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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,...

Bees Complicate Meta's Nuclear-Powered AI Plans

Sources tell Financial Time s that rare bees were found at proposed site near reactor

(Newser) - Meta, like rivals including Microsoft and Amazon, has been seeking to use nuclear power to meet the vast power demands of its artificial intelligence projects, but the quest has been complicated by bees. The company had planned to build an AI data center near an unspecified nuclear plant in the...

Meta Shuts Down Student Who Tracks Jets
Plane-Tracking Student
Just Got 'Zucked'
in case you missed it
Oct 27, 2024 7:10 AM CDT

Plane-Tracking Student Just Got 'Zucked'

Jack Sweeney, who's annoyed stars by keeping tabs on their jets, says Meta suspended accounts

(Newser) - Elon Musk and Taylor Swift have long been irked by the antics of Jack Sweeney, the college student who tracks the jets of celebrities (including Musk, Swift, Kim Kardashian, Jeff Bezos, and Donald Trump, among others) and posts their locations online. Now, Meta has jumped into the fray, according...

Meta Staffers Canned for Abusing Meal Perks

About 2 dozen workers in LA were fired after using their per diem for groceries, cosmetics, other items

(Newser) - Pro tip: If you work for Meta and have extra meal credits lying around, don't use them to pick up groceries, cosmetics, or other household goods. About two dozen of the company's employees who worked in Los Angeles have found that out the hard way, after being fired...

To Boost Chatbot's Appeal, Meta Turns to Celeb Voices

Meta AI can now speak in the voice of John Cena, Judi Dench, Kristen Bell

(Newser) - An AI-version of John Cena is now at your command, sort of. The actor-wrestler is one of several celebrities who've lent their voices to Meta's AI-powered chatbot, which counts some 400 million users across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads, and is expected to become the most used AI...

Instagram Unveils New Rules for Young Users

Accounts of minors will be set to private by default, for one thing

(Newser) - Instagram on Tuesday unveiled promised new rules designed to better protect users under the age of 18:
  • Any minors who sign up will have their accounts set to private by default, meaning only their approved followers can see posts, reports the New York Times . This will be phased in to
...

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...

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...

Fired X Exec Who Went Viral for Sleeping at Office Joins Rival

Esther Crawford now a director of product at Meta's Messenger

(Newser) - Twitter product head Esther Crawford went viral in late 2022, soon after Elon Musk took over the company, when she shared a photo of herself sleeping on her office floor as a sign of dedication—only to wind up fired. She's now bounced back into the social media landscape,...

Russia Convicts Meta Spokesperson of Justifying Terrorism

Andy Stone, tried in absentia, receives 6 years

(Newser) - A court in Russia on Monday convicted the spokesperson of US technology company Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, of justifying terrorism and sentenced him to six years in prison in a swift trial in absentia, Russia's independent news site Mediazona reported. According to the outlet, the charges against...

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...

Instagram Begins Blurring Nudity in Messages

It's part of a move to protect teens from sextortion

(Newser) - Instagram says it's deploying new tools to protect young people and combat sexual extortion, including a feature that will automatically blur nudity in direct messages. The social media platform said in a blog post Thursday that it's testing the features as part of its campaign to fight sexual...

Canadian Schools Sue Social Media Giants

Lawsuits say apps are wreaking havoc with students' education

(Newser) - Four of the largest school boards in the Canadian province of Ontario launched lawsuits Thursday against TikTok, Meta, and Snapchat, alleging the social media platforms are disrupting student learning. The lawsuits claim platforms like Facebook and Instagram are "designed for compulsive use, have rewired the way children think, behave,...

Meta Hit by Widespread Outage
Meta Hit by Widespread Outage
Mar 5, 2024 11:12 AM CST

Meta Hit by Widespread Outage

Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and Messenger all hit on Tuesday

(Newser) - Users of Meta's Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and Messenger platforms are experiencing login issues in what appears to be a widespread outage. Internet traffic observer Downdetector is reporting vast outages on several Meta platforms Tuesday. The problems are being reported across the world, reports the AP , suggesting that the outage...

Zuck Is 'Pretty Surprised' Quest Is Better Than Apple's Headset

Meta leader posts a Quest 3 vs. Vision Pro video breakdown

(Newser) - It's no shocker that Mark Zuckerberg is a bigger fan of his own company's VR headset than he is of Apple's Vision Pro. What might be more of a surprise is that he made a video explaining exactly why he thinks Meta's Quest 3 headset is...

Meta Board Backs Decision to Keep Up Altered Biden Video

But oversight panel criticizes company's existing guidelines on manipulated media as 'incoherent'

(Newser) - An oversight board is criticizing Facebook owner Meta's policies regarding manipulated media as "incoherent" and insufficient to address online disinformation in an election year. The quasi-independent board on Monday said its review of an altered video of President Biden that spread on Facebook exposed gaps in the policy,...

Mark Zuckerberg Just Made $27B in a Single Day

Meta's stock soars, even after his public apology

(Newser) - Mark Zuckerberg had to give a remarkable public apology this week over the abuses of social media. Friday's financial news might take some of the sting away: His net worth surged by about $27 billion, reports Bloomberg . The astonishing boost came because Meta's stock price soared after the...

'You Have Blood on Your Hands,' Senator Tells Zuckerberg

Meta CEO apologizes to parents at Senate committee hearing on child safety

(Newser) - The CEOs of five social media companies—Meta, X, Discord, TikTok, and Snap—testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on efforts to protect children Wednesday, and they did not have a friendly audience. Rolling Stone reports parents holding photos of children who died by suicide "audibly hissed" at Mark...

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