Social

WhatsApp seems to have extended its privacy policy acceptance date in select regions till June 19, 2021. The Facebook-owned messaging service had given May 15 as the deadline for accepting the updated privacy policy but did not take any action for people who did not accept the terms. Although WhatsApp had said it will not

Clubhouse Android app has reached a million downloads on the Google Play store in less than a week since its launch on the platform. The invite-only social audio app was initially introduced for iPhone in March 2020 and has garnered more than 10 million downloads on Apple’s App Store. The audio social networking app earned

Chinese gaming and social media giant Tencent reported a forecast-beating 65 percent rise in quarterly profit on Thursday, while management reiterated the company’s focus on compliance as China steps up scrutiny on tech giants. Tencent, the world’s largest gaming firm by revenue, booked profit of CNY 47.77 billion (roughly Rs. 54,180 crores) for the three months

The messaging app WhatsApp said on Friday it was still discussing the rollout of an update in Turkey, despite a statement from Turkey’s Competition Board saying the update would not be issued. WhatsApp updated its terms of service in January, saying it was reserving the right of its owner Facebook and its subsidiaries to collect

India’s information technology (IT) ministry has written to all social media companies asking them to take down any content that refers to an “Indian variant” of the coronavirus, according to a letter issued on Friday which was seen by Reuters. The World Health Organization said on May 11 that the coronavirus variant B.1.617, first identified

Clubhouse, the invite-only social audio app, is now available for download on Android devices in India and around the world. The Android version of the app started testing in the US a couple of weeks back, aiming to bolster its potential growth in the market. Before that, Clubhouse was exclusive to Apple’s iOS since its

Tinder’s latest safety feature “Are You Sure?” prompts users to stop and think twice before sending a potentially offensive message. The feature aims to reduce harassment on the online dating platform by using artificial intelligence (AI) to detect harmful language and intervenes to prevent an instance of abuse. Tinder had earlier introduced “Does This Bother

WhatsApp is working on a way to let users transfer their chat history when migrating to a new phone that is using a different phone number, according to a report. The new development seems to be an extension of the ability to transfer WhatsApp chat history from one platform to another — from Android to

Zhang Yiming, founder of TikTok owner ByteDance, told employees of the Chinese technology giant in a memo that he will step down as chief executive and be succeeded by human resource chief Liang Rubo, the company disclosed on Thursday. The move, first reported by Reuters, represents the biggest corporate shake-up at ByteDance since its launch

Snapchat at Snap Partner Summit 2021 on Thursday received a slew of updates that are aiming to grow its presence among creators, businesses, and developers — a move to counter Facebook’s Instagram. Snap, the parent company behind Snapchat, introduced features called Creator Marketplace and Gifting to help creators attract monetisation. The company has also brought

A new video of a UFO sighting allegedly captured by the US Navy in 2019 has been shared by filmmaker Jeremy Corbell on Twitter days before intelligence agencies are due to submit a report to the US Congress on the subject. The US has a “massive intelligence failure on its hands” when it comes to unidentified

Russia partially halted a punitive slowdown of Twitter on Monday after it deleted a large portion of content deemed illegal by Moscow, but warned other US Internet platforms to comply with local legislation or face similar penalties. State communications watchdog Roskomnadzor has since March impeded the speed of Twitter for not removing banned content quickly enough,

WhatsApp has a new chatbot aimed at helping fast-track COVID-19 vaccination process for senior citizens in India in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Zero funds volunteer organisation Robin Hood Army on Wednesday launched the WhatsApp chatbot that connects senior citizens with volunteers for help with the vaccination process. The chatbot can also be used

WhatsApp has been asked to withdraw its new privacy policy by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), as per a letter sent by the agency to the Facebook-owned instant messaging platform accessed by NDTV. MeitY believes that the changes to WhatsApp privacy policy and the manner of introducing the said changes undermines the

Snap on Monday announced a climate strategy to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, purchase 100 percent renewable energy and remain carbon neutral after offsetting emissions dating back to its launch. The plan, which the owner of photo messaging app Snapchat detailed in its annual “CitizenSnap” report on social and environmental initiatives, comes as climate change debates are

Clubhouse announced its Android app beta rollout timeline for several countries including India. The app, that has been available on iOS for over a year, has been in beta testing on Android since early May but in the US only. The developers had shared it will roll out to Brazil, Japan, and Russia by today

Is the sand in Tahoe City, California, US magnetic? Well, that’s what an iPhone user thought recently. In a post on Reddit, user bopete1313 shared a photo of his iPhone’s back covered in ferrous debris. The picture shows the ferrous neatly arranged around the camera, speakers, and MagSafe ring, while the rest of the phone was

Twitter Blue may soon roll out as a paid subscription for the microblogging site with exclusive features such as “undo tweet”, according to app researcher Jane Manchun Wong who often tests and tweets about upcoming features of popular apps. The paid service may also get a new “Collections” section that will allow users to save

Instagram is reportedly working on allowing users to create posts using its desktop website. The upcoming feature for the social media platform was spotted by a notable tipster on Twitter. According to the tipster, the feature is being tested internally and it will take a long while before it reaches the general audience. The tipster

A 16-year-old boy from Pune, Maharashtra, has created one of the most beautiful and detailed three-dimensional images of the Moon by compositing 50,000 images. Prathamesh Jaju, who describes himself as an amateur astronomer and astrophotographer, said the massive number of images (over 186GB data) he had to work with almost killed his laptop while processing.

Ireland’s data regulator can resume a probe that may trigger a ban on Facebook’s transatlantic data transfers, the High Court ruled on Friday, raising the prospect of a stoppage that the company warns would have a devastating impact on its business. The case stems from EU concerns that US government surveillance may not respect the privacy

Twitter paused public submissions for verification badges in 2017. Since then, it has been working on a new verification programme to offer the blue tick mark to users who deserve it the most. Now, a new leak suggests that Twitter is close to launching the new verification process. This process will ask users a series

After COVID-19 vaccinations opened up for the 18-44 age group in India, appointments via CoWIN portal were made mandatory. Getting appointments has been difficult from the beginning because slots get booked up in short order. So, people turned to scripts to check the site automatically, and to bots on Telegram to send alerts when appointments

Billionaire Elon Musk and cryptocurrency aficionado on Tuesday asked his 54 million followers on Twitter “Do you want Tesla to accept Doge?,” referring to a digital currency worth roughly 48 cents (roughly Rs. 35) with no real-world use. The question, in the form of a Twitter poll, comes days after he called Dogecoin a “hustle,” sending

WhatsApp’s most controversial privacy update deadline is here, and you will either have to accept it or risk losing all the key WhatsApp features, as the company will stop you from calling or messaging contacts. The company had earlier given an ultimatum that to use the app, you will have to accept the new policy on

Britain said on Wednesday a planned new law would see social media companies fined up to 10 percent of turnover or GBP 18 million (roughly Rs. 187 crores) if they failed to stamp out online abuses such as racist hate crimes, while senior managers could also face criminal action. The Online Safety Bill also seeks to strengthen

 Germany’s lead data protection regulator for Facebook is banning the social network from processing personal data from WhatsApp users because it views the messaging app’s new terms of use as illegal, it said on Tuesday. The decision follows emergency proceedings opened by the regulator in the city-state of Hamburg last month after WhatsApp required users

WhatsApp has said in its response to a petition filed against its privacy policy update in the Delhi High Court that many Internet-based applications and websites have similar policies and that some even collect more data, according to a report. The instant messaging app owned by Facebook reportedly cited privacy policies of companies including Big

TikTok downloads on US government devices may soon be not allowed. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee unanimously passed a bill that would ban US federal workers from downloading the popular app TikTok onto US government devices, Senator Josh Hawley, a bill sponsor, said in a press statement on Wednesday. The US Senate unanimously

Facebook’s New Product Experimentation team has reportedly released its Tuned app for Android. Tuned is an app from the social media giant that is aimed primarily at couples. It was first introduced in April 2020 as an iOS-exclusive app in Canada and the US. Facebook’s new couple-friendly app allows partners to chat, set calendars, share