By MARTHA MENDOZA AP National Writer
Facebook users who don't fit any of the 58 gender identity options offered by the social media giant are now being given a rather big 59th option: fill in the blank.
"Now, if you do not identify with the pre-populated list of gender identities, you are able to add your own," said a Facebook announcement published online Thursday morning and shared in advance with The Associated Press.
Facebook software engineer Ari Chivukula, who identifies as transgender and was part of the team that made the free-form option, thinks the change will lead to more widespread acceptance of people who don't identify themselves as a man or woman.
"We're hoping this will open up the dialogue," Chivukula said.
Alison C.K. Fogarty, a gender identity researcher at Stanford University, said giving users control over the words describing their gender is a significant step in social recognition of a growing trans community, especially coming from the world's largest social media company.
By STAN LEHMAN,
Associated Press
A judge says he has ordered the suspension of the globally popular instant messaging system WhatsApp across Brazil because it has allegedly failed to help in an investigation.
Judge Luiz de Moura Correia ordered the suspension earlier this month, though the service has continued to operate normally. The newspaper Folha de S. Paulo said that is because lawyers appealed the ruling.
The judge would not comment on details of his decision because it is an ongoing case, but a press officer at the Piaui state's Public Safety Department says the case is linked to "sexually graphic photos of children on the app." He spoke on condition of anonymity, citing internal regulations.
WhatsApp did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
WhatsApp does not have an office in Brazil so the judge's order was delivered to cellphone operators.
SindiTelebrasil, the association that represents those operators, said on its website that the suspension could cause "huge losses to millions of Brazilians" who use WhatsApp for personal and professional reasons.
WhatsApp is owned by Facebook Inc., which last year paid nearly $22 billion to acquire the mobile messaging service.
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