Google, Facebook, Twitter must do more against fake news: EU

Google, Facebook, Twitter and Mozilla must do more to combat fake news as Europeans head towards an election or the companies will face the threat of regulatory action, the European Commission said on Tuesday. 

Companies and trade bodies representing the advertising industry signed up to a voluntary code of conduct in October to ward off more heavy-handed legislation. Critics say not

Social Network: Facebook Debuts ‘Reactions’ emojis to join the ‘Like’ button

There’s a lot more to “like” about posting on Facebook.

The social network rolled out its new “Reactions” buttons on Wednesday so that users can express how they really feel about what’s in their newsfeed.

Previously, the world’s 1.6 billion Facebook users could only tap the thumbs up emoticon to show they “liked” a post.

But now, users can choose from a menu of “Reactions” emojis that include a heart, a laughing face, a surprised face, a teary-eyed face and an angry red face with furrowed brows.

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg both woos and lashes out at phone industry

Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg on Monday tried to extend an olive branch to mobile phone companies, on which the popular social network company increasingly relies, but which are also among his biggest critics.

 

Speaking for the third straight year to an annual gathering of telecoms executives at the Mobile World Congress here, Zuckerberg sought to show his company could be a valuable, if truculent, ally to the wireless industry.

He described a new project Facebook is working on with major telecom players, including Nokia, Deutsche Telekom , SK Telecom and Intel to help rapidly build far faster mobile networks at lower costs.

Serena Williams stunned by ‘Supergirl’ on Facbook Post.

Serena Williams Monday said she was stunned by the reaction to a Facebook post she made that went viral, comparing herself to Supergirl after chasing down a hapless telephone thief.

The world number one revealed in November that a thief stole her phone at a Chinese restaurant in New York. The robber clearly picked the wrong woman, with the super-fit Williams chasing him the street and getting it back.

Investors: Facebook Class Action Lawsuits to Go Ahead

A federal judge certified the legal proceedings, Reuters reports, saying investors who claim they lost money could pursue their claims as groups.

Facebook told the BBC that it was disappointed with the decision and it has launched an appeal against it.

The firm's initial public offering (IPO) in May 2012 raised $16bn (£10bn).

Facebook joins Transport Business with Uber

The new service means Messenger users will be able to ask for an Uber vehicle without leaving the Facebook software.

 

Users will not need to download the Uber app separately.

"Uber on Messenger" began in parts of the US this week, the two firms said.

The companies announced their new venture via separate blogs.

Facebook has some 1.5 billion users globally and Uber is the world's biggest driver-hailing app in terms of financing.

Facebook amends 'Real Name' Policy after Protests

On Tuesday the site said it was to test new tools that allowed people to share any special circumstances they felt meant they could not use their real name.

The tool is intended to help people who may have suffered domestic abuse, or in cases where their sexuality could put them in danger.

However, Facebook stood firm on insisting people use "real names" in all but the most unusual situations.

"We require people to use the name their friends and family know them by," the company said.

Sinead O’Connor begs family for help in new Facebook post

Sinead O'Connor

Sinead O’Connor is singing a different tune.

The troubled musician who has been posting a series of Facebook rants against her family the last few days is now begging for their help.

“Please. Please love me. Please come to the hospital and spend time with me and help Fix all this,” she writes in a heartbreaking post on Tuesday.

This comes just two days after she reportedly received medical intervention following an alarming Facebook post that said she had “taken an overdose” while checked into a Dublin hotel under an assumed name.

That alarming message led Facebook users to alert Irish authorities, who found O’Connor and took her voluntarily to get help.

Reps for the singer haven’t responded to requests for comment, but O’Connor has been keeping the public posted with a steady stream of distressing Facebook updates that allude to her being on life support on Sunday.

She is still being hospitalized, according to her latest post, which laments that her estranged family only visited her there while she was unconscious.

“Why did you leave before I woke?” she writes. “Been missing you all for weeks. To hear that you were here and left was agony. Now I am utter,y [sic] alone.”

Facebook’s mobile: 100% of Nigerians users soar

Facebook has shared new statistics revealing that 7.1 million Nigerians use Facebook daily and 15 million are active every month.

Almost all these people are coming to Facebook on a mobile device: 100 percent of Nigerian monthly users are active on mobile as are 95 percent of Kenya’s monthly users.

 

This follows the recent announcement that Facebook’s active user population in Africa has grown 20 percent to 120 million in June 2015 from 100 million in September 2014.

More than 80 percent of these people access Facebook from their mobile phones. Now, 60 percent of all Internet users in Africa are active on Facebook.

Facebook has Announced Measures to Tackle Video Piracy on its Website.

The company said new video matching technology would alert selected content creators if their videos were reposted to Facebook without permission.

In August, YouTube star Hank Green wrote a blog criticising the company over its slow response to video piracy.

Brady Haran, who runs a collection of YouTube channels, told the BBC he still had questions over Facebook's new approach.

 

But the company has been criticised by prominent video creators such as Mr Green for failing to tackle video piracy.