WhatsApp launches first digital payments feature
Facebook on Monday added a digital payments feature to its WhatsApp messaging service, starting in Brazil but with an eye to expanding around the world. WhatsApp users in Brazil can use the encrypted mobile messaging service to send money or make purchases, Facebook said in a blog post. It marked the first time the payments platform used at the leading social network was woven into WhatsApp. People will be able to send money or make a purchase from a local business without leaving their chat, the company noted. “Payments on WhatsApp are beginning to roll out to people across Brazil beginning today and we look forward to bringing it to everyone as we go forward,” the service said. Sending money or making payments is a free option for WhatsApp users, but businesses will be charged a processi...
Facebook is Applying Labels on “State-Controlled” News Publishers
A massive and exceedingly popular platform for the sharing and spreading of news content to the general public, Facebook has become the primary news source for millions of people around the globe. Now, in renewed efforts to gauge its own responsibility to halt the spreading of fake news and to inform their users, Facebook is identifying certain media outlets that could be government mouthpieces to their users. Sourced from Facebook The social media goliath announced these measures in part to protect the integrity of the 2020 US elections, and in another part to protect its reputation from further damage, especially after the 2018 Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data scandal. “We are starting to apply labels to those state-controlled media outlets,” Facebook says on their blog. “We are providi...
Facebook Launches Messenger Kids across Sub-Saharan Africa
Sourced from Shutterstock Facebook is rolling out Messenger Kids – a video chat and messaging app that helps children connect with friends and family in a fun, parent-controlled space. Available to download from the Apple App and Google Play Stores, Messenger Kids has been designed for children between the ages of 6 to 12 years. Ahead of its launch, Facebook consulted with child safety advocates and educators across Africa to ensure that it’s providing a service that balances parental control with features that help kids learn how to connect responsibly online. Messenger Kids is made for Kids but controlled by parents, the app is full of features for kids to connect with the people they love. Once their account is set up by a parent, kids can start a one-on-one or group video chat. The hom...
Lonestar Cell MTN Provides Free Facebook Flex Access in Liberia
Lonestar Cell MTN has announced that its customers can now enjoy Facebook for free with the launch of Facebook Flex. Facebook Flex gives Lonestar Cell MTN customers the ability to chat and stay connected with friends and family on Facebook with no interruptions. “By enabling data-free access to Facebook, we are helping to connect more Liberians to the digital world, driven by our core belief that everyone deserves the benefit of a modern, connected life,” says Yaw Ankoma Agyapong, CMO of Lonestar Cell MTN. “Social media platforms like Facebook have become vital communication tools for many people, and we want to ensure that our customers can access them more affordably. This is just one of the ways we are bridging the digital gap in Liberia and helping more Liberians connect to social inte...
Sharing A Defamatory WhatsApp or Facebook Post Could Get You Sued or Fired in SA – Legal Experts
The social media sphere has quickly become a new stage to be navigated carefully in these modern times. Often filled with deepening negativity and debacles that are dreadfully embarrassing for those involved – like the fallout over a Miss South Africa candidate and her history of crude tweets. Now, lawyers at Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr (CDH) have warned South Africans that sharing defamatory posts can mean serious trouble. “It is important to understand that South African law considers repeating or sharing defamatory content as sufficient to constitute ‘publication’ and, thus, defamation in its own right, even if the repeater or sharer was not the author of the original defamatory post,” Timothy Smit, director, and Elizabeth Sonnekus, an associate in the firm’s dispute resolution practice...
Facebooks New Photo Transfer Tool Goes Global
Facebook has announced that it’s Google Photos transfer tool is officially available to all users across the globe – after first being released in the US and Canada in April. “Today, we’re releasing a tool that will enable Facebook users to transfer their Facebook photos and videos directly to other services, starting with Google Photos,” says the company in an official blog post. This tool allows users to create copies of photos and videos from their Facebook account that can be transferred to their linked Google Photos account. The company says that it believes if users share data with one service, they should also be able to move it to another. Here’s how to use the photo transfer tool in five steps: Step 1: Go to “Your Facebook information” in your Facebook settingsStep 2: Select “Tran...
Facebook and Red Cross Launch #AfricaTogether
Facebook and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement are partnering to launch #AfricaTogether – a digital campaign and two-day festival on June 4th and 5th featuring artists from across Africa to encourage continued vigilance against COVID-19. With more than 100,000 coronavirus cases confirmed on the continent and containment measures easing in many countries, #AfricaTogether combines musical and comedic performances with information from COVID-19 first responders and fact-checkers from across Africa. #AfricaTogether will include a festival with performances by artists such as Aramide, Ayo, Femi Kuti, Ferre Gola, Salatiel, Serge Beynaud, Patoranking, Youssou N’dour amongst many others, as well as a digital awareness campaign with prevention messages developed with Red Cross a...
US: Malta seizes $1 billion in counterfeit Libyan money
Maltese authorities have seized counterfeit Libyan money worth $1.1 billion that was printed by a Russian firm and worsen the north African country’s economic problems, the US State Department said. There was no official statement on Saturday from Valletta although Malta Today newspaper had published a report about $1.1 billion in counterfeit money seized in Malta on its Facebook site that was no longer available. “The United States commends the Government of the Republic of Malta’s announcement May 26 of its seizure of $1.1 billion of counterfeit Libyan currency printed by Joint Stock Company Goznak – a Russian state-owned company – and ordered by an illegitimate parallel entity,” the State Department said. “The Central Bank of Libya headquartered in Tripoli is Libya’s only legitimate cen...
Man-Child Donald Trump Reacts BIGLY By Signing “Useless” Excutive Order That Targets Social Media
Source: Pool / Getty Donald Trump is not here for being fact-checked when he puts out false or misleading information. Yesterday (May.28), the man-child, Donald Trump, reacted BIGLY to Twitter fact-checking his fugazi tweets that inaccurately stated “widespread fraud” takes place with mail-in voting. Doing what he does best, he signed an executive order that put tech companies like Facebook, Twitter, and Google as well as the internet law that gives them legal immunity from the content users may share on their platforms. We also want to point out Trump’s response to Twitter was much faster than his response to battling COVID-19. Anyway, at the White House, in the Oval Office where he does nothing, Trump said, “We’re fed up with it,” before he signed the executive order. He also added: “Tha...
Facebook and Instagram Introduce Gift Card Feature for South African Businesses
Instagram and Facebook are making it a little easier for South Africans to support local businesses in their communities thanks to the new gift card feature. Facebook has created this feature to help local businesses, such as restaurants, fitness studios, salons, bookshops and bakeries as they navigate their way through the COVID-19 pandemic and national lockdown. People can find offers from participating merchants through a “Support Local Businesses” ad in their Facebook feeds, a Gift Card button on merchants’ Instagram profiles or in Stories through the Gift Card sticker. Supporting small businesses and restaurants is an important part of Instagram’s community, which is why Instagram is also launching Food Orders, making it easier for businesses to get support from their customers throug...
Instagram Will Impose “90-Second Rule” for Copyrighted Tracks on Livestream DJ Sets
While we are all out here trying to regain a sense of normality, not much is more painstakingly traditional than the stress of your recording getting taken down due to copyright. Though this is nothing new, the sting hurts just the same. As our champions of easing the quarantine blues, DJs have been faced with navigating the field maze of livestream guidelines during this time of social distancing. Now, Instagram, the social media giant that lives under the Facebook umbrella, is imposing a new initiative they dub the “90-second rule” in order to prevent copyright issues on tracks being used during these livestreams. Instagram has implemented a new pop-up to warn users who are featuring more than 90 seconds of a copyrighted track to stop or risk having thei...
UN encourages Africa to invest on digital transformation
The UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) has encouraged African countries to make right investments toward developing a digitally transformed economy. Mr Jean-Paul Adam, Director, Technology, Climate Change and Natural Resources at UNECA, made the call on Tuesday during a webinar monitored in Abuja. The webinar was organised by Africa Information and Communication Technology Alliance (AfICTA) in collaboration with UNECA with the theme “Unlocking Africa’s Digital Potential Amid COVID-19”. Adam said that the emergence of COVID-19 pandemic had caused a disruption in activities, hence the need for a paradigm shift. “Africa needs to address issues that have limited their digital growth. There are issues of gender imbalance, speed of bandwidth, poor internet access. “When we get some of the...
