffers in Biden, Trump administrations, Meta says
Read full article: Iranian hackers targeted WhatsApp accounts of staffers in Biden, Trump administrations, Meta saysThe same Iranian hacking group believed to have targeted both the Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns have tried to go after the WhatsApp accounts of staffers in the administrations of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
Latino voters are coveted by both major parties. They also are a target for election misinformation
Read full article: Latino voters are coveted by both major parties. They also are a target for election misinformationExperts expect a surge of misinformation targeting Spanish-speaking voters with a high-stakes presidential election in the fall as candidates vie for support from the rapidly growing number of Latino voters.
Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Threads logins restored after widespread outage
Read full article: Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Threads logins restored after widespread outageA technical issue had caused widespread login issues for more than an hour across Meta’s Facebook, Instagram, Threads and Messenger platforms on Tuesday.
In rural Zimbabwe, a group of grandmothers counters alleged election intimidation, bias on WhatsApp
Read full article: In rural Zimbabwe, a group of grandmothers counters alleged election intimidation, bias on WhatsAppAhead of national elections next week, some people in Zimbabwe's rural areas say they are facing intimidation from supporters of the long-ruling ZANU-PF party and a biased state-run media that restricts their options.
UK court rejects a government bid to withhold Boris Johnson's messages from a COVID-19 inquiry
Read full article: UK court rejects a government bid to withhold Boris Johnson's messages from a COVID-19 inquiryA U.K. court has rejected the British government’s request to keep former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s unredacted WhatsApp messages and diaries from being made public at an official COVID-19 inquiry.
Migrants in Mexico fall victim to rampant scams on their way to the US
Read full article: Migrants in Mexico fall victim to rampant scams on their way to the USSocial media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp and TikTok serve as a vehicle for deception, misinformation and scams aimed at migrants seeking a better life for them and their families in the United States.
UK government refuses to hand over Boris Johnson's unredacted messages to coronavirus inquiry
Read full article: UK government refuses to hand over Boris Johnson's unredacted messages to coronavirus inquiryThe British government is resisting an order to hand over a sheaf of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s personal messages to the country’s COVID-19 pandemic inquiry.
Robbers armed with rifles ambush 21-year-old selling iPad for extra cash to support himself, his pregnant wife
Read full article: Robbers armed with rifles ambush 21-year-old selling iPad for extra cash to support himself, his pregnant wifeHouston police are looking for two men who were seen on surveillance camera using rifles to rob 21-year-old Eduardo Zavala early this year.
Report: Croatian officials shared information on migrants
Read full article: Report: Croatian officials shared information on migrantsAn independent investigative group has accused Croatian officials and police of using a clandestine WhatsApp group to share sensitive information about migrants trying to enter the country.
Ireland's WhatsApp penalty highlights EU privacy turmoil
Read full article: Ireland's WhatsApp penalty highlights EU privacy turmoilIreland has fined WhatsApp for breaching strict European Union privacy rules by forcing users to consent to allow their personal data to be used to provide “service improvements and security.”.
WhatsApp says service back after outage disrupts messages
Read full article: WhatsApp says service back after outage disrupts messagesWhatsApp said service on the popular chat app has been restored following a brief outage that left people around the world complaining that they couldn’t send or receive messages.
KPRC 2 Investigates: What you should check before downloading apps to your device
Read full article: KPRC 2 Investigates: What you should check before downloading apps to your deviceWe’ve told you about hackers taking over cell phones and apps to drain bank accounts. Or, how they can even copy the caller ID to make it look like someone you know is calling asking for money. Now, a warning about the popular WhatsApp messaging platform. Plus, we will tell you what all device users should know before downloading any app.
For many Haitian migrants, journey to Texas started online
Read full article: For many Haitian migrants, journey to Texas started onlineFor the final leg of his journey from Chile to the United States, Haitian migrant Fabricio Jean followed detailed instructions sent to him via WhatsApp from his brother in New Jersey who had recently taken the route to the Texas border.
WhatsApp faces EU consumer complaint over privacy update
Read full article: WhatsApp faces EU consumer complaint over privacy updateFacebook’s WhatsApp faces a complaint from European Union consumer groups who say the chat service has been unfairly pressuring users to accept a new privacy update, in a breach of the bloc’s regulations.
WhatsApp sues Indian government over new internet rules
Read full article: WhatsApp sues Indian government over new internet rulesThe messaging app WhatsApp has sued the Indian government seeking to defend its users' privacy and stop new rules that would require it to make messages “traceable” for external parties.
German watchdog bans Facebook from processing WhatsApp data
Read full article: German watchdog bans Facebook from processing WhatsApp dataA German privacy regulator banned Facebook on Tuesday from gathering data on WhatsApp users, citing an update to its privacy policy that breaches stringent European data protection rules by allowing access to a lot more information on the chat app’s users.
These are 14 apps Harris County law enforcement agency says parents should be aware of
Read full article: These are 14 apps Harris County law enforcement agency says parents should be aware ofThere are some apps parents may need to be aware about. 4 Mark Herman posted on their Facebook and Twitter feeds a list of 14 apps parents should be concerned about, as kids and teens may have those installed on their smartphones. HOLLA - An “addicting” video message app that brings kids and teens to meet strangers from all over the world. Burn Book - An app that allows users to post anonymous audio messages, texts and photos. What other apps should parents be aware of that are not on this list?
WhatsApp growth slumps as rivals Signal, Telegram rise
Read full article: WhatsApp growth slumps as rivals Signal, Telegram riseFILE - This Friday, March 10, 2017, file photo shows the WhatsApp communications app on a smartphone, in New York. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison, File)OAKLAND, Calif. – Encrypted messaging apps Signal and Telegram are seeing huge upticks in downloads from Apple and Google’s app stores. Mobile app analytics firm Sensor Tower said Wednesday that Signal saw 17.8 million app downloads on Apple and Google during the week of Jan. 5 to Jan. 12. WhatsApp, meanwhile, saw downloads shrink to 10.6 million, down from 12.7 million the week before. In that same period Telegram has seen about 755.2 million installations and WhatsApp a whopping 5.6 billion — almost eight times as many as Telegram.
Q&A: What's next for Facebook in the antitrust case?
Read full article: Q&A: What's next for Facebook in the antitrust case?Whatever happens, experts expect a long-drawn out battle that Facebook is prepared to defend vigorously — and with enormous resources. Facebook insists that its services provide useful benefits for users and that complaints about its power are misguided. Justice Department prosecutors are pursuing a separate antitrust case against Google, one that mirrors its case against Microsoft 20 years ago. Facebook doesn't operate the three companies as separate businesses and has been integrating functions of Instagram and WhatsApp with its main platform. While some original Instagram users deride the additions, others have come to appreciate them — and might miss them if they were to disappear.
US antitrust siege of tech widens with lawsuits vs Facebook
Read full article: US antitrust siege of tech widens with lawsuits vs FacebookThe antitrust lawsuits were announced by the Federal Trade Commission and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Regulators filed landmark antitrust lawsuits Wednesday against Facebook, the second major government offensive this year against once seemingly untouchable tech behemoths. Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple have come under scrutiny from Congress, federal regulators, state attorneys general and European authorities. “The government now wants a do-over, sending a chilling warning to American business that no sale is ever final,” Facebook general counsel Jennifer Newstead said in a statement. Antitrust skeptics point to newer social media services such as TikTok and Snapchat as rivals that could “overtake” older platforms like Facebook.
US govt, states bring antitrust action against Facebook
Read full article: US govt, states bring antitrust action against FacebookWASHINGTON – Federal regulators asked Wednesday for Facebook to be ordered to divest its Instagram and WhatsApp messaging services as the U.S. government and 48 states and districts accused the company of abusing its market power in social networking to crush smaller competitors. The antitrust lawsuits were announced by the Federal Trade Commission and New York Attorney General Letitia James. “It’s really critically important that we block this predatory acquisition of companies and that we restore confidence to the market,” James said during a press conference announcing the lawsuit. In its lawsuit, the FTC is seeking the separation of the services from Facebook, saying Facebook has engaged in a “a systematic strategy” to eliminate its competition, including by purchasing smaller up-and-coming rivals like Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014. Facebook did not have immediate comment.