Facebook’s regulation dodge: Let us, or China will
Facebook is leaning on fears of China exporting its authoritarian social values to counter arguments that it should be broken up or slowed down. Its top executives have each claimed that if the U.S. limits its size, blocks its acquisitions or bans its cryptocurrency, Chinese...
Highlights from Facebook’s Libra Senate hearing
Facebook will only build its own Calibra cryptocurrency wallet into Messenger and Whatsapp, and will refuse to embed competing wallets, the head of Calibra David Marcus told the Senate Banking Committee today. While some like Senator Brown blustered that “Facebook is dangerous!”, others surfaced poignant...
Facebook’s testimony to congress: Libra will be regulated by Swiss
The head of Facebook’s blockchain subsidiary Calibra David Marcus has released his prepared testimony before congress for tomorrow and Wednesday, explaining that the Libra Association will be regulated by the Swiss government since that’s where it’s headquartered. Meanwhile, he says the Libra Association and Facebook’s...
Facebook answers how Libra taxes & anti-fraud will work
Facebook provided TechCrunch with new information on how its cryptocurrency will stay legal amidst allegations from President Trump that Libra could facilitate “unlawful behavior”. Facebook and Libra Association executives tell me they expect Libra will incur sales tax and capital gains taxes. They confirmed that...
Facebook will start taking a cut of fan subscriptions in 2020
Facebook will take a cut of up to 30% on fan subscriptions, beginning on January 1, 2020. The social network is revealing its plans as part of a broader slate of monetization-related announcements this week at VidCon. The news confirms a TechCrunch report earlier this year...
New Instagram features flag potentially offensive comments, allow you to quietly ‘restrict’ users
Instagram announced two new features today that it said are designed to combat online bullying. In both cases, the Facebook -owned service seems to be trying to find ways to limit bad behavior without outright blocking posts or banning users. “We can do more to...
Reliance Jio partners with Facebook to launch literacy program for first time internet users in India
Mukesh Ambani, India’s richest man, has enabled tens of millions of people — if not more — to come online for the first time with his disruptive telecom network. He has changed how many Indians, once thrifty about each megabyte they spent browsing the internet,...
Higher Ground Labs is betting tech can help sway the 2020 elections for Democrats
When Shomik Dutta and Betsy Hoover first met in 2007, he was coordinating fundraising and get-out-the-vote efforts for Barack Obama’s first presidential campaign and she was a deputy field director for the campaign. Over the next two election cycles the two would become parts of...
Facebook squeezes money from Instagram with new ads in Explore
Half of Instagram’s billion-plus users open its Explore tab each month to find fresh content and creators. Now the Facebook-owned app will do more to carry its weight by injecting ads into Instagram Explore for the first time. But rather than bombard users with marketing...
Facebook may finally let you turn off those annoying notification dots
Sick of those anxiety-inducing red dots constantly appearing on the Groups, Watch, or other tabs in your Facebook app? Well the social network may be easing up a little in its unending war for your attention. Facebook is now testing a toggle to turn off...
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