The Department of Justice wants Facebook to give it access to encrypted voice chats as part of a criminal probe, according to a new report. The issue revolves around Messenger and its encrypted chats feature, which users can manually enable for specific conversations. The DOJ is reportedly seeking access to voice conservations made with the app.
Facebook is updating its Messenger Kids apps with a new feature that enables kids to add their own friends...with permission, that is. The app is a variation of Facebook Messenger designed for children, enabling parents to control every aspect of the experience. Until now, only parents could add friends for kids, but now there's a second option.
As part of its efforts to be more transparent and accountable for its political influence, Facebook has announced changes to the verification process for Pages with a large following. The social network will require additional measures from Page administrators to prove their identity, in part to make it harder for Pages to be run by fake or compromised accounts.
Facebook today began removing Friends Lists Feeds from their main app and web browser site. This feature is one of a collection that'll be removed from the mix this year due to a culling of the weak of sorts. As a Facebook representative suggested, "We're shutting down this lesser-used feature to focus our efforts on improving the main News Feed experience."
Facebook is cracking down on content that instructs the public on creating firearms using 3D printers. Blueprints for these weapons have been available online for years, raising concerns about safety and the technology's ability to circumvent existing gun laws. Facebook confirmed the removal to several media outlets today, saying the content is against its Community Standards.
![Now Facebook wants to see your bank account [Update]](https://c.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/facebook-zuckerberg-share-anything-1.jpg)
Facebook is trying to persuade banks to share your financial information with the social network, a further escalation of its personal data aggregation efforts. The company, still stinging from criticism around how it handled the Cambridge Analytica privacy disaster, has nonetheless faced renewed pressure from investors to increase engagement across its services.
Social media titan Facebook is known for "borrowing" from — or flat-out acquiring — it's largest rivals, including Snapchat and Twitter, and now it appears to be entering the territory of Tinder and OKCupid. Following its first announcement back in May, Facebook's dating service feature has entered an internal testing phase among employees, and a sneak peek has been revealed this weekend.
This week the folks at Nokia decided to bring their classic game "Snake" back to the public via Facebook Camera. Using the new augmented reality features of the Facebook Camera platform, Nokia delivered Snake to all users starting this morning. To attain said Snake, one needed only to open the Facebook app and click a button in the Facebook Camera. Now, if only they'd bring Tony Hawk Pro Skater there too...
Facebook and Instagram can be good ways to keep in touch with friends and family, but they can also be major time pits. If you find yourself dealing with a bout of social media addiction, the new tools launching for both services might help you spend less time aimlessly (and endlessly) browsing. Thanks to leaks, we had an idea that these tools were on the way, but now it appears that they're ready for prime time.
Facebook is adding a personalized navigation bar to its Android and iOS apps, the company has revealed. The redesign will bring shortcuts for the Facebook products that each user frequently uses, making it easier to rapidly access these tools. Someone who rarely uses Watch but frequently uses Marketplace, for example, will see the latter.
Video calling has been a one of WhatsApp's big features for a couple of years now, and today, we're seeing it get a pretty major expansion. Back at the Facebook F8 conference in May, the company announced group video calling for WhatsApp, but declined to say when the feature would launch. Fast forward to today and the wait is over, as group video calling has gone live across both iOS and Android.
Facebook has disclosed the discovery of new accounts engaging in "inauthentic behavior," according to newly released statements from the company. These accounts were present on both the Facebook and Instagram platforms, the oldest dating to early 2017 and the newest to May 2018. Facebook, which says it is still in the early stages of its investigation, explains that one page had more than 290,000 followers, and that the Pages collectively produced more than 9,500 organic posts.