Facebook Said to Create Censorship Tool to Get Back Into China

Inside Facebook, the work to enter China runs far deeper.

The social network has quietly developed software to suppress posts from appearing in people’s news feeds in specific geographic areas, according to three current and former Facebook employees, who asked for anonymity because the tool is confidential. The feature was created to help Facebook get into China, a market where the social network has been blocked, these people said. Mr. Zuckerberg has supported and defended the effort, the people added. Read more

WeChat partners with McDonald’s South Africa to pilot mobile payments

WeChat Africa said it has extended its wallet features by introducing a new, quick, easy and safe mobile payment option Quick Pay.

This feature allows customers to generate a QR code in their WeChat Wallet that is then scanned by WeChat scanner at the point of sale counter.

WeChat launched its mobile wallet late last year. Like a physical wallet, customer can securely store their bank cards and make instant cash payments within WeChat. Read more!

While it would have been nice to tackle this issue before the election, Google and Facebook are finally taking a tiny step in order to fight back against fake news. According to multiple statements, both companies have updated their policies to ban fake news sites from using Facebook’s and Google’s advertising networks. Read more!

Introducing Firefox Focus – a free, fast and easy to use private browser for iOS

We live in an age where too many users have lost trust and lack meaningful controls over their digital lives. For some users, it seems as though your web activities can follow you everywhere – across devices, across accounts. To make matters worse, the web can often feel cluttered. That’s why we are introducing Firefox Focus. Read more!

70% of consumers will leave a review for a business when asked

Want to get inside the minds of potential customers for your local business? Columnist Sherry Bonelli shares insights from BrightLocal's annual Local Consumer Review Survey.
A business’s online reputation is more important than ever. In fact, a company’s online reputation is fast becoming one of their most valuable assets — if managed properly.

Why? In a world where online reviews show up virtually every time a person searches for a local business, potential customers can’t help but be confronted with reviews about a local business’s products or services — the good, the bad and (sometimes) the downright ugly. Read more!

Instagram chief confirms live video is coming to the platform

Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom has confirmed to The Financial Times that the Facebook-owned company is bringing live videos to the photo-sharing app. Systrom said in the interview: "Live is really exciting for us. I think it can enhance what we're doing. If I'm trying to strengthen relationships with someone I love, them streaming video to me live would be an amazing way to be closer to them." The feature first surfaced last month as an experimental offering in Russia, where some users spotted an icon clearly marked "Live" next to a row of Instagram Stories. Read more!

Seventy-five percent of internet use in 2017 will be mobile: report

Seventy-five percent of internet use will be mobile in 2017, up slightly from this year, as a growing number of consumers around the world access the web on smartphones and tablets, media buying agency Zenith forecast this week.

Zenith previously estimated that 71 percent of internet consumption would be mobile in 2016. Sixty percent of global internet advertising dollars will come from mobile advertising in 2018, Zenith said, following the release of its "Mobile Advertising Forecasts" report on Thursday. Read more!