Welcome to "#SocialStocks," The Fly's weekly recap of Wall Street's reactions to social media stock news.
FACEBOOK’S LATEST PROBLEM: Facebook (FB) said in a blog post for Developer News that it found a photo API bug that might have given third-party apps access to a broader set of photos in September: "Our internal team discovered a photo API bug that may have affected people who used Facebook Login and granted permission to third-party apps to access their photos. We have fixed the issue but, because of this bug, some third-party apps may have had access to a broader set of photos than usual for 12 days between September 13 to September 25, 2018.When someone gives permission for an app to access their photos on Facebook, we usually only grant the app access to photos people share on their timeline. In this case, the bug potentially gave developers access to other photos, such as those shared on Marketplace or Facebook Stories. The bug also impacted photos that people uploaded to Facebook but chose not to post. For example, if someone uploads a photo to Facebook but doesn't finish posting it - maybe because they've lost reception or walked into a meeting - we store a copy of that photo so the person has it when they come back to the app to complete their post. Currently, we believe this may have affected up to 6.8 million users and up to 1,500 apps built by 876 developers. The only apps affected by this bug were ones that Facebook approved to access the photos API and that individuals had authorized to access their photos."
FACEBOOK INCREASES STOCK REPURCHASE PROGRAM: On December 7, Facebook disclosed in a regulatory filing that its board approved an increase of $9.0B in the amount authorized under the company's share repurchase program. The board previously authorized repurchases of up to $15.0B of the company's Class A common stock under the program since it commenced in 2017, and this increase is incremental to the prior authorizations. The repurchase program does not have an expiration date and the timing and actual number of shares repurchased depend on a variety of factors, including price, general business and market conditions, and other investment opportunities.
SNAP HIRES NEW COMMUNICATION CHIEF: On December 10, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel announced that Julie Henderson will join the company as Chief Communications Officer. In this role, Ms. Henderson will report to Mr. Spiegel and lead communications globally as Snap continues to redefine the camera and empower people to express themselves visually with friends and family. Henderson will take over the responsibilities of Mary Ritti, Vice President of Communications. Ms. Ritti, who joined Snap in 2013, announced her decision to leave the company last summer.
