Meta

Meta has announced that European users can now opt out of algorithmic feeds on Instagram and Facebook, in order to comply with the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA).

However, the company is not extending the same choice to app users in the US or anywhere else outside Europe …

An investigation by the Stanford Internet Observatory has found worrying volumes of CSAM on Mastodon. Of particular concern is that the child sexual abuse material included many known examples that should have been automatically detected by digital fingerprinting.

Researchers say that a large part of the issue is the open and decentralized nature of the social media platform …

As announced earlier this week, Meta today officially launched Threads – its new microblogging social network that aims to compete with Twitter. However, although Threads is a new app, it exists under the branding and structure of Instagram, so users can log in and find their friends more easily there. Read on as we detail how to download and use Threads.

Twitter users have been facing a lot of issues over the past few months, but things got even worse last weekend after the company decided to limit the number of tweets users can see per day. To take advantage of this, Meta now seems to have confirmed that Threads – its new app to compete with Twitter – will be released later this week.

The European Union’s parliament has passed the Digital Markets Act, which is antitrust legislation that will force every platform to allow the distribution of apps through other digital stores – which will have a huge impact on Apple. And one of the companies most interested in this change is Meta, which has confirmed its plans to turn Facebook into a replacement for the App Store.

Facebook Messenger parental controls have long been available for Messenger Kids – the special version of the chat app designed for children below 13 years of age – but not for teens. This has now changed, with parental controls coming to the main Messenger app when used by teens aged 13 to 18.

Separately, TikTok is integrating two existing filtering features after continuing concerns about showing inappropriate content to children – though as always, in a very weak way …

Meta has been developing its own version of Twitter that will reportedly be released under the Instagram brand. Now, The Verge has seen and shared new screenshots of the unreleased app.

Apple’s reputation is rated No. 10 in a new poll of the best-known US brands, while social networks Meta and Twitter come in the bottom 10 – not far ahead of The Trump Organization’s last place.

Poll company Harris has been using the same methodology for 24 years now, asking a large, nationally representative sample of Americans to name the two brands they consider to have the best reputation, and the two they consider to have the worst …

Alright, Apple. Pack it up, show’s over. Mark Zuckerberg just dropped a surprise announcement, unveiling the Meta Quest 3 virtual reality headset. The reveal comes just *checks calendar* four days before Apple is set to officially announce its high-end mixed reality headset. So much for Apple’s headset hype, I guess.

A Facebook privacy breach has seen parent company Meta fined $1.3B – the largest amount ever imposed for breaking Europe’s tough GDPR privacy laws, according to WSJ sources. The news is expected to be officially announced later today.

The fine also raises questions about the privacy of US Facebook users, as it was levied for exposing European citizens to the much looser rules that apply to American users …

Ever since Twitter was acquired by Elon Musk, some users have been looking for alternatives to the social network as they’re unhappy with the company’s latest decisions. We’ve seen Mastodon get a lot of attention, as well as Bluesky – a new social network supported by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey. But now Meta wants to join the party with a new app under the Instagram brand to compete with Twitter.

At the end of February, news surfaced that Meta was planning another huge round of layoffs after letting go of 11,000 employees in November. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has now announced details on the next big wave of layoffs coming soon that will mark what he calls the “Year of Efficiency.”

Meta has announced changes aiming to make its Quest 2 and Quest Pro VR headsets more enticing. The more affordable Quest 2 is dropping by $70 with the Quest Pro 2 price being slashed by $500. The news comes after Meta had a big loss for its “Reality Labs” division in 2022 and expectations for Apple to show off its first headset in June.

Facebook has been working on ways to prevent the posting of so-called “revenge porn” – aka non-consensual sharing of explicit photos by former partners and others – and sextortion attempts, especially those against teenagers.

Its first tool, back in 2017, was so scary that few were willing to use it: You had to upload nudes to Facebook in order to have them tagged for blocking! But a new tool, geared initially to teenagers, will allow them to create digital fingerprints, right on their own device …

After cutting 11,000 jobs last fall, Meta is reportedly set to execute what could be another major round of layoffs as it tries to trim expenses. The news comes after CEO Mark Zuckerberg hinted in January another round could happen this year after previously saying in November that he didn’t foresee more cuts.

A data scientist formerly working for Meta says that Facebook apps can deliberately drain the batteries of both iPhones and Android smartphones, in order to examine the effect of low battery power on app performance …