Instagram users complain of mass bans, pointing finger at AI | TechCrunch

June 16, 2025 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Instagram users have for weeks complained about a significant increase in accounts being mistakenly banned or suspended. Many suspect, without direct evidence, that the issues may have to do with the use of AI automation.

Reached for comment, Meta has so far not offered an on-record statement.

According to a growing number of social media posts, including on sites like Reddit and X, Instagram users report that their accounts were banned even though they had not violated the company’s terms of service or other policies. In addition, when they submitted an appeal to have their account reviewed, some claimed they received no response.

Facebook owner Meta to pay $25m to settle Trump lawsuit over ban | BBC News

January 30, 2025 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

US President Donald Trump has signed a legal settlement that will see Facebook and Instagram owner Meta pay out roughly $25m (£20m).

Trump sued the social media giant and its chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, in 2021 over the suspension of his accounts after the 6 January Capitol riots that year.

In July 2024, Meta lifted the final restrictions on Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts in the lead up to US presidential elections.

The settlement was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

End-to-End Encrypted Instagram and Messenger Chats: Why It Took Meta 7 Years | WIRED

December 8, 2023December 7, 2023 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Since 2016, the social behemoth now known as Meta has been working to deploy end-to-end encryption in its communication apps. CEO Mark Zuckerberg even promised in 2019 that the data privacy protection would roll out by default across all of the company’s chat apps. In practice, though, it was a wildly ambitious goal fraught with technical and political challenges, and Meta has only been able to move toward it in gradual, incremental steps. But this week the company is finally starting its full rollout.

“It’s been a wild ride,” says Jon Millican, a software engineer within Meta’s messenger privacy team. “I suspect this is the first time that something’s been end-to-end encrypted with all of the constraints that we’re working with. It’s not just that we’re migrating people’s data, but it’s actually that we’re having to fundamentally change a bunch of the assumptions that they work with when they’re using the product.”

Facebook and Instagram launch ad-free subscription tier in EU | BBC News

October 31, 2023October 30, 2023 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Facebook and Instagram are launching subscriptions in most of Europe that will remove adverts from the platforms.

People using the Meta-owned platforms will be able to pay €9.99 (£8.72) per month for an ad-free experience. It will not be available in the UK.

In January, Meta was fined €390m for breaking EU data rules around ads.

The regulator said at the time the firm could not “force consent” by saying consumers must accept how their data is used or leave the platforms.

The subscription tier will be exclusive to people in the EU, European Economic Area and Switzerland from November.

Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta launches Instagram’s Threads app, a rival to Twitter amidst Elon Musk backlash | CNN Business

July 6, 2023July 5, 2023 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Facebook has tried to compete with Twitter in numerous ways over the years, including copying signature Twitter features such as hashtags and trending topics. But now Facebook’s parent company is taking perhaps its biggest swipe at Twitter yet.

Meta on Wednesday officially launched a new app called Threads, which is intended to offer a space for real-time conversations online, a function that has long been Twitter’s core selling point.

The app appears to have many similarities to Twitter, from the layout to the product description. The listing, which first appeared earlier this week as a teaser, emphasizes its potential to build a following and connect with like-minded people.

Instagram fined €405m over children’s data privacy | BBC News

September 8, 2022September 6, 2022 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Irish regulators have fined Instagram €405m for violating children’s privacy.

The long-running complaint concerned children’s data – particularly their phone numbers and email addresses.

Some reportedly upgraded to business accounts to access analytics tools such as profile visits, without realising this made more of their data public.

Instagram’s owner, Meta, said it planned to appeal against the decision. It is the third fine handed to the company by the regulator.

Gmail gets a new look, Instagram trips while trying to be TikTok and India blocks Battleground Mobile | TechCrunch

August 1, 2022July 31, 2022 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

New Gmail for all: Use Gmail? Don’t be surprised if it looks different soon. The company announced this week that the “Material You” interface overhaul it has been testing will roll out to all users in the coming weeks. Don’t like the new styling? For now, at least, you can find a toggle hidden in the settings menu to switch it back.

Instagram’s bad move(s): As best anyone can tell, TikTok seems to be eating Instagram’s lunch. Is the answer for Instagram to become more like TikTok? Recent updates — like a focus on full-screen video and more content from people you don’t follow — have made the Insta interface feel more and more TikTok-y…and, well, the complaints have been loud. Instagram is at least pretending to listen, though, and says it’ll be walking back many of said changes. Maybe.

How to Turn Your Instagram Account into an Organic Sales Funnel | Small Business Trends

February 21, 2022February 20, 2022 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Instagram is a great influencer marketing tool allowing you to increase your reach through (sponsored) updates from micro-celebrities.

But can it be used to drive traffic to your site?

In other words, can Instagram be turned into a brand-owned traffic and sales generation asset which will allow you to diversify your marketing channels without constantly relying on third-party collaboration?

This Week in Apps: Apple’s App Privacy Report arrives, Google details Android 12 Go edition, Instagram tops 2B users | TechCrunch

December 20, 2021December 19, 2021 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the weekly TechCrunch series that recaps the latest in mobile OS news, mobile applications and the overall app economy.

The app industry continues to grow, with a record number of downloads and consumer spending across both the iOS and Google Play stores combined in 2021, according to the latest year-end reports. App Annie said global spending across iOS and Google Play is up to $135 billion in 2021, and that figure will likely be higher when its annual report, including third-party app stores in China, is released next year. Consumers also downloaded 10 billion more apps this year than in 2020, reaching nearly 140 billion in new installs, it found.