Page 26 - Social Media

Umar Khalid amplified lies on social media: Delhi Police in court

The Delhi Police told a court here Tuesday that former JNU student Umar Khalid amplified a false narrative in his favour through social media, completing its arguments against his bail plea in the 2020 Delhi riots case. Khalid is an accused in the alleged larger conspiracy behind the 2020 northeast Delhi communal riots. He has been booked under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The arguments against Khalid's bail plea were made on Tuesday before Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai. Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad said Khalid's mobile phone data revealed he was in contact with some actors, politicians, activists and celebrities and sent them some links by certain news portals against the Delhi Police. These links were sent with a request to share them on their social media accounts to set a particular narrative and amplify it. Citing his chats with these people -- who have a considerable social media following -- Prasad said Khalid amplified his .

Musk-led X changes course, gives away blue ticks to popular users for free

Musk pledged last week to start handing out the free features to people who had more than 2,500 verified followers

Free blue ticks back for some accounts on X leaving some users unhappy

Last year, X began issuing verification checks only to those who paid the starting price of $8 per month for it, and stripping verification badges from many celebrities

No link between social media stock tips and big returns in long run: ESMA

Regulators have been taking a closer look at social media, with Britain warning "fin-influencers" last week on the need for authorisation before promoting financial products online

UP cops suspended over social media posts in favour of Mukhtar Ansari

Action has been taken against two Uttar Pradesh police constables for allegedly posting comments on social media in favour of gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari who died last week, officials said on Wednesday. Ansari, a five-time MLA, died last week at Rani Durgawati Medical College after being taken there from Banda jail when his health deteriorated. He was laid to rest in Ghazipur amid a blanket of security. A day after Ansari's burial, police constable Faiyaz Khan, posted at a police station in Lucknow, allegedly made certain comments in favour of the gangster-politician on his WhatsApp status and also raised doubts over his death. According to officials, after the WhatsApp status went viral, local authorities removed the constable from his current posting and sent him to the police lines. "As the model code of conduct is in force, permission has been sought from the Election Commission for his suspension," a senior officer said. In Chandauli, constable Aftab Alam, posted at th

Elon Musk's X appoints new head of safety to oversee content rules

The company promoted an internal employee, Kylie McRoberts, to take on the high-profile job

Donald Trump's social media company lost more than $58 million last year

Less than a week after a flashy stock market debut, Donald Trump's social media company is disclosing that it lost nearly USD 58.2 million in 2023. Losses in 2023 for Trump Media & Technology Group whose flagship product is Truth Social mark a stark decline compared with the profit of USD 50.5 million that the former president's company reported for 2022, according to a regulatory filing Monday. Revenue for Trump Media topped just over USD 4.13 million in 2023, the SEC filing shows, although that's up from USD 1.47 million in 2022. After merging with with a blank-check company called Digital World Acquisition Corp., Trump Media began trading on Tuesday on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol DJT. It's been a volatile ride. Trump Media's shares soared in their first couple days of trading surpassing USD 79 at one point Tuesday but have since fallen closer to their initial offering price of USD 49.95. As of midday Monday, Trump Media's stock was down more than 18 per cent, standing at

Meta partners with PTI to expand its fact checking program in India

Meta's fact-checking programme in India includes partnerships with independent fact-checking organisations to prevent the spread of misinformation on its platforms

Click here: Everything about X trend highlighting image 'Alt Text' feature

Below is an explainer on a recent trend on X (formerly Twitter) where users are posting images with instructions to "Click Here" pointing to the "ALT" text box

Chinese TikTok sellers complain of strict rules on selling in US mkt

TikTok, used by about 170 mn Americans, has been seeking to strike the right balance between pursuing rapid growth and managing regulatory risks

Trump's media co valued at nearly $9.6 bn as shares surge in trade debut

At $70.46, company's market capitalization was $9.55 billion on an undiluted basis. Trading in the shares under the new ticker "DJT" was briefly halted just after the opening bell due to volatility

Florida's DeSantis signs US' most restrictive social media bans for minors

Florida will have one of the US' most restrictive social media bans for minors -- if it withstands expected legal challenges -- under a bill signed by Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Monday. The bill will ban social media accounts for children under 14 and require parental permission for 14- and 15-year-olds. It was slightly watered down from a proposal DeSantis vetoed earlier this month, a week before the annual legislative session ended. The new law was Republican Speaker Paul Renner's top legislative priority. It takes effect January 1. "A child in their brain development doesn't have the ability to know that they're being sucked into these addictive technologies and to see the harm and step away from it, and because of that we have to step in for them," Renner said at the bill-signing ceremony held at a Jacksonville school. The bill DeSantis vetoed would have banned minors under 16 from popular social media platforms regardless of parental consent. But before the ve

Trump's social media company to go public, likely listing on Nasdaq

Donald Trump is returning to the stock market, and the former president stands to reap a sizeable payout in the process. Shareholders of Digital World Acquisition Corp, a publicly traded shell company, approved a deal to merge with the Trump's media business in a Friday vote. That means Trump Media & Technology Group, whose flagship product is social networking site Truth Social, will soon begin trading on the Nasdaq stock market. Trump is set to own most of the combined company or nearly 79 million shares. Multiply that by Digital World's closing stock price Friday of USD 36.94, and the total value of his stake could be nearly USD 3 billion. The greenlight arrives at a time the presumptive Republican presidential nominee is facing his most costly legal battle to date: a USD 454 million judgment in a fraud lawsuit. But Trump won't be able to cash out the deal's windfall immediately, unless the company's board makes changes to a lock-up provision that prevents company insiders ...

Investors greenlight Donald Trump's $6 billion social media merger deal

Shareholders of Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC) , the SPAC that plans to list Trump Media & Technology Group on the stock market through a merger, voted in favor of the deal on Friday

FIR against BJP MP Tejasvi Surya for alleged hate post on social media

An FIR has been registered against BJP MP Tejasvi Surya over an alleged hate post on social media, Election Commission officials said on Friday. The move comes after a complaint filed by officials of the poll body and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) that the Bengaluru South MP, who is also the President of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, had in a post allegedly targeted a minority and spread enmity between two communities. He also made a similar post on March 19 on 'X' and YouTube which got one million views, 587 comments, 5400 retweets and 13 likes. He has 1.3 million followers on X, thereby influencing the voters and disturbing the communal harmony between the communities, it further alleged. Based on the complaint, an FIR was registered at Halasuru Gate police station on March 20 under sections 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 295

Govt cautions influencers against promoting offshore betting platforms

Government on Thursday cautioned all endorsers and social media influencers to refrain from promoting or advertising, including surrogate advertisements, of offshore online betting and gambling platforms. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, in an advisory, said that these advertisements have significant financial and socio-economic implications of online betting and gambling on consumers, particularly the youth. The ministry has further advised the online advertisement intermediaries not to target such promotional content towards Indian audiences, an official statement said. Social media intermediaries have also been advised to conduct sensitisation efforts among their users to refrain from publishing such content, it said. The advisory cautions that failure to comply with it may lead to proceedings under the provisions of Consumer Protection Act, 2019 including removal or disabling of social media posts or accounts and penal action under the applicable statutes, the ...

WhatsApp tests 60-second video status feature in public beta: Details here

Currently, WhatsApp lets users post 30-second video status on their profiles. Instagram, however, allows users to post 60-second videos on stories

Centre notifies fact check unit under IT rules ahead of general elections

The notification came a week after the Bombay High Court refused to grant an interim stay on setting up an FCU under the IT Rules to identify fake and false content on social media

Zomato axes colour-coded veg fleet day after launch amid row: Explained

Zomato had earlier announced an exclusive "pure veg mode" and "pure veg fleet" for its vegetarian customers but scrapped the colour-based fleet plan after a social media backlash

Meta offers to almost halve Facebook, Instagram monthly fees to 5.99 euros

The move came amid mounting criticism from users about Meta's no-ads subscription service launched in Europe in November which critics say requires users to pay a fee to ensure their privacy