Technology

Brazil on Monday fined Facebook $1.65 million for improperly sharing users’ data in a case linked to the global Cambridge Analytica scandal. Facebook engaged in an “abusive practice” by allowing data from 443,000 users in Brazil to be unduly available to developers of the application “This is Your Digital Life,” according to the Ministry of…

The instant messaging app WhatsApp will no longer work for some of Android and iPhone users after February 2020. This was disclosed in its updated FAQs. The updated FAQs noted that users of Android phones running on Android 2.3.7 version and iPhones running on iOS 7 "can no longer create new accounts, nor re-verify existing accounts"…

Tech giant Google on Friday announced it was shelling out $2 billion to acquire Fitbit, a move that will rival Apple and Samsung in the wearable market. Fitbit’s acquisition makes it Googles first major venture into the wearable market and would see the tech company taking over Fitbit's $1.6 billion market capitalisation. Reports on Friday…

Twitter said Wednesday it would stop accepting political advertising globally on its platform, responding to growing concerns over misinformation from politicians on social media. Chief executive Jack Dorsey tweeted that while internet advertising "is incredibly powerful and very effective for commercial advertisers, that power brings…

Facebook has reportedly entered into deals with prominent media houses to launch a dedicated news tab on its platform. According to the Wall Street Journal, publications like News Corp, Dow Jones, New York Post, the Washington Post, and others will help the social networking platform ramp up its ambition to become a news player. "The…

Facebook has removed hundreds of accounts, pages and groups from its social network platforms that the company says were involved in coordinated inauthentic behaviour. The tech giant said it removed a total of 443 Facebook and 125 Instagram accounts, as well as 200 pages and 76 groups originating in the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Nigeria and…

Facebook on Wednesday was dealt a major blow in the EU’s top court, which said that national courts in Europe can order online platforms to remove defamatory content worldwide. In a closely watched judgment, the European Court of Justice said EU law “does not preclude” courts from ordering “the removal of information or to block access…

Truecaller App is under investigation by the federal government for alleged violation of the privacy rights of Nigerians. Truecaller, which boasts over 7 million Nigerian subscribers, is said to be operating with a privacy policy that does not comply with global laws on data protection and the Nigerian Data Protection Regulation for its…

An employee of Facebook died by apparent suicide on Thursday morning, Menlo Park police reported and the company confirmed. “We were saddened to learn that one of our employees passed away at our Menlo Park headquarters earlier today,” a Facebook spokesperson is quoted to have told many Online media outlets. The employee, a male, was…

Twitter said Friday it has closed down thousands of accounts across the world for spreading fake news as well as pro-government propaganda, including in places like the United Arab Emirates, China and Spain. Accounts coming from China seeking to sow discord among protesters in Hong Kong were closed down, as were accounts amplifying a pro-Saudi…