Social Networking News
Rolling news and analysis coverage of the major social networking businesses around the globe and the sector as a whole.
Appeals court in the US rejects immediate WeChat ban
A US appeals court has rejected a Justice Department request it allow the authorities to immediately ban Apple and also Google from offering WeChat for downloading from US app stor...
Pakistan’s Khan writes to Facebook seeking ban on Islamophobic content
Pakistan’s prime minister has written a letter to Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg seeking a ban on Islamophobic articles on the platform, warning of an increase in r...
Google’s antitrust legal woes far from over if Biden wins
The US Justice Department’s nascent antitrust case against Google will probably find the attention it should succeed if Democrat Joe Biden wins the US presidency following mo...
WhatsApp to offer in-app purchases and cloud hosting services
Facebook has said its WhatsApp messaging app would begin to provide in-app buys and hosting solutions, as it proceeds to boost revenue from the app whilst knitting together e-comme...
How social media companies will handle post-US election scenarios
In the run-up to the US election in November, social networking companies such as Facebook and Twitter have announced a slew of new rules for assorted post-election scenarios.
Facebook launches dating service in Europe
Facebook has said it is launching its own dating service in 32 European countries after the rollout was postponed earlier this season due to regulatory concerns.
Harry and Meghan decry ‘crisis of hate’ in social media
Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, have spoken about their ongoing campaign against social media negativity, with Harry warning of a “global crisis of hate” that was af...
Pakistan to unblock TikTok after it vows to moderate content
Pakistan has made a decision to lift a ban on viral social networking app TikTok after the company vowed to block all accounts involved in spreading “obscenity and immorality...
Japan to join forces with US and Europe in regulating ‘Big Tech’
Japan will combine forces with the United States and Europe to carry on almost any marketplace abuses by the four Big Tech platforms, the new mind of its antitrust watchdog has sai...
Irish regulator probes handling of children’s data on Instagram
Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) has launched two queries into Facebook after concerns were raised about the social system titans handling of children’s perso...
UK watchdog: Instagram agrees curbs on paid influencers
Facebook-owned Instagram has consented measures to crack down on hidden advertising by so-called influencers on its own photo and video platform, the UK’s Competition and Mar...
Twitter briefly restricts Trump campaign account, GOP outraged at company’s actions
President Trump’s re-election campaigns Twitter accounts was temporarily restricted late last week, causing an outcry from Republican lawmakers who enticed social media firms...
Facebook’s Libra taps ex-HSBC exec as CFO of payments unit
Another former HSBC executive is heading into the Facebook-backed Libra cryptocurrency project, joining as chief financial officer of a unit tasked with handling the projected digi...
MMA athlete throws down a challenge to Pakistan’s TikTok ban
A mixed martial artist is fighting a Pakistani ban on TikTok, the short-video sharing app on which he was pinning his hopes on helping people become healthy and get into shape.