Page 24 - Social Media Apps

Group representing Meta, X sues Ohio over law that curbs social media usage

A trade group representing TikTok, Snapchat, Meta and other major tech companies sued Ohio on Friday over a pending law that requires children to get parental consent to use social media apps. The law was part of an USD 86.1 billion state budget bill that Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law in July. It's set to take effect January 15. The administration pushed the measure as a way to protect children's mental health, with Republican Lt. Gov. Jon Husted saying at the time that social media was intentionally addictive and harmful to kids. The NetChoice trade group filed its lawsuit against GOP Attorney General Dave Yost in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. It seeks to block the law from taking effect. The litigation argues that Ohio's law which requires social media companies to obtain a parent's permission for children under 16 to sign up for social media and gaming apps unconstitutionally impedes free speech and is overbroad and vague. The law also ..

WhatsApp banned over 7 million accounts in November over policy violation

WhatsApp in a statement said it had received eight orders from India's GAC and all orders were complied with. GAC was formed in February last year to address concerns related to social media platforms

Online platforms may need to delete data of users inactive for 3yrs

New Digital Personal Data Protection Rules proposed by the government may require online platforms, including e-commerce, gaming, and social media, to permanently delete data of inactive users

Govt's advisory to social media portals on IT rules over deepfake concerns

The government has issued an advisory to all platforms to comply with IT rules amid growing concerns around deepfakes and misinformation powered by AI, according to an official release. The advisory mandates that intermediaries (digital and social media platforms) communicate prohibited content specified under IT Rules clearly and precisely to users. "The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) has issued an advisory to all intermediaries, ensuring compliance with the existing IT rules," it said. The directive specifically targets growing concerns around misinformation powered by AI-Deepfakes. This advisory is the culmination of discussions held by Minister of State for IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar with intermediaries. "The content not permitted under the IT Rules, in particular those listed under Rule 3(1)(b) must be clearly communicated to the users in clear and precise language including through its terms of service and user agreements and the same must be express

Dealing with deepfakes requires vigilance, investment: Yatharth Saraf

The director of machine learning at social media platforms ShareChat and Moj says consumers and companies will adapt to such misinformation

X back to normal after facing snag for over an hour on December 21

According to Downdetector, reports of outages on X rose from 5 at 10:46 am on Thursday to 4,773 at 11:14 am

Social media unicorn ShareChat lays off 200 employees to reduce costs

This is the second such move this year for the Indian regional social network

Now you can post videos with text captions on Instagram Notes: How it works

Meta has also introduced additional ways to reply to Instagram Notes. Reply to a note can now include photos, videos, audio messages, stickers and GIFs

Snapchat gets new AI features, including AI generated Snaps and extend tool

Snapchat has announced that it will allow Plus subscribers to edit and share AI generated images as regular Snaps

Elon Musk's X 2023 advertising revenue projected to slump to about $2.5 bn

X executives had originally targeted $3 billion in revenue from advertising and subscriptions in 2023, but will fall far short of that number, one of the people said

Notice issued to social media firms to remove child sex abuse material: MoS

The government has issued notice to social media platforms including Telegram, YouTube and X to remove all child sex abuse material and groups circulating such content, Parliament was informed on Friday. Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar in a written reply to Rajya Sabha said that the social media platforms have been informed that existing rules cast obligations on the intermediaries, including social media firms, to observe due diligence and if they fail to observe such due diligence, they shall no longer be exempt from their liability under law for third-party information hosted by them. "The Government has issued notice to various social media intermediaries including Telegram, YouTube and X, to remove or disable access to all such CSAM and groups circulating such material which is violative of rule 3(1)(d) and rule 4(4) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (IT Rules, 2021)," Chandrasekhar ...

Meta's Threads brings 'Tags' for organising posts by topics: Know details

Topics do not appear with a hashtag on a published post, instead, they appear in blue text, resembling a hyperlink

Govt talks tough to social media platforms on deepfakes, holds review meet

The government on Tuesday held another round of meeting with social media platforms to "review" progress made by them in tackling deepfake issue, according to sources. Platforms have been clearly told that the 11 "user harms" or "illegalities" flagged under IT rules are in fact also mapped to equivalent provisions in IPC (Indian Penal Code) and hence criminal consequences exist even under the current laws. It is pertinent to mention that on November 24, Minister of State for IT and Electronics Rajeev Chandrasekhar had met with the representatives of social media platforms and the companies were given seven days to act decisively on deepfakes, and align their terms of use as per the IT rules. According to sources, a follow-up meeting was held on Tuesday with social media platforms to assess the progress made after the November 24 meeting. While some platforms have complied, others that been "slow" in doing so, have been given additional time. The government, in Tuesday's meeting, h

Zuckerberg vetoed ban on certain filters despite concerns for kids: Lawsuit

The suit, initially filed in federal court in Oakland last month, added to growing scrutiny of social media giants over how they serve their youngest users

Govt to assist in filing FIRs against social media firms for deepfakes

The government will assist people in filing FIRs against social media platforms in case they are aggrieved by objectionable content like deepfakes that are in violation of IT rules. Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Friday said the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) will develop a platform on which people can notify the ministry about IT rule violations by social media platforms. Speaking to the media after a meeting with the representatives of social media platforms here, the minister also said that social media platforms have been given seven days time to align their terms of use as per the IT rules. Further, Chandrasekhar said it will be acceptable for the government if social media platforms label content as deepfake instead of taking down the content. The ministry will appoint an officer who will deal with implementation of Rule 7 of IT Rules that were notified in October 2022. According to Chandrasekhar, the move will enable people who are aggrie

Meta lets users download Reels from public accounts on Instagram; check how

This feature was made available in the US earlier this year, but has started to roll out globally starting November 23

Centre to meet social media platforms on deepfake issue on Nov 23

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has called a meeting with representatives of social media platforms on the issue of deepfakes on Thursday, according to a source. The move comes amid concerns over misuse of technology and the government's firm resolve to push digital platforms to crack down on deepfakes. According to a source, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw will meet social media platforms on the issue of deepfakes on November 23. Recently, several 'deepfake' videos targeting leading actors went viral, sparking outrage and raising apprehensions over misuse of technology and tools for creating fake content and narratives. On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi cautioned that deepfakes created by artificial intelligence can lead to a big crisis and stoke discontent in society, and urged the media to raise awareness about its misuse and educate people. Vaishnaw has warned that safe harbour immunity clause will not apply if platforms do not take adequate steps to remove deepfakes. The

TikTok Chroming Challenge: Deadly viral challenge caused the death of teens

The deadly social viral trend, the Chroming challenge, is responsible for the death of a 13-year-old girl. Here's all you need to know about the TikTok Challenge

SGPC to take legal action against 'X', says apex gurdwara body chief

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee on Monday said it will take legal action against social media platform X, formerly Twitter, for not shutting down a fake account in the name of the apex gurdwara body that is allegedly being used to spread hate propaganda against Sikhs. A decision to this effect was taken at the executive committee meeting of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). SGPC chief Harjinder Singh Dhami told reporters that, by passing a special resolution, the executive committee condemned the hate propaganda against Sikhs and Sikh organisations on social media. Through this resolution, it has been decided to take legal action against X regarding a "fake/parody" account created in the SGPC's name to unleash hate propaganda, he said. Dhami said the SGPC's image is being tarnished through this fake/parody account and, despite a complaint regarding it, X did not shut it down and even justified it under its policy. Now, legal action will be taken again

Issued notices to all social media platforms: Vaishnaw on deep fake case

On November 6, a modified video of actress Rashmika Mandanna appeared online sparking discussions of digital safety