Page 17 - Social Media

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

TikTok's fate divides Trump and fellow Republicans as SC action looms

"This is the most significant free speech case in at least a generation," said Timothy Edgar, a former U.S. national security and intelligence official

Markets regulator Sebi warns Ola Electric for violating disclosure norms

According to the letter issued by Sebi, the electric vehicle manufacturer announced its expansion plans on microblogging platform X (formerly Twitter), before informing the exchanges

Meta's fact-checking reversal lets Mark Zuckerberg drop the charade

Zuckerberg said he would now work on issues of free speech with Trump, who, just four years ago, was considered too dangerous even to be a Meta user

Delhi man cons 700 woman on dating apps using pics of Brazilian model

Delhi Police has arrested a 23-year-old man who allegedly scammed over 700 women after befriending them on dating applications by posing as a US-based model, officials said on Saturday. The cyber police station of West district arrested Tushar Bisht on charges of exploiting online platforms such as Bumble and Snapchat to lure his victims, blackmail them using private photos and videos, and extort money, a statement issued by Delhi Police said. "Posing as a US-based freelance model, the accused created fake identities using a virtual international mobile number and photographs of a Brazilian model," Deputy Commissioner of Police (West), Vichitra Veer, said in the statement. Bisht used the fake profiles to connect with women aged between 18 and 30 years on various onlione dating platforms. "His primary targets were users of Bumble, Snapchat and WhatsApp," the statement said. The DCP said Bisht gained his victims' trust by engaging in conversations, and convinced them to share privat

Consent, data, parental nod on social media in focus: Experts on DPDP

The draft DPDP rules which moot parents' verifiable consent to create a child's user account on social media platforms, and adds localisation requirement for certain types of personal data has significant ramifications for big tech firms, experts say noting that businesses may also face "complex challenges" in managing consent which is core to data protection norms. According to Deloitte India, maintaining consent artefacts and offering the option to withdraw consent for specific purposes would necessitate changes at design and architecture level of applications and platforms. The comment comes against the backdrop of government releasing the long-awaited draft of Digital Personal Data Protection Rules which proposes to make parent's verifiable consent and identification mandatory for creation of child's user account on online or social media platforms, and also moots possible data localisation requirements for specified personal data. The provision related to localisation and ...

New data rules: E-commerce, social media to delete user info after 3 years

The platforms are required to notify users at least 48 hours before data deletion, providing them the opportunity to log in or initiate contact to retain their information

Cyber frauds: WhatsApp, Telegram and Instagram are top targets of scammers

In the first three months of 2024, there were a total of 43,797 complaints of cyber fraud related to WhatsApp, 22,680 against Telegram, and 19,800 regarding Instagram

Social media companies face global tug-of-war over free speech

"The censorship and advertising boycott cartel must end now!" Elon Musk, the owner of X, whom Trump has appointed to cut the federal budget, posted on his site last month

From memes to AI: How digital tools reshaped India's 2024 general elections

The general election in 2024 saw artificial intelligence tech and social media transform campaigns, with tech-driven messaging, thereby sparking debates on misinformation and electoral integrity

Man threatens terror attack during Mahakumbh in UP; case lodged, probe on

The social media clip purportedly features a man making inflammatory remarks against Hinduism and political figures while threatening acts of terror during key dates of the upcoming Maha Kumbh

Telegram turns profitable for first time after paying down $2 billion debt

White-supremacist groups escalated efforts in the run-up to the US election to recruit new members over Telegram, where they've amplified racist conspiracies while posing as men-only fight clubs