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In Break With Tradition, Ads Are Coming to WhatsApp

Meta says ads will appear only in the Updates section, not chats

(Newser) - WhatsApp, long known for its ad-free messaging, is about to break with tradition and introduce advertisements for the first time. WhatsApp, owned by Meta, announced that ads will soon appear in the app's Updates section, which is used by around 1.5 billion people daily, the New York ...

Meta Exec Apologizes to Conservative Activist

Robby Starbuck is suing for $5M, claiming company's AI defamed him

(Newser) - A conservative activist got a rare, personal apology from a top Meta exec over the tech giant's AI chatbot. Robby Starbuck, a former music video producer who has gained a following on the right with his anti-DEI videos, first alleged last year that Meta's chatbot was disseminating false...

Meta Unveils ChatGPT Rival
Meta Unveils
ChatGPT Rival
Apr 30, 2025 1:30 AM CDT

Meta Unveils ChatGPT Rival

App links Facebook and Instagram accounts for personalized AI experience

(Newser) - Meta is making its move in artificial intelligence with a new standalone app that blends AI with the familiar feel of social media in the company's bid to compete with OpenAI's ChatGPT. The app uses Meta's Llama 4 AI system and includes a "discover" feed...

Meta Tried to Silence Author, but Her Memoir Is a Bestseller

Careless People author Sarah Wynn-Williams is a former Facebook exec

(Newser) - A tell-all memoir from a former Facebook exec has become a best-seller despite—or perhaps partly because of—Meta's effort to block promotion of it. Sarah Wynn-Williams' Careless People has topped the New York Times ' nonfiction bestseller chart and will be fourth on the Sunday Times chart in...

Zuckerberg Tells Meta Employees to 'Buckle Up'

He defends working with Trump administration in all-hands employee meeting

(Newser) - "We try to be really open and then everything I say leaks. It sucks," Mark Zuckerberg said at an all-hands Meta meeting Thursday, according to details leaked to multiple outlets. According to a recording obtained by the Washington Post , the Meta CEO said the company's values haven'...

Meta Will Pay $25M to Settle Trump Lawsuit

President sued after Facebook, Instagram accounts were suspended in 2021

(Newser) - Meta has agreed to pay $25 million to President Trump to settle a lawsuit he filed in response to being kicked off the company's platforms the day after the Capitol riot. The company confirmed the settlement to the Wall Street Journal . Sources tell the AP that the settlement includes...

Suddenly Following Trump on Social Media? Here's Why

White House-controlled accounts were automatically transferred, along with followers

(Newser) - Social media is full of claims that Meta forced Facebook and Instagram users to follow President Trump. "Full dictatorship incoming," one Reddit user warned, per USA Today . But these claims are false, according to fact-checking site Snopes and other media outlets. The social media accounts for the US...

Facebook Rolls Back Hate Speech Rules

For example, it's now A-OK to refer to gay people as mentally ill on the social network

(Newser) - It wasn't just fact-checking that Meta scrapped from its platforms as it prepares for the second Trump administration. The social media giant has also loosened its rules around hate speech and abuse—again following the lead of Elon Musk's X—specifically when it comes to sexual orientation and...

What Meta's Big Policy Change Might Mean
Meta's
Fact-Checker
Shift Has Big
Implications
the rundown
Jan 8, 2025 8:59 AM CST

Meta's Fact-Checker Shift Has Big Implications

And they might be most pronounced outside the US

(Newser) - Mark Zuckerberg announced Tuesday that Meta was doing away with fact-checkers on Facebook, a sweeping policy shift with huge implications. A look at reaction from around the political spectrum:
  • About time: The conservative editorial page of the Wall Street Journal calls Zuckerberg's message a "mea culpa for the
...

Zuckerberg Wore a $900K Watch to Meta Announcement

He was sporting a Greubel Forsey 'Hand Made 1' in recent video announcement

(Newser) - As he announced Meta's decision to do away with third-party fact-checking on Facebook , Mark Zuckerberg was not exactly giving off a "one of us" vibe: The CEO was wearing a Swiss watch worth nearly a million bucks. As Bloomberg explains, the "extremely rare" Greubel Forsey "Hand...

Zuckerberg Announces Major Policy Shift on Posts
Zuckerberg
Announces
Major Policy
Shift on Posts
the rundown
Jan 7, 2025 11:15 AM CST

Zuckerberg Announces Major Policy Shift on Posts

Facebook scrapping fact-checkers, will use a 'Community Notes' model like one on X platform

(Newser) - Mark Zuckerberg unveiled a major change on Tuesday that puts Facebook and other companies under the Meta umbrella more in sync with the incoming Trump administration. Details:
  • Fact-checkers: Meta is scrapping its third-party fact-checking system on posts and will shift to a "Community Notes" format similar to the one
...

UFC CEO Dana White Now on the Board of Meta

As the company appears to shift a bit to the right, per CNN

(Newser) - Trump ally and Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White can now also be described as a member of Meta's board of directors. The board of the Facebook and Instagram parent company elected him and two others, expanding the number of directors from 10 to 13, NPR reports. Meta...

Report: PTSD Found in 144 of 144 Facebook Moderators

Medical reports were filed in connection with case brought by moderators in Kenya

(Newser) - Almost 190 Facebook content moderators in Kenya have sued Facebook parent Meta and the outsourcing firm who hired them, alleging intentional infliction of mental harm , among other woes. Court filings viewed by the Guardian reveal the depths of the alleged impact: The paper cites medical reports filed with the employment...

X Has Become Too 'Toxic' for Stephen King

Horror author leaves Elon Musk's social media site for Meta's Threads

(Newser) - The prolific Stephen King is known for his extra-long novels, but the exit message he posted Thursday on X was short and sweet. "I'm leaving Twitter. Tried to stay, but the atmosphere has just become too toxic," the horror author wrote, using the platform's former name,...

Zuckerberg: We Stifled COVID Info at White House's Request

Meta CEO alleges White House turned up heat on his teams to take down certain items on COVID

(Newser) - During the height of the pandemic, Meta scrubbed tens of millions of items on Facebook and Instagram that it said pushed misinformation on COVID-19, vaccinations, and the like, with warnings placed on nearly 200 million more pieces of content. Now, the company's CEO is saying that the Biden administration...

Facial Recognition Costs Meta $1.4B in Texas

Lone Star State had sued over unauthorized use of Texans' biometrics

(Newser) - Meta has agreed to a $1.4 billion settlement with Texas in a privacy lawsuit over claims that the tech giant used biometric data of users without their permission, officials said Tuesday. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said the settlement is the largest secured by a single state, reports the...

Mark Zuckerberg Pulls Off Another Fourth of July Stunt

Meta CEO got all dressed up for his latest video showing his Independence Day antics in Tahoe

(Newser) - Three summers ago, Mark Zuckerberg entertained (and completely annoyed) the masses with a "full-cringe" Fourth of July video that showed him riding an electric hydrofoil surfboard, American flag in hand. This year he's back with similar antics, albeit a slightly fancier version. Per Fox Business , the Meta CEO...

Supreme Court Punts on Social Media Speech Rights

SCOTUS returns cases in Texas and Florida claiming that users were being censored

(Newser) - The Supreme Court on Monday kept a hold on efforts in Texas and Florida to limit how Facebook, TikTok, X, YouTube, and other social media platforms regulate content posted by their users. The justices returned the cases to lower courts in challenges from trade associations for the companies, reports the...

Ad Featuring Young Girl Shown to Sex Offenders on Instagram

Meta disputes 'New York Times' test as a 'manufactured experience'

(Newser) - Instagram's algorithms are putting innocent photos of children in front of men with pedophilic tendencies, the New York Times reports, offering data from its own tests as evidence. The outlet began investigating after a maker of children's jewelry who paid to advertise her products to a mostly female...

Musk's Bottom Line Takes a Hit From His Tesla Woes

Mark Zuckerberg displaces Tesla CEO from No. 3 spot on Bloomberg Billionaires Index

(Newser) - While much of social media was commenting Thursday on a fake "bearded Mark Zuckerberg" picture , the Facebook co-founder notched a more substantial achievement: displacing Elon Musk on Bloomberg's Billionaires Index . Zuckerberg, 39, is now third on that list, with a net worth of about $178 billion, while the...

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