Page 12 - Social Media

Facebook owner Meta to carry out expected company-wide layoffs on Feb 10

Notices will go out to employees losing their jobs starting at 5 am local time Monday in most countries

Morgan Stanley-led banks sell $5.5 billion of X debt on demand surge

The banks initially planned to sell about $3 billion worth of the loan but received enough interest to parcel out additional debt

Union Budget 2025: Middle class awaits Sitharaman, memes take over

As Nirmala Sitharaman prepares to present Budget 2025, the middle class waits for relief - but the internet's faster, with memes stealing the spotlight before the budget drops

Meta to pay $25 mn to settle Trump's 2021 lawsuit over account suspension

Trump filed lawsuits against Twitter, now known as X, Facebook Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google, as well as their chief executives in July 2021, alleging they unlawfully silence conservative viewpoints

Elon Musk writes to X employees, says company 'barely breaking even'

According to an internal email sent by Elon Musk to employees, X is 'barely breaking even,' citing stagnant user growth and underwhelming revenue

Pak court awards death sentence, 80-yr-imprisonment to four over blasphemy

A Pakistani court has awarded a death sentence and 80-year imprisonment to four persons for uploading blasphemous content on Facebook, an official said on Saturday. Additional Sessions Judge Mohammad Tariq Ayub on Friday convicted four suspects -- Wajid Ali, Ahfaq Ali Saqib, Rana Usman and Suleman Sajid -- for insulting Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), his companions, and his wives. The court official said the convicts uploaded blasphemous content on Facebook from four different IDs. "The judge after hearing arguments of both prosecution and defence and witnesses accounts awarded the death penalty and 80 years imprisonment to each of them on different counts," the official said. They were also slapped with a fine of PKR 5.2 million. Pakistan's Federal Investigation (FIA) Cybercrime registered a case under Section 11 of the PECA (Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act) and 295A, 295B, 295C, 298A, 109 and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of Shiraz Farooqi, a citizen. According t

China's social media under fire over xenophobic content after stabbings

The algorithms used by Chinese platforms, which are optimised to maximise user engagement, contribute to the spread of controversial content, including hyper-nationalistic posts

Families sue TikTok in France, link teen suicides to harmful content

In the moment when her world shattered three years ago, Stephanie Mistre found her 15-year-old daughter, Marie, lifeless in the bedroom where she died by suicide. I went from light to darkness in a fraction of a second, Mistre said, describing the day in September 2021 that marked the start of her fight against TikTok, the Chinese-owned video app she blames for pushing her daughter toward despair. Delving into her daughter's phone after her death, Mistre discovered videos promoting suicide methods, tutorials and comments encouraging users to go beyond mere suicide attempts. She said TikTok's algorithm had repeatedly pushed such content to her daughter. It was brainwashing, said Mistre, who lives in Cassis, near Marseille, in the south of France. They normalized depression and self-harm, turning it into a twisted sense of belonging. Now Mistre and six other families are suing TikTok France, accusing the platform of failing to moderate harmful content and exposing children to ...

TikTok users anxiously await its return to US app stores, some abandon app

TikTok resumed service after Trump's assurances that the company and its partners would not face hefty fines to keep the app running, but it was yet to return to app stores

Sales boost for auto dealers as deal with Meta helps digitisation: Report

Consumers consider social media for decision to buy new vehicle and use messaging apps to communicate with auto dealers

From backing a ban to being hailed as saviour: Inside Trump's TikTok shift

During his first term as president, Donald Trump led the effort to ban TikTok, the hugely popular video-sharing app he said posed a threat to US national security. But on the eve of his return to the White House, the president-elect is being hailed as the app's saviour. After going dark for users this weekend, Trump said on his social media site that he would issue an executive order after he's sworn in for a second term on Monday to delay a TikTok ban "so that we can make a deal to protect our national security". He said the order would make clear that companies will not be held liable for violating a law that aimed to force TikTok's sale by its China-based parent company. Hours later, the app returned, much to the relief of its legions of dedicated users. "Thanks for your patience and support. As a result of President Trump's efforts, TikTok is back in the US!" read the announcement. Trump's legal authority to unilaterally decide not to enforce the law, which passed with ...

AI startup Perplexity said to submit bid to merge with TikTok's US unit

A merger with TikTok may give Perplexity access to a vast user base and a wealth of data that would feed its AI-driven search engine

US Supreme Court upholds law banning popular short-video app TikTok

TikTok is one of the most prominent social media platforms in the United States, used by about 270 million Americans - roughly half the country's population, including many young people

Answering queries on welfare schemes is bulk of govt fact-check unit's work

Queries on government jobs or recruitment examinations also on the minds of people

President Biden won't enforce ban on social media app TikTok, says official

President Joe Biden won't enforce a ban on the social media app TikTok that is set to take effect a day before he leaves office on Monday, a US official said Thursday, leaving its fate in the hands of President-elect Donald Trump. Congress last year, in a law signed by Biden, required that TikTok's China-based parent company ByteDance divest the company by January 19, a day before the presidential inauguration. The official said the outgoing administration was leaving the implementation of the law and the potential enforcement of the ban to Trump. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss internal Biden administration thinking. Trump, who once called to ban the app, has since pledged to keep it available in the US, though his transition team has not said how they intend to accomplish that. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is expected to attend Trump's inauguration and be granted a prime seating location on the dais as the president-elect's national security adviser

Meta shuts down DEI programme as it prepares for Trump's second term

Joining companies such as John Deere and Walmart, Facebook and Instagram's parent company Meta Platforms Inc is getting rid of its diversity, equity and inclusion programme that includes hiring, training and picking vendors, a company spokesperson confirmed on Friday. The move, which was first reported by Axios, comes on the heels of the social media giant's decision to end its third-party fact-checking programme and scale back policies on hate speech and abuse. Citing an internal memo sent to employees, Axios said the Menlo Park, California-based tech giant said the US Supreme Court "has recently made decisions signalling a shift in how courts will approach DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion programmes) The term DEI' has also become charged, in part because it is understood by some as a practice that suggests preferential treatment of some groups over others. In practice, this means Meta will no longer have a team focused on diversity and inclusion and the company said it will .

Removing fact-checks on social media risks losing a vital harm filter

Free speech shouldn't be curtailed merely for conveying misinformation or expressing unpalatable or hateful opinions. It should be limited only when it has the potential to cause harm

Meta's pivot on fact-checks in US sparks misinformation fears in India

Although Meta has clarified that the program is being discontinued only in the US, the implications are being closely watched in India

Social media opened avenues to verify info, strengthened democracy: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said social media has strengthened democracy by opening up ways to verify information which earlier was available from a handful of sources with little alternatives. In an interaction with Zerodha founder Nikhil Kamath, Modi said earlier there were very few persons who used to report on events and their version was considered as the truth. "You were trapped as there was no opportunity to seek verification. But, today you have an alternative to verify information on different platforms. Everything is available on your mobile phone," Modi said. "If you pay little attention, you can find out the truth. This is the reason that social media can strengthen democracy," he said. The prime minister said youngsters have the tendency to verify information on social media before believing anything as the truth. Modi said he was amazed to see the amount of interest the youngsters have shown in developments in the space sector. "Chandrayaan's success has created a

Amplifying misinformation: Meta's decision will harm public interest

Fact checking was initiated after the 2016 US elections and the Brexit referendum, which were both influenced by rampant disinformation on Facebook