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Meta Launches Subscription Service for Facebook and Instagram

Mark Zuckerberg made the Announcement on Instagram Sunday that Meta is planning to test a monthly subscription service that will enable Facebook and Instagram users to pay to become verified.

“Meta Verified” will start at $11.99 a month on the web or $14.99 a month on iOS, and the company will begin releasing it in Australia and New Zealand this week and “more countries soon.”
Source: cnn.com

Other benefits include extra protection against fake accounts and direct contact with customer support services.

Users who wish to obtain the blue badge would be required to submit a govt ID that resembles their profile name and photograph to prevent fraudulent identities. Consumers must also be over the age of eighteen to be qualified.

Also Read: Google Staff in Zurich Stage Walkout Over Job Cuts

“This new feature is about increasing authenticity and security across our services,” Zuckerberg wrote in an Instagram broadcast channel.

In a statement, Meta clarified there will be no changes to accounts that are already verified. Verification was previously for users who are “authentic and notable.”

“We are evolving the meaning of the blue badge to focus on authenticity so we can expand verification access to more people,” a Meta spokesperson said. “We will display follower count in more places so people can distinguish which accounts are notable public figures among accounts that share the same name.”
Source: cnn.com

Meta also gets added to the list with other platforms with subscription-based systems, such as Discord, YouTube, and Reddit.

The firm recently disclosed that Fb’s daily active users had reached two billion; even so, with price level consuming into marketers’ budgets as well as intense competition from applications like TikTok, those users really aren’t helping to bring in nearly as many earnings as they used to.

Meta revealed in November that it planned for about 11,000 employees job cuts, or 13 % of its working population, the biggest layoff in the corporate history.

Also Read: Facebook Bug Allows 2FA Bypass Via Instagram

Because of service fees obtained by Apple on the iPhone as well as Google on mobile phones running its Android operating system, Meta Verified would be lower in price on the internet than on mobile apps.

The firm confirmed that it doesn’t anticipate the facility to generate passive income during the testing phase, but added that it is an aspect of its expansion activities.

Suhani Jain

I am a student pursuing my bachelor’s in information technology. I have a interest in writing so, I am working a freelance content writer because I enjoy writing. I also write poetries. I believe in the quote by anne frank “paper has more patience than person

Facebook Bug Allows 2FA Bypass Via Instagram

A flaw in Meta’s latest centralized system for users to maintain their Facebook and Instagram account logins might have permitted cybercriminals to disable a user account’s two-factor authentication merely by knowing one‘s mobile number.

Gtm Mänôz who is a Nepalese security researcher discovered that Meta did not impose a limit on how many attempts whenever a user inputs the two-factor code utilized to log into one‘s accounts on the latest Meta Accounts Center, which allows users to connect all of their Meta accounts, which include Instagram and Facebook accounts.

A hacker would access the centralized accounts center, enter the victim’s mobile number, connect that phone number to their own Fb or Instagram account, and afterward using brute force can guess the two-factor authentication code. This was the most important step since there was no constraint to how many tries somebody could make.

Also Read: Why major advertisers are leaving Twitter?

When the attacker correctly entered the code, the victim’s phone number was connected to the hacker’s Facebook account. A successful attack still would lead to Meta sending a notification to the victim stating that their two-factor authentication had been disabled because their phone number had been linked to a different account.

“Basically the highest impact here was revoking anyone’s SMS-based 2FA just knowing the phone number,” Mänôz told TechCrunch.
Source: techcrunch.com

Provided that the target no longer had two-factor activated, a hacker might possibly attempt to obtain the victim’s Facebook account simply by spoofing the password.

Also Read: Will the metaverse be good for society?

Last year, Mänôz discovered the flaw in the Meta Accounts Center & revealed the issue to the firm in mid-September. A few days back, Meta resolved the bug and provided 27,200 USD to Mänôz for disclosing it.

“If the phone number was fully confirmed and 2FA enabled in Facebook, then the 2FA will be turned off or disabled from victim’s account,” Mänôz wrote. “And, if the phone number was partially confirmed (that means only used for 2FA), it will revoke the 2FA, and also the phone number will be removed from [the] victim’s account.”
Source: darkreading.com

According to Meta spokesperson Gabby Curtis, the login system was still in the early stages of a limited public test at the time of the flaw. Curtis also stated that once the bug was revealed, Meta carried out an investigation and discovered no indications of mistreatment in the wild, as well as no sudden increase in the utilization of that particular function, indicating that nobody was misusing it.

Suhani Jain

Instagram rolls out ‘quiet mode’ for when users want to focus

Leave a Comment / News, Tech News / By Sandhya Gupta

The “quiet mode” feature, which Instagram launched on Thursday, aims to assist users focus and establishing limits with followers and friends.

The profile’s activity status changes to “In quiet mode” when the choice is selected, pausing all alerts. During this time, if a direct message is sent, Instagram will instantly reply to the sender to let them know that “quiet mode” is active.

Although all users can utilize the feature, Instagram seems to be concentrating on teenagers. Instagram encourages kids to enable the feature after they spend a particular “amount of time on Instagram late at night” and promotes it as a tool to aid in studying.

The upgrade is only one of several updates that are being released recently, along with new tools for managing suggestions and enhanced parental control options. The debuts coincide with Instagram’s efforts to lessen the likelihood that authorities and lawmakers will target the app because of possible risks associated with social media, especially for teenage users.

Up to this point, Instagram has added a number of teen safety features, such as those to safeguard teens’ privacy and lessen unwanted adult contact, restrict ad targeting, bar teens from accessing mature content, and other features to assist parents in keeping an eye on and managing their teens’ use of Instagram through parental controls.

Was the Instagram Shopping Tab a complete failure?

The tool will be made available to users in the US, UK, Canada, Ireland New Zealand, and Australia, with intentions to expand to additional nations in the future.

After years of attention over how much time individuals – and especially teens – engage on different social media sites and the risks it might bring to their mental health, the tool is the most recent example of Instagram giving users more methods to regulate their usage.

The company stated in a blog post, “These updates are part of our ongoing work to ensure people have experiences that work for them, and that they have more control over the time they spend online and the types of content they see.”

Instagram users can opt to take a break with Quiet Mode to work, rest, or indulge in other activities. The app will provide a rundown of what users missed when they were in Quiet Mode to help them catch up.

The introduction of Quiet Mode coincides with Instagram coming under increasing fire for its impact on young people’s mental health, particularly teenage girls. Internal data published by Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen in 2021 showed that the company had discovered that kids who were “addicted” to the app and that 1 in 3 girls who use Instagram have worsened body image concerns.

As part of its effort to placate parents, Meta is introducing a number of additional methods for managing Instagram recommendations. Instagram is developing its “not interested button,” which allows users to mark particular categories of content that users don’t want to see.

Sandhya Gupta

I am a law graduate from NLU Lucknow. I have a flair for creative writing and hence in my free time work as a freelance content writer.

Was the Instagram Shopping Tab a complete failure?

Leave a Comment / Story, Tech Story / By Sandhya Gupta

Instagram is replacing the Shop tab with the Create button in its main navigation. Instagram revealed that it will be deleting the Shop button from the main navigation of its mobile application in a post on its Help Center.

The Shop option has been a part of the app’s primary navigation since it was initially introduced in November 2020, therefore many people are surprised by this change.

According to The Information, Instagram, which is owned by Meta, intends to dramatically reduce its e-commerce shopping facilities and return its attention to the aspects that generate advertising money. The decision went on to say that the current Shopping page will soon be completely phased away, and it was communicated to staff via an internal memo.

Despite this, Instagram will still offer the ability to shop; it will just receive less attention as the company prepares to test a less complex, more generic version.

The company informed its workforce that these modifications are a part of “a new Northstar and goals for the commerce organization that is more directly tied to advertising revenue for Meta.”

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According to the company, the Create button will be placed in the app’s central menu in February and take Reels’ place. Reels are not being removed from the main navigation, simply moved to the right. Instagram noted, “Starting in February, we are changing Instagram’s navigation to make it easier for people to share and connect with their friends and interests.

The navigation bar at the bottom of the app will now have the Create shortcut for creating content in the center and Reels to the right.”

Over the past few years, Instagram has significantly invested in enhancing its internal e-commerce functionality in addition to introducing the shop option to the main menu. In the past year alone, it has allowed users to shop inside of chats and tag brands in images that connect to a store page, but according to The Verge, the company was experimenting with a main feed without a shop tab as early as last September.

Instagram undoubtedly believed that there was a lot of revenue to be made in e-commerce at one point and for a while, but recently, as its holding company struggles with enormous losses brought on by bad business decisions, including the massive investment into the Metaverse, that has so far completely failed, priorities have changed.

While Instagram has stated that the navigation would change in February, it has not given a specific date for the transition. The announcement comes just after the company unveiled its new Notes tool, a feature reminiscent of MySpace that enables users to post a status with friends in order to spark conversation.

‘Shops,’ an in-app shopping tool that encouraged users to shop as they browsed, was introduced by Meta-owned Instagram in the midst of the pandemic in 2020.

Sandhya Gupta

I am a law graduate from NLU Lucknow. I have a flair for creative writing and hence in my free time work as a freelance content writer.

Indian Users Can Choose To Not Accept Meta Privacy Policy.

Leave a Comment / News, Tech News / By Roshni Ankola

Even as it faces regulatory scrutiny in different parts of the world, including India, Meta said on May 26 that it will be revising and re-designing its privacy policy after four years to make it easier for consumers to comprehend and provide more transparency about how they utilize their information.

The new policy will take effect on July 26, 2022, and will apply to Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and other Meta products. WhatsApp, Workplace, Free Basics, Messenger Kids, and the use of Quest gadgets are not covered without a Facebook account because they have their own privacy policies.

“The last three years have brought a number of changes to the privacy landscape as a whole, including to peoples’ desire to better understand how their data is being used,” said the company.
Source: www.ndtv.com

Indeed, this comes at a time when there is a global discussion about people’s rights to privacy or the human right to privacy. The human right to privacy refers to a person’s ability to choose when, how, and why others, including businesses, handle their personal information.

To maintain dignity, safety, and confidence, privacy must be protected. Individuals can select how their data is utilized and develop their personalities freely without fear of data misuse. Its revising its data policy for Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram to give consumers greater control over how the business uses their data and the material they publish.

Meta will also outline more clearly how it processes the information it collects from users under the updated privacy policy, including how it processes location-related information such as internet protocol addresses, check-in at locations, and other information such as current city, according to the company. The social media titan claims that the new privacy policy does not grant it greater access rights to user data, but rather allows Meta more control over customizing adverts based on consumer choices and sharing data, with all controls in one place.

These expectations include the rights and obligations described in our Community Standards, for example when we may disable or terminate accounts that violate our Terms or Community Standards or others’ intellectual property rights or other laws,” the company said.
Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com

Despite the fact that Meta has released the new policy and plans to implement it by July 26, users in India will have the option of accepting the terms and moving to the new regime or continuing to use Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram under the terms of the old data policy, according to the company.

“Our Privacy Policy is informative in most countries, so we’re publishing a prominent notice to alert people to the change, but they’re not invited to, say, click to consent to the modification to our Privacy Policy.” Users in India have the option of accepting or rejecting the new Privacy Policy and Terms of Service, with no effect on their access to our products,” said Meta.
Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com

Meta’s stance on allowing Indians to opt out of Facebook’s, Messenger’s, and Instagram’s new privacy policies is similar to what it did with WhatsApp.

It changed its terms of service in late January of last year, stating that users who did not accept the terms by February 8 would be prohibited from utilizing some of the app’s fundamental features. Following user protests, the deadline was pushed back to May 15, and WhatsApp stated that individuals who had not accepted the revised conditions of the policy will be reminded on a regular basis.

WhatsApp’s stance drew criticism from a number of countries around the world, prompting the firm to backtrack and say that it would not impede functionality for individuals who refused to accept the new terms, nor would it send reminders to people who refused to accept the new terms.

WhatsApp, Workplace, Free Basics, Messenger Kids, and a few more services that have their own privacy policies are not affected by the modifications announced on Thursday.

Roshni Ankola

I am a second-year student pursuing Liberal Arts from Nmims. I am a painter, I love reading and have a great interest in cooking. I am also a trained kickboxer. I’ve always had a passion for writing and hence in my free time, I work as a freelance writer.

Hackers Use Instagram To Steal $3 Million In Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs.

Leave a Comment / News, Tech News / By Team YTS

On Monday, the non-fungible-token (NFT) collection of the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) was hacked on Instagram. Users were sent a phishing link that was designed to steal NFTs. Three million dollars worth of cryptocurrency was stolen from the victims, according to Gizmodo.

According to a BAYC spokesperson, “rough estimated losses due to the scam are 4 Bored Apes, 6 Mutant Apes, and 3 BAKC [Bored Ape Kennel Club], as well as assorted other NFTs, estimated at a total value of $3 million.”

After gaining access to the Instagram account, the hacker created a fake airdrop link for the company’s upcoming Otherside metaverse project, which is set to launch later this week. The primary goal of a crypto airdrop is to raise awareness for new projects or services. The idea is to send tokens or NFTs to thousands of crypto addresses in the hopes that more people will become interested in the project and promote it. Users must connect their crypto wallet where their NFTs are stored in order to receive an airdrop.

When users did so, however, the scam site stole their digital assets and transferred them to the hacker’s wallet. “This morning, the official BAYC Instagram account was hacked,” BAYC said in a tweet. Users were prompted to sign a safe transfer from’ transaction after clicking on a fraudulent link to a copycat of the BAYC website with a fake Airdrop. “As a result, their assets were transferred to the scammer’s wallet.”

The BAYC team removed the fake links from the compromised Instagram account after discovering the hack. “We will also never announce mints on the BAYC or Otherside Instagram accounts first, ever. Only obtain information from our official Twitter accounts,” BAYC noted in a tweet.

It’s unclear how the hacker gained access to the BAYC Instagram account at this time. According to the ape avatar platform, the “hack occurred even when two-factor-authentication was enabled on the account,” as one of Yuga Labs’ founders, Gargamel, tweeted. “On Yuga’s end, the security practices surrounding the IG account were tight. “I’m never going to post anything important on Instagram again.”

The blockchain investigator @zachxbt on Twitter dug into the wall hacker’s wallet address and discovered 4 Bored Apes, 7 Mutant Apes, and 3 Bored Ape Kennel Club NFTs among the highly valuable NFTs stolen. Celebrities such as basketball legend Steph Curry, musician Post Malone, and even American TV host Jimmy Fallon own BAYC NFT.

Scams involving Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs have become quite common. Last month, a bored ape holder known as’s27′ lost $567k worth of bubble gum ape and matching mutants after swapping NFTs at an exchange known as “Swap. Kiwi.” Direct NFT swaps between collectors are possible on this platform, with lower transaction fees.

Yuga Labs, the company behind the popular ape avatar collection, has announced its entry into the metaverse. Otherside is the name of this company’s metaverse project, which aims to connect its massively multiplayer role-playing game to the larger NFT universe.

Team YTS

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