Page 32 - Social Media

US lawmakers cite India as they vote on bill to regulate TikTok ownership

US lawmakers on Wednesday cited the bold move by India to ban TikTok four years ago as they voted in support of legislation about the Chinese app. In a major bipartisan move, the House of Representatives passed by 352 to 65 votes the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act co-authored by Indian American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat, and Congressman Mike Gallaghe from the Republican party. The bill, which seeks to control the ownership of foreign apps like TikTok in the US, now heads to the Senate for it to be sent to the White House for the President to sign it into law. Several lawmakers referred to the decision taken by India in 2020 to ban the app. In 2020, India banned 59 Chinese-created apps, including TikTok, emphasising their priority to defend India's national security, said the office of Congressman Greg Murphy in a statement. Lack of transparency from TikTok executives and their unwillingness to protect user privacy and ...

US passes bill that would lead to TikTok ban if Chinese owner doesn't sell

The House on Wednesday passed a bill that would lead to a nationwide ban of the popular video app TikTok if its China-based owner doesn't sell, as lawmakers acted on concerns that the company's current ownership structure is a national security threat. The bill, passed by a vote of 352-65, now goes to the Senate, where its prospects are unclear. TikTok, which has more than 150 million American users, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chinese technology firm ByteDance Ltd. The lawmakers contend that ByteDance is beholden to the Chinese government, which could demand access to the data of TikTok's consumers in the US any time it wants. The worry stems from a set of Chinese national security laws that compel organisations to assist with intelligence gathering. We have given TikTok a clear choice, said Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash. Separate from your parent company ByteDance, which is beholden to the CCP (the Chinese Communist Party), and remain operational in the United States, o

Reddit launches long-awaited IPO, targets up to $6.4 billion valuation

The company, along with some of its existing investors, is targeting a sale of about 22 million shares, priced between $31 and $34 each, to raise up to $748 million

X's long-form videos will soon be available on smart TVs: Elon Musk

"Coming soon," Musk said in a brief response on X to a user's posting that the platform's long-form videos could be watched directly on smart TVs

Norms against deepfakes and misinformation after elections: Vaishnaw

The government asked digital platforms to provide technical and business process solutions to prevent and weed out misinformation that can potentially harm society and democracy, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said. He added that a well-thought legal structure against deepfakes and misinformation will be finalised after the elections. With poll season in India up ahead, digital platforms have upped election integrity efforts over the past weeks, while the government, through advisories and missives, has conveyed its zero tolerance for deepfakes and misinformation circulating on social media and other platforms. "...Misinformation in a vibrant and diverse democracy like ours, can really be very harmful. It can be harmful for society, for democracy, for the electoral process, and it can really impact our future and harmony of the society in a big way. "...So, we have been very categorical in our discussions with the platforms...they have taken many steps, they are continuously .

X could soon receive payment licenses in New York, California: Elon Musk

Since acquiring the company formerly known as Twitter in 2022, the billionaire has sought to turn it into an 'everything app' like Tencent's dominant WeChat app in China

X planning to remove likes and reposts from content, says Elon Musk

Elon Musk talked about decluttering the content on X, formerly Twitter

CCPA warns celebrities, influencers to refrain from promoting gambling

Concerned over rising instances of advertisements related to betting and gambling, consumer watchdog CCPA on Wednesday issued an advisory warning celebrities and influencers to refrain from promoting such illegal activities. The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) warned all stakeholders that stringent action would be taken for endorsements of illegal activities, including betting and gambling. "In response to increasing instances of advertisements promoting illegal activities such as betting and gambling, the CCPA has issued a comprehensive advisory," an official statement said. The advisory, in accordance with the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, has emphasised the prohibition of advertising, promotion, and endorsement of unlawful activities that are prohibited under various laws. "Betting and gambling are strictly prohibited under the Public Gambling Act, 1867, and are considered illegal in the majority of regions across the country. Despite this, online betting platforms

Mark Zuckerberg's net worth drops $2.7 bn after Facebook, Instagram outages

Mark Zuckerberg's net worth took a hit of 2.2 per cent to stand at $176 billion. However, the 39-year-old tech mogul remained the world's fourth richest person on the Bloomberg's list

Lawmakers seek to force ByteDance to divest TikTok or face ban in US

"Applications like TikTok that are controlled by foreign adversaries pose an unacceptable risk to U.S. national security," the lawmakers said in a fact sheet

Facebook, Instagram down for thousands of users across globe: Reports

The disruptions started around 10:00 am ET, with more than 300,000 reports of outages for Facebook and about 40,000 reports for Instagram, according to the website

Instagram introduces edit message feature, pin groups and chats, and more

The new messaging features are now rolling out to both Instagram for Android and iOS apps and will be available for everyone in the coming days

Banks led by Morgan Stanley discuss refinancing $12.5 bn debt with Musk

Fidelity, which received a stake in X after helping Musk complete his $44 billion purchase, has marked down the value of its position by 72% since the takeover

Pakistan to take up resolution seeking permanent ban on social media sites

Amidst serious concerns over the continued disruption of the social media platform X in Pakistan for over a fortnight now, a member of the Senate has demanded a permanent ban on all social media due to its negative impact on the younger generation. Senator Bahramand Khan Tangi, who was recently expelled by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) after he moved a resolution seeking the delaying of the February 8 polls, in the resolution called for a complete ban on all social media platforms, deeming them detrimental to the future of the young generation, Dawn News reported. The resolution is listed on the agenda of the Senate session for Monday. Senator Tangi, who is set to retire on March 11, said: Social media platforms are adversely affecting the young generation in the country [and] being used for promotion of norms against our religion and culture, creating hatred among people on the grounds of language and religion." The resolution notes with concern the use of such platforms agains

Elon Musk's X could face European Union's crackdown on digital dominance

DMA, set to take effect on Thursday, lays out a series of dos and don'ts for likes of Alphabet Inc.'s Google Search, Apple's Safari, Amazon.com Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc.'s Facebook among others

OnlyFans paid $15 billion to its creators since launch in 2016: CEO Blair

OnlyFans is an online content creation platform with about 3.1 million creators. The website takes one-fifth of the payments generated on it and paid about $5.6 billion to its creators in 2022

Meta Platforms targeted in privacy complaints by 8 EU consumer groups

The consumer bodies said Meta is not complying with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rules on fair processing, data minimisation and purpose limitation

Twitter, now known as 'X', launches audio, video features: How to use them

Earlier in February, 'X' owner Elon Musk had said that in the near future, he would discontinue his phone number and only use 'X' for texts and calls

Media firm Dailyhunt in advanced talks to acquire India's X alternative Koo

The deal could be finalised 'within weeks' and involves a share-swap agreement, a report released on Wednesday suggested

Explained: The social media-FPI trading fraud Sebi has cautioned about

Fraudulent trading platforms are offering resident Indians trading opportunities on par with foreign funds, which is not possible under the current rule