Tech Roundup: Instagram Video Pivot, Robinhood Fine & More

[A recurring feature on the latest in Science & Technology.]

• The U.K. government issues guidance saying social media platforms and private messaging services should "prevent" the use of end-to-end encryption on "child accounts"; says "end-to-end encryption makes it more difficult for you to identify illegal and harmful content occurring on private channels," and that "[companies] should consider the risks this might pose to your users."
• Facebook-owned Instagram pivots to video, as it ditches its photo-sharing roots to experiment with full screen, immersive, entertaining, mobile-first videos, in a bid to take on TikTok and YouTube; confirms that it's working on a new feature called "Exclusive Stories" that would be accessible only to members, mirroring Twitter's Super Follow, as its sister app WhatsApp gains support for ephemeral messaging with a new "View Once" mode that wipes photos and videos as soon as they are viewed and dismissed.
• Twitter begins allowing users to adopt "security keys can be your one and only two-factor authentication method on mobile and web," effectively removing the need for SMS-based authentication to sign in to their Twitter accounts.

• The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) fines stock trading service Robinhood almost US$ 70 million to settle charges over issues that the "firm has negligently communicated false and misleading information to its customers [...] including whether customers could place trades on margin, how much cash was in customers’ accounts, how much buying power or “negative buying power” customers had, the risk of loss customers faced in certain options transactions, and whether customers faced margin calls."
• Google announces Android App Bundle (.aab), introduced at I/O 2018, will replace APK as the default format for new apps published to the Play Store in August; previews new "HTTPS-Only Mode" in Chrome browser that aims to upgrade all unencrypted HTTP connections to encrypted HTTPS alternatives.
• Collaborative platform Slack unveils Huddles, a lightweight audio/video call feature to communicate inside a Slack channel or direct message, as it positions the tool as a "new way to re-create the informal discussions of the office."
• Google's U.K. counterpart to only run ads for financial products from sources approved by the country's Financial Conduct Authority, from September 6, in a bid to "help prevent scammers exploiting our platforms."