With a seemingly endless range of apps, websites and devices, parenting in today’s digital world can feel overwhelming. Kids today are using devices from early ages, and on average, most teens use about 40 different apps every week. This week, we’re kicking off a series of workshops called Screen Smart to empower parents to confidently manage their teens’ usage of smartphones and devices – including on Meta’s platforms. The series will start this week in Denver, followed by Charleston, Houston, Boston and Los Angeles. At each event we’ll provide 1:1 hands-on educational workshops for parents ..read more

Opening WhatsApp and finding the right conversation should feel quick, seamless, and simple. As people increasingly do more on WhatsApp, it’s more important than ever before to be able to get to your messages fast. That’s why today we’re launching new Chat Filters so you can do that without having to scroll through your full inbox. To start, you can choose between three filters that will appear at the top of your chat list: All, Unread and Groups, which can be selected with just a tap:  All: The default view of all your messages. Unread: Perfect for when you want to see which conversati ..read more

To comply with an interim order of the Rekabet Kurumu/Turkish Competition Authority (TCA), we will shut down Threads in Türkiye from Monday 29 April. We know this will be very disappointing for the many people in Türkiye who engage on Threads with their community. We are taking steps to minimise any disruption as much as possible, including: Everyone using Threads in Türkiye will be notified of this decision within the Threads app before 29 April.  People using Threads in Türkiye can choose whether to deactivate but not delete their Threads profile, or to delete their profile.  If ..read more

Of all the ways in which metaverse technologies like virtual, mixed and augmented reality could prove to be transformative, the potential they have for education is one of the most exciting.  For most of us, learning is social – we learn from and with others, and from each other’s experiences. It’s about interaction and discussion as much as it is about absorbing facts. That’s why the unique feeling of presence and immersion these technologies create can be so impactful in education. They also make things possible that are impossible in the physical world. Instead of telling students wha ..read more

Over many years, Meta has developed a comprehensive approach to elections on our platforms. But we know that no two elections are the same. That’s why our team is developing a tailored approach to help preserve the integrity of the South African elections on our platforms, drawing on lessons learnt from the previous election in the country, and our involvement in over 200 elections globally.  Over the last eight years, we’ve rolled out industry-leading transparency tools for ads about elections or politics, developed comprehensive policies to prevent election interference and voter fraud ..read more

Financial sextortion is a horrific crime. We’ve spent years working closely with experts, including those experienced in fighting these crimes, to understand the tactics scammers use to find and extort victims online, so we can develop effective ways to help stop them.  Today, we’re sharing an overview of our latest work to tackle these crimes. This includes new tools we’re testing to help protect people from sextortion and other forms of intimate image abuse, and to make it as hard as possible for scammers to find potential targets – on Meta’s apps and across the internet. We’re also te ..read more

We’re excited to start the rollout of a number of new features to make your Messenger conversations and connections even better. Send Your Photos in High-Definition You can now send clearer, crisper photos in your chats. To send an HD photo, select an image from your chat composer, then turn the HD toggle on and tap Send. Tap on additional photos to send multiple in HD, then tap Send. Click to view slideshow. Create Shared Albums With Friends From chats about a recent spring break trip, to your grandma’s 80th birthday celebration, you can now create albums of photos and videos to share, organ ..read more

It’s that time of the year again, when people divide to support their home teams, and unite to cheer for the annual T20 cricketing extravaganza. On our part, we’re collaborating with content creators, a few specific teams, and India’s leading Broadcaster, Star Sports, to bring alive the fan experience on Instagram and Threads.  Collaborating With Over 250 Content Creators The enthusiasm that people in India have for their interests is unparalleled. According to the 2024 GenZ Trend Talk report, more than 90% of teens identify themselves as part of a fandom, with cricket being one of their ..read more

Today, we filed a motion for summary judgment, asking the District Court to dismiss the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) effort to unwind the decade-plus acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. From the very beginning, the FTC has failed to state a plausible claim, and the agency has done nothing to build its case through the discovery process to prove otherwise. The evidence shows exactly what we said it would: Meta faces fierce competition from a range of platforms – from TikTok and X to YouTube and Snapchat. Further, Meta’s acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp, which regulators reviewed ..read more

We are making changes to the way we handle manipulated media on Facebook, Instagram and Threads based on feedback from the Oversight Board that we should update our approach to reflect a broader range of content that exists today and provide context about the content through labels. These changes are also informed by Meta’s policy review process that included extensive public opinion surveys and consultations with academics, civil society organizations and others. We agree with the Oversight Board’s argument that our existing approach is too narrow since it only covers videos that are created ..read more