Facebook and Instagram Rights Manager for Images now allows creators to claim ownership over imagery. This means they're able to work with Instagram and/or Facebook to issue takedown notices to accounts that re-post imagery - both manually and automatically. This system is live now - the effects of this system's release should appear this week.
TikTok was practically an overnight sensation just like FaceApp and, like the face-morphing app, it got dragged into a privacy and security scandal. Unlike FaceApp, however, TikTok's problems grew to a national level in the US and its demise in the country was all but ensured. While its fate still likes in the hands of Oracle and the US government, YouTube seems to be taking no chances and is launching a beta test for its new Shorts format, directly taking on TikTok while it's down.
Today we're taking a look at a set of three WhatsApp news stories that should help you decide whether to continue using the app. One has to do with a viral "Argentina Is Doing It" message about COVID-19. Another is about a future update to WhatsApp that'll introduce a Vacation Mode - hopefully. The third story includes information on 6 previously undisclosed security vulnerabilities delivered by WhatsApp.
If you're looking for a way to return back to the "old" or "classic" look for Facebook, you might be out of luck by the time you read this article. In September of 2020, Facebook will switch over to the newest in new design languages. If you've not seen this new design yet, don't worry! It'll be delivered to all Facebook users in short order - September, 2020, and no switching back after that!
Change is inevitable, many say, and so is Facebook's new design. Although the writing has been on the wall for months, users have always had the choice to pretend that Facebook is the same old Facebook that it was years ago. Come September, however, everyone will be on the same page and will see the same, more spacious design. Facebook's new look, however, brings more than just an aesthetic change and introduces Facebook's expanded interests, especially in gaming.
Google hasn't really been subtle that it's obsessed with Meet. To be more precise, it's obsessed with dethroning Zoom that it's placing Meet everywhere it can possibly can. There were even rumors that Google, in its zeal to promote Meet as the one true communication platform for all users, might be replacing its simpler Duo video chat platform in two years. As if to prove that all is still well in Duo land, Google just announced an earlier rumored feature that almost puts it on equal footing with Meet.
Oculus announced that Facebook accounts will be required for all Oculus devices in the future. There'll be two waves of requirement, starting this year for NEW users - all will need to work with a Facebook account right out the gate, starting in October. The second wave comes in 2023 when all Oculus users accounts will be merged with Facebook.
Instagram's inevitable absorption into Facebook continues, with users beginning to see notifications that Instagram messaging is now merging with Facebook Messenger. It's the latest step in a strategy Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has apparently been focused on since 2019 or even earlier, bringing together the various apps the company operates with a single, unified backend.
Facebook has joined Fortnite developer Epic Games in criticizing Apple over its App Store payments cut, calling out the iPhone-maker as it launches a new events service. Small businesses and creators will be able to use Facebook for paid online events without coughing up any fees, the social network says, that is unless their customers are doing so via an Apple device.
On August 6, 2020, Donald Trump signed a presidential executive order banning U.S. "transactions" with WeChat with an execution countdown of 45 days. Apple is the USA-based company that sells the iPhone. It is possible that a ban on WeChat dealings with America-based companies could result in an iPhone that cannot use the WeChat app worldwide. This could be a disaster for Apple.
That the US government under President Trump wants to ban TikTok in the country is no surprise. That it wants TikTok to sell to a US company in order to escape that ban, a deal that includes giving the US Treasury some percentage, is not a shocker either. What was rather unexpected was that Microsoft is apparently so interested in buying up the popular short-video social network that CEO Satya Nadella personally talked with government officials about it. It turns out, Twitter is another prospective buyer and it might actually be a better fit for a TikTok owner. Presuming, of course, it could even buy it.
After successfully kicking out tech giants like Huawei and ZTE, the US government has apparently set its eyes on smaller fish. That said, the user bases of short-video platform TikTok and instant messaging service WeChat are so large that one can't take for granted the immediate disruption a ban would have on both the companies owning them as well as unsuspecting users. That, however, is exactly what will happen to both TikTok and WeChat if they don't give in to the new Executive Order from US President Donald Trump and sell their US operations to an American company within 45 days.