San Francisco—Facebook is reaching out to give the world a hug—in the form of an emoji people can share while staying safely apart.
The lineup of characters available to express feelings in the social network will be expanded next week to include a well-known round yellow cartoon face with arms that gently embrace a red heart.
The move to express “care” adds to the existing emojis including the well-known “like” button and more recent icons to express love, laughter, sadness, anger and awe.
“We’re launching new care reactions on Facebook app and Messenger as a way for people to share their support with one another during this unprecedented time,” spokesman Alexandru Voica said in a series of tweets Friday.
“We hope these reactions give people additional ways to show their support during the #COVID19 crisis.”
It has been about five years since Facebook expanded its emoji options for expressing feelings by tapping on a character and sharing it with a friend.
The new symbol “will start rolling out next week globally and you can use it to react to posts, comments, images, videos, or other content on the app and Facebook.com,” Voica said.
Facebook’s mobile Messenger service is getting a new emoji as well, this one a multi-hued bluish red heart drawn as though it is beating.
The use of Facebook and its services including messaging and video chat—used by more than two billion people —has surged as users around the world turn to the social networks to remain connected during the virus lockdowns.
Meanwhile, Australia announced Monday it will begin forcing Google and Facebook to pay news companies for content, in a landmark move aimed at shielding traditional media from the tech giants’ digital dominance.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said a mandatory code of conduct to be unveiled by July would require the firms to reimburse Australian media companies for using their news and other content.
“What we want to see is a level playing field. What we want to see here is a fair go for the companies and for the journalistic content that is prepared,” he told Channel 7.
It comes just weeks after France’s competition authority ordered Google to negotiate with publishers over payments to reuse snippets of content in its news aggregator and Google Search.
Google and Facebook have had a huge impact on Australia’s news industry, with the number of newspaper and online journalists falling more than 20 percent since 2014 as digital advertising revenues were overwhelmingly captured by the two titans.
The new regulations follow an 18-month inquiry into the power of digital platforms by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), which recommended an overhaul of existing regulations.
Frydenberg said the government was imposing the measures after discussions on a voluntary code failed to make headway, with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on advertising revenues hastening the need for action.
“That hasn’t made meaningful progress so now we are taking the decisive decision to create a mandatory code, seeking to be the first country in the world to ensure that these social media giants pay for content,” he said.
A similar move by Spain saw Google shut down its News service there in 2014, while the company has threatened to do the same in response to the new French laws.
Australia’s new regulations will also cover the sharing of data, and the ranking and display of news content, to be enforced by binding dispute resolution mechanisms and penalties.
An estimated 17 million Australians use Facebook each month and spend an average of 30 minutes on the platform a day, while 98 percent of Australian mobile searches use Google.