Threads resembles Twitter in its format, and allows users to sign in with their Instagram account. It has not been launched in the EU yet, due to data privacy concerns. Tech giant Meta officially launched Threads on Wednesday, a rival to Twitter, with more than 10 million sign-ups in its first seven hours. In his inaugural post on the app, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote, "Let's do this. Welcome to Threads," accompanied by a fire emoji.  What is Threads? Threads resembles Twitter in its format, allowing users to share short text posts, like, repost and reply to content. It does not have direct messaging capabilities. Meta's blog post revealed that posts on Threads can be up to 500 characters long and include links, photos and videos up to five minutes in duration. Although Threads launched as a standalone app, users can log in using their Instagram credentials and follow the same accounts, making it a seamless addition for Instagram's massive user base of over 2 billion monthly active users. Dubbed as the "Twitter-killer app" and "Twitter's standalone rival," Threads is accessible in over 100 countries through both Apple's App Store and Google's Play Store, as mentioned in the blog post. However, the launch in the European Union has been delayed over data privacy concerns. What has been the reaction to Threads' launch? Industry analysts say investors could be excited about Threads' potential due to its integration with Instagram, which may provide a built-in user base and advertising opportunities. "It's as simple as that: if an Instagram user with a large number of followers such as Kardashian or a Bieber or a Messi begins posting on Threads regularly, a new platform could quickly thrive," strategic financial analyst Brian Wieser said on Substack. On Wednesday, Meta's stock rose by 3% prior to the launch, surpassing the gains of competing tech companies, despite a slight downturn in the broader market. After attracting millions of users on Threads, Meta Platforms rose 1.8% on Thursday. The arrival of Threads coincides with an ongoing exchange of jabs between Zuckerberg and Musk, with both even threatening to engage in a mixed martial arts cage match in Las Vegas. The timing is favorable for Meta to deliver a blow to Twitter as months of tumultuous decision-making by Musk have plagued the social media platform. Last October, Elon Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion, but the company's value has since plummeted due to advertiser exodus, substantial layoffs and content moderation controversies. Twitter's latest move involves restricting the number of tweets users can read per day. Zuckerberg hopes to reach over 1 billion users  Zuckerberg addressed Twitter's challenges in a Threads post, stating, "I think there should be a public conversations app with 1 billion+ people on it. Twitter has had the opportunity to do this but hasn't nailed it. Hopefully, we will." The integration with Instagram incorporates various privacy considerations. Instagram users who sign up for Threads automatically have a badge displayed on their Instagram profile, but they can choose to hide it. The app also provides options for different privacy settings. Prominent brands such as Billboard, HBO, NPR and Netflix swiftly established accounts on Threads, as did celebrities like Shakira and former Meta Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg. The app has not displayed any advertisements as of now, said a review by Reuters news agency. Responding to a user who predicted Twitter's demise shortly after the Threads launch, Zuckerberg advised patience, stating, "We're only in the opening moments of the first round here."

"Meta Verified" follows Twitter and other social media companies attempting to instill confidence in their services by asking users to pay to prove their identities. Facebook and Instagram's parent company, Meta, announced on Sunday it would test a paid subscription service. "Meta Verified," available in Australia and New Zealand this week, would authenticate users and reward them with a blue badge to show their status. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the subscription would also include extra protection against impersonation and ensure prioritized customer support. It will cost $11.99 (roughly €11.20) per month on the web or $14.99 a month on Apple's iOS system and Android. Other social media subscriptions It is very similar to Elon Musk's $8 per month "Twitter Blue" subscription service. Twitter's launch last year backfired with an embarrassing spate of fake accounts that scared advertisers and cast doubt on the site's future. Musk was forced to briefly suspend the effort before relaunching it to muted reception in December. Zuckerberg, however, stressed there would be no changes to accounts on Facebook and Instagram that were already verified. Other social media apps, like Snap Inc's Snapchat and messaging app Telegram also launched paid subscription services last year, as a new source of revenue. Meta sales revenue down in 2022 Meta is also under pressure after taking a huge gamble on the metaverse, the virtual reality world that Zuckerberg believes will be the next online frontier. Earlier this month, Meta posted its first-ever revenue decline since going public in 2012, with sales down by 1% to $116.6 billion last year. Facebook's user growth has slowed down but the company also recently announced that the number of daily users on Facebook hit two billion for the first time.

The former US president had been blocked from the social media platforms since the January 6, 2021 insurrection. Meta said it was taking measures to prevent "repeat offenders" from violating its rules. Facebook parent company, Meta, announced on Wednesday that it would restore former US President Donald Trump's accounts on its platforms "in the coming weeks" after a two-year ban.  The company said it was adding "new guardrails" to ensure there are no "repeat offenders" who break its rules. Nick Clegg, Meta's president of global affairs, wrote in a blog post on Wednesday, "In the event that Mr. Trump posts further violating content, the content will be removed and he will be suspended for between one month and two years, depending on the severity of the violation." Why was Trump banned? Shortly after his supporters stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, Trump's accounts were banned or suspended by social media platforms for violating their rules. At the time, Twitter said two of his tweets violated the company's policies against what it calls the glorification of violence.  Facebook, Instagram and YouTube suspended Trump's accounts amid fears that he might use social media to incite more unrest. Meta's move came after Twitter reinstated the former president's account last November. CEO Elon Musk had posted a poll asking the social media platform should allow Trump back, and his account reappeared after the narrow vote. Trump reacts In a post on his own social media network Truth Social, Trump said such a ban "should never again happen to a sitting President."  Trump's Facebook ban, which came into effect a day after the deadly insurrection, was the first time the company ever blocked the account of a sitting head of state for violating its content rules. The restoration of his social media accounts comes as Trump, who is facing criminal probes by the Justice Department, seeks another run for the White House in 2024. Facebook and Instagram have been key platforms for online political outreach and fundraising.  Trump said after he was reinstated on Twitter that he was in talks with Meta about returning.

The Meta-owned social media platform is testing new tools to verify ages of US users. The tech was developed by Yoti, an AI digital identity company. Instagram will test new options for users to verify their age, starting with users in the United States. The new AI-based toolbox was developed by Yoti, a company that specializes in online age verification. Yoti has been approved by a German regulator for youth media protection. We’re testing this so we can make sure teens and adults are in the right experience for their age group, Instagram wrote in a press release. Users who are not able to confirm that they are older than 13 will not be able to use Instagram. The new options US users will be able to choose from two new verification options. The first is a video selfie that Instagram will share with Yoti. The AI company will then estimate a user’s age based on their facial features and share that estimate with Instagram. The second option is what Instagram calls social vouching. The option requires a user to select three mutual followers to vouch for them. The followers will then have three days to respond to the request. Each person vouching is required to be at least 18 years old to participate. The company stated that these new measures will prevent teens from accessing Facebook Dating, adults from messaging teens, and help teens from receiving restricted ad content. How Yoti works Yoti is able to estimate facial age using AI trained on anonymous images of diverse people from around the world who have transparently allowed Yoti to use their data, Instagram wrote. Yoti claims that all images used to train its AI technology were collected transparently and can be deleted by the person at any time. Any data collected from a person under 13 required the explicit approval of a guardian. Why Instagram wants to verify users ages Instagram did not always require users to confirm their age upon sign-up. This was not introduced until 2019, following mounting pressure from law makers and child safety advocates. After the switch, Instagram introduced pop-ups that asked users to enter birth dates. The Meta-owned company beefed up this measure by rolling out a feature that allowed for age confirmation using a government-issued photo ID. Instagram may face pushback for its new verification methods from users who do not want their private photos sent to third parties. But the tech company has promised images used for age verification will be deleted and will not determine a user’s real identity. The technology cannot recognize your identity, just your age, Instagram wrote.

Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp were all experiencing issues this afternoon (Bangladesh time) for users worldwide. Facebook and Instagram were both inaccessible, with news feeds refusing to refresh and the main Facebook.com domain unavailable. WhatsApp messages weren’t being sent or received, and users of Facebook’s main services (Facebook owns Instagram and WhatsApp) had headed to Twitter to share that they’re having issues. Messenger, Facebook’s chat service, was also down. The outages started at around 5 pm Bangladesh time, and some locations appeared to be more widely affected than users. At 7 pm Bangladesh time the services appeared in operation after two hours of outages. Facebook’s issues came just a month after Facebook experienced its worst outage ever. Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram were all inaccessible for hours last month, and it wasn’t until over 24 hours later that Facebook finally gave the all clear. Facebook blamed a “server configuration change,” and apologized for the outages. Source: The Verge. AH