The app named Bars will allow users to post and share videos of them rapping over beats that are provided by the app itself. Bars has been developed by Facebook’s New Product Experimentation (NPE) R&D team.

The app is currently available for beta testers. The BARS app provides tools to rappers to create music and they do not require any special skills to record rap video.

Facebook in its blog said that BARS will make it easier for budding rappers to produce rap music without spending a lot of money on the equipment and production. It is a known fact that audio production tools are quite expensive and creating music can be quite tedious but BARS already has pre-loaded beats.

“With BARS, you can select one of our professionally-created beats, write lyrics and record yourself dropping bars. BARS auto-suggests rhymes as you’re writing to keep your flow going. You can also jump into Challenge mode and freestyle with auto-suggested word cues. Choose from a variety of audio and visual filters to take your creations to the next level.No formal rap experience required — you can create something great whether you’ve just thought of a dope couplet or have been freestyling for years,” Facebook said in the blog.

After creating Rap videos, you can also save the videos to your camera roll and share them on other social media platforms. For now, only a small number of iOS users can download the app in the United States. Interested users can also sign up for the waitlist in the app.

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This means social media giant believes India is potentially as bad as Myanmar and Sri Lanka where Facebook has been used to ignite and sustain inter-religious violence.

According to a report by Wall Street Journal, this year the social-media company’s safety team deemed Bajrang Dal supported violence against minorities across India and likely qualified as a “dangerous organisation” that should be banned from the platform.

However Facebook hasn’t taken any action to remove the groups from Facebook because internal security audit teams at the company believe that this may anger these groups and they may target business, offices and Facebook staff in India.

The WSJ report believes that such conflicting concerns underscore the struggle Facebook faces in curbing hate speech that spread like a wild fire through the platform. Facebook has recently invested $5.7 billion in a new retail venture in India which makes the issue more difficult because a lot of groups and people indulging in it are close to the ruling party BJP.

The social- media company fears strict actions against such hate-mongering group will impact their business. However, the WSJ was told by a Facebook spokesperson that the company’s policy on hate speech is not influenced by political or business reasons. Facebook spokesperson Andy Stone told the WSJ, “We enforce our Dangerous Individuals and Organizations policy globally without regard to a political position or party affiliation.”

This is not the first time Facebook is dragging its feet on tackling hate speech in a country. The company has come under fire for not acting against hate speech in nations like Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines. Two years ago investigators from United Nations cited Facebook for facilitating hate speech in Myanmar, helping fuel the sectarian violence against Rohingyas.

Several months ago, Facebook was in spotlight in India for all the wrong reasons as it was reported that its then India Policy Ankhi Das stopped staffers from taking action against hate speech by BJP politicians. Facebook refuted the report, but in late October Ankhi Das left the company saying she wanted to “pursue public service interests”.

Facebook’s India MD Ajit Mohan has been called for a hearing by a Delhi government committee that is looking into the use of social media during riots earlier in the year. However, Mohan has refused to appear before the committee and has challenged the Delhi government directives in the Supreme Court.

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The tools that came into questions were Tasks and Centra. They are used to coordinate censorship wit Twitter and Google and monitor Facebook user activity across the internet, respectively.

Republican Senator Josh Hawley on Twitter wrote, “”Zuckerberg admits @Facebook DOES have ‘tools’ to track its users across the internet, across platforms, across accounts – all without user knowledge. I ask how many times this tool has been used domestically against Americans. Zuck won’t say.” He then attached a screenshot of the internal tool.

Rush gets it: Zuckerberg admitted under oath today that Facebook DOES have the ability to coordinate censorship with @Twitter and @Google, and a FB whistleblower has explained how they do it https://t.co/p3qSK2NtKB

— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) November 17, 2020

Zuckerberg, however, did not confirm “whether Facebook ever uses Centra to track and monitor American citizens.” Hawley further noted, “Mark Zuckerberg under oath to me today: I don’t know, I can’t recall, I don’t remember, I’ll follow up later, let me get back to you.”

According to the whistleblower that Hawley mentioned, the tool Centra is used to track user behaviour across the internet without their knowledge. It tracks different profiles that a user visits, their message recipients, their linked accounts, the pages they visit around the web that have Facebook buttons.

Senator Hawley also spoke about internal platform tasks that Facebook uses for co-ordinated content moderation with other companies. However Zuckerberg denied the claim.

Zuckerberg said that there were coordination and sharing signals on security-related topics about terrorism, images of child exploitation and foreign election inference.

Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey were testified about their platforms, misinformation and the 2020 election before the members of the Senate Judiciary committee on November 17.

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The disappearing message feature can be used for individual chats as well as groups.

To make use of the feature, users have to enable it by tapping on a contact’s name. The disappearing message option if turned on will delete the messages after seven days.

Announcing the feature, Whats App wrote in its blog, “We’re starting with 7 days because we think it offers peace of mind that conversations aren’t permanent, while remaining practical so you don’t forget what you were chatting about. The shopping list or store address you received a few days ago will be there while you need it, and then disappear after you don’t.”

The feature will be rolling out to users everywhere this month and both the Android and iOS users will get the new feature.

Disappearing messages will also wipe out photos and videos after seven days, and while messages will disappear for both parties it’s still possible to take screenshots or just simply copy messages before they’re automatically deleted.

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Now, there is news that notes that some WhatsApp data will be shared with Jio which help WhatsApp users to carryout transactions on JioMart. The officials said that nothing more will be shared between Jio and WhatsApp, apart from data essential for transactions.

The data sharing relationship between Jio and WhatsApp could be similar to how it is between WhatsApp and Facebook. When WhatsApp integrated with Facebook, that according to Facebook, helps the company offer richer and more integrated services to both Facebook and Whats App users.

The primary focus of Jio and Facebook is to turn WhatsApp into a super app, similar to WeChat in China, through which users will not be able to chat but will also be able to buy goods or pay for services, even from local shops.

While collaborating with Reliance Jio , Facebook made it clear that this investment was aimed at building a viable e-retail platform centred around WhatsApp. Both Jio and Facebook wanted to create new ways for people and businesses to operate more effectively in a growing digital economy.

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Until the release of ‘Baahubali: The Beginning’, Prabhas was one among those many stars in Tollywood specialized in doing commercial potboilers. However, the Baahubali franchise, directed by acclaimed filmmaker SS Rajamouli changed the career of Prabhas, and he emerged as a Pan Indian actor with fans all across the nation.

Now, Prabhas has successfully garnered more than 20 million followers on Facebook, and it clearly indicates the growing star power of the actor. After achieving this milestone feat, Prabhas thanked everyone by posting an adorable picture on his Facebook page. The post shared by Prabhas has already gone viral, and within 30 minutes, it has racked up more than 55,000 likes.

https://www.facebook.com/ActorPrabhas/posts/2082019555262241

Prabhas is currently awaiting the release of his new movie ‘Radhe Shyam’, a multilingual romantic movie directed by Radhe Krishna Kumar. The film will be simultaneously released in both Telugu and Hindi.

After this film, Prabhas will join the shooting of a sci-fi thriller that will be directed by Nag Ashwin. According to reports, the film will narrate a thrilling story in the backdrop of World War 3.

Prabhas will be later doing the lead role in ‘Adipurush’ which will be helmed by Om Raut. Close sources to the movie suggest that Prabhas will be playing the role of Lord Ram in this film. Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan has been roped in to enact the role of the lead antagonist in ‘Adipurush’ which will be made with a lavish budget.

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Responding to concerns raised by the opposition Congress, Facebook’s Public Policy,Trust and Safety Director Neil Potts has said that it has taken the party’s allegation of bias “very seriously” and will ensure that it remain non-partisan and is committed to maintaining the highest levels of integrity.

Facebook said it has a team with deep expertise on terrorism and organized hate, who pay attention to global and regional trends and advise on these matters.

The assurance came days after Congress wrote two letters to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg accusing the social media giant’s bias and showing favouritism to the BJP. The Congress made the move after reports by Wall Street Journal and the Time magazine about the conduct of Facebook and WhatsApp India’s leadership team flagged bias and proximity with the ruling BJP.

The Congress accused Facebook of interfering in India’s democratic process and social harmony and being soft on members of the ruling BJP while applying its hate-speech rules.

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The unprecedented warning came after the Australian government said digital giants should compensate media houses for using their stories.

“Assuming this draft code becomes law, we will reluctantly stop allowing publishers and people in Australia from sharing local and international news on Facebook and Instagram,” said Facebook’s managing director for Australia and New Zealand, Will Easton, in a blog post.

He also added that the proposed law required the company to choose between “either removing news entirely or accepting a system that lets publishers charge us for as much content as they want at a price with no clear limits.”

“No business can operate that way,” he said.

Australia is planning to enforce some of the strictest limitations on the powers of digital giants like Facebook and Google, which would require the companies to pay for the content they use from local news outlets. The aim is to bring in more transparency into how the platforms use their algorithms to rank content.

In a separate open letter, Google said that the proposed law was a threat to individual privacy and could impact the way Australians use the company’s platforms in terms of free services.

However, local media organizations and nonprofits have expressed their support for the government’s move as they believe that regulators need to reign in the tech giants’ total domination of the online market place before it’s too late.

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It is during times of crisis that companies explore new opportunities. Companies that approach crises and setbacks as opportunities seize them and can reap benefits in the long run. Various companies with sufficient surplus funds are moving in this direction.

Acquisitions, mergers, share sales and share purchases during crisis periods are all equally viable for companies to survive and grow. When debt-ridden companies are forced to sell out, it benefits other companies. It is also a vision in such a context to lead the business in new directions by establishing new relationships through the sale and purchase of shares.

Reliance Industries, the company with India’s highest market value, is one that practices all these methods at the same time. Through its partnership with Reliance Jio, they have teamed up with Facebook, Google and other companies to open new avenues in business and become a debt-free company. At the same time, Reliance is looking to expand its business in the retail sector by acquiring shares in other companies. Reliance is looking to acquire Future Retail, a leading company in the retail sector. Reliance has recently acquired a company in the field of e-pharmacy.

It is in this context that Eicher Motors’ acquisition of Volvo Bus’ business in India should be seen. The high savings and efficient financial management of the company helped in this deal. It is almost always possible for companies with surplus funds to take risks in times of crisis.

VE Commercial Vehicles, a manufacturer of trucks and buses operating under Eicher Motors, acquires Volvo Bus’ business in India. The acquisition is worth Rs.100 crore. In this regard, an agreement has been signed between the two companies. The agreement will pave the way for the formation of a new bus division between Eicher and Volvo. Royal Enfield, which operates under Eicher Motors, is doing well. Sales of Royal Enfield bikes continue to thrive during this period.

COVID-era news is that Hero Motors is preparing to build electric three-wheelers. The goal is to use the surplus money effectively. The company is currently focusing on budget bikes such as the Splendor and Passion. The production of electric three-wheelers will help the company to reduce its dependence on the budget bike business.

The electric three-wheeler market in India is highly unorganised. Vehicles imported from China dominate the sector. The GST on electric vehicles is only 5%. That is one of the main reasons for the increase in sales of such vehicles. Mahindra & Mahindra currently dominates the organized electric three-wheeler segment. Bajaj Auto and TVS Motors are also planning to launch electric three-wheelers in the coming months.

Earlier, Chinese bikes could not hold their own in the Indian market due to poor quality. Following in the footsteps of Mahindra, Hero Motors, Bajaj Auto and TVS Motors will enter the electric three-wheeler market.

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Bloatware has been co-existing with Android since the day the OS was launched. It should be noted that there could be at least one bloatware in any smartphone you purchase, and it could be in the form of Facebook, Microsoft, or sometimes any other third-party application.

Now, Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus has bundled Facebook-owned apps on the OnePlus 8, OnePlus 8 Pro, and the OnePlus Nord. The move from OnePlus has not gone well with many users, and they claim that the presence of Facebook-owned apps is badly affecting their experience using these smartphones.

What is Bloatware?

Bloatware is something that is subjective in nature. An application that is considered bloatware by someone could be very useful for others, and as a result, we cannot blatantly call any app in a smartphone a ‘bloatware.’

Besides the main Facebook app, the Messenger application, Instagram, and Netflix, new OnePlus smartphones get shipped with the Facebook App Installer, Facebook App Manager, and Facebook Services as system apps. A pre-installed app in a smartphone offers monetization possibilities to the mobile manufacturer, and it is quite essential for the survival of the company.

Several people complain that this bloatware cannot be removed from the phone, and they believe that the unwanted existence of Facebook on smartphones could interfere with their privacy.

How to remove bloatware from OnePlus smartphones?

As the presence of Facebook bloatware continues worrying users, XDA Developer’s senior member Saiger has put forward one suggestion to remove these unwanted apps.

In order to remove these apps, the user should first connect their smartphone in PC, and should pull up a command prompt window. Later, the user should enter ‘adb devices’ to determine whether the device is connected properly to the PC or not.

After ensuring proper connection, the user should type the below-mentioned command line by line in the command prompt.

adb shell

pm uninstall -k –user com.facebook.appmanager

pm uninstall -k –user com.facebook.services

pm uninstall -k –user com.facebook.system

Please note that the user may be compelled to repeat the steps again after an update installation, but that is much better to follow the repeated steps than carrying bloatware in your devices.

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Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the two companies will have to negotiate with traditional media on remuneration in good faith. If no agreement is reached, then arbitrators will be appointed to make a binding decision and will be penalised up to A$10 million ($7 million)
for breaching the code.

The draft code is under consultation until Aug 28 and will apply only to Google and Facebook at present, but could be extended to other digital companies in the future.

From a long time, the traditional media companies have been complaining that their content is being exploited by digital platforms without due compensation. This sudden move by the Australian government has garnered huge support from the Journalism world. They are being closely watched by other countries too and could move things along.

“There is a fundamental bargaining power imbalance between news media businesses and the major digital platforms,” Rod Sims, the chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission which drafted the code, said in a statement.

“We wanted a model that would address this bargaining power imbalance and result in fair payment for content, which avoided unproductive and drawn-out negotiations, and wouldn’t reduce the availability of Australian news on Google and Facebook.”

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The first phase of the programme will begin in August. The course for students will kickstart on August 6 followed by teachers’ course which would begin on August 10. Meanwhile, the courses will be offered in completely online and virtual mode.

The online registration process for these courses would start from July 6 and would conclude on July 20, 2020. The course aims to train 10,000 teachers.

This unique programme aims at making the students more responsible as digital users and helps them identify the early signs of internet addiction. Students will also be helped to report harassment and threats and will teach them about the importance of privacy and safety.

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