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Facebook has received a lot of flak recently for its mishandling of the Cambridge Analytica data leak. While that particular case has seemingly died down a bit, the social networking giant is far from being out of the fire. A new documentary from Channel 4 Dispatches puts Facebook back into the frying pan, revealing just how much its promises to protect its users from harmful content might mean squat, especially when such responsibilities are outsourced and offloaded onto third parties that might not exactly share Facebook’s concerns.

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Instagram is working on a new two-step verification option that will help protect users from SIM hackers, according to a new report. The platform's existing verification system works by sending a code to the user's phone via an SMS, but the upcoming system will rely on an authentication app like Google Authenticator. Confirmation of the new option follows a report earlier today highlighting SIM hijacking.

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One of the more recent trends in Silicon Valley is for the biggest tech companies to bring chip development in-house, rather than rely on third-party suppliers like Qualcomm and Intel. Apple has been doing this years already, and Google is already looking to catch up, but it seems the latest to have interest in developing its own processors is Facebook. Earlier this year it was revealed that the company had plans to start designing custom chips for consumer hardware, and now they've made a fairly big hire.

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Misinformation seems to be everywhere these days, and Facebook is a hotbed for it. Not only does Facebook act as a platform for fake news to spread quickly and widely, but there's plenty of other opportunities for deception as well, particularly within Messenger. Facebook could be looking to curb that with a new feature it's rolling into testing today.

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A federal probe into Facebook's handling of user data is said to have grown, adding another three government agencies alongside the Department of Justice. According to sources that have surfaced, the FBI, FTC, and SEC have joined a probe into Facebook's Cambridge Analytica controversy, marking an expansion of the government's focus on the company.

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Apps and services come and go so fast these days that it’s almost foolhardy to invest to much time, effort, and emotion in them. Even big, popular companies aren’t exempt from fast turnovers. Case in point is Facebook shutting down three web apps, namely Hello, tbh, and Moves, citing low usage. Considering the ordeal the social networking giant is going through, limiting its sources of personal data might, indeed, be for the best.

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Bugs are just part of the development process, and today, Facebook has the distinct displeasure of detailing one that could have affected as many as 800,000 users. As it turns out, Facebook has discovered a bug that potentially unblocked some of the people you've decided you never want to hear from again. Considering how many people are on Facebook these days, the block option pretty much becomes a necessity, so having a bug that negates it is definitely not a good thing.

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If you're a Facebook user, you've likely heard stories of people becoming convinced that the company uses the microphones that are everywhere these days (such as ones on a smartphone or laptop) to spy on its users. While those fears might just be the result of an overactive imagination, a new patent filing is fueling concerns that Facebook might actually be equipped to do just that someday soon.

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In 2014, Facebook began working on a high altitude platform station (HAPS) system called Aquila. This solar-powered drone was designed to act a relay station for high-speed Internet access beamed from the sky. The goal was to provide rural communities with Internet access beyond what's available locally, but plans have changed and Facebook is back with a big announcement: it has shuttered the drone aspect of the project.

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As Facebook tries to recover its damaged reputation following controversies over how it handles users' personal data, it seems the social media giant still has a few other privacy issues to work on. It was discovered this week that the company had accidentally emailed analytic reports intended for developers to outside testers.

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Back in December, Facebook released a new kids-focused chat app, prompting widespread criticism from child health advocates, including calls to pull the service altogether. Despite this controversy, Facebook has continued to make Messenger Kids available on iOS and Android, and has now announced the app's rollout to Canada and Peru.

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Facebook may be planning to launch a feature that tracks how much time someone spends using the social network. The unreleased feature was spotted in the Android app, where it's listed under the menu name "Your Time on Facebook." The leak hints that Facebook may launch a feature that helps users avoid spending too much time on the service by giving them alerts, too.

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