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Meta Hit by Widespread Outage
Meta Hit by Widespread Outage

Meta Hit by Widespread Outage

Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and Messenger all hit on Tuesday

(Newser) - Users of Meta's Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and Messenger platforms are experiencing login issues in what appears to be a widespread outage. Internet traffic observer Downdetector is reporting vast outages on several Meta platforms Tuesday. The problems are being reported across the world, reports the AP , suggesting that the outage...

Meta Board Backs Decision to Keep Up Altered Biden Video

But oversight panel criticizes company's existing guidelines on manipulated media as 'incoherent'

(Newser) - An oversight board is criticizing Facebook owner Meta's policies regarding manipulated media as "incoherent" and insufficient to address online disinformation in an election year. The quasi-independent board on Monday said its review of an altered video of President Biden that spread on Facebook exposed gaps in the policy,...

Sheryl Sandberg Takes Another Step Away From Meta

Board member won't stand for reelection, but will remain a company adviser

(Newser) - Sheryl Sandberg, who helped transform Facebook from a tech startup into a digital advertising empire, will step down from the board of Meta, Facebook's parent company, per the AP . "With a heart filled with gratitude and a mind filled with memories, I let the Meta board know that...

Metal Detectorists Deliver a Surprise Decades in the Making

Skyla Carmona has back wedding ring she lost in woods 48 years ago thanks to Massachusetts team

(Newser) - Metal detectorists are often ribbed as being nerds, but a group of those nerds helped deliver a wonderful surprise to a Nashville woman who lost her wedding ring almost a half-century ago. Skyla and Phil Carmona, a Special Forces medic, were married in 1973, a little more than six months...

Zuckerberg Just Got Hit With Massive Lawsuit

41 states and DC sue Facebook parent company Meta, accuse it of inflicting harm on kids

(Newser) - States are going after Facebook and Instagram in a big way, unleashing a legal assault that accuses the platforms of deliberately trying to makes kids addicted to the sites. In all, 41 states and the District of Columbia sued parent company Meta on Tuesday, in what amounts to "the...

SCOTUS to Hear Case on GOP-Backed Social Media Laws

Legislation enacted in Texas, Florida aim to prevent social media sites from censoring users

(Newser) - The Supreme Court agreed Friday to decide whether state laws that seek to regulate Facebook, TikTok, X (formerly known as Twitter), and other social media platforms violate the Constitution. The justices will review laws enacted by Republican-dominated legislatures and signed by Republican governors in Florida and Texas. While the details...

Meta Slammed for 'Stupid, Dangerous' Canada News Ban

Move has made it harder for people to share information about wildfire evacuations

(Newser) - Meta has banned Canadians from sharing news content on Facebook and Instagram amid an ongoing dispute with the federal government—and experts say that with wildfire evacuations underway, the timing couldn't be worse. Residents of Yellowknife, capital of the Northwest Territories, have been told to get out by noon...

Moderator of Facebook Content: I 'Stood Up and Screamed'

As employees sue, CEO of Sama laments harmful content, wishes she'd never signed a contract

(Newser) - Online content moderation is a stressful job, but someone's got to do it—though now an East African firm is saying it wishes its workers weren't those someones. Per the Guardian , employees are now bringing lawsuits against both outsourcing company Sama and Meta, Facebook's parent, after they...

Meta Results Beat Analysts' Expectations

Company reports strong results as advertising rebounds

(Newser) - Facebook parent company Meta Platforms posted stronger-than-expected results for the second quarter on Wednesday, buoyed by a rebound in online advertising after a post-pandemic slump. The Menlo Park, California-based company earned $7.79 billion, or $2.98 per share, in the April-June period, the AP reports. That's up 16%...

It's a '5-Alarm Fire' for Tax-Prep Firms
It's a '5-Alarm Fire'
for Tax-Prep Firms
NEW REPORT

It's a '5-Alarm Fire' for Tax-Prep Firms

H&R Block, others allegedly shared millions of taxpayers' private info with tech firms

(Newser) - Members of Congress are calling for criminal charges against some of America's largest tax-prep companies for allegedly sharing tens of millions of taxpayers' legally protected data with Google and Meta. As far back as 2011, H&R Block, TaxSlayer, and TaxAct allegedly shared private information entered into its website...

Zuckerberg's 'Twitter Killer,' Threads, Goes Live

Meta boss announces launch with a dig at the competition

(Newser) - Threads, Meta's text-based messaging app that looks a lot like Twitter and is intended to challenge that platform, went live Wednesday. Mark Zuckerberg made the announcment in a post to his Threads account, including a shot at Twitter. He said his intention is for Threads to remain "friendly...

Kenyan Facebook Content Moderators: Job Is 'Torture'

Lawsuit against the social media giant could have global effects

(Newser) - On the verge of tears, Nathan Nkunzimana recalled watching a video of a child being molested and another of a woman being killed. His job as a content moderator for a Facebook contractor required him to look at horrors. Some overwhelmed colleagues would scream or cry, he said. Now, the...

Cops: He Robbed Her, Then Sent Her a Facebook DM

'Look just know imma pay you back,' Damien Boyce allegedly messaged victim hours later

(Newser) - Many of us have received Facebook friend requests we'd rather not accept. But for one Indiana woman, that wariness reached new levels after the man accused of robbing her at gunpoint made her add him on the social network, then later DMed her to ask her to hang out,...

Wagner Advertises for Recruits on Facebook, Twitter

Job ads promise the chance to see the world

(Newser) - Having reportedly lost 20,000 fighters in the battle for one Ukrainian city, the Wagner Group has posted job ads on Facebook and Twitter to replenish its workforce—posts specifying that employment comes with health care. Researchers found 60 ads in dozens of languages seeking people to fill support positions...

Meta Unloads Giphy, Is Out Hundreds of Millions

Facebook parent sells GIF search engine to Shutterstock for $53M after UK regulators' decision

(Newser) - In 2020, Meta scooped up Giphy, a GIF search engine used by Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and other platforms, for $400 million. On Tuesday, Facebook's parent company announced it had sold the product to stock image service Shutterstock for a mere $53 million—effectively taking a nearly $350 million loss....

EU's Fine Against Amazon Was Huge. Meta's Is Even Bigger

Facebook parent hit with record $1.3B penalty in longtime privacy case over US cybersnooping fears

(Newser) - The European Union slapped Meta with a record $1.3 billion privacy fine Monday and ordered it to stop transferring user data across the Atlantic by October, the latest salvo in a decade-long case sparked by US cybersnooping fears. The penalty fine of 1.2 billion euros from Ireland's...

Supreme Court Sides With Google, Twitter in 2 Big Cases

Justices side with social media giants in closely watched liability challenges

(Newser) - The Supreme Court on Thursday delivered good news to Google, Twitter, and social media in general Thursday in a pair of cases regarding liability for what users post .
  • Google: In one, the court sidestepped a case against Google that might have allowed more lawsuits against social media companies, per the
...

Cops' Post on Wanted Felon Gets a Surprise Comment

Ohio's Tanner Rhinehart responded to post alerting public to his own arrest warrant

(Newser) - Ohio police turned to Facebook in an effort to track down a wanted man, only to have the man reply with a taunt. "Y'all almost had [me] the other day you gotta be quicker than that," 20-year-old Tanner Rhinehart commented Monday in response to a notice from...

Get Your Facebook Settlement Payment

Portal is now open to file a claim, but don't spend the cash all in one place

(Newser) - For anyone in the US who mindlessly liked cat photos or got into political arguments on Facebook between May 2007 and December 2022, good news: Your internet nickels are almost here, in the form of Meta's $725 million class-action Cambridge Analytica settlement. But, as Stephen Council notes at SFGate...

Meta: Give Us Money, ID and We'll 'Verify' Your FB, IG

You'll get a special badge for that $14.99 you're forking over ($11.99 for the web)

(Newser) - Last year, Elon Musk's Twitter launched its Twitter Blue subscription service , a paid verification that offers users a blue check mark next to their name, as well as other perks, like being able to edit your tweets. Now Meta is following suit with something similar: CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced...

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