News

Social media technology

• April 25, 2024 25 Apr'24

  Meta chief lays out long-term AI plan

  During the company’s first quarter earnings call, Mark Zuckerberg and chief financial officer Susan Li discussed Meta’s long-term bet on AI

• March 26, 2024 26 Mar'24

  Apple, Meta and Alphabet under EU scrutiny

  Under the new Digital Markets Act, European commissioners are looking at potential issues with the way Apple, Alphabet and Meta operate their platforms

• March 21, 2024 21 Mar'24

  US sues Apple, alleging smartphone monopoly

  A major legal action against Apple over its dominance of the smartphone market has kicked off in the US, alleging anticompetitive practices on Apple’s part that have damaged the sector and restricted consumer choice

• March 20, 2024 20 Mar'24

  Ukrainians crack network that stole 100m email, social accounts

  Three members of an organised cyber criminal group who hacked and appropriated personal email and social media accounts face up to 15 years in prison

• March 18, 2024 18 Mar'24

  Deep fake AI services on Telegram pose risk for elections

  Deep fake services advertised on Telegram and other platforms pose a risk to upcoming elections in Europe, Asia and the US

• March 13, 2024 13 Mar'24

  US authorities move a step closer to banning TikTok

  Lawmakers in Washington DC have moved a step closer to enacting a broad national ban on controversial video app TikTok in the US, with global ramifications

• March 05, 2024 05 Mar'24

  Meta outage disrupts social media globally

  Meta services, including Facebook, Instagram and Threads, have been downed in a brief service outage

• February 20, 2024 20 Feb'24

  Telefónica, Matsuko launch holographic meeting experience

  Telco and spatial computing firm to unveil holographic conferencing service to help users gain more effective communication and emotional connection in meetings

• February 19, 2024 19 Feb'24

  Vodafone looks to ease AR loads with HyperRealityHub

  Telco unveils standalone solution powered by Qualcomm technology utilising fast, secure connectivity computing to be shared between a hub, extended reality glasses and across the cloud

• February 08, 2024 08 Feb'24

  Cisco taps Apple, Nvidia to achieve distance zero and propel collaboration in new workspace

  Networking and IT tech and services firm reveals solutions and partnerships with leading CE and processor manufacturer to support business in the new world of world where workspaces are being reimagined

• January 15, 2024 15 Jan'24

  Russia hacked ex-MI6 chief’s emails – what they reveal is more Dad’s Army than deep state

  A Russian hacking group that published emails of ex-MI6 chief Richard Dearlove claimed to have uncovered a conspiracy, but it was more Dad’s Army than the ‘deep state’, Computer Weekly and Byline Times reveal

• January 10, 2024 10 Jan'24

  Davos 2024: AI-generated disinformation poses threat to elections, says World Economic Forum

  Disinformation and misinformation are the top risks facing businesses, governments and the public over the next two years

• January 10, 2024 10 Jan'24

  CES 2024: Sony announces development of spatial content creation system

  Sony is developing a device equipped with extended reality head-mounted display and controllers dedicated to interaction with 3D objects

• January 10, 2024 10 Jan'24

  SEC social media hack highlights value of MFA

  The US SEC briefly appeared to approve new bitcoin trading rules after a social media account was targeted by troublemakers, proving the value of MFA once again

• January 10, 2024 10 Jan'24

  CES 2024: Siemens eyes up immersive tech, AI to enable industrial metaverse

  Siemens seals partnerships to highlight transformative technology and introduces solution for immersive engineering that combines Sony head-mounted display with its Xcelerator software

• January 05, 2024 05 Jan'24

  Qualcomm claims new wave of mixed reality experiences with Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2

  Samsung and Google announce support for addition to flagship mobile platform supporting 4.3K per eye resolution and 12 or more concurrent cameras to deliver immersive mixed reality and virtual reality experiences

• December 21, 2023 21 Dec'23

  XR2 industry initiative targets European XR headset for Industry 5.0

  European tech suppliers reveal plan to take on global extended reality leaders and become the reference for mixed reality in region by targeting Industry 5.0 and addressing user needs

• December 07, 2023 07 Dec'23

  UK names Russian FSB agents behind political hacking campaign

  Russian hacking group, Star Blizzard, was part of a Russian intelligence operation aimed at interfering with UK politics and the democratic process, says government.

• November 30, 2023 30 Nov'23

  Government’s Online Fraud Charter welcomed

  The government has corralled 11 of the largest tech platforms in the world to commit to its Online Fraud Charter, designed to tackle online scams, fake adverts, and more

• November 28, 2023 28 Nov'23

  Meta faces GDPR complaint over processing personal data without 'free consent'

  Paid-for service means data protection is only available to those who can afford it, privacy group argues in data protection complaint

• November 09, 2023 09 Nov'23

  NCSC makes annual Black Friday plea to consumers

  Ahead of the annual festival of retail avarice, the NCSC is once again asking consumers to do the bare minimum to avoid falling victim to scams

• November 07, 2023 07 Nov'23

  Unesco unveils seven-point anti-disinformation plan

  United Nations body outlines seven proposals for civil society, governments, regulators and tech platforms to adopt to combat the source of disinformation

• October 30, 2023 30 Oct'23

  Everdome unveils Spaces metaverse-as-a-service platform

  Citing a McKinsey report that reveals 60% of users are eager to transform everyday life, Dubai-based metaverse project releases metaverse-as-a-service product line, which aims to make the immersive platform more accessible for all

• October 27, 2023 27 Oct'23

  Tech firms cite risk to end-to-end encryption as Online Safety Bill gets royal assent

  Tech firms continue to be concerned that the Online Safety Bill could undermine end-to-end encryption despite government reassurances

• September 20, 2023 20 Sep'23

  Parliament passes sweeping Online Safety Bill but tech companies still concerned over encryption

  Ofcom will consult on standards to enforce new powers, but tech companies remain concerned about the impact of the bill’s ‘spy clause’, which could require them to scan encrypted messages

• September 19, 2023 19 Sep'23

  Braverman puts pressure on Meta to pause end-to-end encryption plans

  The home secretary is calling on Meta to halt its plans to introduce encrypted messaging services on Facebook and Instagram until the company puts measures in place to detect abuse

• September 15, 2023 15 Sep'23

  TikTok fined €345m under GDPR for failing to protect children’s privacy

  Data protection regulators warn social media companies to take all necessary measures to protect children’s privacy

• September 11, 2023 11 Sep'23

  Polish election questioned after Pegasus spyware used to smear opposition, investigation finds

  Senate committee alerts prosecutors over potential crimes by public officials involved in purchasing Pegasus spyware used to monitor and smear political opponents

• September 05, 2023 05 Sep'23

  Zoom looks to transcend AI hype with Companion

  Collaboration and comms technology firm makes further addition to comms platform to help improve collaboration and productivity through generative AI-powered assistant

• August 31, 2023 31 Aug'23

  Ducktail social media marketing malware rears its head again

  Use of the Ducktail infostealer, which first popped up in 2022 targeting Meta Business accounts, seems to be increasing

• August 23, 2023 23 Aug'23

  Enterprise elevated in Zoom Q2

  Collaboration and communications technology provider releases second-quarter results showing steady increase in total revenue and significant rise in enterprise revenue

• August 15, 2023 15 Aug'23

  Online safety message failing to get through to women

  The security community could be doing a lot more to make its advice and guidance more accessible to women, according to a study

• August 10, 2023 10 Aug'23

  ShapesXR draws $8.6m in bid to become XR prototyping industry standard

  Key investment round secured for virtual reality design and collaboration platform favoured by Meta founder

• August 08, 2023 08 Aug'23

  MPs warn about growing prevalence of tech-enabled domestic abuse

  The UK government must take action to prevent perpetrators from being able to use connected or smart technologies to conduct their domestic abuse, a select committee has warned

• August 03, 2023 03 Aug'23

  Scottish NHS trust ducks fine after staff shared patient data via WhatsApp

  NHS Lanarkshire has been issued a formal reprimand by the ICO after staff members used WhatsApp to share patients’ personal data with one another

• August 02, 2023 02 Aug'23

  Pig butchers caught using ChatGPT to con victims

  Romance scammers looking to con people out of their savings appear to be turning to generative AI tools to save time and effort

• July 21, 2023 21 Jul'23

  Government boosts protection for encryption in Online Safety Bill but civil society groups concerned

  House of Lords adopts amendment to require Ofcom to commission a report before requiring technology companies to scan encrypted messages, but drops proposals for judicial oversight

• July 20, 2023 20 Jul'23

  Qualcomm and Meta collaborate to enable on-device AI applications using Llama 2

  Mobile tech giant working with social media platform to make available Llama 2-based implementations on smartphones and PCs to enable new generative AI applications using Snapdragon platforms

• July 20, 2023 20 Jul'23

  Online Safety Bill screening measures amount to ‘prior restraint’

  The Open Rights Group is calling on Parliament to reform the Online Safety Bill, on the basis that its content-screening measures would amount to “prior restraint” on freedom of expression

• July 12, 2023 12 Jul'23

  Ofcom’s online safety preparedness efforts hobbled by government

  Despite Ofcom’s progress so far, UK government changes to the scope and timetable of the Online Safety Bill are hobbling the ability of the regulator to successfully prepare for the new regime

• July 11, 2023 11 Jul'23

  EU formally grants data adequacy to US

  The European Commission has formally granted the US data adequacy, allowing companies and organisations to freely transfer personal data across the Atlantic via the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. But privacy activist Max Schrems has already committed...

• July 11, 2023 11 Jul'23

  Malicious URL volumes soar as cyber criminals pull on Threads

  Malicious actors have been quick to exploit the buzz around Meta’s newly launched Threads platform, with thousands of new suspicious domains registered exploiting its branding

• July 07, 2023 07 Jul'23

  Alaian, Qualcomm seek out extended reality startups

  Collaboration between telco alliance and leading mobile platform provider looks to offer emerging talents in extended reality the ability to accelerate their growth and promote the development of disruptive offerings

• July 06, 2023 06 Jul'23

  Meta’s Threads hits app stores, but no EU launch in sight

  Meta’s Twitter competitor makes its debut and signs up millions of users in just 12 hours, but concerns over compliance with the EU’s Digital Markets Act have sunk a pan-European launch for now

• July 04, 2023 04 Jul'23

  ‘Political lethargy’ to blame for digital exclusion, says Lords

  A House of Lords report about digital exclusion across the UK has blamed slow and undedicated government intervention for the extent of digital exclusion

• June 19, 2023 19 Jun'23

  Prime minister Rishi Sunak faces pressure from banks to force tech firms to pay for online fraud

  The UK’s major banks have told the prime minister to force tech firms to do more to prevent fraud that the banks end up paying for

• June 14, 2023 14 Jun'23

  TSB calls on Meta to intervene and protect users from fraud losses of £250m this year

  TSB is the latest bank to demand more action from social media sector in helping to reduce online fraud

• June 13, 2023 13 Jun'23

  Delivery charges and slow payments have customers abandoning baskets

  Customer expectation has been on the rise, both on and offline, and no-code automation firm Primer finds there are several reasons why consumers are choosing not to checkout

• May 31, 2023 31 May'23

  Lloyds Bank calls on tech companies to control social media ‘wild west’

  Lloyds Banking Group is calling on tech giants to step forward in the fight against online fraud, which emanates in the social media ‘wild west’

• May 25, 2023 25 May'23

  Build 2023: Microsoft wants developers to build IT with AI

  Software giant Microsoft is pushing the idea of next-generation business applications, powered by AI-based copilots with data feed plugins