Pakistan temporarily blocks social media
Pakistan has temporarily blocked several social media services in the South Asian nation, according to users and a government-issued notice reviewed by TechCrunch. In an order titled “Complete Blocking of…
Instagram’s new test lets you choose if you want to hide ‘Likes,’ Facebook test to follow
Instagram today will begin a new test around hiding Like counts on users’ posts, following its experiments in this area which first began in 2019. This time, however, Instagram is…
Facebook tests video speed dating events with ‘Sparked’
Facebook confirmed it’s testing a video speed-dating app called Sparked, after the app’s website was spotted by The Verge. Unlike dating app giants such as Tinder, Sparked users don’t swipe…
Facebook takes down 16,000 groups trading fake reviews after another poke by UK’s CMA
Facebook has removed 16,000 groups that were trading fake reviews on its platform after another intervention by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the regulator said today. The CMA…
ShareChat valued at $2.1 billion in $502 million fundraise
ShareChat said on Thursday it has raised a new financing round that values it at over $2 billion, joining four other local startups in attaining the unicorn status this week….
Pinterest announces $500K Creator Fund, ‘Creator Code’ content policy, moderation tools and more
Pinterest today hosted an event focused on its creator community, where the company announced a series of updates including the launch of a $500,000 Creator Fund, a new content policy…
Facebook tests Hotline, a Q&A product that’s a mashup of Clubhouse and Instagram Live
Facebook’s internal R&D group, NPE Team, has today launched its latest experiment, Hotline, into public beta testing. The web-based application could be described as a mashup of Instagram Live and…
As competition heats up, TikTok announces six new interactive music effects for creators
TikTok today is doubling down on its roots as a music-backed creation app with the launch of a half dozen new music effects for creators. The effects, which offer interactivity,…
Daily Crunch: Facebook faces questions over data breach
European regulators have questions about a Facebook data breach, Clubhouse adds payments and a robotics company has SPAC plans. This is your Daily Crunch for April 6, 2021. The big…
Lawmakers press Instagram for details on its plans for kids
A group of Democratic lawmakers wrote to Mark Zuckerberg this week to press the CEO on his plans to curate a version of Instagram for children. In a hearing last…