WhatsApp said that a security breach on its messaging app had signs of coming from a government using surveillance technology developed by a private company and may have targeted human rights groups.
Facebook said it restored services on Sunday after some users could not access its social networking site, photo-sharing network Instagram and messaging app WhatsApp.
Indian activists have petitioned a parliamentary panel to summon the heads of U.S. tech firms including Facebook and Alphabet Inc's Google and question them on issues ranging from tax compliance to data privacy.
French government building its own encrypted messenger service to ease fears that foreign entities could spy on private conversations between officials.
BlackBerry filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Facebook and its WhatsApp and Instagram apps, arguing that they copied technology and features from BlackBerry Messenger.
Messaging apps like WhatsApp and Snapchat are at the perfect crossroads of mobile and social. These apps are simple and ubiquitous with some subscriber bases already in the hundreds of millions of users.
Facebook's $2 billion acquisition of Oculus has given virtual reality a major boost. By delivering an altered sense of reality with a social experience Facebook could give users a more compelling reason to come back regularly.
Deliberate status updates are losing luster as quick, impromptu, short-lived activity on social media gathers momentum. If the first phase of social media was a massive effort to share our online identities, this current wave is all about fleeting encounters.
Facebook may be shelling out $19 billion in cash and stock for the messaging company WhatsApp to stanch the departure of younger users from the social network.