Social Media

Meta says strengthened systems, deployed new LLMs to prevent, detect CSAM

Meta says a dedicated language model, AI sweeps and a red-teaming agent will help detect harmful ads, identify gaps in its defences and stop banned users returning

Indirect aggression common in Indian conversations on X during major events

Indirect aggression in Indian conversations on social media platform X is most common during major social, financial, sporting and political events, business school researchers have found after they used machine learning models to examine patterns of aggressive communication, analysing more than 1.31 lakh posts. The study, titled "Indian Aggression Detection through Multiple ML Models from Twitter Data", was conducted by researchers at Goa Institute of Management (GIM) and Goa Business School. The findings have been published in renowned journal "Advances in Consumer Research". The study explored whether machine learning could help to identify different forms of aggression in Indian X posts and how aggressive behaviour varied across emotionally and politically charged events. The researchers classified the posts into three categories -- Overtly Aggressive (OAG), Covertly Aggressive (CAG) and Non-Aggressive (NAG). "The findings indicate that OAG responses among Indians remained ...

Delhi HC orders Meta to immediately remove morphed photo of woman with PM

The Delhi High Court on Friday directed Meta Platforms to immediately remove objectionable content of a woman's morphed picture posted on social media with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Justice Girish Kathpalia observed that this is an extraordinary position in which the matter is not of one woman but also of the country's prime minister. If the Delhi Police is not sensitive about it, the court will ensure it becomes sensitive, he further noted. The high court also issued notice to Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das, Abhijit Dipke,, Ashutosh Ranka and Ratna Singh on a plea by the woman alleging that they circulated her morphed and explicit picture with the prime minister. The court, which listed the matter for further hearing on October 14, directed the police to give complete police protection to the woman who submitted that she was receiving threats to her life. The woman's plea accused the CJP leaders of morphing and circulating her deepfake vulgar pictures with Prim

Datanomics: Under-20 age group increasingly drives India's smartphone usage

The EU Kids Act proposes banning social media for children under 13 as several countries tighten access rules, while India weighs age-based restrictions amid rising smartphone use and cybercrime risks

Meta not merely an 'intermediary', but a 'service provider' too

The company, a senior government official said, will have to assume greater responsibility for content shared by users and distributed across its platforms, Facebook, Instagram, and Threads

Delhi HC seeks Centre's response on plea against addictive social media

PIL seeks an expert panel to examine engagement-driven platform features, including infinite scrolling, autoplay and personalised feeds, and recommend safeguards for young users

Delhi HC asks govt about policy to regulate addictive social media designs

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the Centre to respond whether it was contemplating a policy to regulate addiction-causing design features on social media platforms like infinite scroll and autoplay. A bench of Justices Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Amit Sharma said it would hear after three weeks a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking constitution of an expert committee to examine engagement-maximising and addiction-causing design features on social media platforms. On being asked by the court whether the Centre was contemplating framing a policy on the issue, additional solicitor general Chetan Sharma said he does not have specific instructions on this. To this, the bench orally said, "you take instructions whether you are contemplating framing of a policy and we will have the matter after three weeks". Sharma also said that the PIL does raises some issues but it will be in the domain of the policy makers to consider and suggested that the petition could give a representati

EU chief von der Leyen proposes ban on social media for children under 13

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed banning children under 13 from accessing social media, online games and chatbots on Wednesday during her annual State of the European Union speech in Strasbourg. "I am aware that many perceive the power of Big Tech as overwhelming and impossible to roll back. I disagree," said the EU executive. "We do not have to accept addictive features. We do not have to accept children being drawn into ever more extreme content. We do not have to accept that girls have their photos used for AI-generated sexualized images," she said. Von der Leyen said that under her proposal "mini accounts" chaperoned by guardians would be granted to kids aged 13-15. The EU's 27 member nations will now vote on the proposal, which could spark tensions with US President Donald Trump, who has long criticized Europe's tech regulations.

Countering disinformation

This book is a compelling account of how India lives online, and what we can do - to make it a more dignified and inclusive space

Terms of engagement

If Meta is forced to abandon the engagement-algorithm for its most committed users, and if other platforms follow suit, the industry will undergo a tectonic shift

Meta India head Sandhya Devanathan to join OpenAI in regional role

Devanathan will be based in Singapore and oversee consumer growth, enterprise adoption, partnerships, regulatory engagement and operations across Southeast Asia and Australia

Meta's new teen safety rules: What changes on Instagram and Facebook

The new protections will first apply in participating US states and territories, subject to judicial approval. Meta has not announced these measures as a global rollout

Meta's campaign on teen safeguards puts TikTok, YouTube, Snap on back foot

In a public callout to TikTok and YouTube that included a plan to publish open letters in newspapers, Meta said it's seeking to set a 'new industry standard'

US Federal Trade Commission probes YouTube over social media policies

The antitrust and consumer protection agency has been probing YouTube since last year and is in the final stages of preparing a potential lawsuit

Meta settlement opens new front in global fight over social media harm

Meta's up to $18 billion settlement with nearly all US states over social media harm to teenagers has opened a new front in a global government fight to protect children and curb addiction

Meta's $18 billion social media settlement: Numbers behind the deal

Of the overall amount, the company has pledged to shell out about $12.7 billion in installments to states over the next 10 years as a starting point

Meta to pay up to $16.7 billion to settle social media addiction cases

The deal requires Meta to put new guardrails on its platforms, including restricting how much time youths can scroll and preventing them from switching off certain safety settings

Australia teens return to TikTok 8 months after under-16 social media ban

Some 26% of children between the ages of 13 and 15 were on TikTok as of last month, just one percentage point below the rate prior to Australia's groundbreaking rules coming into effect

Need a human touch: Govt tells Meta not to leave takedowns solely to AI

The government has asked Meta to ensure human review in AI-led content moderation, warning that keyword-based takedowns can remove legitimate posts without context

Meta Platforms' trial: Victims' families see pivotal moment for safety

Parents say this trial, in which the attorneys general from four states are seeking billions of dollars in damages for social media harms to children, marks a significant moment.