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?
-
18 Feb
Is Facebook being unfairly singled out over fake news?
The United Kingdom’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee has published its final report into disinformation and fake news, with Facebook at the centre of its fight to end “an era of self-regulation”.
-
8 Feb
Could declining user numbers actually be good for Twitter?
Twitter may have made its first annual profit since it began 13 years ago, but it isn’t all good news for the social media site.
-
7 Feb
Germany tells Facebook to stop mixing WhatsApp and Instagram data
Germany’s competition regulator has ordered Facebook to stop combining user data among its various services, such as WhatsApp and Instagram, without explicit consent.
-
6 Feb
Snapchat is no longer losing users, but is this enough?
After a year dominated by reports of its rapidly declining popularity, Snapchat finally has something to celebrate.
-
4 Feb
Facebook is 15: What could the future of Facebook hold?
Today marks Facebook’s 15th birthday, and like most unruley teenagers, the social media giant has seen its fair share of trouble.
-
31 Jan
Large-scale study reveals what Gen Z wants from a digital world
Over the last decade, the generation retailers and media outlets alike have been fixated on is millennials.
-
31 Jan
“Facebook is now not cool”: Why positive Facebook results aren’t enough
Yesterday’s Facebook results showed record profits for the social media giant, but as the company approaches its 15th birthday, there is trouble brewing.
-
29 Jan
MIT study finds crowdsourcing effective in fighting fake news
With a study published in Science last year revealing that false stories are 70% more likely to be retweeted on Twitter than true ones, fake news, and its rapid distribution via social media, is an ever-growing problem for news outlets.
-
25 Jan
Facebook WhatsApp merger has serious privacy implications for users
The Facebook WhatsApp merger poses serious privacy risks to users, and will require extensive work by the technology giant if it is not to run afoul of GDPR, a data security expert has said.
-
23 Jan
Facebook FTC fine: “Zuckerberg might need to resume his apology tour”
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is reportedly considering imposing a “record-setting fine” against Facebook for failing to protect users’ privacy in the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
-
18 Jan
Number of users affected by Twitter bug “may be larger than expected”
The number of people impacted by the Twitter bug that saw private tweets posted publically for years may be bigger than thought, according to a security expert.
-
17 Jan
Snapchat shares tumble after CFO exit
Snap’s shares fell by almost 14% following the news that Snapchat CFO Tim Stone is leaving after being with the company for just eight months.
-
16 Jan
Cambridge Analytica among most controversial companies of 2018
British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica has been ranked as the seventh most controversial company of 2018 by risk research firm RepRisk.
-
15 Jan
Workplace by Facebook stands on the precipice of change
Facebook has struggled so far to monetise its business-focused version of itself, Workplace by Facebook, but a change of direction in security, leadership and pricing may see it successfully challenge its rivals in 2019.
-
14 Jan
The majority of UK adults are unsure how to protect their online privacy
Data privacy stories exposing how the likes of Facebook and Google handle user data dominated the headlines in 2018.
-
11 Jan
End-to-end encryption “likely to become standard” on social media as Snapchat becomes latest supporter
Snapchat has become the latest social media messaging platform to add end-to-end encryption, with the feature looking increasingly likely to become standard across the industry, despite law enforcement concerns.
-
11 Dec
Over a quarter of Facebook employees think Sheryl Sandberg should stand down
Once praised for her outspoken avocation of women in business and even rumoured to be a future US political candidate, Facebook’s chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg has somewhat fallen from grace.
-
11 Dec
Second Google+ breach sees data of 52.5 million users exposed
Google has announced that it has suffered a second data breach on its social media platform Google+, two months after a high-profile Google+ breach saw the company announce it would be closing the service.
-
7 Dec
Could dating apps be key to Snapchat’s happy ending?
With dating apps accounting for £11.7bn of the economy last year, and 30% of 18-30 year olds in the US signed up to at least on service, the online dating market is extremely lucrative.
-
7 Dec
Facebook slammed for “preserving healthy cash flow” instead of protecting user privacy
Facebook is ending 2018 with yet another crisis on its hands.
-
4 Dec
Quora hack reaction: ‘No sector is safe’ as 100m users’ data stolen
Question and answer website Quora has suffered a data breach affecting more than 100 million of its users, prompting cybersecurity experts to comment that the Quora hack shows how no sector is safe from cyberattacks.
-
28 Nov
What is Project Dragonfly, Google’s controversial venture?
In an open letter, published today on Medium, more than a hundred Google employees have urged the tech giant to halt the development of Project Dragonfly, a controversial plan to bring a censored version of its search engine to China.
-
22 Nov
Is Zuckerberg stepping down? No, but could he be forced out of Facebook?
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has said that he will remain chairman of the board, despite mounting pressure for him to quit the role following a number of controversies.
-
22 Nov
Facebook fine appeal isn’t about winning – it’s about sending a message
Facebook yesterday appealed the fine imposed on it by UK data watchdog, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), for its role in the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
-
20 Nov
Why social media is the new haven for get-rich-quick trading scams
According to Action Fraud, £87,000 was lost to fraudsters every day in 2017 through online scams, with many taking advantage of the freedom afforded by social media to conduct their fraudulent activity.
-
5 Nov
Tim Berners-Lee unveils plan to ‘fix the web’
The creator of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee, has unveiled a “contract” to fix the web so that not only are issues including fake news and cyberwarfare are tackled, but that the half of the world not currently online can gain access.
-
5 Nov
Elon Musk Bitcoin scam targets verified Twitter accounts
Scammers have taken control of multiple verified Twitter accounts to impersonate Tesla CEO Elon Musk and promote a Bitcoin scam.
-
1 Nov
WhatsApp ads slammed: “This brings into question how private WhatsApp really is”
The news that WhatsApp will be introducing adverts into its Status feature has prompted outrage, with WhatsApp ads slammed as a “step backwards” for the platform.
-
25 Oct
EU resolution calls for changes to Facebook to protect against election meddling
A new European Commission regulation has called for a full audit of Facebook in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
-
25 Oct
ICO fines Facebook £500,000 for part in Cambridge Analytica scandal
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined social media empire Facebook £500,000 for its part in the Cambridge Analytica scandal that unfolded earlier this year.