Social

A former Twitter security chief has alleged in a complaint with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DoJ), that the Indian government compelled the microblogging service to place a government agent on its staff, according to a report. The security expert has also alleged that Twitter

From a “nuclear explosion” in the country to North Korea sending troops to Ayodhya, the 102 YouTube channels banned by the government were known to routinely spread disinformation about India to its lakhs of subscribers, and were “monetising fake news”, officials have said. The government started the crackdown against such YouTube channels for the first

Mumbai Police is investigating a WhatsApp message warning of a “26/11-like” terror attack in the city received on the WhatsApp number of the Mumbai Police Traffic Control from a Pakistan-based number police sources said on Saturday. The message said that six people will execute the attack in India. The Mumbai Police has initiated a probe

Meta CEO has shared on Facebook that the company will soon release “major updates” to Horizon Worlds. The executive also said that the avatar graphics will also be updated soon. The CEO said that he will be sharing more details at company’s Connect event later. In the post, the executive acknowledged that the image of

Russia’s state communications regulator said on Friday it was taking punitive measures against five foreign IT companies for violating online content laws, which could require search engines to include a disclaimer about the violations. The regulator, Roskomnadzor, said it was imposing measures against ByteDance’s TikTok, Telegram messaging service, Zoom Video Communications, chat tool Discord and Pinterest.

Vietnam’s government has ordered technology firms to store their users’ data locally and set up local offices, its latest move to tighten cybersecurity rules. The new rules, issued in a decree on Wednesday, will apply to social media companies like Alphabet’s Google and Meta’s Facebook, and telecommunications operators, and will take effect on October 1.

Social media companies are offering few specifics as they share their plans for safeguarding the US midterm elections. Platforms like Facebook and Twitter are generally staying the course from the 2020 voting season, which was marred by conspiracies and culminated in the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol. Video app TikTok, which has soared in popularity since the

Social media platforms have had some bad press in recent times, largely prompted by the vast extent of their data collection. Now Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has upped the ante. Not content with following every move you make on its apps, Meta has reportedly devised a way to also know everything

China’s top internet watchdog said on Friday that tech giants such as Tencent and Alibaba have submitted details of algorithms used in some of their products, complying with a drive by authorities to tighten oversight of platform algorithms. The rules are part of a broad regulatory crackdown by Beijing against its once free-wheeling technology sector.

An armed man who fled after attempting to breach an FBI office in Ohio appears to have posted a “call to arms” on Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform after federal agents searched the ex-president’s home, US media reported Friday. An account bearing the name of 42-year-old suspect Ricky Shiffer, identified by Ohio authorities on Friday,

Alphabet’s YouTube is planning to launch an online store for streaming video services, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. The company has renewed talks with entertainment companies about participating in the platform, which it is referring to internally as a “channel store”, the report said, citing people close to the recent discussions. The platform

WhatsApp is reportedly working on a new feature that would give more control and power to group admins. The Meta-owned instant messaging app could soon add a new option called ‘Approve new participants’ that will allow group admins to determine who can join the group. It would make it easier for group admins to ensure

Facebook plans to test a new secure storage feature for end-to-end encrypted chats on Messenger, the company announced on Thursday. Additionally, the company has also revealed new tests and updates to end-to-end-encrypted chats on Messenger and Instagram that will be rolled out over the coming weeks. Meta, formerly known as Facebook, said that with the

Elon Musk sold $6.9 billion (roughly Rs. 54,880 crore) of his shares in Tesla Inc. the billionaire’s biggest sale on record, saying he needed cash in case he is forced to go ahead with his aborted deal to buy Twitter. “In the (hopefully unlikely) event that Twitter forces this deal to close *and* some equity partners don’t

Snap, owner of the popular messaging app Snapchat, rolled out its first parental control tools on Tuesday, which will allow parents to see who their teens are talking to, but not the substance of their conversations. The new feature called Family Center is launching at a time when social media companies have been criticised over

WhatsApp was recently spotted working on an option to hide the online status of users. Now, the meta-owned instant messaging service is reportedly working on a new privacy-focused feature that allows users to hide their phone numbers from certain sub-groups of a community on its Android app. The feature named phone number sharing has been

WhatsApp is reportedly adding a new security feature to let people protect their accounts from potential scammers. According to a feature tracker, the feature is called Login Approval, and is currently under development. This will build on the two-step verification feature that the instant messaging platform already offers. With this feature, users can receive alerts

Photo and video sharing platform Instagram might have halted its controversial redesign, but that doesn’t mean the company plans to stop focusing on full-screen content. During the weekly Ask Me Anything, CEO Adam Mosseri confirmed that Instagram will begin testing ultra-tall 9:16 photos “in a week or two.” “You can have tall videos, but you

Nigeria asked Google to block the use of YouTube channels and livestreams by banned groups and terrorist organisations in the country, Information Minister Lai Mohammed said on Thursday. Nigeria has been exploring ways to regulate social media usage in the country, Africa’s most populous. The country is home to millions of Internet users and platforms

Elon Musk’s answer to Twitter’s lawsuit over his attempt to back out of a $44 billion (roughly Rs. 3,37,465 crore) deal to buy the social media company will be made public by Friday evening at the latest, a judge ruled Wednesday. Attorneys for Musk wanted to file a public version of their answer and counterclaims

Twitter is attempting to find evidence that Elon Musk tried to torpedo the financing of his $44 billion (roughly Rs. 3,46,430 crore) takeover deal for the social media company while also looking into his motivation for backing out of the deal, legal experts said. Twitter sent dozens of civil subpoenas this week to global banks such as units

WhatsApp is working on a feature that will let group admins delete messages for everyone, as per a beta update for WhatsApp for Android. This ability of admins will essentially help them keep the group better moderated. It is being rolled out to a handful of testers. The second feature that the instant-messaging app is

Kenya’s ethnic cohesion watchdog has given Meta’s Facebook seven days to tackle hate speech and incitement on the platform relating to next month’s election, failing which its operations will be suspended. East Africa’s biggest economy is in the throes of campaigning ahead of presidential, legislative and local authorities elections on August 9. Advocacy group Global Witness

Indonesia has blocked search engine website Yahoo, payments firm Paypal, and several gaming websites due to failure to comply with licensing rules, an official said on Saturday, sparking a backlash on social media. Registration is required under rules released in late November 2020 and will give authorities broad powers to compel platforms to disclose data

Brazilian prosecutors on Friday called on messaging platform WhatsApp to delay the launch in Brazil of its new feature called Communities until January to avoid the spread of fake news during and immediately after the country’s election in October. The federal prosecutors said the expanded reach of the new tool comes “at a time when

Instagram will pause features that users have campaigned against and complained make the social network too much like TikTok, according to a report in the Platformer tech newsletter Thursday. Celebrity sisters Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner were some of the most vocal users to have posted messages on social media this week calling for the

US market regulators on Wednesday went to court in an effort to stop Facebook-owner Meta from buying virtual reality fitness app maker Within, a potential blow to the tech giant’s metaverse ambitions. In a complaint filed in federal court, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) argued Meta is trying to illegally expand its virtual reality empire with

Instagram head Adam Mosseri on Tuesday responded to criticism of the platform’s new TikTok-style design for videos, saying that the layout was “not yet good,” and the company would have to “get it to a good place if we’re going to ship it” to all Instagram users. The image and video sharing service, which has

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) Monday told the Delhi High Court that WhatsApp’s updated privacy policy of 2021 has not been withdrawn and its probe concerning the policy should be allowed to proceed. The CCI also said the scope of its inquiry has no overlap with the issue of an alleged infringement of user

Twitter reported disappointing second-quarter sales on Friday, another blow to a company that is already fighting a high-profile legal battle with Elon Musk over the fate of the social network. Revenue fell 1 percent in the quarter from a year earlier, its first annual decline since the middle of the pandemic in 2020. Sales totaled