Social Media Apps

Snapchat rolls out 'Quick Cut' to speed up video creation from Memories

Snapchat launches Quick Cut, a new tool that turns Memories into beat-synced videos in seconds, making video creation directly within the app

Meta moves to single age-check system as global child safety rules tighten

Meta aims to roll out one age-check system for Facebook and Instagram as global child safety laws grow and pressure on tech firms increases

Instagram comes to big-screen, will let you binge Reels on Amazon fire TV

Instagram for TV supports up to five accounts, personalised feeds and channel-based Reels, turning short videos into big-screen viewing experience at home

Threads expands communities to 200+ topics, tests badges for active users

Meta's Threads expands its communities feature to over 200 topics and tests flairs and badges to encourage more focused discussions and reward active members on the platform

Why big tech bosses are keeping their kids off social media platforms

From YouTube CEO Neal Mohan to Bill Gates, top tech leaders are limiting their children's screen time as studies link social media to teen anxiety and governments move towards age bans

Gavaskar personality rights: HC tells social platforms to act within 7 days

The Delhi High Court on Friday directed social media intermediaries to act within seven days on former cricketer and commentator Sunil Gavaskar's plea seeking protection of his personality rights. Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora asked Gavaskar's counsel to first approach the social media intermediaries with his grievances. The high court directed the social media intermediaries to treat Gavaskar's suit as a complaint under the Information and Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 and take the necessary steps within seven days. The court said in case the social media intermediaries have any reservations to any weblink given by Gavaskar, they should inform him. It directed the plaintiff to provide within 24 hours the URLs in respect of which take down is sought to the social media intermediaries. Gavaskar approached the high court seeking to prevent the unauthorised use of his name, images, persona and likeness by social media platforms

Pak govt may ban social media platforms if they don't 'cooperate': Minister

A Pakistan minister has warned that the government may consider banning social media platforms if they do not cooperate with authorities. Minister of State for Law and Justice Barrister Aqeel Malik made these remarks on Thursday, according to a Dawn report. The social media platform X, which around 4.5 million people in Pakistan use, was blocked in February 2024, around 10 days after the general elections. Speaking on Dawn News programme, Barrister Malik, responding to a question about a possible ban on incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan's X account, said investigations are ongoing. He added that while the government has contacted X, the platform has shown the least cooperation compared to other social media networks. Criticising X, the minister said the platform should not operate with double standards. Posts related to Palestine are removed, and accounts blocked, within 24 hours. Here, we are talking about a matter of terrorism, he said. He further noted that the government h

Reddit challenges Australia's law banning under-16s from social media

Global online forum Reddit on Friday filed a court challenge to Australia's world-first law that bans Australian children younger than 16 from holding accounts on the world's most popular social media platforms. California-based Reddit Inc's suit filed in the High Court follows a case filed last month by Sydney-based rights group Digital Freedom Project. Both suits claim the law is unconstitutional because it infringes on Australia's implied freedom of political communication. "We believe there are more effective ways for the Australian government to accomplish our shared goal of protecting youth, and the SMMA (Social Media Minimum Age) law carries some serious privacy and political expression issues for everyone on the internet," Reddit said in a statement. "While we agree with the importance of protecting people under 16, this law has the unfortunate effect of forcing intrusive and potentially insecure verification processes on adults as well as minors, isolating teens from the .

Instagram's new 'Your Algorithm' tool lets users personalise Reels feed

Instagram has added a new 'Your Algorithm' tool that lets users review their top interests, adjust topics they want more or less of and personalise their Reels feed in real time

Australia enforces world-first ban on social media access for teens

Meanwhile chat app Discord Inc., which isn't subject to the ban, said Tuesday it is enhancing safety features for users in Australia

By banning social media, we're giving children a childhood: Australian PM

Highlighting the challenges faced by both parents and children from the impact of social media, Albanese said it was a step towards peace of mind for parents, children

Australia rolls out world's 1st teen social media ban amid safety concerns

The law, passed last year, mandates services such as ByteDance Ltd.'s TikTok and Meta Platforms Inc.'s Instagram keep under-16s off their platforms or face fines

Meta rolls out unified support hub for Facebook, Instagram: What's new

Meta rolls out a central support hub with AI search, better recovery options, and enhanced security protections for Facebook and Instagram

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

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

Meta introduces India-focused features for IG Reels, Edits app: What's new

Meta is rolling out expanded AI translations for Instagram Reels and new Indian-language fonts on the Edits app, giving creators more ways to localise and customise their content

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

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

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