Freshly-launched startups don’t often have the funding for a fully formed security team, but a data breach or a privacy overreach can be deadly for a new company. That’s why Facebook security engineer Benjamin Strahs is joining TechCrunch at our D.C. meetup and pitch-off this week: he’ll offer advice to founders about how to bootstrap […]
If you’re freaking out about Facebook starting to autoplay videos with sound by default, at least it won’t pause or play on top of music you’re already listening to through apps like Spotify. Facebook confirmed to TechCrunch today that sound will not autoplay on Facebook videos if you’re already listening to something on your device. […]
Facebook wants to give you the power to define what is and isn’t objectionable, and influence the local defaults of those who don’t choose voluntarily. You’ll eventually be able to select how much nudity, violence, graphic content and profanity you’re comfortable seeing. Mark Zuckerberg revealed this massive shift in Facebook’s Community Standards policy today in […]
He might not want to run for office any time soon, but Mark Zuckerberg has perfected the time-honored political art of talking a lot without saying anything. In a sprawling letter consisting mostly of feel-good mumbo jumbo and a light sprinkling of feature ideas, the Facebook visionary laid out 5,700 words worth of nonspecific stuff that […]
LinkedIn has neglected two big opportunities Facebook is now capitalizing on: helping lower-skilled workers and people who aren’t actively looking for a job. Today Facebook is rolling out a slew of new Jobs features we spotted it testing last year. They could hurt LinkedIn’s growth prospects and divert recruiting ad dollars. Business Pages will now […]
Health startups are pulling in money in Southeast Asia. A week after wellness-focused insurance brokerage CXA drew $25 million from investors, fellow Singapore-based startup mClinica has announced a $6.3 million Series A raise. mClinica was founded in 2012 and its mission is to provide healthcare data in Southeast Asia, much like Nielsen and other traditional analyst houses, through […]
How can Facebook and Instagram make their amateur videos more interesting than those you see on Twitter or Snapchat? A killer soundtrack. That’s why Facebook is now pressing record labels even harder for a licensing deal. Successful negotiations could allow users to either edit popular music into their creations or record clips with popular music […]
On her personal Facebook account Tuesday, COO Sheryl Sandberg announced an update to the company’s employee benefits, which are newly enhanced to ease the lives of new parents and grieving employees alike. Sandberg noted that the decision intends to lead the charge for policies that help new parents as well as families that are grieving the loss […]
Instead of sending thoughts and prayers to crisis victims, Facebook now lets you share food, transportation, and shelter. You know…things that will actually help. Today Facebook is expanding its Safety Check that allows friends to declare they’re safe after a disaster with the launch of “Community Help”. The feature adds a page to Safety Check […]
Following multiple admissions last year that it had been misreporting some of its ad numbers, Facebook just announced that it has committed to an audit by the Media Rating Council “to verify the accuracy of the information we deliver to our partners.” The mistakes that Facebook revealed last year seem relatively minor, but collectively, they probably have added momentum to […]