Page 5 - Facebook

EU's privacy watchdog fines Meta $414 mn for ads based on online activity

EU's privacy watchdog tells firm it can't use its contracts with users to justify sending them such ads

Irish regulators fine Meta $414 million for online privacy violations

Irish regulators on Wednesday hit Facebook parent Meta with hundreds of millions in fines for online privacy violations and banned the company from forcing European users to agree to personalised ads based on their online activity. Ireland's Data Protection Commission imposed two fines totalling 390 million euros (USD 414 million) in its decision in two cases that could shake up Meta's business model targeting users with ads based on what they do online. The watchdog fined Meta 210 million euros for violations of the European Union's strict data privacy rules involving Facebook and an additional 180 million euros for breaches involving Instagram. It's the commission's latest punishment for Meta for data privacy infringements, following four other fines for the company since 2021 that total more than 900 million euros. The decision stems from complaints filed in May 2018 when the 27-nation EU's privacy rules, known as the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, took ...

Meta to announce decision on Trump's return to Facebook, Instagram: Report

Meta is reportedly preparing to announce whether it will allow former US President Donald Trump to return to Facebook and Instagram

Meta acquires 3D smart glass maker Luxexcel for an undisclosed sum

Meta (formerly Facebook) has acquired the Netherlands-based 3D smart glass maker Luxexcel, as it doubles down on its metaverse dream in 2023

Meta to pay $725 mn damages for sharing user data with Cambridge Analytica

Meta Platforms has agreed to pay $725 million to settle a long-running lawsuit that claimed Facebook illegally shared user data with the research firm Cambridge Analytica

Meta removes 23 mn bad pieces of content on FB, Instagram in India in Nov

Meta said it took down over 19.52 million pieces of content across 13 policies for Facebook and over 3.39 million pieces of content across 12 policies for Instagram in the month of November in India

Mark Zuckerberg takes witness stand in FTC case against startup acquisition

Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook parent company Meta, took the witness stand Tuesday in the FTC's effort to stop the tech giant from buying a virtual reality startup. At issue is whether Meta's acquisition of the small company that makes a VR fitness app called Supernatural will hurt competition in the emerging virtual reality market. If the deal is allowed to go through, the Federal Trade Commission argues, it would violate antitrust laws and dampen innovation, hurting consumers who may face higher prices and fewer options outside platforms controlled by Meta Platforms Inc. The case, expected to wrap up Tuesday, is being heard by U.S. District Judge Edward Davila, who also oversaw the trial of disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and her partner Ramesh Sunny Balwani. Both were sentenced to over a decade in prison for their roles in the company's blood-testing hoax.

European Union accuses Meta of antitrust breaches with classified ads

The European Union has accused Facebook parent Meta of breaching the bloc's antitrust rules by distorting competition in the online classified ads business. The bloc's executive commission said Monday that it takes issue with the tech company tying its online classified ad business, Facebook Marketplace, to Facebook. That means Facebook users automatically have access to Marketplace whether they want it or not", the European Commission said. The commission, the 27-nation bloc's top antitrust enforcer, said Meta also imposes unfair trading conditions on competing online classified ad companies that advertise their services on Facebook or Instagram. Companies that breach EU antitrust rules can be hit with fines worth up to 10 per cent of their annual global revenue.

Virat Kohli among top reel hashtag draws of 2022, even as new stars shine

Interest in Surya Kumar Yadav and musician Shubh surges; films and series, along with sports and music, continue to dominate categories

Twitter bans all links to FB, Insta, Mastodon, other rivals on its platform

'We will no longer allow free promotion of certain social media platforms on Twitter,' said Twitter

Experts warn risks from unknown links as spyware infests social media

Crooks impersonating journalists, business execs, and even friends and families of victims in over 200 countries to extract sensitive data

Meta removes 40 accounts of India's CyberRoot Risk Advisory for phishing

Social media giant Meta has taken down over 40 accounts operated by an Indian firm CyberRoot Risk Advisory, allegedly involved in hacking-for-hire services, the online giant said in a report. Meta also took down a network of about 900 fake accounts on Instagram and Facebook operated from China by an unknown entity. These accounts were focused on collecting data of people in Myanmar, India, Taiwan, the US and China, including military personnel, pro-democracy activists, government employees, politicians and journalists, according to the company's Threat Report on the Surveillance-for-Hire Industry released on December 15. "We removed a network of more than 40 accounts on Facebook and Instagram operated by an Indian firm called CyberRoot Risk Advisory Private. Rather than directly sharing malware on our apps, this group's activity manifested primarily in social engineering and phishing, often intended to trick people into giving up their credentials to various online accounts across t

Tech giants doing too little on abuse content, says Australian govt report

Apple and Microsoft don't pro-actively detect child abuse material stored on their iCloud and OneDrive services, despite the wide availability of identifying technology, the report found

Facebook posts not determinative of person's location, says Delhi HC

A court cannot treat Facebook posts as determinative of the location of a person at a particular point of time, the Delhi High Court has said, while allowing the plea of a lawyer against an order of the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB). The court's observation came while dealing with the lawyer's petition challenging an adverse order passed against him by the IPAB for a deliberate, wrong, irresponsible representation to seek an adjournment in a case. The IPAB had said that while an adjournment was being sought on the ground that the petitioner lawyer, who was the main counsel in the case, was in quarantine and his office was closed due to COVID-19, the Board was shown that as per his Facebook posts he was on a holiday. Justice C Hari Shankar, in his order passed earlier this week, said the IPAB was needlessly strict in imposing costs and referring the matter to the Bar Council of India in such circumstances. The court observed it could be seen from the earlier orders i

Meta restores video of sexual assault on woman citing newsworthiness

Social media major Meta's oversight board has upheld company's decision to restore a video of sexual assault allegedly on a tribal women by a group of men on Instagram citing newsworthiness in the content, the board said on Wednesday. In March 2022, an Instagram account describing itself as a platform for Dalit perspectives posted a video from India showing a woman being assaulted by a group of men. Sharing details of the case, the board said that the woman's face is not visible in the video and the text accompanying the video states that a "tribal woman" was sexually assaulted and harassed by a group of men in public, and that the video went viral. The account which posted the video has around 30,000 followers, mostly located in India. "The board has upheld Meta's decision to restore a post to Instagram containing a video of a woman being sexually assaulted by a group of men. The board has found that Meta's 'newsworthiness allowance' is inadequate in resolving cases such as this a

Meta faces new lawsuit, accused of amplifying hate speech in Africa

Meta Platforms is facing a lawsuit in Kenya's high court accusing the company of failing Africans by amplifying hate speech and incitement to violence on Facebook

Meta battles US antitrust agency over the future of virtual reality

The trial will serve as a test of the FTC's bid to head off what it sees as a repeat of the company buying its way to dominance, this time in the nascent virtual and augmented reality markets

Facebook, Twitter poised to beat suit over Covid vaccine misinformation

The proposed class-action lawsuit tried to get around law by claiming that Meta's Facebook and Twitter breached their contracts with users

U'Khan HC imposes Rs 50,000 fine on Facebook for not replying to notice

The Uttarakhand High Court on Wednesday imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on Facebook for not replying to its notice in connection with the alleged misuse of the platform by some people for extortion. A division bench of the court comprising Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice R C Khulbe imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on the social networking site and set it a fresh deadline of February 16 to file its reply. The court was hearing a PIL alleging that fake IDs were being created on Facebook and friend requests sent through them. After some time, threats of edited obscene photos and videos were being made through these IDs in exchange for lakhs of rupees, it said. The PIL was filed by Haridwar resident Alok Kumar who described himself as a victim of the fake ID scam. Advocate Abhijay Negi said friend requests are being sent on Facebook by creating fake IDs of people. After some time, photos are being edited and made into obscene content. People whose fake IDs have been created are being .

Meta bars employees from discussing abortion, vaccine efficacy at work

Meta (formerly Facebook) has reportedly told its employees not to discuss sensitive issues like abortion, gun control, pending legislation and vaccine efficacy at workplace