Facebook

Giphy's vast library of looping short video animations is hugely popular in Facebook's apps.

But it also provides animations to competitors like TikTok, Snapchat and Twitter.

Now, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is investigating whether the purchase is a problem.

It has sent an enforcement order to Facebook, effectively putting a hold on any merging of the companies until its investigation is over.

Announcing the acquisition in May this year, Facebook said that half of Giphy's traffic comes from Facebook apps, including Whatsapp and Instagram.

It ended up in court after a falling-out between the woman and her daughter.

The judge ruled the matter was within the scope of the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

One expert said the ruling reflected the "position that the European Court has taken over many years".

The case went to court after the woman refused to delete photographs of her grandchildren which she had posted on social media.

The mother of the children had asked several times for the pictures to be deleted.

A report from Axios values the deal at $400m (£330m), but Facebook would not confirm the final price.

In a blog post, Instagram's VP of Products Vishal Shah said third party firms would still have access to Giphy's library of GIFs and stickers.

But many of those sites including Twitter and Pintrest are direct competitors to Facebook.

A Graphical Interchange Format or GIF is an animated image or short soundless video that plays on a continuous loop without requiring the viewer to press play.

The no-cash, no commercial sales policy of the barter page was Ms Dutta's concept, responding to the lack of money and jobs as Covid-19 travel and trade restrictions set off economic shocks for Fiji and many other Pacific nations.

"I needed to do something positive and constructive...like most people, I was confused, scared of all the uncertainties, frustrated at people not following the directives and empty from not being able to spend time with family and friends," she said in a response sheet to the flood of media requests she's been taking.

Facebook said the "accelerated" launch was a direct response to the Covid-19 lockdown.

The app lets users follow high-profile gamers, watch live gaming streams and leave comments without interacting with the rest of Facebook.

It also lets gamers broadcast their own smartphone screen.

While Facebook remains the largest social network on the planet, it has struggled to compete against dominant players Twitch and YouTube when it comes to games streaming and esports.

The hacking group OurMine posted on the Twitter and Instagram accounts for Facebook and Messenger, writing "even Facebook is hackable".

The accounts have now been restored.

OurMine claims its attacks are an attempt to show cyber vulnerabilities. In January it hijacked over a dozen accounts for teams in the US National Football League.

The group posted a statement on Facebook's Twitter account. "Hi, we are OurMine. Well, even Facebook is hackable but at least their security is better then Twitter."

They reveal 11.6 million pieces of content related to child nudity and child sexual exploitation were taken down between July and September 2019.

For the first time, Facebook is also releasing figures for Instagram and including numbers for posts related to suicide and self-harm.

This follows a public outcry over the death of 14-year-old Molly Russell.

The teenager killed herself in 2017 and her father then found large amounts of graphic material about self-harm and suicide on her Instagram account.

But the remaining members have insisted it’s full steam ahead.

The 21 founding companies in the Libra Association - down from 28 when the project was first announced - met for the first time in Geneva on Monday.

A spokesman told the BBC he believed the currency was still on track to launch next year.

But, he added, it would only do so if suitable regulatory approval had been granted.

It comes after a stern warning from the G7 group of nations that Libra risked disrupting the global financial order.

The suspended apps were associated with about 400 developers, it said.

Facebook said not all the apps posed a threat to users.

The company came under huge pressure in 2018 after it was revealed that Cambridge Analytica had accessed many users' data without permission.

The political consultancy firm is alleged to have used this data - harvested by a personality quiz - to target political advertising.

Facebook Dating launched on Friday in the United States, a service for those 18 and older. 

The platform, reportedly displayed as a separate tab on the mobile app, seeks to match users with common interests who aren't already friends. 

Similar to pre-existing dating apps Bumble and Hinge, you can then send a cutie a 'like' and a corresponding message.