Meta Donates $1m to Donald Trump’s Inaugural Fund

THE GUARDIAN: Donation comes after CEO Mark Zuckerberg dined with Trump at Mar-a-Lago and appears to be an effort to improve relations

Meta has donated $1m to Donald Trump’s inaugural fund, the company confirmed on Thursday.

The donation, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, appears to be the latest effort by the social media company and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, to improve relations with the incoming president, and comes just weeks after Zuckerberg dined with Trump at Mar-a-Lago.

Meta confirmed its donation to the Guardian on Thursday but did not provide details regarding the reason for the contribution. » | Anna Betts | Thursday, December 12, 2024

Isn’t this the sort of thing that went on in Germany in the Thirties, which ended up making Adolf Hitler all-powerful? Developments like this are disturbing indeed. – © Mark Alexander

Threads App Signs Up 100m Users in Less Than a Week

BBC: Threads, the social media app aimed at rivalling Twitter, has signed up more than 100 million users in less than five days, according to new data.

It means Threads, launched by Instagram-owner Meta, has beaten a record set by Open AI's ChatGPT app.

Threads went live on Apple and Android app stores in 100 countries last Wednesday.

But it is not available in Europe yet because of uncertainty over EU data privacy legislation.

Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive of Meta, which also owns Facebook, said the app had 10 million users within the first seven hours of launch and more than 30 million by Thursday morning.

Around 24 hours later, that figure had more than doubled. » | Shiona McCallum, Technology reporter | Monday, July 10, 2023

Related.

What Impact Will Threads Have on Twitter and Social Media? | Inside Story

Jul 8, 2023 | An alternative to Twitter is launched by Meta Threads. It hopes Threads will profit from unpopular changes made to the platform under Elon Musk's ownership. So, is it just a clone - or is it a revolution in social media? And what does it mean for users around the world?

Presenter: Adrian Finighan

Guests:

Elaine Burke, Science and Technology journalist, host of For Tech's Sake podcast.

Sherilyn Naidoo, Lawyer and Policy Adviser to Big Tech Accountability Team, Amnesty International.

Sarah Kreps, Founder and Director of the Technology Policy Institute at Cornell University, and Author of 'Social Media's International Relations'


Threads Takes on Twitter: How Meta did what no other Twitter competitor could. »

Zuckerberg Uses Threads to Say Twitter Has Missed Its Chance

THE GUARDIAN: Meta founder says rival platform will ‘focus on kindness’ as it claims 10 million users hours after launch

Mark Zuckerberg has taken a swipe at Elon Musk’s Twitter as his competitor to the platform, Threads, announced 10 million sign-ups within hours of its launch.

The chief executive and founder of Meta used his new Threads account to say Twitter had not “nailed” its opportunity to become a mega app and that his copycat version would be “focusing on kindness”.

Zuckerberg’s competitive move against Twitter has already resulted in Musk challenging his fellow billionaire to a cage fight, with the Meta boss appearing to accept the offer of a bout. Appropriately, Zuckerberg said in an exchange with a mixed martial arts fighter on Threads that Twitter had not taken its chance to become a leading platform. » | Dan Milmo, Global technology editor | Thursday, July 6, 2023

We can’t trust the Government to protect your privacy, says Signal boss: Interview: Meredith Whittaker warns new law would allow regulators to read private messages at will »