Tag: WhatsApp

Russia says DDoS attack disrupts Telegram, WhatsApp

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian users of Telegram and WhatsApp had trouble accessing the messaging apps on Wednesday due to disruption the state communications monitoring service said was caused by a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack. The service said the attack had been repelled and that the messaging networks were working normally again. Russian media said other sites, including Wikipedia, Skype and the social media platform Discord had also been affected. “The disruption is related to a DDoS […]

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Apple drops WhatsApp, Threads from China app store on official order: report

BEIJING, April 19, 2024 (AFP) – Apple has removed the Meta-owned WhatsApp and Threads from its App Store in China following an order from the country’s top internet regulator, Bloomberg reported Friday citing the tech giant. Beijing engages in some of the world’s most extensive internet censorship, with web users in mainland China unable to access everything from Google to many foreign apps without using a virtual private network. “We are obligated to follow the […]

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Russia fines WhatsApp for failing to delete content

MOSCOW, June 1, 2023 (AFP) – A Russian court imposed a fine on US messenger service WhatsApp on Thursday for failing to delete banned content. The three-million-rouble ($37,000) fine was the first imposed on WhatsApp for such an offence. WhatsApp’s parent company, Meta, was banned and branded “extremist” by Russian authorities last year. Meta’s other platforms, Facebook and Instagram, were blocked in Russia along with Twitter, but WhatsApp remained accessible. WhatsApp was punished for failing […]

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Top US court backs WhatsApp suit over Pegasus spyware

San Francisco, United States (AFP)– The question of whether Pegasus spyware used by governments and police to snoop on smartphones is used to target activists, journalists and others not involved in nefarious activities a lawsuit by WhatsApp against Israeli technology firm NSO Group The US Supreme Court on Monday rejected a bid by NSO Group to block a WhatsApp lawsuit accusing the Israeli tech firm of allowing mass cyberespionage of journalists and human rights activists. […]

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Russia bans Instagram and Facebook as ‘extremist’

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) – A Russian court on Monday banned Facebook and Instagram as “extremist”, part of sweeping efforts by Moscow to crack down on social media during the conflict in Ukraine. The Russian authorities have accused US tech giant Meta — the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp — of tolerating “Russophobia” since President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine on February 24. Facebook and Twitter have been inaccessible in Russia since early […]

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Facebook fights global outage and whistleblower revelations

  by Joshua Melvin with Thomas Urbain in New York Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Facebook battled dueling crises on Monday as it faced a large-scale outage of its dominant social network for seven hours, and fought against a whistleblower’s damning revelations. Many long-held fears and criticisms about the platform seem to have been backed up by Facebook’s own research, which ex-worker Frances Haugen has turned over to authorities and the Wall […]

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Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp hit by outage: tracker

  by Julie Jammot with Joshua Melvin in Washington Agence France Presse SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Facebook and its Instagram and WhatsApp platforms were hit by a massive outage Monday, impacting potentially tens of millions of users as the social media giant faces fallout over its effect on teens and misinformation. Tracker Downdetector was showing outages in heavily populated areas like Washington and Paris, with problems being reported from around 1545 GMT. “We’re […]

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US government, states file antitrust suits against Facebook

  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US federal and state antitrust enforcers filed suit against Facebook on Wednesday claiming the social media giant abused its dominant position with its acquisitions of messaging services Instagram and WhatsApp. Separate suits filed by the Federal Trade Commission and a coalition of state officials called for the divestment of Instagram and WhatsApp, services which have billions of users and are part of the Facebook “family” of applications. “Facebook’s actions […]

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Facebook says services tripped up by server problem

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Facebook said Tuesday users had trouble accessing the social network and its other applications such as Instagram for a chunk of the day due to a server software problem. It was the second instance in the past two weeks in which technical issues appeared to affect access to Facebook. “Earlier today, a server configuration caused intermittent problems across all apps globally, creating a degraded experience for users,” a Facebook spokesperson […]

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WhatsApp out to make money from business messages

  SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP)–Facebook on Wednesday set out to make money from WhatsApp with a scheme to connect businesses with customers via the smartphone messaging service. Facebook said it has been testing a “WhatsApp Business” tool for months with more than 90 companies including Uber and Singapore Airlines. “We’re introducing a solution for businesses that require more powerful tools to chat on WhatsApp and a new way for people to quickly start a […]

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WhatsApp offers tips to spot fake news after India murders

NEW DELHI, India (AFP)–WhatsApp took out full-page advertisements in Indian newspapers Tuesday offering “easy tips” to identify fact from fiction after a slew of recent murders spurred by hoaxes shared on its platform. The Facebook-owned messaging service has been under immense pressure to curb the spread of misinformation in India after the lynching of more than 20 people accused of child abduction in the last two months. Most recently a mob surrounded and killed five men […]

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WhatsApp co-founder leaving Facebook

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum on Monday put out the word that he is leaving Facebook, which bought the smartphone messaging service four years ago for $19 billion. Koum said in a post on his Facebook page that he is taking time off to pursue interests such as collecting air-cooled Porsches, working on cars and playing ultimate Frisbee. US media reports indicated that a disagreement with Facebook over the privacy […]

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