If you use Facebook on your mobile or tablet and you've experienced higher than usual bills, you should check your settings now as it could be due to the social network's autoplay video function.
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Facebook has confirmed that videos uploaded onto the site will play automatically in users' news feed by default, both on wifi and on 3G and 4G internet connections, unless you actively opt for it not to.
The social networking site wouldn't confirm whether this autoplay was via the app or on a browser, but when MoneySavingExpert.com asked members of our office to test it, videos appeared to autoplay via the app only.
We've seen many complaints from people who have been stung with data bills after exceeding their monthly allowance and who believe it to be because of Facebook autoplaying videos (see our
Cheap Mobile Broadband and wifi guide for cheap 3G and 4G access).
So we're urging those who use Facebook on their mobiles or tablets to change their settings now to either turn off the auto-play feature, or to set it so videos only auto-play on wifi, to avoid being hit with unexpected data charges. We explain how to do this below.
It's even more pertinent that people check now, as an ice bucket charity challenge is flooding many of the social network users' news feeds. The
BBC this week reported that there have been in excess of 2.4 million ice bucket-related videos posted on Facebook, and 28 million people have uploaded, commented on or 'liked' ice bucket-related posts.
Facebook's auto-play videos were first trialled in September 2013 – though it wouldn't tell us when the initiative was fully rolled out.
