Social Media

Meta's global team, which has been summoned by the government after the social media company restricted Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Facebook post, will be questioned on issues around algorithmic bias and their role in public order, sources said on Friday. Sources further said that Meta's global team is expected sometime in the middle of next week. Sources said Meta's global team will be "categorically" asked to clarify issues around algorithmic bias, how their algorithm operates, and the company's role in public order. The team will also appear before a parliamentary panel. The move assumes significance as the government earlier this week summoned a top Meta executive after Modi's recent post addressing India's youth and promising stringent measures against paper leaks was briefly restricted on Facebook. While the US-headquartered social media giant attributed the incident to a technical glitch and apologised, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) found

Children's continued ​social media use took place even as account ownership declined ​to 42% from 52%, with 'statistically significant' reductions across YouTube, Snapchat and TikTok in particular

Readers can expect discussions ranging from the influencer economy, deepfakes to AI girlfriends, algorithmic desire, & the male loneliness epidemic - all packaged as witty letters to a faceless man

Visit follows the temporary takedown of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Facebook post, with the IT Ministry set to seek details of Meta's moderation processes

Delhi Police has registered an FIR against several social media handles for allegedly posting "derogatory, malicious and defamatory content" targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and sought complete details of account holders from X, official sources said on Wednesday. The case was registered by the Special Cell's Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit, which also issued notices to X and directed it to remove or disable access to identified posts and preserve all related electronic records for investigation, the sources said. X, formerly Twitter, has been directed to remove or disable access to the content within three hours of receiving the notices while ensuring that all relevant data, logs and subscriber information are preserved, they said. The FIR against seven to eight handles has been filed under Sections 351(3) (criminal intimidation), 353(2) (circulating false information, rumours, or alarming news-including via electronic media) and 356(2) (whoever defam

2-hour deadline set; memes, videos preferred

A Parliamentary panel has summoned representatives of major social media platforms, including Instagram, along with officials of the ministries of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and Home Affairs, on August 3 to discuss regulation of social media and digital platforms. BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, who chairs the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology, said the panel has called representatives of Meta (Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp), Google, X (formerly Twitter) and Snapchat to explain how they protect the privacy of women, children, farmers, rural residents, labourers and the general public, and ensure public order. The meeting comes days after social media, particularly Instagram, was extensively used by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) to publicise and mobilise participants for its student protest at Jantar Mantar. The demonstrations, which were held over the NEET-UG paper leak and other issues, drew widespread attention online, ..

Shyam Saran and Shekhar Gupta examine the crisis in education, R Gopalakrishnan calls for a new enterprise model, and Devangshu Datta weighs social media age bans

The Supreme Court on Friday barred posting, reposting or uploading of audio-video recordings of court proceedings on social media and other digital platforms without prior permission of the concerned secretary general of the apex court or the registrar generals of the high courts. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana also sought responses from the Centre and others on a plea raising the misuse of live-streaming and circulation of videos of court proceedings on social media. "As an interim measure, it is directed that there shall be no extraction, modification, dissemination posting, reposting and uploading of audio-video visual recordings of judicial proceedings on social media or other digital platforms without prior permission of the secretary general of this court or the registrar general of the jurisdictional high courts," the bench said. Senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for the petitioner, highlighted the misuse of videos of court

Social media bans raise a larger question. At what age should society stop regulating life choices and allow people to make their own?

This book uncovers the messy realities of mom and family vloggers, untangling the issues of consent and privacy involved in putting their children's lives online

As countries tighten children's access to social media, experts say India has legal options but faces major enforcement and privacy challenges

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Tuesday removed its spokesperson Vijeta Dahiya from the post after a video surfaced showing him eating a burger during the police crackdown on the outfit's 'Chalo Sansad' march. In a statement, the CJP said Dahiya's conduct was inconsistent with the values of the movement. Responding to the criticism, Dahiya said people didn't see that he had not slept for two nights just like those who were at the protest site. "You hold me accountable as if it is my job to be a protester." The CJP has condemned the "deeply insensitive actions" of Dahiya. "We strongly condemn the deeply insensitive actions of our spokesperson Vijeta Dahiya, whose videos surfaced while peaceful protestors and our team were facing brutal police violence. Such conduct is unacceptable, shows a complete lack of judgment, and is wholly inconsistent with the values and principles of our movement," the statement said. "In response, we are removing Vijeta Dahiya as spokesperson of the ..

Why Ads That Don't Look Like Ads Are Winning

Despite prominent incidents like the abuse targeted at Judge Khan, cases of bullying and harassment actually fell from 2 per cent to 1 per cent over the same period

President Donald Trump's media company is planning to charge for special high-speed access to Truth Social posts, including possibly his own affecting national security and financial markets. The move announced Thursday would allow Wall Street trading firms and other institutions to get news from Truth Social contributors in milliseconds so they could profit off subsequent moves in stocks, bonds and interest rates. Called Truth PSI, it would mimic paid access at other platforms with one key difference: The most popular Truth Social poster is the president himself and, as the biggest shareholder of the public traded parent company, would directly benefit. "He's selling expedited, privileged access to information about what he is doing as president," said Kathleen Clark of Washington University School of Law and an expert in government conflicts of interest rules. "It's yet more brazen corruption, an improper exploitation of government power to enrich himself." The Trump family compan

The EU is joining a growing global movement to restrict children's access to social media over mental health and safety concerns

Meta's reply to the government notice over child sexual abuse material (CSAM) ads on Instagram has been received by Meity and is being examined, IT Secretary S Krishnan said on Monday, adding that appropriate action will be taken after examination. The government had issued a stern notice to Meta recently on Child Sexual Exploitative and Abuse Material (CSEAM) in paid advertisements on Instagram. MeitY (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology) had ordered Instagram to disable all ads and content promoting and facilitating access to CSEAM, and demanded a detailed explanation bound to a deadline. Within a few days of the notice, Meta outlined its efforts to combat child sexual abuse material (CSAM) across its apps, highlighting AI-powered detection and large-scale enforcement actions, and, in a blogpost, promised to continue investment in technology and resources to keep young people safe and strengthen its ad review processes. Krishnan said Monday that Meta's reply to the

Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, has appealed the verdict of a landmark social media addiction lawsuit in Los Angeles, challenging the jury's determination that the company designed its platforms to hook young users without concern for their well-being. Lawyers representing Meta filed a notice of appeal Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The lawyers will provide their arguments related to the appeal in subsequent court filings. The case centred on a 20-year-old woman who said she became addicted to social media as a child and that it worsened her mental health struggles. The jury found that negligence by both Meta and Google-owned YouTube, which was also a defendant in the case, was a substantial factor in causing harm to the young woman, identified in court only by her initials, KGM, and her first name, Kaley. The jury awarded her USD 3 million in damages and recommended an additional USD 3 million in punitive damages. Her lead attorney, Mark Lanier,

Experts urge internet platforms to adopt prevention-by-design and stronger AI systems to curb child sexual exploitation material and improve online child safety