Facebook has added a set of Star Wars-themed features to Messenger to help fans of the franchise celebrate what looks like the last installment of the saga. ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ hits theatres next week. The update adds AR effects to video calls made using the Messenger app, and also video posted in the form of ‘Stories.’ These can be cross-posted to Facebook via Messenger, and will appear in the ‘Stories’ panel of the Facebook app. It can also be set as one’s Instagram Story; by downloading the video and re-posting on the Facebook-owned media-sharing app. "Jump into hyperspace and travel to a whole new world with the Lightspeed Effect. Then, you’ll be able to see yourself as part of the Resistance, gliding through the galaxies in Poe Dameron’s X-Wing with the Cockpit Effect. And don’t forget about the battle of the Dark vs. Light side of the Force! Now, you can use the Dark vs. Light Effect to choose your … [Read more...] about May the force be with you: Facebook Messenger adds ‘Star Wars’-themed AR effects, themes & emojis
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FTC may try to delay Facebook’s plan to integrate its apps, Wall Street Journal reports
(CNN)Facebook's stock took a dive on Thursday following a report that federal regulators may seek to prevent the company from more tightly integrating its social media products. The Federal Trade Commission is said to be considering asking for a court order to delay Facebook from making the services it owns, including WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook Messenger, interoperable with one another, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter. Shares of Facebook (FB) fell more than 3 percent in afternoon trading Thursday after the news broke. Facebook and the FTC declined to comment on the report. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has pushed to unify the platforms as part of what he says is a wider shift in the company strategy in which user privacy will become more of a priority. But critics of the move fear that it could further entrench the company's dominance and make it harder for regulators to break up the company in a potential antitrust lawsuit. … [Read more...] about FTC may try to delay Facebook’s plan to integrate its apps, Wall Street Journal reports
Congress already wants to block rollout of Facebook’s cryptocurrency
That didn’t take long. Just a few hours after Facebook announced the details of its Libra cryptocurrency on Tuesday morning, lawmakers in Congress told the social media giant to pump the brakes. Politicians on both sides of the aisle expressed their skepticism about Facebook’s new cryptocurrency. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-California), chair of the House Financial Services Committee, told Facebook to stop development of the cryptocurrency until Congress could weigh in. “With the announcement that it plans to create a cryptocurrency, Facebook is continuing its unchecked expansion and extending its reach into the lives of its users,” Waters said in a statement. “Given the company’s troubled past, I am requesting that Facebook agree to a moratorium on any movement forward on developing a cryptocurrency until Congress and regulators have the opportunity to examine these issues and take action.” Facebook, along with major partners like Visa, Mastercard, … [Read more...] about Congress already wants to block rollout of Facebook’s cryptocurrency
FTC could seek injunction to block Facebook from integrating its Messenger, Instagram and Whatsapp properties over antitrust concerns – as shares in the tech giant fall nearly 3%
Federal officials are considering seeking a preliminary injunction against Facebook over mounting antitrust concerns into how the company's apps interact with each other and work with rivals, sources say. On Thursday Facebook's shares dropped 2.7% shortly before closing after the Wall Street Journal reported the Federal Trade Commission's plans. The injunction would be sought under the grounds that Facebook is breaking inter-operability rules, which regulates how digital platforms interact. FTC officials are concerned by how Facebook integrates its apps - including Instagram, Whatsapp and Facebook Messenger - and allows them to work with potential rivals, sources told the outlet. The FTC could file for an injunction as early as January. Federal officials are seeking a preliminary injunction against Facebook over mounting antitrust concerns into how the companies apps interaction and anticompetitive practices The injunction is … [Read more...] about FTC could seek injunction to block Facebook from integrating its Messenger, Instagram and Whatsapp properties over antitrust concerns – as shares in the tech giant fall nearly 3%
Facebook’s emotion study: yet another reason for distrust
Larry Page, Google's chief executive, expressed his frustration last week with people's lack of trust in "big data" companies such as his own. "We get so worried about [data privacy] that we don't get the benefits," he said, arguing that if Google were to let companies mine our health data 100,000 lives a year could be saved. Page and others at Google might therefore be unhappy at how Facebook has behaved. During a January week in 2012, around 700,000 English-speaking Facebook users were chosen, without their knowledge or consent, to be emotional lab rats. The researchers found that if you tweak what people see in their Facebook news feed – the scrolling information on your page –to suppress or heighten certain emotive words, readers' emotions will shift to match. It's not only emotions Facebook can nudge. It can make you vote, too. On the US presidential election day in 2010 it offered one group a graphic with a link to find nearby polling stations, along with a button … [Read more...] about Facebook’s emotion study: yet another reason for distrust
‘Privacy absolutism’ masks how consumers actually value their data
Ethical scandals in the tech industry seem to follow each other like night and day. Last month, a federal inquiry was opened regarding Google’s program to collect and analyze patient data in collaboration with health care providers, known as Project Nightingale. In August, many were taken aback when Facebook and other tech giants were reported to employ human contractors to listen to users’ messenger conversations; Facebook immediately “paused” the project and gave the usual set of explanations.But should we really be angry (again) with Facebook?Though big tech detractors hate the proposition, there is some meat to the idea that people do not care about privacy in the absolute. This can be seen through the following thought experiment.ADVERTISEMENTYou and your spouse are sleeping upstairs in your house after a long day of work. Downstairs, the living room and kitchen are a mess. There just wasn’t time to manage it all. During the night, … [Read more...] about ‘Privacy absolutism’ masks how consumers actually value their data
