The Federal Government has extended the deadline for the National Identification Number (NIN)-SIM data verification until 31st October 2021. The reason for the extension was as a result of requests made by stakeholders to accommodate registration in hard-to-reach remote areas, foreigners and diplomatic missions, diaspora, addressing low enrolments in schools and hospitals.

Microblogging app, Twitter has on Thursday announced that it is rolling out captions for its voice tweets feature to enhance the tool. The app also said it will be discontinuing its disappearing image feature “Fleet”, which was launched a few months ago as part of some changes to improve the user’s experience. The company said “We took your feedback and we’re doing the work. To improve accessibility features, captions for voice Tweets are rolling out today. Now when you record a voice Tweet, captions will automatically generate and appear. To view the captions on web, click the “CC” button.”

Tech giant Facebook has announced plans to pay out $1 billion to creators over the next year and a half as part of an effort to court content makers to its many services. This is coming few months after stating that it wouldn’t take a cut from creators making money with a number of its services until 2023.

For the first time, WhatsApp is introducing a new feature that will allow users message from a computer without needing to have their phones at hand. At present, WhatsApp which is owned by Facebook is linked to a user’s phone. It has an app for desktop, but until now users have needed their phones on and connected to be able to send and receive messages and make calls. But the new feature will let users send and receive messages “even if your phone battery is dead.” Up to four other devices, like PCs (Mac or Windows) and tablets, can be used together, WhatsApp said. WhatsApp users will also be able to enjoy video and audio chats on WhatsApp for PC without their phone.

Suspected Russia-linked hacking group REvil (Ransomware Evil/Sodinokibi) has demanded $70 million in bitcoin after attacking Kaseya Limited, an American software company that develops software for managing networks, systems, and information technology infrastructure.

TikTok a Chinese-owned app, removes over seven million accounts of users suspected of being under the age of thirteen. About sixty-two million videos were deleted in the first quarter of 2021 for violating community standards as revealed by the media operator in a report published today 30th June 2021.

Former U.S President Donald Trump has sued Facebook, Twitter, Google, and their chief executives, alleging they unlawfully silenced him and has hence violated his First Amendment right to free speech in "illegal, unconstitutional censorship." following the Jan. 6 riots in the U.S. Capitol.

American multinational conglomerate, Facebook has joined the list of companies valued over a trillion dollars as of today’s market close. The company’s market cap is sitting at $1.008 trillion according to Yahoo Finance, putting it over the mark for the first time in its history. The social media company is the fifth U.S. company to hit the milestone, joining Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Google-parent company Alphabet. The company’s shares closed up 4.2% at $355.64 after a favourable legal ruling that dismissed an antitrust complaint brought by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and a coalition of state attorneys general.

Opera on Wednesday announced the launch of Hype, its in-built dedicated chat service, in South Africa. Build right into the Opera Mini mobile web browser, Hype promises to redefine the concept of mobile browsers, providing users with a personalized, engaging browsing experience that enables seamless chatting, surfing, and sharing, without compromising speed or driving increased data consumption. Hype is the first African-inspired chat service built into a mobile browser, allowing users to easily set up an account and start chatting with secure end-to-end encryption right away. This means users can now browse the web, chat with friends, and share self-created memes, stickers, and GIFs with other Hype users, all in one app.

The Amazon founder and richest man on Earth blasted into space on Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket Tuesday morning with three crewmates which included his brother Mark Bezos as well as the oldest and youngest people ever to fly into space – 82-year-old pioneering female aviator Wally Funk and Oliver Daemen, 18, a physics student. Daemen, whose seat was paid for by his father, Joes Daemen, CEO of Somerset Capital Partners, was put on the crew after the winner of an anonymous $28 million auction for the flight had to postpone due to a scheduling conflict.

American business magnate, media proprietor, and investor, Jeffrey Preston Bezos has stepped down from his role as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Amazon after nearly three decades at the helm. The leading world’s richest man according to Forbes is estimated to be worth nearly $202 billion. Bezos who joined the billionaire list in 1998 will remain as Amazon’s executive chairman even as he turns over the reins to Amazon Web Services chief Andy Jassy.

Co-founder and CEO of Microsoft William Henry Gates III have been advised by Microsoft Corp. board members to step down from its board after an investigation led into the billionaire’s prior romantic relationship with a female Microsoft employee that was deemed inappropriate. Some Microsoft directors began an investigation in 2019 into woman’s allegations of prior sexual relationship with Bill Gates. During the probe, some board members decided it was no longer suitable for Mr Gates to sit as a director at the software company he started and led for decades, the people said.