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Meta to face ‘accountability’ after 14-year-old Molly Russell took her own life

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Execs from Instagram and Pinterest have been ordered to appear before an inquest into the death of a 14-year-old girl, Molly Russell. Russell took her own life after using the apps to view extensive material on self-harm, depression, and suicide.

It’s the latest development in growing concerns about the impact of social media platforms on the mental health of teenagers, girls especially …

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Meta Quest Pro headset revealed as it was left in hotel room; will launch ahead of Apple headset

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The Meta Quest Pro headset is set to launch next month, and it’s believed to have many features in common with the upcoming Apple headset expected to be launched early next year. We already knew the name, and it now appears we know what both the device and its packaging look like, thanks to a careless employee.

A sample of the headset, its controllers, and retail packaging were left in a hotel room, bringing back memories of the time an Apple engineer left an iPhone 4 prototype in a bar

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Midterm election disinformation fears see both Meta and TikTok prepare defenses

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Fears about midterm election disinformation have led both Meta and TikTok to outline the defensive measures they plan to deploy. It follows a disastrous experience in 2016, when Facebook unwittingly sold political ad space to disinformation agents working on behalf of Russia.

Meta subsequently put in place protections for the 2020 elections, and says that it will maintain the strategies shown to be effective, as well as improving on them …

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Virtual reality antitrust intervention, as FTC tells Meta it can’t buy another VR company

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It might seem a little early for a virtual reality antitrust intervention, in a field which is as yet still a niche interest, but the FTC is taking no chances. It has moved to block Meta’s planned purchase of VR fitness company Within.

The aggressiveness of the move makes it seem likely that Apple will face similar bars on acquiring VR companies to assist its upcoming Apple Headset product …

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Apple versus Meta headset battle will determine the future of the internet – Zuckerberg

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The future of the internet will depend on the outcome of an Apple versus Meta headset battle, claims Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

He told employees that the two companies had very different visions for the metaverse, and admitted that it’s not yet clear which will be better …

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Meta Quest Pro VR/AR headset name found in iOS app; spec similar to Apple Headset reports

Meta Quest Pro

We knew that Facebook’s parent company Meta was working on a new high-end VR/AR headset, but a couple of new reports reveal both the name – Meta Quest Pro – and more about what to expect.

The broad specifications for the combined virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) headset seem close to what has been reported for the upcoming Apple Headset …

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VR headset market grew 240% ahead of Apple’s launch; Meta’s strategy unsustainable

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The global VR headset market grew by 241.6% year-on-year in the first quarter of this year, according to the latest market intelligence data. Virtual reality (VR) headset shipments are expected to hit 13.9M units for the year as a whole.

But next year is expected to be the crucial one for the VR and augmented reality (AR) sector, as Apple enters the market

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Instagram age verification may analyze face videos, but it’s all just window-dressing

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Instagram age verification – or rather, lack of same – has been a hot-button issue for some time with both parents and lawmakers. App owner Meta has so far made no effort to ensure that claimed user ages are correct but says that it is now testing three verification options.

However, even if one or more of these are implemented, it still won’t prove much of a barrier to underage kids who claim to be older …

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Metaverse Standards Forum established, without Apple

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The formation of a Metaverse Standards Forum has been announced, with members comprising many of the companies expected to become major players in the space. Apple, however, was not one of them, despite its work on a mixed-reality headset.

The company didn’t offer any immediate comment on this, but it’s not a complete surprise …

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Facebook Meta revenue drop

Meta extends cut-free revenue for Facebook and Instagram creators until 2024

Since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Meta announced that it wouldn’t take a cut of creators’ revenue on Facebook and Instagram as a measure to help small businesses. The company first announced the cut-free revenue would last “for at least the next year,” but now it has confirmed that the benefit will extend until 2024.

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Meta blasts App Tracking Transparency as ‘Apple’s harmful policy’ one year after policy start

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It’s been one year since Apple released its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature – which is a way to improve consumer privacy where users can choose to opt-out of third-party app tracking. A new article from Recode takes a look back at the first year of Apple’s privacy feature. 

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