Spotify launches Clubhouse competitor Greenroom
Spotify’s live audio app, Greenroom, formally launches today on iOS and Android, marking the company’s first real attempt at creating a social media platform. The social audio app, which is similar to Clubhouse, allows users to host live conversations about sports, music, and culture. Today’s launch doesn’t come with a marquee creator announcement or specific event planned, but instead, the company is taking the opportunity to encourage people to sign up and figure out how they’ll want to use the app. Some of its core functionality, a person close to the situation says, will eventually make its way to the actual Spotify app, so the team will monitor what happens in Greenroom closely. The app is built on Locker Room, which Betty Labs created and Spotify acquired in March. That app focused s...
Roger Waters Said “No Fucking Way” to “Huge Amount of Money” from Facebook
According to Roger Waters, Facebook and Instagram offered him a “huge amount of money” for the right to use the Pink Floyd song “Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)”. He responded, “Fuck you! No fucking way!” The rock legend made the claims at a forum on behalf of beleaguered WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. In a video shared by Mexico’s La Jornada dated June 10th, Waters holds up a piece of paper to the assembly. “This is something that I actually put in my folder when I came out here today,” he said. “You have no idea what it is — nobody does — because it arrived on the internet to me this morning. It’s a request for the rights to use my song, ‘Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2),’ in the making of a film to promote Instagram.” “So it’s a missive from Mark Zuckerberg t...
Minister: Why Twitter, other platforms must register to operate in Nigeria
The Federal Government says its directive that Over the Top (OTT) and social media platforms operating in the country must register and obtain license to operate is in conformity with global trend. The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said this on Friday when he featured on Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) programme “Good Morning Nigeria’’ monitored by newsmen. NAN reports that the Federal Government recently suspended operations of Twitter and directed that all OTT and social media platforms operating in the country must register with Corporate Affairs Commission. The Federal Government said they must also apply for licensing with the National Broadcasting Commission ( NBC). NAN reports that OTT media service is a media service offered directly to viewers via t...
Facebook, Instagram & Other Social Media MUST Register with Nigerian Govt to Continue Operations
/* custom css */ .tdi_4_653.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_653.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } A week after the country indefinitely suspended social media service Twitter, the Nigerian Federal Government has said that any social media giant, including Facebook, Twitter and others must register in the country to continue to be able to do business and operate unhindered. Users who access Twitter against the ban will be prosecuted, the government warned on Wednesday. Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture, yesterday also revealed that Twitter has contacted the Nigerian government to begin “high-level discussions” in order to begin operating in the country legally once again. The Minister had disclosed this information while briefing the media after the weekly Fede...
EFCC unveils Abdulrasheed Bawa’s authentic Facebook account
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Sunday finally revealed the Facebook account of its chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa. EFCC’s spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, disclosed Mr Bawa’s only Facebook account as, @AbdulRasheedBawa. The commission had since Mr Bawa’s appointment late February pointed out fake accounts being operated on Facebook and Twitter in his name, and warned members of the public against having any dealing with them. On different occasions, the commission vowed to unearth those behind the fake accounts and make them to face the wrath of the law for their act of “identity theft.” Sunday’s announcement of Mr Bawa’s authentic Facebook account by the EFCC appeared to have stemmed from the commission’s frustrations in stopping the proliferation of more fake social me...
India warns Twitter of consequences if it fails to follow new rules
India’s government has told Twitter it could face “unintended consequences” if it fails to comply with the country’s new social media rules, Reuters reported. India’s technology minister wrote in a June 5th letter to Twitter that the company’s responses to previous government letters about the new rules did not confirm whether Twitter was in full compliance, according to Reuters. Under India’s Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code, which took effect in May, social media companies could be subject to legal action if they fail to follow the code’s provisions, which are aimed at regulating the platforms’ content. The new rules call for platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and WhatsApp to remove content within 36 hours of receiving a legal order. The rules also require the compani...
7 Vital Facebook Settings You Can Change Right Now to Protect Your Privacy
Image sourced from Reuters. /* custom css */ .tdi_4_a0d.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_a0d.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Nowadays it is more common than not to be working from home, and while this does offer advantages, it opens us up to many lurking dangers from cybercriminals and otherwise. Now more than ever we should try to protect ourselves from the dangers of the internet, and a hot spot for these dangers is the world’s favourite social media platform. In April this year alone, over 14-Million South African Facebook users were affected by a massive data breach. These settings can be changed on the browser version of Facebook, which this guide will be using. Though most of the settings can also be changed on the iOS or Android versions of the Facebook app, they may ...
Omoyele Sowore: Let the struggle continue even if they take my life
Omoyele Sowore, human rights activist, has asked his supporters to carry on with “the struggle” even if he loses his life. Reacting to the incident at Unity Fountain in Abuja on Monday morning, Sowore simply identified the officer who shot him as one ACP Etine. “Just been shot by a police officer, ACP Atine at the Unity Fountain in Abuja. #RevolutionNow Let the struggle continue even if they take my life!” he tweeted. Inibehe Effiong, one of Sowore’s lawyers, had said that the officer fired a teargas cannister directly at the right thigh of the activist. “The criminal officer is said to be CSP Atine. I watched Sowore being shot live on Facebook.” “This is what Nigeria has been turned into under Buhari. They’ve declared war on the Civic Space. “The FCT Police Commissioner has fenced the Uni...
Musician apologises to Kogi commissioner, others over allegation of wife snatching
A Kogi-based musician, Tanimu Yunusa, has apologised to the State Commissioner for Work, Engr Abubakar Ohere, over allegation of attempting to induce and snatch his wife. Tanimu, who is also known as 2rich, a local Ebira musician from Obehira in Okene local government area of Kogi state in a music video recorded in Ebira Language and released on Thursday admitted that he made error for lying the allegation against the commissioner. “My father Ohere, I’m sorry” Tanimu said severally in the video, while displaying several photos of him and the commissioner in a bid to tell the viewers that they have come a long way. Tanimu also apologised to the governor of the State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, admitting severally that he was wrong and begged for his understanding and forgiveness. He also apologis...
Facebook report: U.S. a top target for foreign and domestic influence operations
The United States topped a list of the countries most frequently targeted by deceptive foreign influence operations using Facebook between 2017 and 2020, the social media company said in a new report released on Wednesday. It also came second on a list of countries targeted by domestic influence operations in that same time period. Facebook Inc said one of the top sources of coordinated inauthentic behavior networks targeting the United States in the year leading up to the 2020 presidential election was domestic campaigns originating in the United States itself, as well as foreign operations from Russia and Iran. The tallies were based on the number of “coordinated inauthentic behavior” networks removed by Facebook, a term it uses for a type of influence operations that relies on fake acco...
Facebook hit with campaign by pro-Palestinian activists leaving 1-star app store ratings
A social media campaign by pro-Palestine activists has pushed down the ranking for Facebook’s app in Apple and Google’s app stores, NBC News reported. The activists are seeking to protest Facebook’s alleged censorship of Palestinian accounts on its platform, and are instructing people to leave Facebook’s app a one-star review. According to NBC News, Facebook is treating the situation as a high-priority issue internally; one software engineer wrote in a post on an internal Facebook message board that “users are upset with our handling of the situation,” adding that the users “have started protesting by leaving 1-star reviews.” Facebook has reached out to have the reviews removed, but so far, Apple has declined the request to remove the reviews. It’s not clear how or if Google responded to t...
Facebook Joins Forces with Eutelsat to Expand WiFi Connectivity Across Sub-Saharan Africa
Eutelsat Communications is expanding its use of the Express WiFi platform in partnership with Facebook to provide broadband services via satellite across several regions in Sub-Saharan Africa. With Express Wi-Fi, Eutelsat aims to connect thousands of people in rural and underserved communities spanning the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Kenya, Madagascar, South Africa, Cameroon, Ghana and Zimbabwe. Express Wi-Fi is a platform developed by Facebook Connectivity that enables partners to build, grow and monetize their WiFi businesses in a scalable way while providing their customers with fast, affordable, and reliable internet access. Express Wi-Fi is used in more than 30 countries, including in multiple Asian, South American and African ...
