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Facebook Agreed to Pay $725 million to settle Cambridge Analytica Case

27Dec By AnkitaNo Comments

News

Facebook Agreed to Pay $725 million to settle Cambridge Analytica Case

California, 25th Dec, 2022: World's leading social media platform Facebook has agreed to pay $725 million to settle a lawsuit alleging that facebook allowed sharing of millions of its users' personal information to Cambridge Analytica. Terms of the settlement reached by Meta Platforms, the holding company for Facebook and Instagram, were disclosed in court documents filed late Thursday. It will still need to be approved by a judge in a San Francisco federal court hearing set for March. The case sprang from 2018 revelations that Cambridge Analytica, a firm with ties to Trump political strategist Steve Bannon, had paid a Facebook app developer for access to the personal information of about 87 million users of the platform. That data was then used to target U.S. Voters during the 2016...

Facebook changes its name and what it means for our future

25Nov By PriyankaNo Comments

News

Facebook changes its name and what it means for our future

California, 24th Nov 2021: Facebook Inc. is now officially named Meta Platforms Inc., or simply: Meta. The company owned by Mark Zuckerberg is undergoing a rebrand that will shift the core business of the social media giant into a new realm that will begin to develop an industry forged in the concept of the Metaverse. The Metaverse is a relatively new concept that’s beginning to gain momentum in the technological and innovational agendas. The metaverse refers to the digital and virtual environments that are ever-present in our daily activities that involve entertainment, work, or even dating. When you log in to your gaming console to play GTA Online, you’re entering the metaverse. When you join a Teams meeting, you’re also making use of the metaverse, and when you chat online thru d...

Facebook launches Clubhouse like Podcasts & Live Audio Service

22Jun By AnkitaNo Comments

News

Facebook launches Clubhouse like Podcasts & Live Audio Service

San Francisco, CA, 22nd June 2021: Social media network platform Facebook launched podcasts and live audio streams service in US to keep users engaged on its platform and to compete with emerging rivals. Facebook says it is allowing public figures with verified accounts to start live audio rooms and invite anyone else to speak. A handful of podcasts will be available to people in the U.S. at first and the company plans to add more down the line. CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who has appeared on the video streaming app Clubhouse in the past, hosted his own live audio room on his Facebook page last week. “Live Audio Rooms and podcasts rolling out in the US is just the beginning of our audio journey," wrote Fidji Simo, head of the Facebook app, in a blog post. “Looking ahead, we are working ...

24Apr By AdityaNo Comments

News

Facebook Testing ads on Instagram Reels

California, 04/24/2021: Zuckerberg led Facebook to start testing ads on Instagram Reels, a short video platform worldwide as it looks to help brands better engage with relevant audiences. In July last year, Instagram had unveiled its new format ''Reels'' that allows users to create and share short videos. Reels and other short video platforms have seen strong growth userbase and time spent after some countries having security issues with popular short video making platform TikTok. In a blogpost on Thursday, Facebook said people are discovering and watching video in diverse formats across its family of apps, each offering distinct viewer and ad experiences. "Today, we're announcing new topic targeting options within Facebook In-Stream video, testing of Instagram Reels Ads and o...

19Feb By AnkitaNo Comments

News

Facebook blocks News Sharing in Australia

Canberra, Feb 19th, 2021: Social media giant Facebook blocked Australians from sharing news on its social media after the Australian govt move to make a law to pay for news. A move by facebook criticized by a Australian minister who called it “an assault on a sovereign nation” and abuse of power. Australia's government condemned the decision, which also prevented some government communications, including messages about emergency services, as well as some commercial pages. The digital platforms fear that what's happening in Australia will become an expensive precedent that larger countries will follow. Facebook took drastic action because the House of Representatives passed legislation that would make Facebook and Google pay for Australian journalism, said Treasurer Josh Frydenb...

US Govt Filed Antitrust Lawsuits Against Facebook For Crushing Smaller Competitors

11Dec By AdityaNo Comments

News

US Govt Filed Antitrust Lawsuits Against Facebook For Crushing Smaller Competitors

Washington, Dec 10, 2020: The US government and 48 states have filed parallel antitrust lawsuits against Facebook, accusing the social media giant of anti-competitive conduct by abusing its market power to create a monopoly and crushing smaller competitors, a move which may force it to sell WhatsApp and Instagram. Soon after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 48 state attorney generals sued the California-headquartered company, Facebook shares fall significantly. The bipartisan coalition led by New York attorney general Letitia James alleged that Facebook has engaged in a systematic strategy to eliminate threats to its monopoly. This includes its 2012 acquisition of up-and-coming rival Instagram, its 2014 acquisition of the mobile messaging app WhatsApp and the imposition of ant...

4Dec By PriyankaNo Comments

FUNDING

Step Raises $50 Million in Series B Funding from Stripe, Justin Timberlake & others

SAN FRANCISCO, 4th December 2020-- Step, a financial services company built for teens and families raises a $50 million Series B round of funding. The round was led by Coatue, with participation from returning investors Stripe, Crosslink Capital, Collaborative Fund, and Will Smith’s Dreamers VC. Step also added several new investors including Charli D’Amelio, Justin Timberlake, The Chainsmokers, Eli Manning, Kelvin Beachum, Larry Fitzgerald, and Andre Iguodala alongside prominent fintech executives from the likes of Facebook, Square, Venmo, Visa, and others. To date, Step has raised more than $75 million from investors. “Since Step’s launch, we’ve seen massive demand for this new type of all-in-one banking solution, making it much easier for teens to learn about money manag...

Facebook Acquires Chatbot Startup Kustomer

1Dec By AdityaNo Comments

ACQUISITION

Facebook Acquires Chatbot Startup Kustomer

Social media platform Facebook acquire Kustomer, a customer service chatbot for an undisclosed sum. But according to The Wall Street Journal sources the deal has valued the company around $1 billion. Kustomer is an omnichannel CRM platform that brings customer conversations from various channels together into a single-screen view. It helps businesses automate repetitive tasks so their agents can maximize the time and quality of interactions with customers. Facebook plans to use Kustomer’s bot in its Whatsapp and messenger service to scale the client's businesses and innovate its product offering via automation. Facebook in its press release said, "We’ve witnessed this shift firsthand as every day more than 175 million people contact businesses via WhatsApp. This number is growing...

Cambridge Analytica Boss Banned from Holding Company Directorships

26Sep By AdityaNo Comments

News

Cambridge Analytica Boss Banned from Holding Company Directorships

LONDON, 26th Sept. 2020— The boss of Cambridge Analytica has been banned from holding company directorships for seven years effective from 5 October 2020 over a scandal on Facebook users’ private data theft. Britain’s Insolvency Service banned Alexander Nix from running companies after he permitted Cambridge Analytica’s parent firm, SCL Elections Ltd., and connected firms to “market themselves as offering potentially unethical services to prospective clients.” U.K.-based Cambridge Analytica was accused of playing a key role in the 2014 breach of 87 million Facebook users’ personal data. The company denied it used the data for Trump’s 2016 election campaign, but some former employees have disputed that. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said that it was “entirely possible” the social ...

Qualcomm acquires 0.15% stake in Jio for $97 million

13Jul By AdityaNo Comments

ACQUISITION

Qualcomm acquires 0.15% stake in Jio for $97 million

Mumbai, 13th July 2020: Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries said it has secured $97 million (Rs 730 crore) from wireless technology leader Qualcomm makes total funding since April that has crossed $15.7 billion (Rs 1.18 lakh crore). "Qualcomm Ventures' investment will translate into 0.15 percent equity stake in Jio Platforms on a fully diluted basis," the company said in a statement. With this round, Reliance Jio sold its 25.24 percent stake to companies like Facebook, Silver Lake, General Atlantic, Intel, etc. The company said the investment in Jio will deepen the ties with Qualcomm that will help Jio to rollout of advanced 5G infrastructure and services in India. Qualcomm is the world's leading wireless technology innovator and the driving force behind the devel...

Brazil suspends Whatsapp Payment Service

24Jun By AdityaNo Comments

News

Brazil suspends Whatsapp Payment Service

Brazil's central bank ordered Visa and Mastercard to suspend a joint project with WhatsApp to roll out digital payments within the popular messaging service, over fears it would be anti-competitive. Brazil, which has the second-most WhatsApp users worldwide after India, was the pilot country for the platform's new integrated payments feature, which it launched on June 15 with an eye to rolling it out worldwide. But the central bank, which regulates payment systems in Brazil, put the new feature on hold indefinitely. "The reason for the central bank's decision is to preserve an adequate competitive environment, ensuring an interoperable, fast, secure, transparent, open and economical payment system," it said in a statement. WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook, is the most popu...

Facebook aims to help voters, Launched Voting Information Center

17Jun By AdityaNo Comments

USA

Facebook aims to help voters, Launched Voting Information Center

New York, Jun 17, 2020: Facebook is launching a widespread effort to boost US voter turnout and provide authoritative information about voting. The social media giant is launching a “Voting Information Center” on Facebook and Instagram that will include details on registering to vote, polling places and voting by mail. It will draw the information from state election officials and local election authorities. The information hub, which will be prominently displayed on people's Facebook news feeds beginning on Wednesday and on Instagram later in the summer is similar to the coronavirus information center the company launched earlier this year in an attempt to elevate facts and authoritative sources of information on COVID-19. “I know many people are upset that we've left the Pre...