WhatsApp limits message forwarding to slow spread of fake virus news
Facebook Inc.'s WhatsApp tightened message forwarding limits Tuesday, restricting users to sharing forwarded content one chat at a time after a jump in messages touting bogus medical advice since the start of the coronavirus crisis. The pandemic, which has killed more than 70,000 people worldwide, ...
Australians rally online to support health workers on virus frontline
While social media has been blamed by some for spreading dangerous misinformation about COVID-19, tens of thousands of Australians are using their networks to support the health care workers that are risking their lives on the frontlines of the pandemic. When Chris Nicholas launched the ...
EU to relaunch push to regulate WhatsApp and Skype on privacy
The EU will relaunch its deadlocked effort to more closely regulate internet phone and message services such as WhatsApp, Skype and Messenger, a top bloc official said on Tuesday. The European Union has struggled to revamp privacy and data rules on telecoms since a proposal ...
WhatsApp hacked to spy on top government officials of U.S. allies, sources say
Senior government officials in multiple U.S.-allied countries were targeted earlier this year with hacking software that used Facebook Inc.'s WhatsApp to take over users' phones, according to people familiar with the messaging company's investigation. Sources familiar with WhatsApp's internal investigation into the breach said a ...
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is expected to announce a roughly $5 billion settlement with Facebook Inc. as early as this week of its investigation into the social media company's handling of user data, two sources briefed on the matter said on Monday. The FTC, ...
Facebook's WhatsApp limits users to five text forwards to curb 'misinformation and rumors'
Facebook Inc.'s WhatsApp is limiting worldwide the number of times a user can forward a message to five, starting on Monday, as the popular messaging service looks to fight "misinformation and rumors," company executives said on Monday. Previously, a WhatsApp user could forward a message ...
U.S. seeks to wiretap Messenger, trying to force Facebook to help: sources
The U.S. government is trying to force Facebook Inc. to break the encryption in its popular Messenger app so law enforcement may listen to a suspect's voice conversations in a criminal probe, three people briefed on the case said, resurrecting the issue of whether ...
'He looked like a terrorist!' Rural India joy ride ended in rumor-fueled mob attack and lynching
In the tiny hamlet of Murki in the hinterlands of south India, Inspector V.B. Yadwad surveyed a pile of bricks and stones in a ditch where he and other police officers had been attacked earlier this month while trying to save a group of ...
Bangladesh's news-starved Rohingya refugees tune in to 'WhatsApp radio' despite dodgy info sources
Sitting in his hillside grocery shop in a Bangladesh refugee camp, Rohingya Muslim Momtaz-ul-Hoque takes a break to listen to an audio recording on his mobile phone, while children and passers-by gather round to hear the latest news from Myanmar. "I listen because I get ...
U.K. says pedophiles, organized crime using WhatsApp with impunity, demands access to messages
Britain said WhatsApp's end-to-end encryption communication services allowed pedophiles and organized crime groups to operate beyond the reach of the law and called on the messaging service to move faster to help governments catch offenders. After four militant attacks in Britain that killed 36 people ...
Islamic State peddling looted art on eBay, Facebook for cash flow
The Whatsapp message appeared on his iPhone: photos of an ancient Mesopotamian vase worth $250,000, part of a highly valued set, is waiting to be extracted. The recipient, Amr Al Azm, replied that he was interested. How to proceed? A message from a different account ...
Line built its empire with surprising speed
How do you create a ¥1.5 trillion company in an industry that gives its primary product away? Line Corp. did it by getting smartphone users to pay for teddy bear icons and games with cute cookies and wicked witches. The Tokyo-based messaging application has grown to ...
