Tag: facebook
Happy 15th Birthday Facebook! A timeline of the highs and lows
Facebook has had a roller-coaster ride of highs and lows in its 15-year history, with big acquisitions among its good days and data scandals amid the bad. Here is a rundown of the social network’s most notable moments: The launch Facebook first launched on February 4, 2004 as a social network known as TheFacebook, initially…
Facebook and Twitter remove more fake accounts linked to Iran and Venezuela
Facebook and Twitter have taken action against thousands of fake accounts and pages thought to be linked to Iran, Venezuela and Russia in the latest crackdown on political manipulation across social media. Facebook said it had removed a total of 783 pages, groups and accounts “engaging in co-ordinated inauthentic behaviour tied to Iran” using re-purposed…
Children’s Commissioner urges social media to protect children from ‘disturbing content’
Social media companies must take more responsibility for protecting children from disturbing content on their platforms, the Children’s Commissioner for England has said. In an open letter to the platforms most used by children – YouTube, Facebook (which owns Instagram), Snapchat and Pinterest – Anne Longfield urged the companies to back a statutory duty of…
Facebook ‘willing to change everything’ to tackle suicide posts, says Sir Nick Clegg
Facebook is willing to “change everything” to curb posts about suicide following the death of British teenager Molly Russell, according to Sir Nick Clegg. The former Liberal Democrat deputy prime minister, now Facebook’s head of global affairs, said social media platforms have a “profound responsibility” to safeguard teenagers. Speaking in an interview with the BBC,…
Facebook working to integrate WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger chat apps
The potential move could see Facebook users message contacts who use WhatsApp (Niall Carson/PA) Facebook is planning to integrate parts of WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger, as part of a huge technical operation across the social network’s collection of messaging apps. The Mark Zuckerberg-owned giant says the effort was under consideration…
Facebook to close down Moments photo organising app on Feb 25
Facebook is giving up on its standalone Moments photo organiser app more than three years after launching it. The service, which served as a place to store photos from your phone and aimed to make it easier for users to create photo albums, will close down globally on February 25. It is not clear why…
WhatsApp to restrict message sharing to fight ‘fake news’
WhatsApp is to limit the number of times users can forward any single message to five in an attempt to stop false information spreading on the platform. The Facebook-owned messaging platform first introduced the policy in India last year after a string of mob attacks in the country were blamed on fake reports which were…
Facebook removes over 500 Russia-linked pages for ‘inauthentic behavior’
Image: PA Facebook says it has removed more than 500 Pages and accounts that originated in Russia, some of which it claims are linked to Moscow-based news agency Sputnik. The social network said it discovered two separate operations engaging in what it called “inauthentic behaviour” across Facebook and Instagram, involving…
Egg pic overtakes Kylie Jenner to become most liked Instagram post ever
A picture of an egg has become the most liked post ever on Instagram, toppling reality star Kylie Jenner in the process. The image, the only post on the account world_record_egg, shows a single egg on a plain white background. It has amassed more than 25 million likes since being uploaded on January 4 (you…
Facebook backs Government’s online safety lessons for school pupils
Social media giant Facebook has backed the Government’s new online safety lessons to help school pupils recognise online dangers. The tech firm has endorsed the proposed online lesson curriculum ahead of a meeting with ministers and anti-bullying campaigners on Monday. The lessons form part of Government plans to make relationships, sex and health education classes…
