Verdict Email The issues you care about
Social media and online
The latest social media news and insight on the changing internet. Verdict covers the developing technology of social media and the online world, from regulations to innovations and the business beyond. Social media has seen dramatic maturation in recent years, but has faced an increasingly challenging time as its true impact is felt. So what does the future hold?
-
9 Apr
Airbnb Online Experiences: A bid for survival amid coronavirus devastation
The coronavirus pandemic has caused chaos for many companies, including Airbnb, which in just a few short months has gone from a beloved tech unicorn to being vilified by its own landlords.
-
9 Apr
Social media data used to predict future UK spikes in coronavirus cases
Social media data has been used to predict where in the UK could be next to experience a spike in coronavirus cases.
-
7 Apr
WhatsApp limits message forwarding to curb spread of Covid-19 rumours
From messages claiming that coronavirus can be killed by consuming hot drinks, bogus claims of insider knowledge of impending lockdowns, and texts appearing to show people being fined for leaving their house, the current Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic has seen a surge in false information circulating online.
-
6 Apr
Coronavirus search trends revealed by Redscan
Around a third of the world’s population, or two billion people, is currently under total or partial lockdown, as the number of confirmed Covid-19 coronavirus cases reaches more than 1.2 million.
-
31 Mar
No, Houseparty hasn’t been hacked – inside the $1m mystery
The pandemic has been kind to Houseparty.
-
25 Mar
Social media is vital for brands during coronavirus self-isolation
For many brands, especially smaller and more independent ones, self-isolation due to COVID-19 has meant closing their doors at a huge financial risk.
-
25 Mar
As usage soars, Facebook reports weakened ad revenue
As a growing number of people around the world practice social distancing and isolation in an attempt to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, many are turning to social media to keep in contact with the outside world.
-
20 Mar
How should social media tackle “avalanche” of coronavirus misinformation?
As countries around the world work to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, social media platforms are faced with an rapidly spreading problem of their own: misinformation.
-
11 Mar
Is Snapchat down? Users report problems with chat app
Social media app Snapchat appears to be down for some users in Europe and Australia, according to a number of reports.
-
11 Mar
Snap VP backs social planning startup Zyng in £197,000 pre-seed round
Zyng, a startup taking on social planning, has announced that it has raised £197,000 in a pre-seed funding round, attracting support from major UK tech investors, including a VP at Snap.
-
6 Mar
Jack Dorsey to “reconsider” Africa move amid coronavirus, ousting attempts
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has said that he plans to “reconsider” his planned six-month visit to Africa, citing the coronavirus as a key concern.
-
5 Mar
Let’s Encrypt to revoke millions of digital certificates
Millions of websites could soon no longer have valid TLS certificates after provider Let’s Encrypt was hit by a bug, leaving its certificates at risk of being inaccessible or unsecure.
-
24 Feb
Twitter is experimenting with new misinformation feature
Twitter is experimenting with a new feature to flag the spread of misleading information.
-
24 Feb
Social media regulatory trends and threats 2020
Social media regulatory threats will loom large in 2020, with a focus on antitrust, data privacy, and tax avoidance.
-
20 Feb
Google shift from EU data laws will curb class-action lawsuits for UK citizens: Expert
Google’s plan to move its British users’ accounts under US jurisdiction post-Brexit will make it more difficult for those in the UK to file a class-action lawsuit in the event of a data dispute, according to a leading data protection lawyer.
-
19 Feb
Reddit down: Outage hits “front page of the internet”
Reddit, the social news aggregation and discussion site, was today reported as down by many users across the world.
-
18 Feb
Social media technology trends 2020
Many of the leading US and European social media firms will attempt to follow the lead of Tencent’s WeChat, and become all-encompassing super-apps in 2020.
-
14 Feb
Romance scammers stole $475m last year. Here’s how to spot them
There’s big money in fake love.
-
12 Feb
UK watchdog Ofcom to regulate online harms
The UK government has announced that it intends to appoint communications watchdog Ofcom as online harms regulator.
-
11 Feb
On Safer Internet Day, online incivility is at a four-year high
Today is Safer Internet Day, an annual event that raises awareness of emerging online issues, especially those affecting younger internet-users.
-
6 Feb
Twitter results show efforts to combat hate speech have “started paying dividends”
Twitter has published its quarterly earnings for Q4 of 2019, beating expectations.
-
6 Feb
Facebook encryption plans condemned by child protection groups
Child protection organisations have sent a joint letter urging Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to halt plans to bolster encryption on its platforms, warning it will make it harder to catch child abusers.
-
4 Feb
Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation calls for overhaul of targeted ads regulation
The Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation, the government’s advisory board on the ethical use of AI, has called for changes to be made to social media regulation.
-
4 Feb
“Not cool”: Elon Musk slams Twitter crypto scams
If you’ve ever taken the time to read the replies on an Elon Musk tweet, you’ve probably noticed someone impersonating the SpaceX and Tesla chief to scam users out of cryptocurrency.
-
30 Jan
Adtech industry looks to GDPR to solve thorny issue of real-time bidding
The adtech industry is one of the most important industries in the online world, underpinning the adverts that enable many sites to make money, but it has a serious problem: one of its central technologies is not fully compliant with GDPR.
-
22 Jan
ICO publishes guidelines to protect children’s privacy online
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has published a set of guidelines designed to protect children’s privacy online.
-
22 Jan
Twitter Android app down following update – latest
The Twitter Android app is down for some users following an update, according to a number of reports.
-
20 Jan
ICO calls for adtech industry reform due to “systematic” problems
The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has said that it will crack down on adtech companies that have their “heads firmly in the sand” over issues in the processing of user data as part of a reform of real-time bidding.
-
17 Jan
Alphabet has reached a trillion, but does it really matter?
Google’s parent company Alphabet has reached a trillion-dollar valuation, making it the fourth US company to achieve this.
-
14 Jan
LinkedIn down: Users report outage for some features
LinkedIn is currently down according to a number of reports, with many users unable to use a number of features on the business networking platform.