Fake news -- or disinformation as it used to be called -- has become an increasingly serious problem as false information quickly spreads online through social media.

Facebook tried to combat the problem by flagging up fake news with Disputed flags but, having discovered that this was actually making the problem worse, the social network is dropping this approach. Instead, Related Articles will be used to provide context and give alternative takes on stories.

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A French privacy watchdog has ordered WhatsApp to stop sharing user data with Facebook. The CNIL (National Data Protection Commission) issued the Facebook-owned company with formal notice to cease violations of the French Data Protection Act, suggesting that user consent was not properly obtained.

A change to WhatsApp's privacy policy last year saw the app transferring data to its parent company for the purposes of "business intelligence" and security purposes. It is the business intelligence side of things -- which analyses user behaviour -- that France considers illegal.

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If you're friends with someone on Facebook it should mean that you're interested in hearing about what they have to say and see what they have to share. But at the same time, it's likely you've been extremely annoyed by the incessant stream of babble that flows from some people.

You might not want to go quite as far as unfriending someone -- maybe you're just sick of them posting movie spoilers, or you're tired of hearing them go on about their team's latest success -- so Facebook has introduced a new Snooze option. This can be used to hide a particular person's posts for a month.

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It's just over a month since Twitter doubled the maximum possible length of tweets to 280 characters -- but this was not enough for many people. However, rather than further increasing the length of tweets, the site has instead introduced another feature users have been begging for -- threading.

The threading of tweets -- linking together multiple related tweets so people can follow a longer piece of writing -- has been tried by users in a couple of ways (numbering tweets or self-replying, for example) for some time now. But the new feature is the first time there has been official support, and the implementation should go down well with users.

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Despite digital disruption and the emergence of newer technologies, email is still the preferred channel for marketers according to a new report.

Email marketing brand Campaigner has released the results of its Digital Marketing Industry Report which shows that past year, 59 percent of marketers reported their top challenge as increasing open rates, up eight percentage points from last year.

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In a move that's likely to raise a few eyebrows, Facebook today opened up its messaging platform to children under the age of 13. A new app, Messenger Kids, is now available in the US for iOS users.

The app is currently available as a preview, and Facebook says that it has worked with parents and groups such as the National PTA to ensure safety. The company also emphasizes the fact that parents are in full control of who their children are able to connect with.

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Some Facebook users have reported that the social network is asking them to upload a selfie as a means of verifying their identity.

It seems that the company is testing out a new form of captcha as it asks that you "upload a photo of yourself that clearly shows your face." Just like Facebook's recent idea that users could protect themselves against revenge porn by uploading naked images of themselves, the test is likely to raise concerns about privacy.

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Facebook has long offered a range of support options to help those considering suicide. Today the social network launches an automated AI-powered tool that aims to spot suicidal posts before they are reported.

Relying on the reports of people who spot worrying posts is just one of the ways Facebook has tried to provide a safety net for people who are struggling, and by adding artificial intelligence to the mix, the company will be hoping to speed up detection and offer help more quickly when it matters most.

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Facebook is accustomed to criticism, and it's no different when it comes to advertising. There's been a lot of talk about advertising on the social network recently, not least because of concerns about Russian ads being used to influence the outcome of the US election.

In its latest attempt to calm fears that may have built up around its advertising platform, Facebook has today set out its advertising principles. This sees the company explaining the ethics behind ads, as well as seeking to reassure users that their privacy is protected and respected at all times.

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Twitter is one of the more divisive social media platforms out there, managing to attract passionate love and hate in just about equal measure. But even people who use and like Twitter freely admit that it has its problem, one of which is the lack of a bookmarking feature.

There is the option to "like" tweets, but this can be an awkward way to save something you're interested in reading later. Recognizing that users need something rather more robust and useful, Twitter is working on a feature called Bookmarks.

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Russia's use of Facebook and other social media to try to influence the outcome of elections around the world has been the subject of investigation for some time now. Millions of Facebook users were exposed to divisive ads placed by Russia, and the social networking site is doing what it can to be transparent about what happened.

Having admitted that Russia bought ads on the site, Facebook is now developing a tool that will enable users to determine if they interacted with the Internet Research Agency -- the propaganda company also known as the Trolls from Olgino.

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After awarding the coveted blue tick of verification to a white supremacist, Twitter recently announced that it would be pausing its verification program. Making good on this promise, Twitter says that it is not only no longer accepting public requests for accounts to be verified, it is also introducing new guidelines, and removing the verification tick from accounts that do not make the grade.

This means that white nationalist Richard Spencer, far-righter Laura Loomer, English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson and others no longer have a blue tick next to their names. While Twitter is promoting this clamp down as part of its war on hate speech, some are complaining that the company is trying to silence right-wing voices.

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Head of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, has admitted that the company's verification system is "broken" after a blue tick was awarded to white supremacist Jason Kessler. There was a backlash this week after Kessler -- who helped to arrange the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville earlier in the year -- had his Twitter account verified.

Responding to the negative reaction this prompted, Twitter announced that its verification program has been paused. The company also said that the verification tick had been largely misinterpreted by people.

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Signing up for any service means facing the username battle. There are two obstacles: is your username still available, and does it meet the necessary requirements. With Twitter, getting an @YourName handle is tricky because there are simply so many users (and bots), but there has long been a highly restrictive limit on the length of names -- just 15 characters.

Twitter has long offered something of a compromise in allowing display names that are slightly longer -- but only up to 20 characters. Now, the company has announced that there are more than twice as many characters to play with. Display names can now be up to 50 characters in length -- usernames, unfortunately, remain unchanged.

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Facebook caused more than a little eye-rolling with its anti-revenge porn program which requires users to upload the naked images of themselves that they would like to protect. It had been assumed that the entire process would be automated, making use purely of algorithms to analyze images and protect privacy. This assumption was wrong.

Facebook says that in actual fact an employee -- an actual human being -- will have to review the nude images that are sent in.

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