Page 34 - Social Media

Addictive, lures kids to destructive social media habits: Utah sues TikTok

Utah became the latest US state Tuesday to file a lawsuit against TikTok, alleging the company is baiting children into addictive and unhealthy social media habits. TikTok lures children into hours of social media use, misrepresents the app's safety and deceptively portrays itself as independent of its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, Utah claims in the lawsuit. We will not stand by while these companies fail to take adequate, meaningful action to protect our children. We will prevail in holding social media companies accountable by any means necessary, Republican Gov Spencer Cox said at a news conference announcing the lawsuit, which was filed in state court in Salt Lake City. Arkansas and Indiana have filed similar lawsuits while the US Supreme Court prepares to decide whether state attempts to regulate social media platforms such as Facebook, X and TikTok violate the Constitution. Public health concerns are cited in the Utah lawsuit. Research has shown that children who spend

Israel thanks New Delhi after 'India is with Israel' trends on social media

On its official account on X, managed by Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Digital Diplomacy team, Israel stated, "Thank you India."

Telegram bans 2,114 groups, channels related to child abuse on Oct 6

Mobile messaging platform Telegram has banned 2,114 groups and channels related to child abuse content, according to a Telegram channel 'Stop Child Abuse'. The instant messaging platform is one of three entities to which the government on Friday issued notices to remove child sexual abuse material in India. "2,114 groups and channels related to child abuse banned on October 6. Total this month: 10,312," the update on the channel said. The company did not share the break up of banned groups linked or having an impact on Indian jurisdiction. Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajiv Chandrasekhar had warned that if social media intermediaries do not act swiftly, their 'safe harbour' under section 79 of the IT Act would be withdrawn, implying that the platforms can be directly prosecuted under the applicable laws and rules even though the content may have not been uploaded by them. Telegram in response to the notice said it is always committed to upholding legal and ethical ...

X to test three tiers of premium service in the latest Musk overhaul

The premium plan, which currently costs $7.99 a month, would be split into Basic, Standard and Plus variations as part of the effort, the company told debt holders during the briefing Thursday

MS Dhoni's new vintage look sets social media on fire, check it out here

Dhoni's new haircut is setting the internet on fire. Fans are loving the vintage look of MSD and comparing the former captain with Telugu actor Mahesh Babu

Social media platforms considering QR codes, tokens to ascertain user age

Social media platforms are worried about losing users which include children, since children may only be able to use these platforms if parents give their consent

Upping WhatsApp's payload: How Meta is monetising users in India

Its might in India is at the forefront of Meta's drive to monetise messaging with payments

X partners with Paris Hilton for video push in bid to revamp platform

X will work with Hilton to create original video content on fashion, beauty, travel and other topics, the company announced Monday

China's new anti-espionage law sending a chill through foreign corporations

The law also empowers authorities with new surveillance powers. These include the ability to access people's emails or social media accounts on electronic devices

Social media has become 'weapon of mass distraction', says Bombay HC judge

Social media or mass media have become weapons of mass distraction, but there are no concerted efforts yet to tackle them, Justice Mahesh Sonak of the Goa bench of the Bombay High Court said on Saturday. Addressing the students of G R Kare College of Law in Margao town during a lecture series 'GRK-Law Talks', Justice Sonak also said that he prefers to remain "uninformed" about several issues by not reading or seeing the news, which he thinks is "better than being misinformed". "Today, we live in an age where we adore and glorify machines like computers and smartphones that think. But we are extremely suspicious or even wary of the human beings that attempt to think," he said. "Artificial intelligence has its own merits, but it would be a sad day and sad world if we were to mortgage our ability to think, our ability to make intelligent and, moreover, sensitive choices, to a machine or an algorithm, however intelligent it may be," Justice Sonak said. "We should not want to atrophy ou

Meta partnership: JioMart logs 7X growth in monthly orders via WhatsApp

JioMart has witnessed 7-time growth in monthly orders through WhatsApp compared to the same period last year, a release said on Friday outlining the success of the JioMart-Meta partnership in the domestic retail space. JioMart and WhatsApp which have marked one year of collaboration, said it has "proven to be one of the most successful partnerships in the domestic retail space". The partnership has enabled consumers to simply browse and shop for their household needs through WhatsApp chat services. "With the partnership with Meta, JioMart has witnessed 7x growth in monthly orders through WhatsApp compared to the same period last year. The user-friendly functionality of the platform has also enabled a 6X month-on-month growth in new customer conversion on JioMart-on-WhatsApp," according to the release. Last year, Jio Platforms partnered with Meta to offer JioMart-on-WhatsApp. "JioMart-on-WhatsApp experience is revolutionising the way millions of businesses across the country connec

Social media and private partnership: Looking at the changes at Isro

The stakes are high: the $400 bn global commercial space market is expected to be worth $1 trn by 2030, but at the moment India has only a 2% share - about $8 bn - which the govt wants to change

Chhattisgarh polls: Congress enlists social media influencers for campaign

The social media influencers will leverage social media platforms to inform the public about the achievements and work accomplished during the Congress's five-year rule in the state of Chhattisgarh

Threads to allow account deletion without wiping out linked Instagram ID

The lack of an account delete option on Threads without having to delete the Instagram account has drawn criticism from users since the launch of the social media platform

Regret Indonesia's decision to ban e-commerce sales on social media: TikTok

Chinese-owned app TikTok on Thursday said it regretted the Indonesian government's decision to ban e-commerce transactions on social media platforms, particularly the impact it would have on the millions of sellers who use TikTok Shop. But TikTok Indonesia said in a statement they will respect the regulations and laws that apply in Indonesia and will take a constructive path forward. We deeply regret the government's announcement, especially how it will impact the livelihoods of the six million sellers and nearly seven million affiliate creators who use TikTok Shop, said the statement sent to The Associated Press on Thursday. Indonesia banned goods transactions on social media platforms such as TikTok in a bid to protect small businesses from e-commerce competition, accusing them of predatory pricing. Indonesia's Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan on Monday announced the decision after a meeting with President Joko Widodo. The ban is to prevent the domination of the algorithm and preven

X CEO Yaccarino says Musk-owned platform could turn a profit next year

"The velocity of change and the scope of ambition at X really does not exist anywhere else," Yaccarino said

Major blow to TikTok, Indonesia bans e-commerce sales on social media

The move comes just three months after TikTok pledged to invest billion of dollars in Southeast Asia, mainly in Indonesia, over next few years in major push to build e-commerce platform TikTok Shop

Byju's rolls out new social media policy for employees amid layoffs

Any violation will be taken up by the company seriously and may result in appropriate disciplinary and legal action initiated against the employees, according to the internal company document

No recourse for user facing action by social media platform: Bombay HC

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday said it was troubled by the fact that the recently amended IT Rules to curb online fake news against the government offer no recourse to a person whose social media post has been removed or account suspended after being flagged by the proposed Fact Checking Unit (FCU). A division bench of Justices Gautam Patel and Neela Gokhale questioned where such a person would go when their post is unilaterally closed with no recourse available. It may or may not have a chilling effect but still needs to be considered, Justice Patel said. The bench was hearing arguments on a bunch of petitions challenging the amended Information Technology (IT) Rules. Stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra, the Editors Guild of India and the Association of Indian Magazines have filed petitions in the HC against the Rules, terming them arbitrary and unconstitutional and claiming that they would have a chilling effect on the fundamental rights of citizens. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta

Soon, Instagram's Threads to let users edit published posts: Details here

Unlike X, which offers this feature only to premium subscribers, the edit feature will be open to everybody on Instagram's Threads