Meta

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 …

The long-running Cambridge Analytica lawsuit against Facebook parent company Meta has finally been settled. The social media company agreed to pay Facebook users a combined total of $725M for sharing their personal data with the now-bankrupt political consultancy.

The lawyers behind the case described the victory as a “historic” one, saying that it was the largest ever payout in a US privacy case …

Mark Zuckerberg’s company Meta, which is responsible for the popular platforms Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, may be next to lay off some of its employees. A new report from The Wall Street Journal reveals that Meta is planning a mass layoff as early as this Wednesday.

Meta on Wednesday announced new features coming soon to Facebook and Instagram that will enhance the experience for creators using both platforms. This includes updates on NFT, Instagram subscriptions, and Facebook Stars. The news comes as the company holds its Creator Week conference with in-person events around the world.

It’s been a challenging year on a number of levels and major tech hasn’t been immune. Over the last twelve months, more than $3 trillion in value has been shed by the top seven US tech companies. While all have lost billions, Google’s Alphabet and Microsoft have taken the most damage with 20x the losses that Apple has seen.

Facebook and Instagram boosts are a popular way for creators to give their posts extra reach by paying Meta to show them to more people. Apple has updated its App Store rules to say that any boosts purchased through the iOS apps must use in-app purchases (IAP), giving the iPhone maker a 30% cut.

Meta has called this an Apple tax on ads, and says that the Cupertino company is growing its own ad business while undercutting competitors …

CNN has pointed to upcoming tech earnings reports from Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Twitter – and suggested that they aren’t going to be pretty.

The site argues that this may be the quarter in which tech giants reveal that their seeming immunity to the broader economic climate is at an end …