WASHINGTON — Federal regulators have fined Facebook $5 billion for privacy violations and are instituting new oversight and restrictions on its business. But they are only holding CEO Mark Zuckerberg personally responsible in a limited fashion. The fine is the largest the Federal Trade Commission has levied on a tech company, though...
US Air Force Warns Against Joke Event to 'Storm Area 51'
LAS VEGAS — The U.S. Air Force has warned people against participating in an internet joke suggesting a large crowd of people "storm Area 51," the top-secret Cold War test site in the Nevada desert. A prank event on Facebook that's attracted more than 1 million interested people suggests that...
Facebook's New Currency Plan Is Under Scrutiny in Congress
WASHINGTON — Facebook's ambitious plan to create a financial eco-system based on a digital currency faces questions from lawmakers, as it's shadowed by negative comments from President Donald Trump, his treasury secretary and the head of the Federal Reserve. Congress begins two days of hearings Tuesday on the currency planned by Facebook,...
Gun Lost by Police Chief Recovered After Man Turns in Brother-in-Law
A gun left behind in at a restaurant by San Luis Obispo's police chief has been returned, and a man admitted to pocketing the firearm after finding it in a bathroom, city authorities said. On Wednesday night, a man who described himself as the suspect's brother-in-law called the San Luis...
Facebook to Make Ads for Jobs, Loans, Credit Cards Searchable
BOSTON — Facebook says it will make advertisements for jobs, loans and credit card offers searchable for all U.S. users following a legal settlement designed to eliminate discrimination on its platform. The plan disclosed in an internal report Sunday voluntarily expands on a commitment the social medial giant made in March when it...
Facebook's Libra Currency May Flourish in Analog World
NEW YORK — Europeans and Americans have their Visa and Mastercards. For everyone else, here comes ... Libra? Facebook's new Libra digital currency is aimed at a huge potential market for financial services — the entire developing world, with billions of people in areas such as India and Sub-Saharan Africa,...
Facebook's Libra Currency Faces Financial, Privacy Pushback
SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook is getting a taste of the regulatory pushback it will face as it creates a new digital currency with corporate partners. Just hours after the social media giant unveiled early plans for the Libra cryptocurrency, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire insisted that only governments can...
With Cryptocurrency, Facebook Working to Become an Independent Nation
Facebook has announced a plan to launch a new cryptocurrency named the Libra, adding another layer to its efforts to dominate global communications and business. Backed by huge finance and technology companies including Visa, Spotify, eBay, PayPal and Uber – plus a ready-made user base of 2 billion people around...
Facebook Plans Its Own Currency for 2 Billion-Plus Users
SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook already rules daily communication for more than two billion people around the world. Now it wants its own currency, too. The social network unveiled an ambitious plan Tuesday to create a new digital currency similar to Bitcoin for global use, one that could drive more e-commerce...
Facebook's Zuckerberg the Focus of Latest Doctored Video
NEW YORK — Three weeks after Facebook refused to remove a doctored video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi slurring her words, Mark Zuckerberg is getting a taste of his own medicine: fake footage showing him gloating over his one-man domination of the world. It's the latest flap over deviously altered...