Meta's social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, are experiencing widespread issues today, with users reporting login failures, unexpected account logouts, and problems accessing both websites and mobile apps. The Meta Business Suite is also down as of the time of writing.
Measures to include restrictions on ‘safe’ social media apps, with some fearing banning some platforms and not others will lead to legal challenges
Teenagers under the age of 16 are to be banned from accessing “high-risk” social media apps while safer platforms will be subjected to restrictions, under a sweeping government crackdown.
Under-18s will also be banned from using romantic or sexual AI chatbots after a consultation on keeping children safe online.
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© Photograph: David Parry/PA
© Photograph: David Parry/PA
© Photograph: David Parry/PA
On the first day of Cannes, artificial intelligence already sparked a debate between two jury members, Demi Moore and Paul Laverty. From that moment, the festival and the market running alongside it diverged in their reactions to the digital tool: while Cannes imposes limits on its use (even though one of its sponsors, which joined in 2026, is Meta, owner of Meta AI) and artists warn of its dangers, the market saw a rush of Chinese films made with AI and a handful of Western projects embracing its use. Filmmakers will be wary, but the industry has rushed to exploit AI.
NEW YORK, June 2 — Meta is facing scrutiny after security researchers found that its AI‑powered support chatbot could be manipulated to grant unauthorised access to Instagram accounts.
Futurism reported that multiple users and cybersecurity researchers demonstrated how Meta’s automated support agent — designed to help with account recovery — could be tricked into handing over access links simply by claiming to be the account owner. In several documented cases, the bot allegedly provided password‑reset or login‑recovery URLs without verifying the requester’s identity.
According to the report, the vulnerability allowed attackers to bypass standard security checks, including two‑factor authentication, by exploiting the chatbot’s willingness to accept unverified claims. Screenshots shared by researchers showed the bot responding with recovery links after minimal prompting.
Meta told Futurism that it had taken action to address the issue, but did not specify what changes were made. The company also said it had not found evidence of “widespread abuse,” though researchers quoted in the article argued that the flaw was significant and easily exploitable.
Cybersecurity analysts warned that the incident highlights broader risks in deploying AI systems for sensitive support functions without robust verification safeguards. Some experts said the case underscores how AI‑driven customer service tools can unintentionally create new attack surfaces if not properly secured.
The report noted that several affected Instagram users have since regained control of their accounts.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is addicted to money. The major labs developing AI models are intoxicated with the dollars that will finance the technology’s evolution. The three leading companies in the sector, Anthropic, OpenAI and SpaceX, have announced in recent days plans to go public to raise more funds in an endless race. Other long-established tech multinationals such as Google, Microsoft, Meta and Amazon have also launched financial operations in what is shaping up to be the biggest capital raising effort in the sector’s history.
© OLGA FEDOROVA (EFE)
Last year Time magazine included Pope Leo XIV among the 100 most important figures in the world in artificial intelligence (AI). It is no coincidence. Only eight days passed from his papal appointment to his first public remarks on the technology: “Truth is never separated from charity... Thus, truth does not distance us, but rather allows us to face with greater vigor the challenges of our time, such as migration, the ethical use of artificial intelligence and the protection of our beloved Earth,” he said in his second official address. His first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas (magnificent humanity), is devoted precisely to this technology.
© Vatican Media/LaPresse (Vatican Media/LaPresse)
On December 8, 1980, John Lennon and Yoko Ono sat down to talk to a small crew from San Francisco’s KFRC radio station in their Dakota Building apartment in New York. It was the only radio interview they gave to promote their album Double Fantasy, released three weeks earlier. For two hours and 45 minutes they spoke calmly, optimistically and, in Lennon’s case, in an almost messianic voice, about life. That night, returning home, Lennon would be shot dead by Mark David Chapman. Given the circumstances, the interview could be viewed as prophetic, which is Steven Soderbergh’s angle in his documentary John Lennon: The Last Interview, presented at Cannes in a special session.
BRUSSELS, June 3 — Meta secured a partial victory today over the EU’s powers to regulate tech giants, as a top court ruled the bloc was wrong to slap tough rules on its Facebook Marketplace platform — but threw out an appeal over Messenger.
The US giant filed a challenge with the EU’s General Court in Luxembourg over both platforms’ designation under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), one of several digital laws facing fierce criticism from tech giants and US President Donald Trump’s administration.
Meta faces strict rules and obligations after being designated a so-called “gatekeeper” under the DMA, and its Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp apps are subject to extra scrutiny as “core platform services”.
In its challenge, Meta argued that Messenger and Marketplace were an extension of Facebook, and should not face stringent obligations of their own.
“By its judgment today, the General Court of the European Union annuls the decision designating Meta as a gatekeeper as regards Marketplace, while maintaining Meta’s designation for its interpersonal communications service Messenger,” the court said in a statement.
In practice, the European Commission had agreed in April last year to lift the designation of Marketplace, but Meta nonetheless welcomed the court decision — seen as a test of the EU’s powers to regulate the sector.
The Marketplace ruling “confirms that it should not have been designated in the first place”, a Meta spokesperson said.
“We are reviewing the court’s finding on Messenger and will consider our options,” they said.
‘Erred in law’
The DMA comes with a list of do’s and don’ts for the world’s biggest digital platforms in an attempt to keep them in check and create an open online space.
Concerning the imposition of tougher rules on Marketplace, the court found the European Commission had “erred in law” on several counts.
It faulted the EU executive for failing to take into account changes made to the platform in mid-2023, and more broadly said its case “lacks sufficient reasoning”.
Regarding Messenger, however, the court agreed with the commission that it was “distinct from the Facebook social network”, noting that it was “offered by means of standalone applications” and that “Meta promotes tools that are specific to that service”.
The EU court in 2024 ruled against a similar bid by TikTok to challenge its DMA designation, a decision the company has appealed.
Alongside Meta and TikTok’s owner ByteDance, the other “gatekeepers” are Google parent Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Booking and Microsoft.
The EU last year imposed its first fines for breaking the DMA rule, hitting Meta and Apple with penalties of €200 million (RM923 million) and €500 million respectively.
The fines have given rise to accusations by Washington that the EU is deliberately targeting American companies, which Brussels denies. — AFP
In September 2021, The Wall Street Journal published the Facebook Files, a series of reports based on internal documents from the tech company that, among other things, showed its executives were aware of the harms Instagram and Facebook were causing young people. It was a bombshell. It triggered the biggest reputational crisis for Mark Zuckerberg’s company, which weeks later rebranded as Meta. The person behind it was engineer Frances Haugen, 42, who left her post at Facebook carrying 21,000 internal documents. The U.S. Senate summoned her to testify, and investigations were opened into her revelations.
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Meta has removed a series of scam ads impersonating the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) following HKFP’s enquiries.
The ads, targeting Hongkongers, appeared for weeks on Facebook. They urged users to get in touch with the global policing body if they wished to retrieve funds previously lost to scams – however, the ads were fraudulent.
The posts were published by a since-removed fake news outlet page called “Hong Kong Daily,” which falsely claimed to share an office address with HKFP.
INTERPOL told HKFP that such ads should be reported to the local police. “To confirm that INTERPOL never contacts members of the public directly, never demands money from people and never asks for bank details or any money transfer,” it said on Thursday. “Any such request or advert is fake. Members of the public should not engage and report any such emails or adverts to the local police.”
In response to HKFP on Friday, a spokesperson for the Hong Kong Police Force said they have been “actively engaging relevant authorities to verify and remove suspicious or fraudulent websites. In the process of removing such websites, cooperation with concerned parties, including various service providers, is essential. The Hong Kong Police Force is committed to safeguarding the interests of the public by working with these service providers to suppress fraudulent messages.”
The police force is part of the INTERPOL Member State of China.
Last year, Meta banned over 3.7 million items of ad content in Hong Kong and 134 million instances globally. Also in 2025, the tech giant took down 10.9 million accounts associated with scam centres. The company owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
A spokesperson for Meta told HKFP on Friday that ads which impersonate organisations or seek to defraud people go against its policies.
“The flagged Facebook Page and associated ads have been removed for violating our policies,” the spokesperson said. “Fighting scams on our platforms is one of our top priorities and as scammers have grown in sophistication in recent years, so have our efforts. We use AI-powered detection technology to identify and remove scam ads at scale, and we also encourage anyone who encounters suspicious ads to report them through our in-app tools.”
Nevertheless, according to a report by Reuters news agency, Meta earns US$3.5 billion (HK$27.4 billion) from just a portion of scam ads every six months.
Citing internal Meta documents, Reuters said that the social media company projected that 10 per cent of its 2024 revenue would come from ads for scams and banned goods, amounting to US$16 billion (HK$124.8 billion).
Other fraudulent ads, appearing to target scam victims, remained online as of Monday, according to HKFP’s checks.
One ad targeting Hongkongers, published by a page called “Law Help,” urged those “affected by online fraud or an unregulated broker” to submit their details.
Scammers have been posing as law enforcement officers to defraud victims.
In March, Nikkei Asia reported that mock police stations and banks had been set up at scam centres, used to fool victims interacting via video call.
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