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It is not the first time Gates has found himself targeted by conspiracy theorists. When Zika virus broke out in 2015 in Brazil, he was one of several powerful Western figures blamed for the disease. Other rumors claim he is secretly a lizard, an old favorite among online trolls. (Photo | Wikimedia Commons - Kuhlmann)

Debunking rumours of profiteering off the pandemic, Bill Gates wants to get the truth out

Fabricated news articles crafted by conspiracy theorists targeting Gates have gained traction online with hundreds of thousands of believers

24 Jul 2020 5:22 PM

The in-app payment feature in WhatsApp, which could be accessed directly within a conversation with a participating business, was free for users. Businesses were to be charged a small fee similar to a typical credit card transaction.

Blow to Facebook as Brazil suspends WhatsApp digital payments just a week after launch

Brazil’s central bank said the payments platform was anti-competitive and there were concerns over data privacy.

24 Jun 2020 6:06 PM

WhatsApp has about 400 million users in India. It has been testing its payments service in India - based on UPI - with about a million users. (Representative Image)

Soon expected to launch in India, WhatsApp payments become available in Brazil

Stalled by regulatory hurdles, plans are afoot to integrate WhatsApp services with JioMart to take on rivals Paytm, PhonePe and Google Pay.

16 Jun 2020 5:11 PM

JioMart, which declared itself an aggregator of neighbourhood grocery stores, is currently looking similar to the BigBasket model of ecommerce. (Representative Image | Pixabay)

JioMart, self-declared as a kirana store aggregator, launches in 200 cities without them

Grocery is 70% of Indian retail market, with 90% driven by neighbourhood shops. Will Reliance include them, subdue them or wipe them out?

26 May 2020 5:54 PM

In this Tuesday, May 12, 2020 file photo, senators listen as Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks during a virtual Senate Committee for Health, Education, Labour, and Pensions hearing in Washington. On Friday, May 15, 2020, The Associated Press reported on stories circulating online incorrectly asserting Fauci has sat on Microsoft's board of directors with Bill Gates as his boss. Fauci has become a target of misinformation as he oversees the U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo | AP)

YouTube, WhatsApp abound with conspiracy theories accusing Bill Gates of starting the virus outbreak

In recent months, 5G networks and Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros have also been blamed for creating COVID-19

18 May 2020 10:09 PM

Farmers carry strawberries in a basket after harvesting, during the ongoing nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus, in Srinagar, Wednesday, May 13, 2020. There is no Swiggy and Zomato here unlike several cities in the rest of India for fresh produce to be delivered to customers. And whatever little digital services allowed entrepreneurs to do business has also been rendered useless since the Indian government suspended 4g high speed internet services in the Valley. (Photo | AP)

Ecommerce makes lockdown bearable in rest of India but Kashmir netpreneurs suffer without 4G

The Supreme Court last week refused to direct the government to restore high speed internet in the Valley.

17 May 2020 9:23 PM

Covid-19 crisis provides an opportunity to revive, re-invent and move more banking products and services to the digital platforms, former RBI deputy governor HR Khan said.

Paper currency now seen as a COVID risk, former RBI man says banks should take to Whatsapp

Reliance Jio, with its new ties to Facebook , already hopes to use Whatsapp for cash transactions. Banks should jump on that bandwagon too.

15 May 2020 10:17 PM

The company is also offering warranty on new Oppo phones up to Rs 2,599, as well cashback and EMI schemes till May 31.

Oppo to resume production at 30 pc capacity, will accept orders through WhatsApp, SMS

The company is also offering warranty on new phones up to Rs 2,599, as well cashback and EMI schemes till May 31.

07 May 2020 6:44 PM

If you receive such links, delete it, the police advised. But if you’ve already downloaded the app from such a link on WhatsApp or SMS, it would be better to do a factory reset of your phone to protect it.

Get Aarogya Setu from Google, Apple app stores only, Pakistan collecting data via fake links: Police

Some people have been receiving malicious links via WhatsApp and SMS, the police said in its cyber security alert

06 May 2020 6:11 PM

Janaushadhi Kendras accepting orders on WhatsApp, e-mail to facilitate access to medicines. (PTI Photo)

Now order your meds by WhatsApp

Supply arrangements with India Post have been made for delivery of medicines to the remotely located stores

05 May 2020 3:15 PM

While Google makes revenues from its products too, Facebook and Twitter mainly depend on income from ad sales.

Users added aplenty but Google, Facebook, and Twitter lose ad revenues amid covid lockdowns

As travel and shopping shut down, advertising on the three platforms plummeted, but now as lockdown curbs begin to ease, things may look up

01 May 2020 8:01 PM

JioMart, an e-commerce venture of Reliance Retail, “has already started interacting with customers on WhatsApp for grocery orders” in Navi Mumbai, Thane and Kalyan, Credit Suisse said in a report.

Reliance JioMart begins using WhatsApp for grocery deliveries in Navi Mumbai, Thane and Kalyan

The deal with Facebook will help Ambani set up a digital platform to take on Amazon and Walmart’s Flipkart

27 Apr 2020 10:28 PM

Google's Play Store has apps with child abuse material, links to WhatsApp groups which are encrypted are found on Twitter, the NCPCR said, indicating the need for the tech-enabled companies to do more proactively to shut down child sexual abuse material.

Searches for child sexual abuse material spike, NCPCR sends notice to Google, WhatsApp, Twitter

A recent report by India Child Protection Fund showed that there has been a surge in searches for child sexual abuse material amid lockdown

26 Apr 2020 10:51 PM

Facebook users will be able to create virtual rooms and decide who to invite to join, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, adding that Facebook had built in defences to prevent unwanted guests from entering virtual rooms. (Photo | AFP)

Facebook introduces Messenger Rooms allowing video calls with 50 friends, in alternative to Zoom

Even if you don’t have a Facebook account, you can join a Messenger Rooms video chat

25 Apr 2020 12:56 PM

WhatsApp is good enough for family calls now with up to eight participants but it can't still compete with Zoom which supports up to 100 participants.

Now WhatsApp video call can have 8 participants; Centre offers Rs 1 cr prize to build homegrown Zoom

WhatsApp's earlier limit was four callers; Centre's innovation challenge encourages developers to build an alternative videoconferencing app

21 Apr 2020 3:16 PM

The update has come to India first, in an indication of how widely the platform is being used to spread unverified information in the country. It will soon be rolled out globally.

WhatsApp limits forwards to one chat at a time in India to halt spread of coronavirus misinformation

The messaging app earlier restricted forwards to five chats but it did not prove effective enough against the spread of fake news

07 Apr 2020 2:04 PM

A family plays football on the roof of their apartment during the ongoing coronavirus lockdown in Kolkata, on April 2, 2020. (AP)

Shashi Warrier: The power of levity in the time of lockdown

Laughter kept us sane during wars and strikes

06 Apr 2020 10:07 PM

The MyGov Corona Helpdesk on WhatsApp is a chatbot to which you can ask questions about the coronavirus and receive authoritative information provided by the government.

Centre’s MyGov corona WhatsApp chatbot used by 2 crore people

More than 55 million messages have been sent by over 20 million users since the chatbot was launched by the government on March 20.

05 Apr 2020 8:05 PM

Researchers at Lovely Professional University have filed for a US-patent, and have bagged funding from the Department of Science and Technology (DST) for the hardware implementation of the algorithm. (Photo | Flickr - Patrick Cannon)

This new security algorithm helps improve checks against online fraud

WhatsApp is one of the applications that uses such an algorithm

04 Mar 2020 3:45 PM

A representation of the structure of COVID-19, released by the United States' Centers for Disease Control ( Photo | CDC)

High time government busted fake news on Coronavirus with public service ad

The spread of fake information must be stopped before damage is done

01 Mar 2020 5:19 PM

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Sanjeev Ahluwalia