On the surface, the Israeli army’s Facebook Intifada is a very 21st-century crisis. A soldier on patrol cocks his weapon at a Palestinian youth, apparently violating the army’s rules of engagement. Other Palestinians film the encounter and upload it to YouTube, exposing the soldier to possible discipline. The soldier’s friends launch a Facebook page in…
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has rejected a plan to ban the free text-messaging service WhatsApp. The plan was approved by an Iranian censorship committee and then announced Sunday by Abdolsamad Khorramabadi, head of the country’s Committee for Determining Criminal Web Content. “The reason for this is the assumption of WhatsApp by the Facebook founder Mark…
If Israel had a Facebook account, what would it look like? The answer can be found in a Facebook “look back” movie promoted ahead of Israeli Independence Day and made by Todd Zeff of Jerusalem U, an institution that uses film to strengthen young Jews’ connection to Israel. Or, I should say, an answer. If…
Iran has banned the free text-messaging service WhatsApp, since it is owned by a Jew, according to news reports citing an Iranian censor. “The reason for this is the assumption of WhatsApp by the Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who is an American Zionist,” said Abdolsamad Khorramabadi, head of the country’s secretary of the Committee for…
Israeli troops, covering their faces to avoid punishment, have mounted an online campaign in support of a soldier whom they believe was jailed for pointing his gun at Palestinians who were arguing with him. The massive outpouring of support on Facebook was described on Thursday in front-page reports in the Israeli media as a sign…
A few days after selling WhatsApp to Facebook for $19 billion, Jan Koum stepped into a suite at the St. Regis Hotel in San Francisco to celebrate with old friends, including CEOs, reformed hackers and a few people who fell into both those camps. Conducted over snacks and beer, the late-night festivity was a spontaneous…
(JTA) — Jan Koum’s birthday was Monday, but he received his big gift early. The Ukraine-born CEO and founder of WhatsApp has catapulted from relative unknown to a poster boy for rags-to-riches immigrant triumph since his rapidly growing messaging company was sold last week to Facebook for a record-breaking $19 billion. Koum, who just turned…
A caricature of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in a German newspaper has drawn charges of anti-Semitism against the artist and newspaper. As a comment on Facebook’s acquisition of WhatsApp, announced last week, artist Burkhard Mohr depicted the 29-year-old Jewish entrepreneur as an octopus reaching with its tentacles to control social media in the daily German…
100% of profits support our journalism
