Social Media

UK PM Starmer seeks powers to regulate online access for child safety

Britain's government said last month it would consult on an Australian-style social media ban for children under 16

Instagram chief grilled in court over profit versus mental health concerns

The trial is a test for thousands of similar cases with billions of dollars at stake, as well as the prospect that social media companies could be forced to change how they interact with youths

Social media not clinically addictive, says Instagram chief during US trial

Adam Mosseri, the head of Meta's Instagram, testified during a landmark social media trial in Los Angeles that he disagrees with the idea that people can be clinically addicted to social media platforms. The question of addiction is a key pillar of the case, where plaintiffs seek to hold social media companies responsible for harms to children who use their platforms. Meta Platforms and Google's YouTube are the two remaining defendants in the case, which TikTok and Snap have settled. At the core of the Los Angeles case is a 20-year-old identified only by the initials "KGM", whose lawsuit could determine how thousands of similar lawsuits against social media companies would play out. She and two other plaintiffs have been selected for bellwether trials - essentially test cases for both sides to see how their arguments play out before a jury. Mosseri said on Wednesday that it's important to differentiate between clinical addiction and what he called problematic use. The plaintiff's ..

MeitY's amendments on fake content to up risks for social media platforms

Experts say MeitY's amendment to the IT Rules for AI-generated content, which cuts takedown timelines to three hours, will increase compliance costs and risks for platforms

Instagram head Mosseri to testify on app design's effect on young users

Instagram head Adam Mosseri will testify in a US court case alleging features such as endless scroll encourage compulsive use among minors, raising mental health concerns

YouTube lawyer sees no addiction from half hour of videos a day in trial

Kaley, from Chico, California, was presented by her lawyers at the start of the trial against Google and Meta Platforms Inc. as the face of a scourge that has allegedly poisoned millions of Americans

Landmark US trial alleges Meta, YouTube 'engineered addiction' in children

Comparing social media platforms to casinos and addictive drugs, lawyer Mark Lanier delivered opening statements on Monday in a landmark trial in Los Angeles that seeks to hold Instagram owner Meta and Google's YouTube responsible for harms to children who use their products. Instagram's parent company, Meta and Google's YouTube face claims that their platforms addict children through deliberate design choices that keep kids glued to their screens. TikTok and Snap, which were originally named in the lawsuit, settled for undisclosed sums. Jurors got their first glimpse into what will be a lengthy trial characterised by duelling narratives from the plaintiffs and the two remaining defendants. Meta lawyer Paul Schmidt spoke of the disagreement within the scientific community over social media addiction, with some researchers believing it doesn't exist or that addiction is not the most appropriate way to describe heavy social media use. Lawyers representing YouTube will begin their ...

Govt directs platforms to label AI content, deploy checks on misuse

Platforms must also ensure that AI-generated material is clearly labelled and carries identifiers indicating its synthetic origin

SC defers Meta-WhatsApp privacy policy case hearing to February 23

The Supreme Court on Monday deferred to February 23 pleas of Meta Platforms Inc and WhatsApp against a Competition Commission of India (CCI) order imposing a penalty of Rs 213.14 crore over privacy policy. A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and N V Anjaria was told that senior advocate Kapil Sibal was unwell and hence the hearing should be adjourned. The bench said it would take up the pleas for passing an interim order on February 23. It permitted a litigant represented by senior advocate Arvind Datar to be made a party to the case. On February 3, the bench made strong observations against Meta Platforms Inc and WhatsApp, saying they could not "play with the right to privacy of citizens in the name of data sharing" and alleged that they were creating a monopoly in the market and committing theft of private information of customers. Decrying WhatsApp's privacy policy, the bench referred to "silent customers" who were unorganised

Social media's role must be assessed from lens of trust: Vaishnaw

The role of social media must be clearly evaluated from the lens of its impact on societal harmony and trust, that has been built and cemented over thousands of years, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said adding the latest Economic Survey has "rightly pointed out" issues around the online platforms. Noting that social media is now among the most important modes of information and outreach, the minister said while it offers benefits such as learning, its broader impact must be clearly assessed to ensure they add value to society, their content is trustworthy and the platforms do their due diligence. "We must make sure that our society remains a harmonious society and we should see the role of social media from that point of view. Is social media able to add to that trust or is it disrupting society? Is it adding value or is it creating friction in the society? That thing has to be very clearly evaluated," Vaishnaw said in a recent interview to PTI. He said social media has emerged a

Age limits for social media under review, govt to take a call: IT secy

The Economic Survey has made several suggestions on age-based access to online platforms, and the government will examine all the opinions and take a call on the issue, IT Secretary S Krishnan said on Thursday. Last week, the Economic Survey had said age-based access to online platforms should be considered while also cutting down online teaching to avoid digital addiction. The Survey, tabled in Parliament, had said online platforms should be made responsible for enforcing age verification, and simpler devices should be promoted for children to access educational content with safeguards to address the rising problem of digital addiction. It is pertinent to mention that the Ghaziabad triple suicide, where three minor sisters allegedly jumped to their deaths from a ninth-floor flat, has triggered an alarm over online gaming addiction and the Korean culture craze. "You have seen what the Economic Survey has to say. A number of views are being expressed. We will examine all the views a

Spanish govt plans to ban social media access for children under 16

Spain's move comes amid a broader European push to tighten regulations on children's online activity

Spain considers social media ban for under-16s, joining others in Europe

Spain plans to ban social media access for children under 16, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Tuesday, in a move designed to shield young people from the harms of online content. The progressive Spanish leader spoke at a summit in the United Arab Emirates, where he chided the world's biggest tech companies for allowing illegal content such as child sex abuse and nonconsensual sexualised deepfake images and videos on their platforms, saying that governments also needed to "stop turning a blind eye." "Today, our children are exposed to a space they were never meant to navigate alone," Sanchez said. "We will no longer accept that." In doing so, Spain joins a growing number of countries, including Australia and France, which have taken or are considering measures to restrict minors' access to social media. In January, French lawmakers approved a bill banning social media for children under 15, paving the way for the measure to take effect at the start of the next school year

Social media fuels rising mental disorders, suicidal thoughts among teens

Social networks exploit young people's vulnerability and actually help boost certain disorders that they are prone to

PM Modi's ally proposes bill to ban social media for children in India

India, the world's second-biggest smartphone market with 750 million devices and a billion internet users, is a key growth market for social media apps and does not set ‌a minimum age for access

Economic Survey 2026 flags digital addiction as key challenge for India

Meta, which owns Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, regularly counts India among its largest user bases, along with Alphabet's YouTube

TikTok star Khaby Lame inks $975 million deal to monetise fan base

TikTok's biggest star Khaby Lame has signed a $975 million deal to sell brand rights, aiming to turn his massive global fan base into a long-term business venture

TikTok faces app deletions, glitches in days after ownership change

Censorship claims, technical problems and a report of a surge in app deletions are just some of the challenges TikTok is facing as it adjusts to a new ownership structure in the United States that was finalized last week. The company said Monday it was experiencing a "major infrastructure issue triggered by a power outage" at one of its US data centre partner sites. The outage led to bugs such as creators temporarily seeing zero views on their videos even if people had looked at them, as well as slow load times and timeout requests when posting videos. On Tuesday, TikTok said it had made significant progress restoring services though users could still see glitches while using the popular video sharing app. At the same time, users were raising concerns that the company is "censoring" videos, including ones critical of President Donald Trump, ICE or mentions of Jeffrey Epstein. The complaints were enough for California Gov. Gavin Newsom to announce on X Monday that he is launching a .

French lawmakers pass bill banning under-15s from accessing social media

The ban targets popular social media apps including Meta Platforms Inc.'s Facebook and Instagram, ByteDance Ltd.'s TikTok and Snap Inc.'s Snapchat

Egypt plans curbs on children's social media use to tackle 'digital chaos'

Egypt's Parliament is looking into ways to regulate children's use of social media platforms to combat what lawmakers called "digital choas," following some western countries that are considering banning young teenagers from social media. The House of Representatives said in a statement late Sunday that it will work on a legislation to regulate children's use of social media and "put an end to the digital chaos our children are facing, and which negatively impacts their future." Legislators will consult with the government and expert bodies to draft a law to "protect Egyptian children from any risks that threaten its thoughts and behavior," the statement said. The statement came after President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi on Saturday urged his government and lawmakers to consider adopting legislation restricting children's use of social media, "until they reach an age when they can handle it properly." The president's televised comments urged his government to look at other countries ...