Facebook nixes thousands of apps

Facebook said Friday it has suspended “tens of thousands” of apps that may have mishandled users’ personal data, sparking fresh concerns about the tech giant’s privacy practices and exposing it to another potential standoff with U.S. regulators.

The suspended apps vastly outnumber the hundreds that Facebook previously said it had taken action against in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal. But the tech company gave little detail about what the apps had done wrong, or even the names of the apps, saying only that they were associated with about 400 developers and had been targeted for a “variety of reasons.”

It added that its investigation isn’t yet complete.

Walmart to drop e-cigarettes

Walmart is getting out of the vaping business.

The nation’s largest retailer said Friday that it will stop selling electronic cigarettes at its namesake stores and Sam’s Clubs in the U.S. when it sells out its current inventory.

The nation’s largest retailer said the move is due to “growing federal, state and local regulatory complexity” regarding vaping products. It also comes after several hundred people have fallen ill after vaping, and seven have died.

Walmart’s decision is the latest blow to the vaping industry, which has tried to position its products as healthier alternatives to smoking cigarettes, which are responsible for 480,000 deaths a year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But the industry has come under increased scrutiny after the deaths and illnesses — along with a surge in underage vaping.

Twitter suspends 10,000 accounts

Twitter on Friday continued its crackdown on what it considers improper content by removing more than 10,000 accounts for spreading political misinformation and unrest.

Twitter said the accounts included more than 4,000 found to be operating out of the United Arab Emirates, and 4,000 others from China. More than 1,000 accounts came from Ecuador, and several other countries. According to a company blog post, most of the accounts were engaged in fomenting political dissent through the spread of false information.

Twitter said that the accounts it removed from China were involved in agitating against the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong. These moves follow more than 200,000 fake accounts being suspended in August for the same reason.

The actions Twitter took Friday came a day after the company unveiled a new option that allows users to hide replies to their tweets.

Twitter said the new hide reply feature will initially be available as a test on tweets in the United States and Japan.