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  1. Anushe Fawaz
    Turkish authorities force Meta to pay $160,000 daily amidst ongoing investigations by Anushe Fawaz In October 2022, Turkish competition authorities charged Meta Platforms with a hefty penalty. Previously, it also conducted investigations in 2021 into Meta-owned platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook. The main issue between Meta and Turkish authorities was that they considered the tech giant to be destructive to competition. Turkish authorities suggested that Meta blocks competitors in the social network and online video advertising industry by combining the data it gathers from its social media platforms. The Turkish authorities argued that Meta had violated the competition law. In 2022, they charged the company a total of 346.72 million lira or around $18.63 million, according to the exchange rate that year. Today, according to Reuters, the Turkish authorities have placed another fine on the tech giant. The latest fine is worth 4.8 million lira ($160,160.16) per day. According to the Turkish competition board, Meta failed to provide sufficient documentation regarding the 2022 investigations. The board required Meta to provide the steps and compliance measures the company was taking to ensure it did not monopolize the online video advertising industry. It needed to prove to the watchdogs that it was not violating the competition laws of the country. The board argued that it did not find the provided evidence sufficient and charged the fine that had to be paid daily starting Dec 12, 2023. At the same time, it announced that it would be initiating a deeper investigation into Instagram and Threads. It wanted to find out whether Meta enjoyed an unfair advantage by tying its latest social media app, Threads, with Instagram. On July 6, Meta announced that users could not delete their Threads accounts without deleting their Instagram accounts. This attracted concerns from users and the company tried to make changes. Finally, on November 14, 2023, the company announced that it was working on a new feature that lets users delete their accounts separately without letting the Threads account affect the one on Instagram. Nevertheless, it continued to attract suspicion from the Turkish authorities. Source: Reuters
  2. zikalify
    Meta begins rolling out E2E encryption on Messenger chats and calls by Paul Hill Meta’s Messenger is one of the world’s most common ways to send messages with contacts, now the company has said it will roll out end-to-end (E2E) encryption for all personal chats and calls on Messenger and Facebook. To be clear, encryption has been available on these platforms for a while but this latest news means the feature is switched on by default for personal messages and calls. Under the new scheme, messages that you send are protected from the moment they leave your device to the moment they reach your contact’s device, preventing any middlemen, including Meta, from seeing what you said. In the past when messaging clients had or added encryption, it sometimes meant a more restrictive experience in terms of features. With this launch, Meta said that users will retain familiar features like themes and custom reactions but will also get a bunch of new features too including edited and disappearing messages, read receipts control, improved photo and video sending, and improved voice messaging. With message editing, Meta is striking a balance. You will only be able to edit messages for 15 minutes after sending them and if you want to report someone’s original message before they edited it then Meta will be able to read the message edit history. With disappearing messages, they will now last 24 hours after being sent and the chat interface has been updated to inform users that the messages will disappear. As for read receipts control, you’ll be able to decide if you want to let others see that you’ve read their messages. This will reduce the pressure to respond to people right away if you don’t feel like it. When you get the update, you’ll also benefit from higher image quality and improved responding or reacting to any photo or video in a collection. Meta said it’s also testing HD media and file sharing improvements with some users and plans to scale this in the coming months. Finally, Meta said that voice messaging is the fastest growing messaging format today and with this update you’ll be able to listen at 1.5x and 2x speeds as well as begin listening where you left so you can pick up again if you have to leave the app. The roll out will take several months until everyone gets it but when you do, you’ll need to set up a recovery method, such as a pin, to restore your messages if you lose, change, or add a device.
  3. Qblade_
    New Mexico attorney general accuses Meta of creating a marketplace for child predators by Mehrotra A Facebook and Instagram's parent company Meta is in hot water again over child safety as the New Mexico attorney general files a lawsuit alleging that the company is promoting accounts of child predators. In a report published by The Wall Street Journal (Paywall), the lawsuit claims that both Facebook and Instagram actively promote content and accounts that could harm teens. The report notes that the attorney general's office conducted an experiment where they created teen or preteen test accounts on the platform. They bypassed Meta's age restrictions by inputting adult birth dates but made sure the content posted online was indicative of something posted by teens, including posting about losing a tooth and getting into seventh grade. Furthermore, the AG's office used AI to generate account profile photos. The AG's office noted that the accounts included explicit images, texts, and even sexual propositions from strangers, not to mention that Meta's algorithm recommended sexual content to the test accounts. One test account claiming to be a 13-year-old got more than 6,700 followers, most of whom were men. They received messages from strangers asking for WhatsApp, Telegram, and Kik contact details or to meet them offline. The account also received messages "filled with pictures and videos of genitalia, including exposed penises, which she received at least 3-4 times per week". Not only that, but just days after setting up the account, investigators were suggested to follow an account with over 119k followers that posted adult porn. According to the lawsuit, the AG's office attempted to report the content to Meta but was “advised that it found no violation of Community Standards”. Meta’s platforms Facebook and Instagram are a breeding ground for predators who target children for human trafficking, the distribution of sexual images, grooming, and solicitation. Teens and preteens can easily register for unrestricted accounts because of a lack of age verification. When they do, Meta directs harmful and inappropriate material at them. A Meta spokesperson told The Wall Street Journal that the company uses technologies to prevent teens from accessing explicit content. We use sophisticated technology, hire child safety experts, report content to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and share information and tools with other companies and law enforcement, including state attorneys general, to help root out predators. New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez says that Meta is downplaying the dangers that children face on its social media platform and is trading the safety of children for profits. Meta is also facing lawsuits for negatively impacting the mental health of youths. Earlier this year, various child safety groups urged Meta to stop the Metaverse rollout to minors.
  4. Karthik Mudaliar
    Europe org says Meta breaches consumer laws with its ad-free subscription, files complaint by Karthik Mudaliar The European Consumer Organization (BEUC), along with 19 of its members, filed a complaint against Meta for engaging in "unfair commercial practices". This complaint is targeted towards Meta's recent ad-free subscription plan launched in Europe for its Instagram and Facebook platforms. According to Meta, the subscription was announced to comply with the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Digital Markets Act which limits how much personal data an online service can take with an ad-supported free version. Ursula Pachl, Deputy Director General of the BEUC, said: “The choice the tech giant is currently providing to consumers is unfair and illegal – the millions of European users of Facebook and Instagram deserve far better than this. Meta is breaching EU consumer law by using unfair, deceptive and aggressive practices, including partially blocking consumers from using the services to force them to take a decision quickly, and providing misleading and incomplete information in the process. Consumer protection authorities in the EU must now spring into action and force the tech giant to stop this practice. The company’s approach also raises concerns regarding the GDPR.” The BEUC claims that Meta is forcing users to "either consent to the processing of their data for advertising purposes by the company or pay in order not to be shown advertisements". It is doing so by blocking their use of Facebook and Instagram until they have selected one option, creating a sense of urgency, which is considered an aggressive practice under European consumer law. The organization also said that by opting for a paid subscription, consumers may believe that they will receive a privacy-friendly option with less tracking and profiling. However, it is likely that users' data might still be collected for purposes other than ads on Meta's platforms. Meta's ad-free subscription costs €9.99 a month on the web or €12.99 a month on the Facebook or Instagram iOS and Android apps. Meta says that these prices are in line with what YouTube, Spotify, and Netflix offer as part of their subscriptions in the region. via: Reuters
  5. Chasethebase
    Threads rolling out a new feature to delete accounts separately from Instagram by Steve Bennett Meta's Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, has shared a post on Threads regarding some upcoming updates to the app which are primarily focused on user account management and privacy. One of these is something that has been requested ever since the launch of the site earlier this year as a competitor to X. Previously, user accounts on Threads were directly tied to Instagram accounts meaning that if you deleted your Threads account you would have to also delete your Instagram account. An upcoming update will change this. It will give users the ability to delete their Threads accounts without having to delete their Instagram accounts. This is something that Meta has been working on since late September when it was first spotted within the app, and then later confirmed by Meta during TechCrunch Disrupt, that this would be coming in the future. https://www.threads.net/@mosseri/post/Czmfy17SDfl Another update coming soon to the platform follows recent moves by Meta to publicize Threads posts on both Facebook and Instagram as a part of user feeds on both apps. Users were concerned that their Threads posts would be shared with users on Facebook and Instagram that they wouldn't necessarily want to see, and Meta has responded by adding toggles to disable post visibility on both platforms via user privacy settings in Threads. https://www.threads.net/@mosseri/post/CzmfziLSdEs Mosseri doesn't say when these updates will become visible to users, but you can expect them over the coming days. Meta is hoping that the continuous drive of adding new features to the platform and listening to user feedback is going to help it grow and thrive. Meta reported that the app has managed to achieve nearly 100 million monthly active users as of October 2023, which is impressive given that the app remains unavailable to EU citizens with no news on when the release will come.
  6. Chasethebase
    Meta announces plans to make advertisers disclose AI usage in political ads by Steve Bennett Meta has announced plans that it will begin to enforce new requirements on political advertisements on its platforms starting from the beginning of 2024, The Wall Street Journal reports. These new requirements are specifically around the use of AI to either create or digitally alter media that is used within ads on Facebook, Instagram and more. Examples that Meta specifically highlighted include advertisements where a real person is depicted saying or doing something that they didn't actually say or do, or the digital creation of a realistic-looking event or person, which either didn't occur or doesn't exist. Both of these types of advertisements could have the potential to be misleading or potentially harmful, which Meta aims to mitigate. There are certain requirements to this new policy which determine if the media in question is in scope of the declaration requirement, such as whether it is "immaterial" but if an advertiser doesn't make the disclosure then an ad is likely to be rejected. Advertisers who repeatedly fail to make the necessary disclosures will then incur penalties from Meta, which remain unspecified. Meta has also confirmed that the policy will not just apply to political advertisements, but also to topics and ads related to social issues as well. Additionally, Meta's own generative AI tools cannot be used by advertisers to make political ads. Given that the U.S. election season begins in January with the primary elections, this will be the first true test of the potential impact that generative AI can have on news and information that is spread across platforms around the world. This is the latest step in a wide range of measures taken by companies and governments to moderate and safeguard the use of AI across the world ever since ChatGPT first launched one year ago. Source: The Wall Street Journal
  7. Chasethebase
    Meta begins testing a ‘holiday bonus' for creators on Instagram and Facebook by Steve Bennett Meta has announced today that it will begin testing a holiday bonus (or year-end bonus) payment by invitation only in the United States, South Korea and Japan. Specific creators will be invited to test this feature until the end of 2023, and they can choose to activate it to begin monetising based on the number of reels plays and photo views gained during the bonus period, as long as it passes the standard content monetisation policies. In the same blog post, Meta goes on to announce that Instagram Subscriptions has passed 1 million active subscriptions on the platform, which recently launched in an additional 35 countries around the globe. Meta also announced today that new promotional tools will be enabled for creators to encourage the growth of subscriber communities, such as welcome messages via DMs and Stories, and highlighting the Subscribe button above posts in the feed. Facebook will also gain similar improvements, as well as Meta giving creators the ability to offer free 30-day subscription trials to fans. Meta also mentions that Instagram Gifts, a feature that allows creators to get support directly from fans, is now more widely available to creators in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Turkey. It also announces limited-time fall and holiday-themed gifts running from now until the end of the year on Facebook. The final announcement from today’s post is that Meta will be making it easier for creators to participate in ads, by showing additional ad eligibility information when creating Instagram Stories. If a creator selects the “Allow brand partner to boost” option, it will encourage them to address any ad eligibility errors in the content prior to posting.
  8. John Callaham
    Meta confirms plans to offer ad-free subscription plans for Facebook and Instagram in Europe by John Callaham Confirming previous rumors, Meta officially announced today that it will begin offering ad-free paid subscriptions for users of its Facebook and Instagram social networks in the European Union, the European Economic Area, and in Switzerland. The plans will go live starting in November. In its press release, Meta admits that it will be offering these plans in an attempt to comply with regulations like the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Digital Markets Act. Both of these laws limit how much personal data an online service can take with an ad-supported free service. Meta stated: We believe in an ad-supported internet, which gives people access to personalised products and services regardless of their economic status. It also allows small businesses to reach potential customers, grow their business and create new markets, driving growth in the European economy. And like other companies we’ll continue to advocate for an ad-supported internet, even with our new subscription offering in the EU, EEA and Switzerland. But we respect the spirit and purpose of these evolving European regulations, and are committed to complying with them. When the subscriptions go live, users in those areas can sign up for €9.99 a month on the web or €12.99 a month on the Facebook or Instagram iOS and Android apps. The plans will apply to all linked Facebook and Instagram accounts. On March 1, 2024, any additional accounts on a user's account center will cost €6 a month on the web and €8 a month on iOS and Android. The paid plans are for users 18 years of age and older. Meta says it is "continuing to explore how to provide teens with a useful and responsible ad experience given this evolving regulatory landscape." Meta says that people who stick with the current ad-based free option on Facebook and Instagram will continue to have the same experience
  9. Aditya Tiwari
    Meta reportedly baking an AI-powered writing assistant for Facebook by Aditya Tiwari Meta is reportedly working on a new writing assistant tool for Facebook, dubbed "Write with AI." The supposed screenshots of the unreleased tool were shared by Alessandro Paluzzi on the social networking platform X (formerly Twitter). Paluzzi has previously revealed several underdevelopment features such as Meta Verified feed and the company's AI chatbot that has multiple personalities. As per the screenshots, Write with AI will take text prompts from users and help them draft posts for Facebook. A 'Help me write' option will appear on the Create post interface that users can tap to trigger the assistant. pic.twitter.com/fnBbflz4e7 — Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) October 26, 2023 Users will be able to command Meta's writing assistant to fix grammar or stick to a particular tone such as funny, casual, or professional. One of the screenshots reads that the AI will "generate unique and personalized text to your posts," adding that Meta may use the text and prompts to improve its writing tool. #Facebook is working on "Write with #AI" 👀 pic.twitter.com/hyOVMeP1qS — Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) October 26, 2023 You should not confuse the writing assistant with the recently announced Meta AI chatbot that's currently in beta and available for Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram. It's a ChatGPT-style AI assistant that can interact with you and pull up information from the web. In addition to one-on-one conversations, Meta AI can also be a part of group conversations where it can drop relevant information in the chat. Meta has developed around 28 different AI personalities, each having its own style and specializing in different topics such as food, games, travel, humor, creativity, etc. We are yet to hear when (or if) the writing assistant will see the light of the day. But text-based writing assistants that are powered by generative AI are a common sight nowadays. For instance, LinkedIn launched AI tools for its users to improve their profile bio and write effective messages to hiring managers. Similarly, Grammarly has a writing assistant called GrammarlyGO. The company recently announced a feature that mimics the writing style and tone of its users and improves over time. You can also find generative AI-powered writing assistants in Google apps such as Gmail and Google Docs.
  10. Qblade_
    Over 40 states sue Meta for contributing to the youth mental health crisis by Mehrotra A Facebook's parent company Meta has come under fire as attorneys from multiple US states have filed lawsuits against the company for its role in the mental health crisis. A bipartisan group of 42 attorneys, which includes 33 states and nine attorneys general have filed various lawsuits against Meta claiming that the social media platform is harming the mental health of young kids. The lawsuit which was filed in the court of California notes that the company "repeatedly misled the public about the substantial dangers of its Social Media Platforms". It also claims that Meta knowingly designed features for Facebook and Instagram that created an addiction among kids and that the company routinely collected data on children under 13 without parental consent. Meta has harnessed powerful and unprecedented technologies to entice, engage, and ultimately ensnare youth and teens. Its motive is profit, and in seeking to maximize its financial gains, Meta has repeatedly misled the public about the substantial dangers of its social media platforms. It has concealed the ways in which these platforms exploit and manipulate its most vulnerable consumers: teenagers and children. Meta, on the other hand, has released a statement noting that it is disappointed with the decision to file lawsuits instead of working with it to address the concerns. We’re disappointed that instead of working productively with companies across the industry to create clear, age-appropriate standards for the many apps teens use, the attorneys general have chosen this path. The company also noted that it shares “the attorneys general’s commitment to providing teens with safe, positive experiences online, and have already introduced over 30 tools to support teens and their families.” This comes after an extensive investigation by The Wall Street Journal and whistleblower Frances Haugen which revealed that Meta knew about its platforms being a toxic place but did nothing to remedy the situation. Furthermore, New York State Attoney's office notes that "Meta’s own internal research documents show its awareness that its products harm young users. Indeed, internal studies that Meta commissioned — and kept private until they were leaked by a whistleblower and publicly reported — reveal that Meta has known for years about these serious harms associated with young users’ time spent on its platforms." The lawsuit seeks to force Meta to stop the harmful practices and clean its services, as well as pay penalities and restitution.
  11. zikalify
    Meta putting Threads posts in Facebook feeds to keep its X clone relevant by Paul Hill Meta has confirmed that it’s putting Threads posts into users’ Facebook feeds to help promote its new social network. The company confirmed the move on Threads when a user asked why Threads keep cropping up on their Facebook feed, they complained that they don’t want their Threads showing up in other people’s Facebook feeds. In response to this, the official Threads account said that the step was taken so that people can see the latest content from Threads directly on Facebook and Instagram. In response to the user’s concerns, the company said that “we’re listening to feedback like yours as we continue to build on this.” Many users complained in response to Meta about this change explaining that the people they have on Facebook are completely different to those they have on Facebook and for Threads to show up in Facebook could be a dealbreaker for them. https://www.threads.net/@threads/post/CyvzNdhuD39 According to Engadget, Facebook has been tying in content from its other platforms for years. It gave the example of Instagram Reels being inserted into Facebook feeds and allowing businesses on WhatsApp to buy ads that appear in Facebook feeds. The other integrations are apparently optional but the Threads appearing in Facebook are not. To strike a balance, and given Meta’s comments about listening to users, there’s a good chance that it will give people the ability to opt-out of the feature, but given Threads’ difficulty to remain relevant, the company probably won’t remove the integration altogether. As a bit of background, Threads was launched a few months ago by Meta to try and grab some of X’s disgruntled users. It initially gained a lot of attraction with Meta getting a lot of celebrities on the platform before it launched. Since then, the traffic has fallen quite a lot and Meta still faces competition from the likes of Mastodon and Bluesky. If Threads ever does become a popular platform, it seems like it will have to do so like other platforms; with slow natural growth over time. Source: Threads via Engadget
  12. Ishtiaqe Hanif
    Facebook and Instagram is finally getting themed Material icons for Android by Ishtiaqe Hanif Themed icons is a feature brought to Android by Google in Android 12, which was released back in October 2021. The theme support was updated to dynamically change with the system color based on the wallpaper and dark mode toggle. While many apps started supporting the themed icon feature for their app icon, some popular apps including Facebook and Instagram were left behind. The themed icon features in Android 12 and above are not supported in all devices and are subject to modifications done by the device manufacturer. You can expect to see the themed icons in stock Android devices including the Pixel series by Google and Samsung. Android 13 paved the way for 3rd party developers to join the bandwagon. Developers utilize the Material You design guideline to adapt their icon layers to be used for dynamic theming. The basic principle is to match the icon background with the system color and a contrasting shade is used for icon borders. This can be helpful to users who want all their icons to match the same color palette. Meta quietly added the Material You-themed icon support to its Facebook for Android app and immediately followed with another push for its Instagram for Android app. These updates come over a year after Meta added support for another app in its portfolio, WhatsApp. It received the theming support back in August 2022. To get the dynamic themed icon support for Facebook and Instagram, make sure your app is updated to the latest version above build number Facebook on Play Store v439 and Instagram on Play Store v307. You can also manually update to the latest version by downloading the APKs. Here are the APK links for Facebook and Instagram. You also have to make sure your device is Android 12 or above for these features to work. To enable Dynamic Theming, long press the home screen, select Wallpaper & Style. Then find Themed Icons toggle and enable. Via: Telegram
  13. zikalify
    Broadcast Channels coming to Facebook and Messenger by Paul Hill Meta has announced that Facebook and Messenger will soon receive a new feature called broadcast channels. As the name suggests, broadcast channels are public, one-to-many chats for creators to reach out to subscribers. The tool will allow Pages on Facebook to reach out to customers more directly to create stronger connections with subscribers. Meta said that they will begin rolling out the broadcast channels in the coming weeks and that anyone on Facebook will be able to join them to keep up to date with pages. As the feature rolls out, you will probably get a notification from some of the pages you follow about joining the channel. Meta said that once a page launches its channel, all users will get a one-time notification to join. As a one-way conversation, only admins can send messages, however, others will be able to react to messages and vote in polls. This gives the admin the ability to get some controlled responses from users. According to the announcement, page administrators will have to go to their page to create a channel so it seems like page admins will not be forced to create a channel for the time being if it’s not wanted or needed. The company also mentioned that broadcast channels will be available in certain markets at first so you may need to wait until you get it too. Meta has not shared a list of the countries where it will be rolling out the feature first or concretely whether it will even be a staged rollout to individual markets, the announcement suggested this though when it mentioned that it would be available in certain markets. Are you looking forward to this feature or do you think it’s a bit redundant seeing as page feeds already act as one-to-many communication channels? Source: Meta
  14. Omer Dursun
    Facebook's AI Sticker tool creates weird ones, like Waluigi with a rifle by Omer Dursun Last week, Meta announced that it was rolling out AI stickers across its apps, including Facebook Messenger. However, the new AI sticker feature, which is meant to allow for fun and creative expression, is already running into trouble, with some users creating disturbing or offensive images. The tool uses Meta's Emu image synthesis model to turn text descriptions into simulated pictures that can be shared as stickers. However, within days of the rollout, artist Pier-Olivier Desbiens posted a viral thread on X (Twitter) showing problematic images he and others had created using the feature. These included copyrighted characters like Mickey Mouse in violent or sexualized scenarios. Desbiens commented that "no one involved has thought anything through" with this launch. I'm still trying to figure out if I love this or hate this pic.twitter.com/rrm6oKyVQb — Kazzer✘ (@kazzerx) October 4, 2023 Other AI-generated stickers quickly spread on social media, pushing boundaries, such as depictions of the 9/11 attacks, toy figures with weapons, and political figures in humiliating poses. This follows a trend seen previously with uncensored image generators, where some experimenters actively try to break content filters. While Meta has screening methods to catch the most inappropriate content, the near-infinite possibilities of these AI tools make thorough moderation extremely difficult. The company acknowledged this, with spokesman Andy Stone pointing to its commitment to improving responsible development. He noted filters will evolve as more feedback is received on unwanted outputs. found out that facebook messenger has ai generated stickers now and I don't think anyone involved has thought anything through pic.twitter.com/co987cRhyu — defend trans rights🏳️‍⚧️ - podesbiens.bsky.social (@Pioldes) October 3, 2023 Users argue that Meta moved too fast, introducing the consumer-facing sticker feature without stringent enough safeguards. Before stricter guidelines were implemented, earlier beta tests of generative AI from companies like OpenAI produced similarly problematic images. It remains to be seen if Meta will pull back the new sticker tool or bolster its keyword blocking in response to this backlash. However, as AI's capabilities advance, the challenge of moderating unpredictable creative systems will only intensify. Source: X via VentureBeat
  15. John Callaham
    Meta may reportedly offer an ad-free Instagram and Facebook for EU residents in a few weeks by John Callaham Both the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times/Ars Technica are reporting, via unnamed sources, that Meta plans to offer residents in the European Union (EU) a way to access its Instagram and Facebook products without ads in the coming weeks. The story claims Meta will offer the EU a way to ditch ads on Instagram on their smartphones for $14 a month. It will also offer a way to get rid of ads for both Facebook and Instagram on the desktop for $17 a month. Meta will still keep the ad-based versions for free in the EU. Previous rumors have popped up about such plans, but this is the first time we have gotten possible info about a timeline and a price tag for the ad-free plans. Meta is facing a November 30 deadline from European regulators, who claim that it cannot offer services like Instagram or Facebook that take personal data from people so it can show ads to its users without their consent. An option to offer a subscription-based ad-free network could appease those regulators. Meta has already been hit by a €1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) fine by the European Data Protection Board earlier this year. The fine was made due to Meta transferring the personal data of European citizens to Facebook servers based in the US. Meta says it is appealing the decision. The move to offer subscription-based services on social networks that have previously been completely free to access has been growing for some time. X (formerly Twitter) launched its X Blue service in 2023. It offers quite a few features, including decreased ads, for $8 a month. This week, another big social network, TikTok, was discovered to have some code threads in its app that could indicate it plans to launch its own ad-free version of the service very soon.
  16. Aditya Tiwari
    Facebook now lets you create multiple profiles on its social network by Aditya Tiwari Meta announced today that users can create multiple personal profiles on Facebook. The global rollout of the feature has started and it will continue over the next few months. This new update comes not long after the social media giant refreshed the Facebook logo and identity system. Facebook users can create up to four additional personal profiles with a custom name and @username for each of them. These personal profiles will let users have separate spaces for different interests and needs. For instance, users can have one Facebook profile to connect with friends and another one for something they're passionate about. "Creating multiple personal profiles lets you easily organize who you share with and what content you see for the various parts of your life. Think one profile for the foodie scene you love and another one to keep up with your friends and family," Meta said in a blog post. To create a new profile in the Facebook app, tap on your profile picture in the bottom right corner. On the next screen, tap on the drop-down arrow next to your name. Choose "Create new profile" and follow the steps. Each personal profile will have its own unique Feed with relevant content as users will be able to connect with like-minded people and communities. Moreover, users will be able to switch between multiple profiles without the need to log out of their accounts. Meta explained that additional profiles would come with default settings, giving users a clean slate to begin with. They won't carry over notification and privacy settings from existing profiles. Some settings such as who can send a friend request or who can see profile posts will remain separate for each profile. The company cautioned that its existing rules still require people to use their real name for the main Facebook profile. People can use different names for additional profiles and the main Facebook profile won't reveal that they have other profiles. "We remain committed to preventing impersonation and identity misrepresentation, so additional profiles cannot impersonate others or be used to misrepresent your identity (including your age or location)," it said. Facebook personal profiles are available to both existing as well as new users. Meta said only eligible adult accounts would get the option for an additional personal profile. Some features such as Dating, Marketplace, payments, and Professional Mode are not available for additional profiles at the launch. Users with additional personal profiles will be able to use messaging in the Facebook app as well as on the web. The company has plans to bring Messenger support for additional profiles in the coming months.
  17. Aditya Tiwari
    Facebook gets a refreshed logo, new color palette, and updated reactions by Aditya Tiwari Meta announced some new changes as part of what it calls a "refreshed identity system" for Facebook. It introduced a refreshed logo for Facebook with a darker blue background and some design changes to the letter "f". The company has developed a new color palette for the Facebook brand that comes with a new set of hues, tones, and contrast ratios optimized for accessibility. Meta explained in a blog post that it redesigned Facebook's entire iconography using the new color palette to make it "legible at any size, flexible enough for different needs and easy for people to interact with." The color blue has been associated with Facebook since its initial days. Its updated color palette has various shades of blue, including light blue, sky blue, blue, navy, and dark navy. One of the key drivers behind the latest design changes is to improve the accessibility of Facebook's logo, wordmark, iconography, and reactions. In its blog post, Meta stated: Our intention was to create a refreshed design of the Facebook logo that was bolder, electric and everlasting. Each of the distinctive, new refinements drive greater harmony across the entire design as a key element of the app’s identity. We’ve done this by incorporating a more confident expression of Facebook’s core blue color that is built to be more visually accessible in our app and provides stronger contrast for the “f” to stand apart. All of these changes contribute to the "first phase of a refreshed identity system for Facebook." The social network that came into existence in 2004 is now frequented by over 2 billion daily active users. Meta said that more design updates will be rolled out in the future. The changes it has made to Facebook reactions are currently being tested and will be live in the coming months.
  18. Omer Dursun
    Meta shuts down Facebook's News tab in major European countries by Omer Dursun Meta announced today that it will remove the News tab from Facebook's bookmarks section in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany in early December. In a press release, Meta stated, "As a company, we have to focus our time and resources on things people tell us they want to see more of on the platform, including short form video." The News tab was first launched in 2019 as a dedicated section for news articles and headlines within the Facebook app. Its removal in Europe follows Meta's announcement in July that it would no longer pay U.S. publishers to supply content for Facebook News. According to Meta, news currently makes up less than 3% of global content users see in their Facebook feeds. After the European rollout in December, the News tab will only remain available in the U.S. and Australia. The changes affecting the Facebook News feature will not otherwise impact Meta's products and services in these countries. People will still be able to view links to news articles on Facebook. European news publishers will continue to have access to their Facebook accounts and Pages, where they can post links to their stories and direct people to their websites in the way any other individual or organization can. While news articles will still appear in users' main feeds, UK, France and Germany publishers will lose direct access to the News tab. Meta says it will honor all existing deals with publishers through December but will not sign any new deals or develop new news products for those markets going forward. The decision comes after Facebook and Instagram blocked news content and links in Canada. The new Online News Act requires that social media companies make monetary deals with news organizations to distribute links from those news outlets on online services. The move, on the other hand, comes amid increasing regulatory scrutiny in Europe over Meta's data privacy practices. Also, Meta will reportedly offer an ad-free paid subscription in the region.
  19. Qblade_
    Here's how you can stop Meta from using your personal data to train its AI models by Mehrotra A This year has seen a steady rise in the generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) space with companies like Microsoft and Google getting on the bandwagon. While the improvements in the AI space have been great, it came at a cost. The AI models used by companies have to be trained and more often than not, companies have used publicly available data to train them. However, at times this has included Personally Identifiable Information (PII), creating a privacy nightmare for companies and users alike. Now, if you are not happy with this and want to take back control of your data, you can do so with Meta. The social media giant is allowing users to submit a request with the company if they don't wish to have Meta use their data to train its various AI models. Unfortunately, the form only covers third-party services and sources which means that you cannot ask Meta to not use data collected from its own services like Facebook and Instagram. Generative AI models are computer programs. They use predictions and patterns to create new content. To be able to spot these patterns, models are trained on billions of pieces of data from a variety of sources. These can include information that is publicly available on the internet or licensed sources. (These are often called third party sources.) That being said, you can still have Meta delete the third-party data by following the steps below: Head to Facebook's Generative AI data subject rights form You will now be presented with three options. You can ask Facebook to provide all the data it has on you, or you can have it deleted. Select the second option to have the data deleted Once selected, fill out your country of residence, name, and email address. Though the form does not mention it, it would be a good idea to use your Facebook account's email address when filling out the form Once done, click on send to submit the details with Facebook Meta has not mentioned the timeline for compliance once the request has been submitted. However, the company does note that submitting the form does not automatically qualify you to have the data deleted. Once Meta receives your request, it will review it and act in line with the country's privacy laws.
  20. Omer Dursun
    Meta will reportedly launch paid subscriptions for ad-free Facebook, Instagram by Omer Dursun According to a New York Times report, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is considering launching paid subscription versions of its social media platforms that would not show users ads. The ad-free options would only be available in the European Union (EU) and is likely a response to regulatory scrutiny and privacy concerns in the region. Sources familiar with Meta's plans said that users who pay for Facebook and Instagram subscriptions would not see any ads within the apps. Meta will continue to offer free versions of Facebook and Instagram with ads in the EU, it said. It is unclear how much the paid versions of the apps would cost or when the company might launch them. The move highlights how tech companies like Meta may need to redesign products to comply with new regulations, especially in Europe. Laws like the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Digital Markets Act limit how companies can use personal data for advertising. Offering an ad-free paid option could help Meta address some of the regulatory concerns about its current business model, which relies on analyzing user data to target ads. However, it's uncertain how many users would actually pay for a subscription. It is worth noting that Threads is not yet available in the EU due to the regulator's privacy concerns. Moreover, Meta took some action to prevent EU users from accessing its app via VPNs in July. The social media giant has not said when it plans to launch Threads in the EU, but the app may be available in the region later this year, especially with ad-free subscription. Meta earns most of its revenue from selling targeted ads. European Union accounts for around 10% of the company's ad business, making it the second most lucrative region after North America. Source: New York Times (paywalled)
  21. Aditya Tiwari
    Meta could shut down Facebook/Instagram cross-app messaging this year by Aditya Tiwari The social media giant Meta may pull the plug on the cross-app messaging support between Instagram and Messenger apps. A leaked screenshot shared by reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi suggests the said change could arrive in the month of October this year. "After mid-October, you will no longer be able to chat with Facebook friends on Instagram, so this chat will become read-only. Start a new chat on Messenger or Facebook to continue the conversation," the screenshot reads. #Instagram is considering removing the ability to chat with #Facebook friends after mid-October 👀 pic.twitter.com/LSkq09lv7s — Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) August 31, 2023 Back in 2020, Meta allowed Instagram users to message their friends on Facebook and Messenger without leaving the Instagram app and vice-versa. In addition, several features from the Messenger app also trickled down to the Instagram app such as the ability to reply to a particular message, forward a message, customizable chat colors, etc. To text someone on Messenger, go to your Instagram Chats page and type their name in the search box. You can find the desired contact under the "Facebook Friends" heading. Similarly, you can search for your Instagram friends in the Messenger app as well. You can configure how the cross-app integration works for you. For instance, you can choose whether messages from people contacting you via Messenger should go to your Instagram Chats or Message requests. Over the years, Meta has made several attempts to integrate the two social media apps. In addition to texting users, you can also share Stories, Posts, and Reels across Instagram and Facebook. For that, you can add your respective Facebook and Instagram accounts to the Meta Accounts Center to enable the integration. In recent news, it was reported that Instagram is working on the ability to disable Seen Status as a measure to boost privacy on the app. The social media platform is also testing a feature that will allow an entire group to be tagged at once.
  22. Chasethebase
    WhatsApp begins rolling out HD photo sharing, with HD video to follow by Steve Bennett Mark Zuckerberg has announced today that the HD Quality Photos feature will be available from today in WhatsApp on both iOS and Android. The feature, which has been in beta testing for some time, allows for the option to share a photo in a much higher quality than the standard setting. The option, visible when a photo is selected prior to sharing, allows users to select either "Standard Quality" which is the default option, or the new "HD Quality" option preserving far more of the image's original resolution. The option to share in HD cannot be set as default and needs to be selected each time that an image is sent to ensure that users still have "quick and reliable access" to image sharing. Any user who receives an image in HD quality will see the thumbnail preview has a small 'HD' icon in the lower left corner, which will also alert users on limited data connections or in areas of poorer reception to wait to download or choose to receive the standard quality instead and then upgrade it to HD later on. Mark Zuckerberg also went on to state that all photos sent, even those with the HD option selected, are covered by WhatsApp's existing end-to-end encryption. These photos aren't necessarily the original resolution of the photo, but they are compressed far less than the existing Standard Quality option that WhatsApp has historically used. The most recent version of the app available on both the App Store and the Google Play Store contains the update, however, users will have to wait for the option to hit their devices as it will be rolling out in waves over the coming days. Zuckerberg also stated in the announcement that the ability to share HD videos will be coming but didn't specify a release date.
  23. Omer Dursun
    Facebook Messenger will stop supporting SMS messages from September 2023 by Omer Dursun Meta announced that its Messenger app will no longer support SMS messaging as of September. The change, which was quietly announced via in-app notifications and an updated support page, means that Android users who rely on Messenger as their default texting app will have to switch to another SMS app next month. Messenger first enabled SMS support in 2012 but discontinued it a year later. In 2016, Facebook reintroduced SMS capabilities, keeping text messaging separate from Messenger's internet-based chats. SMS threads in the app used a distinct purple theme compared to the default blue, with Facebook marketing the SMS experience as an improved version. Meta has not detailed explained the change, saying only that "you will no longer be able to use Messenger to send and receive SMS messages sent from your mobile network." However, the removal of SMS support may reflect a shift in strategy as Messenger highlights its advanced features for encrypted messaging and social communication. If you use Messenger as your default SMS messaging app for your Android device, please note you will no longer be able to use Messenger to send and receive SMS messages sent by your cellular network when you update your app after September 28, 2023 The SMS phase-out appears to be tied to an upcoming update to Messenger, likely in late September. Once users install the updated version from the Google Play Store, SMS will no longer work. While Meta's messaging app will lose SMS, Android phones will still be able to send and receive text messages through the default messaging app provided by the operating system. Third-party SMS apps are now less popular due to not having access to RCS features. You know more about it here. Meanwhile, Google established its messaging app as the default on Android. Carriers and device manufacturers have standardized mainly on Google's Messages app for SMS/RCS messaging.
  24. Omer Dursun
    Meta announces new AI for realistic music and sound generation from text by Omer Dursun Meta has released AudioCraft, a new open-source artificial intelligence system that allows users to generate original music, sound effects, and other audio content through text prompts. The system consists of three different AI models trained on thousands of hours of audio data. The components include MusicGen for music generation, AudioGen for sound effect generation, and EnCodec, which helps train the models. MusicGen can create instrumental music of various genres based on text prompts describing the mood, instruments, tempo, and other qualities. AudioGen generates sound effects like animal noises, weather, mechanical sounds, and more from text descriptions. The key point is EnCodec, which learns discrete audio tokens to create a 'fixed vocabulary' for the models. This simplifies audio-generative AI design. The AudioCraft family of models are capable of producing high-quality audio with long-term consistency, and they’re easy to use. With AudioCraft, we simplify the overall design of generative models for audio compared to prior work in the field. The models could be helpful for game developers to create sound effects and for marketing teams to make commercial soundtracks or effects. Nevertheless, questions remain around copyright and compensation as AI-generated content using work from others proliferates. Until now, most models have been restricted to research, like Google's MusicLM. Meta is betting that easy access to creative audio AI will spawn new art forms and use cases. The framework and models are available for non-commercial research and educational purposes. On the other hand, Meta continued to grow in AI with this project. Earlier in June, the company announced Voicebox, which is designed to help creators with its ability to perform speech generation tasks such as audio editing, sampling and stylising, even if it wasn't specifically trained to do so through in-context learning. Also, we reported that the tech giant is working on various humanlike chatbots that will soon be able to converse with the users. These chatbots can take personas to simulate conversations with different individuals.
  25. John Callaham
    Meta's Facebook and Instagram services begin blocking news content and links in Canada by John Callaham Canada's Bill C-18, better known as the Online News Act, is now officially the law in that country. The bill was passed by the Canadian government back in June, and requires that social media companies make monetary deals with news organizations so they can distribute links from those news outlets on online services. Meta, which operates both Facebook and Instagram, previously stated it would remove news outlet links to its Canadian audiences from those services in response to the Online News Act. In an updated blog post today, Meta confirmed it has started doing just that: In order to comply with the Online News Act, we have begun the process of ending news availability in Canada. These changes start today, and will be implemented for all people accessing Facebook and Instagram in Canada over the course of the next few weeks. In its blog post, Meta claimed that the Online News Act "is based on the incorrect premise that Meta benefits unfairly from news content shared on our platforms." Meta counters that news organizations actually benefit more by having links to their content distributed by Facebook and Instagram. Meta believes it is in its best interest to simply remove news links from its social media services to completely comply with the Online News Act. As a result of this decision, people in Canada will not see links to news sites on Facebook and Instagram, either from local news outlets or from outside the country. They also won't be able to share any news links on their own Facebook or Instagram accounts. In addition, Canadian news outlets can no longer post links to their content on Facebook and Instagram. Google previously said in June it would also remove news links from its Search services to Canadian users as its own response to the Online News Act. So far, the company has not confirmed it has begun that removal process.