SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook is looking to carve out its own spot on the audio social networking scene that has seen invitation-only startup Clubhouse rocket to popularity, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.
Executives at Facebook have ordered employees to create a version of Clubhouse, an app which lets users drop into virtual “rooms” to voice-chat about any topic, the New York Times said, citing unnamed people familiar with the situation.
Clubhouse has attracted an array of big names, from celebrities to Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg himself, who stopped in on the app recently to talk about augmented and virtual realities.
Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk tweeted on Wednesday that he agreed to “do Clubhouse with @kanyewest,” causing an instant stir in rooms at the social network.
Clubhouse exploded in popularity during the coronavirus pandemic when people could not get together in person — but now the once-niche platform has far higher goals.
Launched less than a year ago, Clubhouse — which recently encountered censorship trouble in China — is looking to establish itself as the standard-bearer for digital audio.
The concept is simple: once you’re invited to join, you can start or listen to conversations in digital “rooms,” ranging from a major talk by someone famous to a chat within a small group.
No posts, no photos, no videos — just audio.
The app is available only on Apple devices for now.
The New York Times quoted a Facebook spokeswoman as saying the Internet firm has “been connecting people through audio and video technologies for many years and (is) always exploring new ways to improve that experience for people.”
Facebook to follow audio social network Clubhouse
https://arab.news/898d7
Facebook to follow audio social network Clubhouse
- Executives at Facebook have ordered employees to create a version of
- Clubhouse app lets users drop into virtual “rooms” to voice-chat about any topic
Study finds nearly half of UK news stories on Muslims show signs of bias
- Centre for Media Monitoring finds 20,000 out of 40,913 articles from 30 major news outlets contain bias and 70% link Muslims to negative behaviors or themes
- Findings reveal ‘deeply concerning evidence of structural bias’ in portrayal of Muslims by UK press and point to ‘systemic problem’ within the media, says center’s director
LONDON: Nearly half of news articles published in the UK in 2025 that referenced Muslims or Islam contained some degree of bias, according to a report issued on Monday by the Centre for Media Monitoring. It also found that about 70 percent of stories linked Muslims to negative behaviors or themes.
The nonprofit organization, which tracks the ways in which Muslims and Islam are portrayed in the media, examined 40,913 articles from 30 major news outlets and found that about 20,000 showed some form of bias.
The study looked at “structural patterns” in coverage that “shape public narratives” about Muslims amid rising hostility toward the community.
“As the largest study of its kind ever conducted in the UK, this report presents deeply concerning evidence of structural bias in how Muslims are portrayed in the UK press,” said Rizwana Hamid, the director of the organization.
It found that 70 percent of the articles it reviewed highlighted negative aspects related to Muslims, though not all of the stories were biased in themselves. The wider patterns were also troubling: 44 percent of the coverage omitted key context, 17 percent relied on generalizations, and 13 percent included outright misrepresentation.
Taken together, the monitoring center said, the findings amounted to evidence of an “information integrity crisis” that distorts public understanding, and “a deeply concerning trend” in reporting on Muslims.
The research points to a “systemic problem within our media ecosystem,” Hamid said.
“When entire communities are repeatedly framed through lenses of suspicion or threat, it inevitably shapes public attitudes, political debate and the everyday lives of British Muslims,” she added.
News brands targeting right-wing audiences were more likely to produce biased coverage, the report found.
The Spectator magazine and GB News were identified as having the highest proportion of “very biased” articles, and as the “worst across all five bias categories”: negative framing, generalizations, misrepresentation, lack of context, and problematic headlines.
Other outlets highlighted for displaying high levels of biased content about Muslims included The Telegraph, The Jewish Chronicle, Daily Express, The Sun, Daily Mail and The Times.
In contrast, the BBC, other broadcasters and left-leaning outlets recorded the lowest rates of bias in the study.
The research comes as British Muslims report rising levels of discrimination. Official figures published in October revealed that religious hate crimes against Muslims rose by 19 percent in the year to March 2025 compared with the previous 12 months.
