Facebook shuffles top management, eyes Blockchain: Report
San Francisco, May 9: Mired in a massive data breach controversy, Facebook has reportedly rolled out biggest-ever shuffle at the senior management level since its inception -- across platforms, including WhatsApp and Messenger.
According to tech news website Recode, Facebook has made long-time executive Chris Cox in-charge of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger -- now called a "family of apps".
"Facebook is also building a new team dedicated to Blockchain technology. David Marcus, the executive in-charge of Facebook's standalone messaging app, Messenger, is leaving that post to run the Blockchain group," the report said late on Tuesday.
The Blockchain team would come under "New platforms and infra" run by Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Mike Schroepfer, who will also take care of Facebook's AR, VR and Artificial Intelligence initiatives.
Facebook executive Javier Olivan, Vice President of Growth, will oversee the third division titled "Central product services".
This vertical will include shared features that operate across multiple products or apps such as ads, security and growth.
"Adam Mosseri, the Facebook product executive who runs News Feed, is headed over to Instagram to become the company's new VP of product," the report claimed.
Meanwhile, Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg will keep her duties.
Facebook on Tuesday announced the appointment of Jeff Zients, CEO of Cranemere, to the company's board of directors and audit committee, effective May 31.
In a jolt to Facebook, WhatsApp co-founder and CEO Jan Koum in April decided to move on amid reports that he had a difference of opinion with parent company Facebook over data privacy, encryption and other issues.
After the Cambridge Analytica data scandal, Facebook has warned investors that more users' data scandals in the future may adversely affect the social networking giant's reputation and brand image.
In its quarterly report shared with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), without mentioning Cambridge Analytica, Facebook said that its ongoing investments in safety, security and content review will identify additional instances of misuse of user data.
"We may also be notified of such incidents or activity via the media or other third parties," Facebook said.
Appearing before the US Congress, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told the lawmakers that his own personal data was part of 87 million users' that was "improperly shared" with the British political consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica which has not shut down operations.
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UN: India calls on international community to act together against ISIS, Al Qaeda
United Nations (PTI): India has called on the international community to act together against ISIS and Al Qaeda and their proxies, underlining that terrorism is an “existential threat” to international peace and security.
“Terrorism is an existential threat to international peace and security. It knows no borders, nationality, or race, and is a challenge that the international community must combat collectively,” First Secretary in the Permanent Mission of India to the UN Raghoo Puri said on Wednesday.
In remarks to the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) annual ambassadorial level briefing to Member States, Puri recalled the April 2025 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, carried out by The Resistance Front, a proxy of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, a UN listed terror organisation. The terror attack led to the loss of lives of 26 tourists.
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“We must act together against ISIS and Al Qaeda and their proxies,” he said, adding that as a country which itself has been a victim of cross-border terrorism for the past nearly three decades, “India is acutely aware of the socio-economic and human cost of terrorism, especially for its victims.”
India added its voice in stressing on the importance of the Global Counter Terrorism Strategy (GCTS) as a central instrument for multilateral cooperation.
Puri said India will remain steadfast and engaged in the consultations for the 9th review of the GCTS, assuring full cooperation to co-facilitators Finland and Morocco during negotiations in the process.
Puri also highlighted that as Chair of the Counter Terrorism Committee in 2022, India has striven to bring these principles into the counter-terrorism architecture of the UN and into the debate on terrorism at the United Nations.
“Our follow up initiatives both in New York and around the world stand testimony to our commitment,” including the ‘Delhi Declaration’ - a landmark document to deal with the issue of countering the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes, an issue Puri said is of acute importance for several Member States.
In October 2022, the Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC), chaired by India that year, had organised a special meeting in New Delhi and Mumbai on the overarching theme of ‘Countering the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes’.
As an outcome of the special meeting, the committee had adopted the ‘Delhi Declaration’ on countering the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes.
India continues to work closely with the UN via its various entities to build capacity and make its partners future ready to take on the ever-evolving scourge of terrorism, he said.
