Apps

Facebook now allows you to call others “ugly”

Or refer to transgenders as “it” and women as property

Published

January 8, 2025

Luigi Leonardo

Despite how old Facebook is, content moderation remains a thorny topic for those constantly online on the platform. Formerly just a place to share memes and connect with one another, the social media platforms is now a host to belligerent misinformation and conflict making. As the world of information evolves, Meta has updated its content policies going forward… but it might not be for the better.

No more fact-checking

Through a brief video message, Mark Zuckerberg enumerated a few changes coming to the popular platform. Citing the effects of the recently concluded U.S. presidential elections, Meta is loosening its policies regarding what you can and can’t post on Facebook.

Most importantly, Facebook will stop employing a fact-checking team. Instead, the platform will use Community Notes, identical to X’s new approach to censorship. For the uninitiated, X’s Community Notes system relies on user contributions to spot inconsistencies and errors. Think crowdsourced like Wikipedia.

For the most part, the system does work. Some even lead to humorous notes pointing out glaring mistakes easily rectified by a Google search. However, it almost feels like Facebook (and X, for that matter) washing their hands clean of any responsibility for misinformation on the platform.

As Zuckerberg says, “fact-checkers have just been too politically biased.” He claims that the old system caused more harm than good. Similar to X’s own statements, Zuckerberg refuses to become an “arbiter of truth,” instead choosing to democratize free speech. One has to wonder how Zuckerberg decided that the general populace is less politically biased than a fact-checking team he can personally vet for biases.

Free speech over censorship

Coinciding with the new Community Notes system, Zuckerberg also announced new content policies to moderate the platform. The generalities are the same: hateful conduct is still a no-no. However, the definition of what constitutes hateful conduct are less specific.

For example, while the policy continues to prohibit comparing minorities to animals, the changed form curiously deletes certain rules about comparing them to inanimate objects. Under the new policy, users can technically treat women as property or refer to transgender people as “it.”

Though one can argue that the general rule still covers these examples as hateful conduct, a recent addition to the policy is more damning. It reads:

‘We do allow allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation, given political and religious discourse about transgenderism and homosexuality and common non-serious usage of words like “weird.”’

The platform also allows discussions on whether military, law enforcement, and school applications should be limited based on gender. In the United States, gender-based discussions remain rampant with some states debating the legality of barring transgender people from institutions. Facebook’s latest additions are suspiciously contiguous with the new administration.

To be fair, some changes do make some sort of sense. The policy, for example, deletes a dedicated clause dealing specifically with COVID-19. More humorously, it also allows users to call each other ugly or hideous.

Apps

Honor, Xiaomi are working on their own Privacy Displays

Samsung’s Privacy Display is apparently very popular.

Published

June 24, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

Normally, a smartphone brand’s blatant copying of another brand’s feature is not a good practice. Today, however, there is a new feature that we wish other brands would copy: Samsung’s Privacy Display. Thankfully, some brands, like Honor, have finally gotten the message and are working on version of the feature.

As reported by Digital Chat Station on Weibo, Honor is reportedly working on a privacy screen for its smartphones. Likewise, Xiaomi is working on the same thing, potentially launching the feature for the Xiaomi 18 Pro.

For the uninitiated, the Samsung Privacy Display is a built-in feature that blocks visibility of the screen at certain angles. If you’re not looking at the screen from the front, all you’ll see is a black void. It’s a built-in version of those protective screens that you can buy separately. Besides adding a nice layer of protection against scratches, it’s also meant to prevent snooping from your shoulder.

Samsung’s take was widely acclaimed for being insanely useful. When it arrives, this feature will be a godsend to more brands. Even better, users will no longer need to rely on third-party screen just to enjoy the privacy.

That said, there’s still no indication as to when these features will arrive on either Honor or Xiaomi.

Apps

Meta is reportedly experimenting on a gambling app

Users can spend virtual points on Arena.

Published

June 24, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

Meta does not have the most stellar of reputations. Despite offering the world’s most popular social media platforms, the company, through its various experiments throughout the years, continuously proves that it has other priorities than just providing the best for its users. Today, another reported experiment wants to take Meta to a new market that its users might fall into: the prediction market.

If you haven’t heard of the prediction market, consider yourself lucky. These apps, such as Kalshi, are basically just gambling platforms without the glitz of playing cards or the rigor of the stock market. Users gamble on mundane circumstances like the weather and more serious ones like war.

Today, as reported by The New York Times, Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly asking Meta to develop a prediction app of its own. Interestingly, the experimental app, supposedly called Arena, will use virtual points, rather than real money. However, Meta has not ruled out real money — and hence, real gambling — in the future.

Meta is entering the industry at an extremely volatile time. The world is starting to crack down on prediction markets. Some users, for example, have been accused of using insider information to get easy wins on these platforms. Some markets have also accused these platforms of subverting anti-gambling laws.

Apps

foodpanda relaunches cult-favorite roast chicken brand after 8 years of persistent search queries

Heritage chain Andok’s returns to the platform, driven entirely by long-term user analytics.

Published

June 19, 2026

MJ Jucutan

In the world of e-commerce and food delivery, platform algorithms usually dictate what consumers see. But occasionally, consumer behavior is so relentless that it shapes the platform’s strategy.

In a move driven entirely by long-term user analytics, foodpanda has officially relaunched Andok’s, one of the Philippines’ most iconic heritage rotisserie chains, back onto its platform after an eight-year absence.

The search bar as a digital wishlist

The decision to ink the partnership wasn’t just a marketing play. It was a response to an ongoing data anomaly. Despite being offline from the foodpanda platform for eight years, Andok’s consistently ranked as one of the most-searched merchants on the app.

Year after year, users treated the empty search results page as an unofficial wishlist. This persistent search intent gave foodpanda a clear, data-backed signal of pent-up demand.

Prior to the official digital rollout, teaser campaigns on social media validated this demand, generating thousands of organic interactions from users anticipating the return.

Bridging heritage flavor with digital infrastructure

For foodpanda, onboarding a merchant with this level of built-in demand fits its broader strategy of marketplace optimization and hyper-local network expansion, turning a heritage brand into another data point for how legacy retail plugs into delivery infrastructure.

For Andok’s, the integration works as a fast track to digital scale. A legacy quick-service chain skips years of independent app development and reaches customers already using foodpanda’s existing logistics network, on a platform they already check daily.

Andok’s built its following on charcoal spit-roasted chicken, a slow-cooked technique that’s stayed largely unchanged since the brand’s early days, alongside seasoned grilled pork belly.

More recently, the Dokito line extended that following into crispy fried chicken and chicken burgers, broadening the brand’s appeal beyond its original rotisserie format and giving foodpanda a menu with both heritage pull and everyday fast-food convenience.