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WhatsApp tends to pride itself on the security it offers users, but every app has its weaknesses. Recently, the Financial Times reported that a vulnerability in the messaging app allowed for it to be hacked. In early May, Whatsapp discovered that hackers were able to install surveillance technology by calling someone through the app. That would give them access to vital information, including location data and private messages. The spyware in question was developed by Israel’s NSO Group , according to the Financial Times. It could also be transmitted even if the target didn’t answer their calls. In addition, a spyware dealer told the Financial Times that the calls themselves often disappeared from call logs. “This attack has all the hallmarks of a private company known to work with governments to deliver spyware that reportedly takes over the functions of mobile phone operating systems,” WhatsApp said, according to the Financial Times. “We have briefed a number of human rights...
Last month, the House Judiciary Committee questioned Facebook and Google on hate crimes and the rise of white nationalism online. Now, it seems German WhatsApp may be becoming a cesspool for Nazi propaganda and antisemitic groups, according to reporting from BuzzFeed. On the app, nine groups — with names like “The German Storm” and “Ku Klux Klan International” — have shared message glorifying the Third Reich and Adolf Hitler, BuzzFeed reported. Some have also attempted to incite violence through the app. WhatsApp — who is owned by Facebook — has Community Guidelines prohibiting harassment. But even when combined with Germany’s own laws against Nazi imagery, the groups haven’t been taken down. Hate speech on social media platforms has been a growing problem for years. WhatsApp was listed as the sixth most common location for online hate speech in 2018, according to the Anti-Defamation League. Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube were the platforms who secured the top three spots. Although...
Earlier this week, WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton urged students to delete their Facebook accounts, as reported by Buzzfeed News . Acton made a rare public appearance alongside Ellora Israni, a former Facebook employee who founded She++ . The two were speaking at Stanford University to students taking Computer Science 181. The undergraduate course focuses on” tech companies’ social impact” and their “ethical responsibilities.” During his talk, Acton brought up the issue of moderation, which has become a big question in the tech world — especially for social media companies. Tech companies continue to face struggles around moderating content. Although that’s something WhatsApp didn’t have to deal with because its encryption made it so no one could monitor what’s said on the app. “I think it’s impossible,” Acton said in regards to moderation on other platforms. “To be brutally honest, the curated networks — the open networks — struggle to decide what’s hate speech and what’s not hate...
Facebook Inc. is creating a cryptocurrency that will work through WhatsApp, according to Bloomberg . The cryptocurrency will focus on WhatsApp’s India market, which boasts more than 200 million users, and would allow users to transfer money. India also leads in the world’s remittances — $69 billion was sent to people in the country in 2017. Facebook is developing a stablecoin based on the U.S. dollar to offset some of the volatility associated with cryptocurrencies and make daily purchases easier. Stablecoins are becoming more popular and there were more than 120 ventures related to the coins in the past year, according to Stable.Report, a stable coin tracker. The company has been increasingly dipping into the crypto industries by appointing its David Marcus to head its blockchain initiatives in Messenger in May. Marcus is the former president of PayPal and has been with Facebook since 2014. The company also has about 40 people in it’s blockchain department after a recent hiring...