Page 18 - Social Media Apps

New York to restrict social media algorithms to control content for teens

Social media platforms have in recent years come under scrutiny for its addictive nature and impact on the youth

Meta's flagship app Facebook attracting most young adults in 3 years

Only about a third of US teens say they use Facebook, according to a survey last year by research organization Pew

Instagram expands 'limits' to help creators deal with unsolicited attention

Meta introduced the "limit Interaction" feature on Instagram in 2021 to help creators on the platform deal with online harassment. The feature, however, is now available for everyone

Instagram's 'Notes' feature gets support for likes, mentions, and prompts

With the new updates, notes feature on Instagram gains functionality similar to that of stories and posts

X to make likes on posts private to help users protect their 'public image'

While the posts on X will continue to show likes count, users would not be able to see profiles of other users who have tapped on the heart icon to like the post

Snapchat parent strengthens India team with key leadership appointments

Saket Jha Saurabh named director for content, partnerships and augmented reality; Chirag Kohli is the head of growth

Who undertakes film certification for OTT, social media platforms: HC

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has asked the Centre as to which authority undertakes film certification for the display of content on OTT and social media platforms. The court has asked the Centre and Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to file a counter affidavit apprising it whether there is any other arrangement for OTT films or whether CBFC is authorised to give certificates to them too. The court has fixed August 13, 2024, for the next hearing of the case. The order was passed by a bench of justices Rajan Roy and Om Prakash Shukla on a PIL filed by Dipankar Kumar. In the petition, Kumar has alleged that objectionable comments have been made on the people of Bihar in 'Taktavar Policewala'- a Hindi adaptation of the Telugu movie 'Dhee Ante Dhee'. The petitioner said that the film, originally made in the Telugu language in 2015, is available on YouTube and demanded cancellation of the censor board certificate of the film. While hearing the petition, the ..

ByteDance asks US court to speed up lawsuit over divest-or-ban law

TikTok urged the appeals court to decide on the merits of the case by Dec. 6 so there is adequate time to request an emergency review by the Supreme Court

Twitter has officially moved over to 'X' domain, confirms Elon Musk

Elon Musk rebranded Twitter to X in July 2023. However, Twitter domain remained in service since switching domain has not been as easy going as the logo switch

TikTok creators sue US govt over law that could ban popular platform

Eight TikTok content creators sued the U.S. government on Tuesday, issuing another challenge to the new federal law that would ban the popular social media platform nationwide if its China-based parent company doesn't sell its stakes within a year. Attorneys for the creators argued in the lawsuit that the law violates users' First Amendment rights to free speech, echoing legal arguments made by TikTok in a separate lawsuit filed by the company last week. The legal challenge could end up before the Supreme Court. The complaint filed Tuesday comes from a diverse set of content creators, including a Texas-based rancher who has previously appeared in a TikTok commercial, a creator in Arizona who uses TikTok to show his daily life and spread awareness about LGBTQ issues as well as a business owner who sells skincare products on TikTok Shop, the e-commerce arm of the platform. The lawsuit said the creators rely on TikTok to express themselves, learn, advocate for causes, share opinions, .

WhatsApp set to release new audio call bar feature: Here's how it works

Users will be able to easily mute or end the call directly, removing the need to navigate back to the call screen

Jack Dorsey quits X alternative Bluesky, company seeks new board member

Bluesky is a decentralised, text-based, invite-only social network that rose in prominence following Elon Musk's acquisition of X/Twitter

Instagram adds new stickers in Stories to boost creativity: How to use them

Instagram said it has included new stickers in Stories - Reveal, Cutout, Add Yours music, Frames - to let one create and engage more with others

TikTok may be dragged into US addiction lawsuits against social media firms

TikTok's Beijing-based parent, ByteDance Ltd, is refusing to share information with the US lawyers about its platforms in China and other countries, saying it's not relevant to the ongoing litigation

The Koo story: Bottlenecks in building, sustaining Indian competitor of X

Homegrown microblogging platform Koo has, however, been India's most successful attempt at recreating the X model

Lawsuit asks if Facebook users can control their feeds using external tools

Do social media users have the right to control what they see or don't see on their feeds? A lawsuit filed against Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. is arguing that a federal law often used to shield internet companies from liability also allows people to use external tools to take control of their feed even if that means shutting it off entirely. The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Meta Platforms on behalf of an Amherst professor who wants to release a tool that enables users to unfollow all the content fed to them by Facebook's algorithm. The tool, called Unfollow Everything 2.0, is a browser extension that would let Facebook users unfollow friends, groups and pages and empty their newsfeed the stream of posts, photos and videos that can keep them scrolling endlessly. The idea is that without this constant, addicting stream of content, people might use it less. If the past is any indication, Meta will not be keen on t

TikTok's US-based general counsel Erich Andersen to step down from role

Erich Andersen, the US-based general counsel for TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance Ltd, is stepping down from that role, the social media app said

TikTok faces ban in US: Which countries have banned the app and why?

National security, data privacy and 'protecting youth from being misled' are among reasons cited

Senate passes bill forcing ByteDance to divest TikTok's US ops or face ban

TikTok, which says it has not shared and would not share US user data with the Chinese government, has argued the law amounts to a ban that would violate the US free speech rights of its users

US banning TikTok? Everything you need to know about the controversy

No, TikTok will not suddenly disappear from your phone. Nor will you go to jail if you continue using it after it is banned. After years of attempts to ban the Chinese-owned app, including by former President Donald Trump, a measure to outlaw the popular video-sharing app has won congressional approval and is on its way to President Biden for his signature. The measure gives Beijing-based parent company ByteDance nine months to sell the company, with a possible additional three months if a sale is in progress. If it doesn't, TikTok will be banned. So what does this mean for you, a TikTok user, or perhaps the parent of a TikTok user? Here are some key questions and answers. WHEN DOES THE BAN GO INTO EFFECT? The original proposal gave ByteDance just six months to divest from its U.S. subsidiary, negotiations lengthened it to nine. Then, if the sale is already in progress, the company will get another three months to complete it. So it would be at least a year before a ban goes into