Facebook and Instagram will label fake AI images to stop misinfo from spreading

Meta will begin flagging AI-generated images on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads in an effort to uphold online transparency.

The tech giant already labels content made by its Imagine AI engine with a visible watermark. Moving forward, it’s going to do something similar for pictures coming from third-party sources like OpenAI, Google, and Midjourney just to name a few. It’s unknown exactly what these labels will look like although, looking at the announcement post, it may simply consist of the words “AI Info” next to generated content. Meta states this design is not final, hinting that it could change once the update officially launches.

Facebook's new AI label

(Image credit: Meta)

In addition to visible labels, the company says it’s also working on tools to “identify invisible markers” in images from third-party generators. Imagine AI does this too by embedding watermarks into the metadata of its content. Its purpose is to include a unique tag that cannot be manipulated by editing tools. Meta states other platforms have plans to do the same and want a system in place to detect the tagged metadata.

Audio and video labeling

So far, everything has centered around branding images, but what about AI-generated audio and video? Google’s Lumiere is capable of creating incredibly realistic clips and OpenAI is working on implementing video-creation to ChatGPT. Is there something in place to detect more complex forms of AI content? Well, sort of.

Meta admits there is currently no way for it to detect AI-generated audio and video at the same level as images. The technology just isn’t there yet. However, the industry is working “towards this capability”. Until then, the company is going to rely on the honor system. It’ll require users to disclose if the video clip or audio file they want to upload was produced or edited by artificial intelligence. Failure to do so will result in a “penalty”. What’s more, if a piece of media is so realistic that it runs the risk of tricking the public, Meta will attach “a more prominent label” offering important details.

Future updates

As for its own platforms, Meta is working on improving first-party tools as well. 

The company’s AI Research lab FAIR is developing a new type of watermarking tech called Stable Signature. Apparently, it’s possible to remove the invisible markers from the metadata of AI-generated content. Stable Signature is supposed to stop that by making watermarks an integral part of the “image generation process”. On top of all this, Meta has begun training several LLMs (Large Language Models) on their Community Standards so the AIs can determine if certain pieces of content violate the policy.

Expect to see the social media labels rolling out within the coming months. The timing of the release should come as no surprise: 2024 is a major election year for many countries, most notably the United States. Meta is seeking to mitigate misinformation from spreading on its platforms as much as possible. 

We reached out to the company for more information on what kind of penalties a user may face if they don’t adequately mark their post and if it plans on marking images from a third-party source with a visible watermark. This story will be updated at a later time.

Until then, check out TechRadar's list of the best AI image generators for 2024.

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Facebook Messenger gets its biggest ever update – including a major privacy boost

Big changes are coming to Facebook Messenger, covering everything from photo and video sharing to user privacy. The changes are rolling out from today, although it may take some time for everyone's account to be updated.

Perhaps the biggest upgrade is the switch to end-to-end encryption as the default option for conversations – this had previously been available as an option in individual chats, but will now be automatically applied to all conversations and audio and video calls.

As on other similarly secured messaging apps like WhatsApp, end-to-end encryption means only you and the person or people you're chatting to can see the conversations – so no one else can intercept or unlock your communications, including staff at Meta, malicious actors, and law enforcement agencies.

The existing disappearing messages feature is getting tweaked, too: all messages now vanish after 24 hours (previously you could customize this), and Meta is making it easier for users to see when disappearing messages are enabled. You'll be alerted if anyone tries to take a screenshot of a disappearing message, too.

More upgrades

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Message editing in the Facebook Messenger app

Message editing is coming to the Messenger app (Image credit: Meta)
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Photo layouts in the Facebook Messenger app

Get ready for new photo and video layouts (Image credit: Meta)

In addition, Messenger is now joining Apple's iMessage in letting you edit messages after you've sent them. You get a 15-minute window after a message has been sent to revise it, if you've made a glaring typo or want to change the tone of your latest communication.

Another change is that read receipts can now be switched off, if you don't want other people knowing when you've seen their messages. As is the case with other messaging apps, there's a trade-off: you won't be able to see read receipts from other people either.

Photo and videos will now be shared at an “upgraded” quality, Meta says – so expect files that are less compressed when you share them around. Photos and videos will be easier to access in the Messenger interface, with some “fun” layouts applied when you share them in batches, and instant reactions to photos and videos are being added too.

Lastly, voice messages are going to get controls for variable speed playback, and the app will now remember where you left off in a voice message if you come back to it later. Voice messages will also continue to play if you navigate away from the chat or the app.

All in all, it's a big range of upgrades that'll be welcome for regular Messenger users, even if it might not convince others to switch from WhatsApp or iMessage.

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Instagram and Facebook users will soon no longer be able to chat in new update

Three years after it first launched, Meta has decided to disable Facebook's and Instagram's cross-messaging feature.

The company introduced cross-app chats back in 2020, letting users from the two platforms talk to each other with ease. There were even plans to extend the interoperability with CEO Mark Zuckerberg saying at one point he wanted to have all of Meta’s messaging apps working together. But those dreams have been squashed as a recently updated Instagram Help Center page states communication is ending sometime in “mid-December 2023”. An exact date was not given.

The support website lays out what’ll happen after deactivation. In addition to being unable to “start new conversations or calls”, all pre-existing chats made with a Facebook account will now become read-only. Facebook users, in turn, will not be able to see an Instagram profile’s Activity Status or view any read receipts. Plus, Meta will not be moving any conversations to Messenger. If you want to begin a new chat, you’ll have to start from scratch on the respective platform. 

Prepping for the future

Currently, we have no idea why this is happening. Meta has yet to make an official announcement explaining the move. However, 9To5Google theorizes it may have something to do with Europe's Digital Market Act (DMA). 

To give you a crash course, the European Union passed the DMA in 2022 as a way to prevent major tech corporations (or “gatekeepers” as the bill calls them) from gaining a monopoly over the tech industry. One of the provisions within the law is that these large companies must “offer interoperability between messaging platforms” and fall under the EU's purview. It’s important to point out that Meta has been scaling back its Messenger service for some time now, including ending support for the SMS standard and shutting down Messenger Lite.

The company might instead prop up WhatsApp as its main, DMA-compliant messaging service. WABetaInfo found evidence of this last September, with Meta working on allowing WhatsApp users to send texts to third-party apps. No word on when this support will officially be released, but it could be soon. Every corporation designated as a gatekeeper by the DMA must comply with the law by March 6, 2024.

We reached out to Meta asking if they could give an exact date on when the cross-chat feature will go offline and explain why they’re doing this. The story will be updated at a later time.

While you wait, check out TechRadar's list of the best encrypted messaging apps for Android in 2023.

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Instagram and Facebook get ad-free subscriptions in the EU, but they’re pricey

Starting in November, Meta will offer Facebook and Instagram users in the EU, EEA, (European Economic Area,) and Switzerland the opportunity to remove all advertisements from the platforms via a new subscription plan.

There will be two different prices available at launch depending on where you purchase a plan. People will be charged €9.99 a month on desktop, while on mobile, the price tag is bumped up to €12.99 a month. The higher cost on smartphones supposedly takes into account all “the fees that Apple and Google charge” developers through their respective app stores, according to the announcement. The company goes on to say it will not collect or use information from a subscribed account for targeted ads. There is one small catch: users must be at least 18 years old. Otherwise, they can't pay for a plan.

One subscription will cover all linked profiles in a person’s Account Center until March 1, 2024. After that date, Meta will begin charging “for each additional account”. Desktop plans will see a €6 increase whereas mobile plans will jump up €8. If you do the math, you're looking at an annual cost of roughly €240 a year for an ad-free experience on a single profile.

Astronomically high price tag

The pricing deeply concerns us, because if we did our math correctly, the final cost will be astronomically high. Think about it.

Let's say you have a Facebook and Instagram account and you want an ad-free experience on both desktop and mobile. To our understanding, you'll need to buy four separate subscriptions to cover all your bases on the two devices. A subscription after March 1 is about €20. So yearly, a European user may have to pay nearly €1,000 to remove all ads across desktop and mobile – assuming they only have one of each. Remember: costs increase for every extra profile. Keep in mind these numbers aren’t exact. We are rounding up, but we’re not too far off from the actual prices.

We reached out to Meta for clarification on the pricing. The announcement's wording was a little confusing. We also asked if there are plans to extend the subscription service to other countries, namely the US and UK. This story will be updated at a later time.

Forced to comply

The company explains it's launching the service as a way “to comply with evolving European regulations”. For the past couple of years, Meta has faced a lot of scrutiny from the EU over how the conglomerate handles user data. It’s gotten to the point where the Union passed the Digital Services Act “outlawing certain manipulative advertising practices” as well as slapping Meta with a $ 1.3 billion fine

Apparently, government regulators have ordered the company to give people a way to opt out of being bombarded with online ads. Meta claims the CJEU (Court of Justice of the European Union) recognizes the subscription model as a “valid form of consent”. It is good to see the company provide a way to skip the ads permanently.
Unfortunately, it's making the whole process painful to people’s wallets.

If you are looking for a free way to surf the internet unperturbed, check out TechRadar’s list of the best ad blockers for 2023

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Meta finally adds decent admin features for Facebook Groups

Meta has announced new features for admins in Facebook Groups to better moderate users' posts while making it easier for users to join in through QR codes.

While social networks have had the mammoth task of tightening up moderation, Meta has tried to improve its practices on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

But it's Facebook Groups that have been bearing the brunt of misinformation in recent times, which is why Meta is stepping up its cause to help out the admins of these groups with more powerful features.

However, it remains to be seen if these will make a big difference in the ever-changing world of 2022.


Analysis: Will new features be enough?

New admin features in Facebook Groups

(Image credit: Facebook)

The blog post states other new features, such as being able to automatically approve or decline new users, based on the answers that they give when applying to be part of a group. There's also another useful new feature that allows admins to suspend users who have already had their recent posts muted, and their new posts still break the guidelines of the group

Meta has stated that it has 1.8 billion people that use Facebook Groups, with over half of all its users being members of five or more active groups, so new features for admins to help moderate these posts will always be welcome.

However, these are the types of features that should have been there years ago. Our US Editor-in-Chief, Lance Ulanoff has been receiving prompts to tighten up his security on Facebook, with a feature called Facebook Protect.

Facebook Protect in iOS

(Image credit: TechRadar)

The consequence of not enabling Facebook Protect is a full-lock-out of your account, restricting you from accessing the social media website.

This looks to be applicable to accounts with blue ticks for now, but there's always a chance that Meta will open this up to all users as an added security feature.

This comes back to Meta's stance on security and moderation. While it's welcome to see these updates for Facebook Groups, its approach to challenging misinformation on Pages statuses, Reels and even photos still has a long way to go to correct the narrative for current news around the world.

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Facebook Reels launches worldwide for iOS and Android alongside new features

Similar to Instagram Reels, Facebook is launching its own take on the feature first influenced by TikTok, outside of the USA from today (February 22), rolling out to 150 countries, including the UK.

In a blogpost, Facebook is also announcing features to help creators earn money from the reels that they create, alongside reels that can last for up to 60 seconds, and more features to come.

Facebook Reels launched in the USA back in September 2021, with users being able to access short videos from friends and pages, all in one section.

But the elephant in the room is to wonder where Instagram fits in this, and whether Facebook Reels has a place alongside TikTok, Snapchat and others.

New features also arrive

Alongside the ability to create 60-second reels, you can also create remixes of existing reels that others have created. This works similar to duets on TikTok, where you can use an existing video to showcase your reactions or respond to the original video.

If you're midway through making a new Reel and you need to pause, a new 'save to draft' option can help you pick off where you left off later in the day.

There's also going to be ways to share your Reels through Stories, alongside a dedicated Reels label at the top of the Facebook app to make it easier for users to find other videos.

Finally, ways to monetize Reels are slowly arriving, such as an upcoming feature called Stars, which is a way to 'tip' creators while a live Reel is ongoing.

Facebook Reels in action on iOS

(Image credit: Meta)

Reels looks to mimic what's made TikTok so successful so far. Instagram Reels has seemingly done well for Meta, but Instagram Stories is still its shining jewel.

Time will tell whether having two types of Reels from Meta will be worth having, but for now, better features with a worldwide rollout could help Facebook pivot to video in a better way, compared to its previous efforts of Facebook Live and Facebook Video feeds.

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Facebook Protect and 2FA is about to become the rule for some accounts

Facebook is finally making 2-Factor Authentication (2FA) the rule for some of its most-at-risk accounts.

It’s a smart move, protecting venerable Facebook users, especially those who are looked to for responsible and accurate information – think journalists, politicians, celebrities, and you'll get the idea. Someone gaining access to any one of these accounts and masquerading as it could have wide-reaching, damaging effects. The company made the announcement on Thursday, pre-briefing some reporters and then directing them to a full story on Wired.

Why I wonder has this taken so long?

Stories of people, in all stations of life, who’ve had critical accounts hacked are all too commonplace. I usually find out when someone sends me a separate email or text exclaiming, “Help! I’ve been hacked!” Worse yet is when they don’t know and I spot the bizarre activity on their Facebook account and send a private note through other channels: “Hey, I think your Facebook’s been hacked.’

2-Factor Authentication is a simple idea that few people adopt because they see it as annoying or overly complicated. Put simply, whenever you log into a system, you have to prove it’s really you through a secondary device or system, one that can give you a code to apply to that first system. 

Some 2FA systems use SMS texts to your phone (or a voice call), others use proprietary hardware that spits out unique, time-sensitive codes that also get entered into the original system.

For most people, the primary device handling 2FA is their smartphone. Most security system managers figure that if you have your phone with your SIM and unique phone number on it, that’s about as good as it needs to get for verification. Looked at another way, how likely is it that someone trying to use your email and maybe a password they found on the Dark Web to log into your Facebook will also have your phone in their hands?

Inside Facebook Protect: What's new?

The system in question, known as Facebook Protect, was designed originally as an opt-in for political figures. In addition to 2FA, there’s a Page publishing authentication system to ensure that nobody publishes offensive material on a candidate’s pages, and the requirement that Page managers use real names.

The new plan takes Facebook Protect further, with Facebook proactively identifying at-risk users or groups of users and targeting them to enroll in Facebook Protect. Personally, I’d like to see Facebook follow Google’s plan and require 2FA for all users.

It’s not a perfect system, and there are reports of phone scammers convincing unsuspecting service users (banks, cryptocurrency wallets, Venmo, PayPal, and other accounts that also use 2FA) to share the 2FA SMS codes. Still, it’s better than a single, poorly crafted password, or one that’s being passed around on the Dark Web like so much gossip.

Facebook’s plan, which sounds small and almost tentative, might still be a rude awakening for at-risk users who missed the memo and, after ignoring multiple prompts to enable 2FA, may find themselves locked out of their own accounts.

Facebook's Head of Security Policy Nathaniel Gleicher, however, told me via Twitter that the “Number of warnings will vary by country/context — we're adjusting to make sure people have the time they need. So far, we've seen the overwhelming majority (90%+) enroll on time w/out trouble!”

Getting locked out of Facebook would not be a great situation. But it's definitely better than a hacker or prankster taking over and posting things in your account that no one wants to see.

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