LONDON: Facebook has launched a community leadership program that will award $10 million in total to more than 100 people who have successfully built groups on the social network as part of its push to create “meaningful” interactions.
The initiative, announced at a Facebook Communities Summit in London, will give five people with a track record in creating groups up to $1 million to fund a project, Facebook’s Jennifer Dulski said.
Another 100 leaders from around the world will receive up to $50,000 each, she said in an interview.
“We are looking for communities that provide meaning to the people that are in them, we are looking for initiatives that drive positive impact, and we are looking for communities that have both online and offline components,” said Dulski, Facebook’s head of groups and community.
Facebook’s Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said last June that the company’s new mission was “to bring the world closer together,” and he set a goal of helping one billion people join “meaningful communities” built around hobbies, neighbors, churches, pets and the like.
The focus on groups came after the social network, which has 1.4 billion daily active users, had been criticized for its role in the distribution of so-called fake news.
Facebook and other Internet groups such as Google’s YouTube and Twitter have also faced pressure from the EU and European governments to do more to stem the proliferation of extremist content on their platforms.
The company’s top European executive, Nicola Mendelsohn, said in December that the number of people working on safety on the platform would double to 20,000 by the end of 2018, including more engineers in London. The contest is open to Facebook community leaders worldwide, with the winners chosen by a panel of independent experts and Facebook employees, Dulski said.
Facebook launches $10m community leader awards
Facebook launches $10m community leader awards
Apple to update EU browser options, make more apps deletable
- iPhone maker came under pressure from regulators to make changes after the EU’s sweeping Digital Markets Act took effect on March 7
- Apple users will be able to select a default browser directly from the choice screen after going through a mandatory list of options
STOCKHOLM: Apple will change how users choose browser options in the European Union, add a dedicated section for changing default apps, and make more apps deletable, the company said on Thursday.
The iPhone maker came under pressure from regulators to make changes after the EU’s sweeping Digital Markets Act took effect on March 7, forcing big tech companies to offer mobile users the ability to select from a list of available web browsers on a “choice screen.”
The new rules require mobile software makers to show the choice screen where users can select a browser, search engine and virtual assistant as they set up their phones, which earlier came with preferred options from Apple and Google.
In an update later this year, Apple users will be able to select a default browser directly from the choice screen after going through a mandatory list of options.
A randomly ordered list of 12 browsers per EU country will be shown to the user with short descriptions, and the chosen one will be automatically downloaded, Apple said. The choice screen will also be available on iPads through an update later this year.
Apple released a previous update in response to the new rules in March, but browser companies criticized the design of its choice screen, and the Commission opened an investigation on March 25 saying it suspected that the measures fell short of effective compliance.
The company said it has been in dialogue with the European Commission and believes the new changes will address regulators’ concerns.
It also plans to introduce a dedicated area for default apps where a user will be able to set defaults for messaging, phone calls, spam filters, password managers and keyboards.
Users will also be able to delete certain Apple-made apps such as App Store, Messages, Camera, Photos and Safari. Only Settings and Phone apps would not be deletable.
