Social Media

Varanasi's 'diaper tree' video shocks internet, sparks civic sense debate

The clip, posted by vlogger Shweta Kataria with the text overlay "unique house of Varanasi", has triggered debate around civic sense and environmental awareness in Varanasi city, in UP

Australia to enforce social media age limit with fines up to $33 mn

Social media platforms must report monthly how many children's accounts they close once Australia begins enforcing its 16-year age limit next week, a minister said Wednesday. Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Reddit, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X and YouTube would face fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) from Dec. 10 if they fail to take reasonable steps to remove accounts of Australian children younger than 16. Livestreaming service Twitch was added to the list of age-restricted platforms less than two weeks ago. The Australian eSafety Commissioner will send the 10 platforms notices on Dec. 11 demanding information about the numbers of accounts removed. Monthly notices would follow for six months. The government recognizes that age assurance may require several days or weeks to complete fairly and accurately, Communications Minister Anika Wells told the National Press Club of Australia. However, if eSafety identifies systemic breaches of the law, the platforms will

YouTube finally agrees to comply with Australia's teen social media ban

The decision ends a stand-off between the internet giant and the Australian government which initially exempted YouTube from the age restriction, citing its use for educational purposes

Australia begins global drive to restrict social media access for children

While figures on the number of under-16s on social media globally are scarce, research firm EMarketer says about one in ten US users are under 18

Sebi wants regulated entities, agents to show name on social media

Sebi on Friday proposed that all regulated entities and their agents should prominently display registered name and registration number on the home page of their social media platforms. This proposal comes after the regulator observed the growing need to clearly distinguish content uploaded by Sebi-regulated persons from material posted by unregistered individuals on social media. According to Sebi, such differentiation is essential to prevent investors from being misled. Further, while publishing videos or any other content on social-media platforms (SMPs), regulated entities should ensure that their material does not include anything prohibited under law or anything that may harm investors' interests, Sebi suggested in its consultation paper. "All persons regulated by the Board and their agents (mutual fund distributors, distributors of portfolio management services, etc) shall prominently disclose their registered name and registration number on the home page of their social med

X's new location feature exposes many US political accounts as foreign-run

They go by names like @TRUMP_ARMY or @MAGANationX, and their verified accounts proudly display portraits of President Donald Trump, voter rallies and American flags. And they're constantly posting about US politics to their followers, sounding like diehard fans of the president. But after a weekend update to the social media platform X, it's now clear that the owners of these accounts, and many others, are located in regions such as South Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe. Elon Musk's X unveiled a feature Saturday that lets users see where an account is based. Online sleuths and experts quickly found that many popular accounts, often but not limited to posting in support of the MAGA movement to thousands or hundreds of thousands of followers, are based outside the United States raising concerns about foreign influence on US politics. Researchers at NewsGuard, a firm that tracks online misinformation, identified several popular accounts purportedly run by Americans interested in .

Malaysia joins list of countries to limit teen social media use: Details

Many believe raising the minimum age for social media access will give children more time to develop important skills such as digital literacy, impulse control, and critical thinking

Watching a lot of reels, short videos? It hurts your brain, says study

Heavy use of Reels, Shorts and TikTok may impair attention, increase stress and anxiety, and disrupt sleep, according to a new review of 98,299 people examining the cognitive toll of short-form videos

Meta buried 'causal' evidence of social media harm, allege US court filings

In a 2020 research project code-named Project Mercury, Meta scientists worked with survey firm Nielsen to gauge the effect of deactivating Facebook and Instagram, according to Meta documents

Meta alerts young Australians to download data before social media ban

Technology giant Meta on Thursday began sending thousands of young Australians a two-week warning to download their digital histories and delete their accounts from Facebook, Instagram and Threads before a world-first social media ban on accounts of children younger than 16 takes effect. The Australian government announced two weeks ago that the three Meta platforms plus Snapchat, TikTok, X and YouTube must take reasonable steps to exclude Australian account holders younger than 16, beginning Dec. 10. California-based Meta on Thursday became the first of the targeted tech companies to outline how it will comply with the law. Meta contacted thousands of young account holders via SMS and email to warn that suspected children will start to be denied access to the platforms from Dec. 4. We will start notifying impacted teens today to give them the opportunity to save their contacts and memories, Meta said in a statement. Meta said young users could also use the notice period to update

India's DPDP rules: Compliance cost likely to rise for companies

The information technology (IT) cost of the commercial banks, which is around 10-15 per cent of their total expenditure, is also set to increase as they align their systems along the lines of the Act

X Corp challenges legality of 'Sahyog' portal takedown in Karnataka HC

Social media giant 'X' Corp has informed the Karnataka High Court that it received 29,118 government requests to remove content between January and June 2025, complying with 26,641 of them, a 91.49 per cent compliance rate. The company argued that these figures contradict a single judge's September 24 finding that the platform intends to defy Indian law. The data was furnished as part of X's writ appeal against the order upholding the Union government's 'Sahyog' portal, the online system used to issue takedown directions to intermediaries. In its recent appeal, X Corp contended that government agencies are unlawfully using Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, along with Rule 3(1)(d) of the 2021 IT Rules, to issue content removal orders. This, the company said, creates a parallel and unconstitutional mechanism that bypasses Section 69A of the IT Act, the only statutory process for blocking online content in India. The Supreme Court, in Shreya Singhal versus Unio

DPDP rules mandate deleting user data after three years of inactivity

Ecommerce, gaming, and social media intermediaries must erase dormant user data with prior notice

AI content norms unimplementable: Social media intermediaries to Meity

Internet intermediaries have told Meity that proposed rules to label synthetically generated information are vague, duplicative, and technologically unviable

The missing mass in media: How reels and niches replaced shared moments

The collective sighing over an actor, a film, an ad, or a song is gone - today's media has fractured into endless reels, niches, and influencers

Denmark govt mulls ban on social media access for children under 15

Denmark's government on Friday announced a political agreement to ban access to social media for anyone aged under 15. The move, led by the Ministry of Digitalisation, would set the age limit for access to social media but give some parents after a specific assessment the right to give consent to let their children access social media from age 13. Such a measure would be among the most sweeping steps yet by a European government to address concerns about the use of social media among teens and younger children. It would follow upon a move in December in Australia, where parliament enacted the world's first ban on social media for children setting the minimum age at 16. That made platforms including TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram subject to fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars (USD33 million) for systemic failures to prevent children younger than 16 from holding accounts. As one of the first countries in the EU, Denmark is now taking a groundbreaking

Meta, ByteDance, Google, Snap to face trial over youth addiction claims

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl late Wednesday ruled against the companies on their last chance to avoid trial

Sebi reaches out to social media to check fraudulent investment activities

Market regulator Sebi on Thursday said it has reached out to leading social media and internet search platforms, urging them to implement stronger measures to curb the misuse of their networks for fraudulent investment-related activities. In a statement, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said it has intensified its efforts to combat online investment scams and "formally communicated" with major social media platforms and internet search engines regarding it. This initiative aligns with the global call to action by the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO). In its statement on May 21, 2025, IOSCO highlighted the critical role of platform providers in combating online harm and urged them to enhance efforts to reduce the risk of financial harm to investors. Sebi has expressed its support for the recommendations made by IOSCO and has urged major online platforms to act swiftly to address the growing challenges of investor fraud. The regulator has

Australia expands under-16 social media ban to include Reddit: Key details

The government had earlier said Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube would fall under the law, noting that other unspecified platforms could also be covered

Instagram adds YouTube-like watch history option for Reels: How to access

Instagram has launched a new watch history feature that lets users revisit Reels they've watched in the past 30 days, with sorting and filtering options by date, account, or recency