Page 6 - Social Media Apps

Meta removes 23K Facebook pages linked to investment scams in India, Brazil

Meta, in March, removed clusters of scam activity totalling over 23,000 Facebook Pages and accounts that primarily targeted people in Brazil and India, the social media giant said on Wednesday. Explaining the modus operandi, Meta said the scammers used deepfakes, among other techniques, falsely depicting popular personal finance content creators, cricket players and business figures in Brazil and India, endorsing scam investment apps and gambling websites. The scammers redirected people to messaging apps for 'investment advice' and, in some cases, to a fake website that mimicked the Google Play store to download scam gambling apps. "In March, Meta removed multiple clusters of scam activity totalling over 23,000 Facebook Pages and accounts that primarily targeted people in Brazil and India," Meta said in a release. Under Meta's ongoing efforts to promote scam awareness, the company shared insights and handy tips to help people identify and safeguard themselves against common investm

Parl panel seeks action plan against 'anti-national' social media platforms

A parliamentary panel has sought details from two key ministries overseeing information flow on the action they have planned against social media platforms and influencers who "seem to be working against national interest", following the Pahalgam terror attack. The parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology, headed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Nishikant Dubey, has noted that some social media influencers and platforms in the country seem to be working against national interest, which is likely to incite violence, sources said. The committee, in a communication to the ministries of Information and Broadcasting and Electronics and Information Technology, has sought details of the "contemplated action to ban such platforms under IT Act, 2000 and Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021". The letter, the sources said, has been sent to the secretaries of the two ministries and they have been asked

TikTok to enter online shopping business in Japan to expand outside US

TikTok is trying to grow its business outside the US, where it is still waiting for a final deal that will allow it to continue operating

Brain rot and screen overload: How your phone may be wrecking your focus

Endless scrolling may feel harmless, but experts warn it can erode attention span, memory, and mental clarity-here's how to recognise and reverse the damage

SC to hear plea on April 28 to ban explicit content on OTT, social media

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea seeking a direction to the Centre to take appropriate steps to prohibit streaming of sexually explicit content on over the top (OTT) and social media platforms. The plea has sought laying down of guidelines constituting a National Content Control Authority to prohibit sexually explicit content on these platforms. According to the top court's cause list of April 28, the petition is slated to come up for hearing before a bench of Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih. The plea claimed there were pages or profiles on social media sites that were disseminating pornographic materials without any filter and various OTT platforms were streaming content that also has potential elements of child pornography. "Such sexually deviant material pollute the minds of youth, children and even grown up persons which gives rise to perverted and unnatural sexual tendencies thereby leading to an increase in the crime rate," it said. The p

Instagram 'Edits', AI-powered video editing app, available on iOS, Android

According to Instagram, Edits allows users to create, edit, and share high-quality videos without watermarks on platforms including Facebook and Instagram

Bluesky introduces blue checkmarks for identity verification: How to apply

Bluesky rolls out a verification badge similar to X (formerly Twitter) to confirm legitimate accounts on the platform. It is not a paid feature though

Instagram introduces 'Blend' for reels recommendations in DMs, groups chats

Instagram's new Blend feature lets users share their entire reels feed with each other in group chats and direct messages, showing reels based on recommendations of each member

Meta to replace fact-checking with Community Notes, announces Joel Kaplan

Joel took to X to announce this significant decision, a topic that has been widely debated in recent months. His post stated that there would no longer be any new fact-checkers

SC refuses to entertain plea for social media ban on children under 13

Supreme Court declared the issue of regulating children's access to social media a policy matter

WhatsApp bans over 9.7 mn accounts in India during Feb for safety reasons

WhatsApp on Tuesday said it banned more than 9.7 million accounts in India during February 2025, 1.4 million of which were proactively banned prior to any user reports. Releasing its monthly safety report, the Meta-owned messaging app also shared tips on using the platform responsibly. It listed out ways to do so, including respecting boundaries, avoiding spamming with bulk and auto messages, and using broadcast lists responsibly. "According to the report for the month of February 2025, WhatsApp banned over 9.7 million accounts in India for violating its Terms of Service. More than 1.4 million of these accounts were proactively banned prior to any user reports," WhatsApp said. A WhatsApp spokesperson further said the platform has consistently invested in Artificial Intelligence and other technology, data scientists and experts, and processes, to keep users safe on the platform. "In accordance with the IT Rules 2021, our latest published report outlines user complaints received, ...

Centre slams 'X' for calling 'Sahyog' a censorship tool, defends IT Act

The Centre has strongly objected to social media platform X's characterisation of the 'Sahyog' portal as a censorship tool, calling the claim both unfortunate and condemnable. In a detailed response submitted before the Karnataka High Court, the Centre countered the claims made by X Corp in its petition challenging India's information-blocking framework. The government asserted that the petitioner had misinterpreted the provisions of the Information Technology (IT) Act, particularly Sections 69A and 79(3)(b). X Corp has argued that Section 79(3)(b) does not authorise the government to issue content-blocking orders in a manner that bypasses the safeguards outlined in Section 69A, its corresponding blocking rules, and the Supreme Court's ruling in the Shreya Singhal case. However, the government contended that Section 69A explicitly allows the Centre to issue blocking orders under specific conditions and provides multiple safeguards for online content restriction. It stated that thi

Instagram brings option to fast-forward Reels, drops content notes: Details

Reportedly, Instagram users can press and hold the side of the screen to watch Reels in 2x speed

'Will govt have gumption to give notice to X over Grok': Manish Tewari

People from Meity said that they have not sent any notice to X or Grok, and is in talks with the platforms to understand what law it is violating

Pentagon orders purge of social sites to dump diversity mentions by March 5

Building lethality in the military may be the buzzword for the new Trump administration, but busywork and paperwork have become the reality at the Pentagon, as service members and civilian workers are facing a broad mandate to purge all of the department's social media sites and untangle confusing personnel reduction moves. On Wednesday, the department's top public affairs official signed and sent out a new memo requiring all the military services to spend countless hours poring over years of website postings, photos, news articles and videos to remove any mentions that promote diversity, equity and inclusion. If they can't do that by March 5, they have been ordered to temporarily remove from public display" all content published during the Biden administration's four years in office, according to a copy of the memo obtained by The Associated Press. The new directive comes as the military services also are scrambling to identify probationary workers the administration has targeted f

88% parents favour forcing apps to shut child accounts with falsified age

A majority of parents surveyed favour a mandate for apps to shut down accounts of children opened by age misrepresentation or seek parental guidance for the continuation of the same, online survey firm LocalCircles said on Wednesday. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 mandates online platforms to verify the age of children and seek explicit parental consent before processing their data. The survey report said that some parents believe that many children have falsely represented their age when signing up on the platforms, and with no checks and balances existing on most platforms, they were able to sign up and use such platforms. "88 per cent of parents surveyed in favour of DPDP rules mandating that platforms (social media, OTT, online gaming, etc.) identify any minor accounts with age misrepresented and proactively either seek parental consent or shut such accounts," the survey said. Out of 21,760 parent respondents, only 4 per cent favoured continued usage of the ...

Women achievers to take over PM Modi's social media accounts on Women's Day

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday that he will hand over his various social media accounts to women achievers in different fields to mark the International Women's Day on March 8. In his monthly Mann Ki Baat address, he said these successful women in different fields will speak about their work and experience on his social media accounts. "Let's us celebrate and respect the indomitable spirit of women," he said, lauding the increasing participation of women in different sectors. Modi had handed over his social media accounts to seven leading women in different fields on March 8 in 2020 in a similar gesture. With followers in tens of millions on X, YouTube and Instagram among other handles, Modi is one of the most followed global leaders on social media. The prime minister also renewed his appeal to people to take measures to deal with the growing problem of obesity, saying it is necessary for India to become a fit and healthy country. Citing research, he said one out of

Instagram brings music stickers, text translation, more to DMs: What's new

Instagram users can also pin up to three messages, including text, images and shared posts or reels to the top of any 1:1 or group chat

Swiss politician Meret Schneider threatened for urging social media ban

Green Party politician has spoken about the need to regulate social media and argued that Switzerland is lagging behind in doing so

DoT directs social media firms to act against content violating Telecom Act

DoT directs social media platforms to remove content enabling CLI spoofing, citing violations of the Telecommunications Act, 2023; compliance deadline set for February 28