In a preliminary injunction on Thursday, Judge Donald Molloy said first-of-its-kind ban violates free speech rights of users
A US judge has blocked Montana’s first-of-its kind state ban on the use of short-video sharing app TikTok from taking effect on 1 January, saying it violated the free speech rights of users.
In a preliminary injunction on Thursday, US district judge Donald Molloy said the law “oversteps state power and infringes on the constitutional rights of users”.
Continue reading...Company failed to respond to a complaint about the removal of a function to report misinformation during the voice referendum
X [formerly know as Twitter] has been kicked out of Australia’s voluntary misinformation and disinformation code, after failing to respond to a complaint about shutting down channels for users to report misinformation, during the voice to parliament referendum.
The industry association, the Digital Industry Group (Digi), announced on Monday that its disinformation and misinformation independent complaints subcommittee found X had “committed a serious breach of the code and has refused to cooperate with Digi”.
Continue reading...Authorities step up checks and ‘name and shame’ content creators who break rules in move to regulate industry
When Marie Lopez started recording YouTube videos of makeup and hair tutorials in her bedroom in Lyon aged 16, she “ate, slept and breathed” social media.
By 21, she had an online community of millions and was one of the most watched French women on YouTube, posting about topics from bullying and acne to ecology. Now 28, under the name EnjoyPhoenix she uploads content from her life so many times a day that she is scared to count her working hours, aware that part of success is to “reveal more and more” of your private life.
Continue reading...Mahsa Yazdani convicted of blasphemy and ‘insulting supreme leader’ as Iran regime targets families of those killed in protests
A mother in Iran, whose son was reportedly killed after being shot repeatedly at close range by security forces, has been sentenced to 13 years in prison by an Iranian court after she demanded justice for her child on social media.
Mahsa Yazdani, whose 20-year-old son Mohammad Javad Zahedi was killed at an anti-regime protest in September 2022, was convicted on charges of blasphemy, incitement, insulting the supreme leader, and spreading anti-regime propaganda, according to human rights groups and family members. They say she will serve the first five years with no chance of parole.
Continue reading...While women’s groups on the platform support and warn others, men’s groups feature mostly derogatory comments
Thousands of Australian men are in private Facebook groups that are “cesspits” of racism, misogyny, doxing, slut-shaming and fat-shaming.
Some of them appear to be set up in response to women’s groups that are dedicated to exposing cheaters. Those sites, hundreds of which have sprung up around the world and in many parts of Australia, also “out” men for violence and abuse.
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Continue reading...Complaint filed in California accuses company of knowingly inducing children and teenagers into addictive social media use
The attorneys general of dozens of US states are suing Instagram and its parent company Meta over their impact on young users, accusing them of contributing to a youth mental health crisis through the addictive nature of their social media platforms.
Filed in federal court in Oakland, California, on Tuesday, the lawsuit claims Meta, which also operates Facebook, has repeatedly misled the public about the substantial dangers of its platforms and knowingly induced young children and teenagers into addictive and compulsive social media use.
Continue reading...Case of footage from set of Palestinian film being repurposed to make false claims is far from one-off
The video shows a young boy in a black T-shirt apparently lying in a pool of blood on the ground. Above him is a camera, with a man shouting directions near him. Two men in kippahs, the Jewish skull caps, and men in green military fatigues similar to Israel Defence Forces (IDF) uniforms are gathered around him.
The clip has been viewed about 2m times on X, formerly known as Twitter. It was shared by a verified user with the caption: “Video showing Israel attempting to create fake footage of deaths.”
Continue reading...UK minister calls urgent meeting to discuss coverage as X comes under scrutiny over disinformation claims
The UK technology secretary has summoned social media executives to demand the removal of violent content from their platforms related to the Hamas attack on Israel.
Michelle Donelan called the meeting as the European Union criticised Elon Musk’s X platform about coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict on its platform including fake news and the use of repurposed historical footage.
Continue reading...Elon Musk endorsed users who have posted ‘wrong and unverifiable things’ while paid-for accounts spread fake news
X’s handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict has come under scrutiny after a “deluge” of fake posts and Elon Musk’s recommendation of war coverage from accounts that have made false claims or antisemitic comments.
The owner of X, formerly Twitter, recommended two accounts on Sunday. He wrote: “For following the war in real-time, @WarMonitors and @sentdefender are good. It is also worth following direct sources on the ground. Please add interesting options in the replies below.”
Continue reading...Series with 370m views echoes Chinese state media calls for return of cultural relics
A viral series on the Chinese version of TikTok about a jade teapot that turns into a woman and escapes from the British Museum is to be adapted into an animated film.
The plot of Escape from the British Museum, a series made by two social media influencers, echoes Chinese state media calls for the British government to make amends for “historical sins” and return Chinese cultural relics.
Continue reading...He may no longer be a fixture on British TV and radio, but he has a profitable online media empire. Can he hang on to it?
During the 2000s Russell Brand was ubiquitous in the British media, adopting a scattergun approach that saw him host his own BBC Radio 2 show, present Big Brother spinoff shows, work the chatshow circuit, tour his live comedy act, present documentaries, write a bestselling autobiography and even football blogposts for the Guardian, before heading off to Hollywood to briefly achieve global fame.
Nowadays he has a much smaller but still profitable media empire of his own, built on a set of online platforms that barely existed when he was at the peak of his fame. As a result he retains his direct access to his loyal audience, unlike in a previous era where he could be taken off air by an employer pending an investigation into allegations of sexual assault and rape – which Brand has denied.
Continue reading...Irish data regulator says platform put 13- to 17-year-old users’ accounts on default public setting, among other breaches
TikTok has been fined €345m (£296m) for breaking EU data law in its handling of children’s accounts, including failing to shield underage users’ content from public view.
The Irish data watchdog, which regulates TikTok across the EU, said the Chinese-owned video app had committed multiple breaches of GDPR rules.
Continue reading...Shop owners and residents are not taking kindly to ‘flash crowds’ who come to pose and eat fast food in the city’s quaint tangle of streets such as De 9 Straatjes
It is 3.30pm on a Friday and 28-year-old German Lisa Wulff is in a half-hour queue for bubble tea and “toasts” at Amsterdam’s Chun cafe.
“I’ve seen it on social media, and it looks good,” she says. “My generation is more on Instagram, but I have a younger sister, so I saw it on TikTok.”
Continue reading...Style featuring pastel makeup and modest clothing has taken off, but many are objecting to the ethos behind it
A social media debate has erupted in China over a trend among some women to dress and behave in a way that’s “good for marriage”, with detractors saying it discourages independence.
China, like much of east Asia, is battling with a demographic crisis and young people increasingly choose to forgo marriage and children. Last year China officially recorded its first decline in population for more than 60 years.
Continue reading...Architect of the Uluru statement criticises some media outlets for highlighting misinformation being shared on social media platforms
Key yes campaigner and architect of the Uluru statement from the heart, Prof Megan Davis, has accused the no campaign of relying on Trumpian disinformation, conceding it has made the job of persuading Australians more difficult.
During an event to launch a new television ad featuring John Farnham’s song, You’re the Voice, Davis also criticised some media outlets for highlighting disinformation being shared on social media platforms, particularly Facebook.
Continue reading...Company says users targeted in Australia, UK, US and elsewhere by political spam network across more than 50 platforms
Meta shut down close to 9,000 Facebook and Instagram accounts, groups and pages associated with a Chinese political spam network that had targeted users in Australia and other parts of the world, the company has revealed.
Meta began investigating in 2019 and its research aligned with several research groups, including the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (Aspi), who coined the term Spamouflage.
Continue reading...‘Twitter killer’ social media platform experienced initial boom in sign-ups when it launched in July
Meta has launched a web version of its “Twitter killer” social media platform Threads that can be used without an app, as it attempts to revive itself after a recent drop in usage.
The parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp launched the microblogging site in July, widely understood as an alternative for users disillusioned with Elon Musk-owned Twitter, which has since rebranded as X.
Continue reading...Analysis by Human Rights Watch finds the country’s major platforms ‘do not routinely address’ pervasive online racism
Chinese social media is littered with racist videos, particularly content that mocks black people or portrays them through offensive racial stereotypes, research by Human Rights Watch (HRW) has found.
The human rights watchdog analysed hundreds of videos posted on Chinese social media since 2021 and found that major platforms, including Bilibili, Douyin, Kuaishou, Weibo and Xiaohongshu, “do not routinely address racist content”.
Continue reading...Social media app, launched in the wake of Twitter chaos, recorded 576,000 active users in August, down 79% from 2.3 million in July
The daily usage of Threads, Meta’s answer to Twitter, continues to slump after a strong start in its first weeks of existence.
Engagement with the social media app is down 79% from a high of 2.3m active users in early July to 576,000 as of 7 August, according to Similarweb, a digital intelligence platform.
Continue reading...Detention of public health expert Mohammed Alhajji surprised many observers as he was seen as apolitical
A prominent Saudi scholar and Snapchat influencer has been arrested by Saudi authorities in what experts said was evidence of the kingdom’s extreme crackdown on social media users.
The arrest of Mohammed Alhajji, a public health expert who completed his dissertation in the US, follows the disappearance and recent arrests of other prominent influencers for “crimes” that include the perceived criticism of the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, and support for women’s rights.
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