Meta underwent another round of layoffs this Wednesday as part of its 10,000 jobs downsizing plan announced in March. The cut was said to affect around 4,000 workers, with a focus on technical employees.
What happened to metaverse? After going all in last year, Meta has reportedly stopped pitching metaverse as a value proposition to advertisers. Instead, the tech giant now presents its AI-powered ad tools as the primary selling point.
Instagram is all in on Reels. After expanding the monetization feature to more users, Instagram recently updated the Reels creation flow and analytics to help creators maximize viewer engagement.
An alliance of law enforcement agencies criticized Meta's plans to implement end-to-end encryption, citing concerns over the safety of child users. Meanwhile, WhatsApp and other messaging apps signed a letter urging the U.K. government to reconsider a proposed online safety bill that would grant authorities special access to encrypted messaging.
Another round of costly legal battle awaits Meta in Kenya after a court ruled that the company could be sued in the country. The lawsuit in question was filed by 43 content moderators previously employed by the tech giant in the region, who accused Meta of unlawful dismissal.
Teenagers aged 13 to 17 will be able to access Meta's VR game Horizon Worlds in the coming weeks. Lawmakers expressed discontentment over the plan last month, saying that the virtual environment is "under-researched" and "poses [a] serious risk."
Even though a layoff threat is imminent, the WhatsApp team is still going strong in releasing new features. This week, the chat app rolled out a media picker feature, a "Keep in Chat" option for disappearing messages.