Ello raises $5.5m while banning itself from ever taking ads
The ethical social network has used a legal manoeuvre to ensure it can never sell user data or display adverts. By Alex Hern
Top senator demands explanation from Whisper after user tracking revelations
Senator Jay Rockefeller emphasises concern over location tracking and says Guardian revelations raise ‘serious questions’
Australian Greens want Facebook audited over tax loophole
Christine Milne says Australian Securities and Investments Commission should target ‘smaller enterprise’ exemption
Facebook pays no UK corporation tax for a second year
Social media company reports a pre-tax loss of £11.6m for 2013, despite its US parent making a net profit of £900m. By Mark Sweney
Candy Crush Soda Saga: will it pop King’s app store bubble?
Publisher wants to move beyond its formula: ‘We need to keep innovating... bugging people for lives is not truly social’. By Stuart Dredge
Snapchat messaging app gets its first ad… and it’s very creepy
But that’s because it’s a 20-second trailer for horror film Ouija, as company admits ‘we need to make money’. By Stuart Dredge
Facebook Safety Check will help tell friends you’re safe during disasters
New feature will be a quick way to signify your status and check that friends and family aren’t in harm’s way. By Stuart Dredge
Jo Baka: the Gujarati internet meme that went viral
From jokes between friends to public health messages, a traditional phrase is sweeping though Indian communities worldwide, thanks to Facebook, WhatsApp and a good dose of humour
Freezing eggs for female staff is great in theory. But it offers no guarantees
Facebook’s offer of $20,000 of egg-freezing to attract more female staff could be socially groundbreaking, but there are complications
Apple and Facebook offer to freeze eggs for female employees
Facebook will pay up to $20,000 while Apple will provide perk from January in effort to attract more women
Stephen Fry: ‘It’s staggering how people expect online services to be utterly free’
The entertainer on the crossover between books and tech, Twitter’s evolution and ‘weird, repulsive trolling’. By Stuart Dredge
Union berates Bono for supporting tax breaks for multinational corporations
Unite says Bono’s remarks on 12.5% corporation tax will be ‘regarded with derision’ by Irish people living in poverty
Grindr, dick pics and contemporary art’s new invasions of privacy
Sian Cain: After a Berlin artist exhibited Grindr profiles in a public square, one user of the casual sex app punched him. But as people react angrily to such invasions of privacy, more and more artists are toying with our open, networked lives
Facebook working on mobile payments using Messenger, leak reveals
Social network planning a mobile payments solution that will let friends send money via the Facebook Messenger app on the iPhone. By Samuel Gibbs
Ello – and goodbye to the new Facebook?
Facebook’s vaunted new competitor has a mountain to climb. Ed Cumming road-tests it