Category: Social Media

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Social Media Technology USA

X to Pause Ad Sharing For Creators Using Bots to Earn More

Elon Musk.(photo:IANS/Twitter)

Elon Musk also reiterated that people are spamming the X platform to earn more ad money, as the social media platform cracks down on bots.

Elon Musk on Saturday threatened that advertisement revenue sharing will be paused for some creators “pending investigation into use of bots to spam likes, replies and direct messages (DMs).”

He also reiterated that people are spamming the X platform to earn more ad money, as the social media platform cracks down on bots.

In a post, the tech billionaire said that the point of creator payouts is to incentivise high-quality content on X.

“In some cases, we are seeing the opposite, where people are spamming the system to generate ad money. That is obviously not ok,” the X owner commented.

Musk said ad revenue sharing will be paused for such creators.

A follower reacted, saying “The goal could be to maximise legitimate, quality, accurate, informative and entertaining content.”

X pays creators on a regular basis as it struggles to tackle a surge of spam and porn bots on its platform.

According to Musk, people running huge bot operations are reducing the content quality to a great extent.

The ban on fake engagement refers to those who use bots to artificially inflate their engagement.

The social media platform started the exercise to remove bots earlier this month.

ALSO READ: Elon Musk Delays India Visit

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Social Media Tech Lite USA

WhatsApp services restored after global outage

Those attempting to access the app or its web version were met with an error message indicating the service was unavailable…reports Asian Lite News

WhatsApp and Instagram, both owned by Meta, have been restored after experiencing a worldwide outage.

WhatsApp and Instagram experienced a widespread outage on Wednesday around 11:45 pm, affecting numerous users worldwide.

Those attempting to access the app or its web version were met with an error message indicating the service was unavailable.

“We know some people are experiencing issues right now, we’re working on getting things back to 100% for everyone as quickly as possible,” said WhatsApp in a post on X.

Downdetector, a website monitoring service, recorded a surge in reports of WhatsApp and Instagram having problems during this time.

This is for the second time in 2024 that the Meta-owned platforms have faced an outage.

In March, Instagram, Facebook and Threads were down for several users, who complained of being logged out of their accounts. Some users mentioned being automatically logged out without the ability to log back in, and those utilising two-factor authentication faced difficulties receiving codes to finalise their log-ins. This problem had affected both the application and the website. (ANI)

ALSO READ-EC Directs Centre to Halt Viksit Bharat Messages on WhatsApp

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Social Media

Threads reaches more than 130 mn monthly users

Threads had a record-breaking launch, reaching 100 million registered users within its first five days last July. But the interest faded over time…reports Asian Lite News

Instagram Threads has reached 130 million monthly active users, up 30 million from the last quarter, the company has announced.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said during during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call that Threads is “growing steadily”.

“I’ll note that Threads now has more people actively using it today than it did during its initial launch peak. So that one’s I think on track to be a major success.,” he told analysts.

Threads had a record-breaking launch, reaching 100 million registered users within its first five days last July. But the interest faded over time.

Meta’s family of apps, which includes Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp, were used by 3.19 billion people daily in the fourth quarter, up from the 3.14 billion.

The Family monthly active people figure was 3.98 billion as of December 31, 2023, an increase of 6 per cent year-over-year.

Meta saw $40.1 billion in revenue in the quarter ending December 31. Net income was $14.02 billion. Revenue for the full-year 2023 was $134.90 billion.

“We had a good quarter as our community and business continue to grow,” said Zuckerberg. “We’ve made a lot of progress on our vision for advancing AI and the metaverse.”

Headcount was 67,317 as of December 31, 2023, a decrease of 22 per cent year-over-year.

ALSO READ-Meta faces new EU complaint over ‘pay for privacy’ consent

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Lite Blogs Social Media Tech Lite

Meta purged over 26mn bad pieces of content in India in Dec

On Instagram, the company received 19,750 reports through the Indian grievance mechanism…reports Asian Lite News

Meta said that it took down over 19.8 million pieces of content across 13 policies for Facebook and over 6.2 million pieces of content across 12 policies for Instagram in India in December 2023.

Between December 1-31, Facebook received 44,332 reports through the Indian grievance mechanism, and said that it provided tools for users to resolve their issues in 33,072 cases.

These include pre-established channels to report content for specific violations, self-remediation flows where they can download their data, avenues to address account hacked issues, etc, Meta said in its monthly report in compliance with the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

“Of the other 11,260 reports where specialised review was needed, we reviewed content as per our policies, and took action on 6,578 reports in total. The remaining 4,682 reports were reviewed but may not have been actioned,” Meta added.

On Instagram, the company received 19,750 reports through the Indian grievance mechanism.

“Of these, we provided tools for users to resolve their issues in 9,555 cases,” it said.

Of the other 10,195 reports where specialised review was needed, Meta reviewed content and took action on 6,028 reports in total. The remaining 4,167 reports were reviewed but may not have been actioned. Under the new IT Rules 2021, big digital and social media platforms, with more than 5 million users, have to publish monthly compliance reports.

“We measure the number of pieces of content (such as posts, photos, videos or comments) we take action on for going against our standards. Taking action could include removing a piece of content from Facebook or Instagram or covering photos or videos that may be disturbing to some audiences with a warning,” said Meta.

In the month of November, Meta took down over 18.3 million pieces of content across 13 policies for Facebook and over 4.7 million pieces of content across 12 policies for Instagram.

ALSO READ-Meta to let EU users unlink other social media accounts

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-Top News EU News Social Media

Meta to let EU users unlink other social media accounts

The changes mean that users in the EU will be able to use Meta’s services without their information being shared between them…reports Asian Lite News

To comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in the European Union (EU), Meta on Monday announced that the users will be able to unlink their Instagram and Facebook accounts as well as other services.

The Mark Zuckerberg-run company said that it is offering more choices to people using Instagram and Facebook in the EU, European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland about how they can use its services and features, as the DMA enters into force in March.

The changes mean that users in the EU will be able to use Meta’s services without their information being shared between them.

People who have already chosen to connect their Instagram and Facebook accounts will be able to continue to connect their accounts so that their information will be used across their Instagram and Facebook accounts.

“They can also manage their Instagram and Facebook accounts separately so that their information is no longer used across accounts,” said Tim Lamb, Director, Competition and Regulatory, Meta.

People using Facebook Messenger can choose whether they wish to continue using Facebook Messenger with their Facebook account, or if they would prefer to create a stand-alone new Messenger account.

People who choose to create a new Messenger account without their Facebook information will be able to use Messenger’s core service offering such as private messaging and chat, voice and video calling, Lamb informed.

Those using Facebook Marketplace can choose between a Marketplace experience that uses their Facebook information or not.

“For people who choose to use their Facebook information for their Marketplace experience, the current Marketplace experience will remain. People who choose not to use their Facebook information for their Marketplace experience will still be able to browse listings and to buy and sell items,” the company informed.

Over the next few weeks, people will receive notifications that will inform them about their ability to choose whether they would like to share information between Meta services.

People who play games on Facebook can choose between a gaming experience that uses their Facebook information or an experience without their Facebook information.

“People in the EU, EEA and Switzerland also have the ability to use Instagram and Facebook for free with ads, or subscribe to stop seeing ads,” said the company.

If people subscribe to stop seeing ads, their information will not be used for ads. This choice rolled out in November last year.

The DMA Act seeks to promote contestability and fairness in digital markets. “We are committed to continue working hard to ensure that Meta’s products in the EU comply with the DMA and deliver value to people,” said the company.

ALSO READ-EU official visits Poland to discuss rule of law

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-Top News Social Media Tech Lite

X fixes bug that labelled legit posts as ‘sensitive media’

Musk also said that an “X spam/scam bot accidentally flagged many legitimate accounts” which was being fixed by the company…reports Asian Lite News

Elon Musk-run X on Monday said it has fixed a bug that caused the platform to incorrectly label numerous posts as ‘Sensitive Media’.

According to the company, the vulnerability in its system flagged several genuine accounts.

“A bug in our system caused X to incorrectly label numerous posts as Sensitive Media,” the company posted.

“We’ve fixed the underlying issue and are now working to remove labels from impacted posts, it added.

Musk also said that an “X spam/scam bot accidentally flagged many legitimate accounts” which was being fixed by the company.

A follower reacted, saying that Musk can also fix the problem with the porn bots.

“Porn accounts should be flagged and there should be some kind of system where as a user, you can have in your settings to allow/not allow these flagged accounts to follow, repost or comment on a post,” the follower posted.

Another user commented: “Community Notes has also been hijacked. Fix that as well”.

Last October, the world’s richest man said that in order to tackle bots, new X users will need to pay $1 per year to post on the platform, although they can read other posts for free.

The company rolled out the test of this new programme in New Zealand and the Philippines, before it launches it globally.

X will require new users in New Zealand and the Philippines to pay $1 to create accounts. “Read for free, but $1/year to write. It’s the only way to fight bots without blocking real users,” Musk had posted. “This won’t stop bots completely, but it will be 1000X harder to manipulate the platform,” he added.

ALSO READ-EU Commissioner Warns Twitter over Dissemination of Illegal Content

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Social Media

Zuckerberg to depose in Texas ‘facial recognition’ lawsuit

The lawsuit alleges that Meta has violated state laws regarding the collection of biometric data and engaged in deceptive trade practices, the report noted…reports Asian Lite News

A US judge has ruled that Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg must participate in a deposition as part of an ongoing lawsuit in Texas concerning the company’s face recognition technology.

According to a ruling made by Justice Jeff Rambin on Tuesday, the state court has rejected Meta’s recent appeal “seeking relief from an order compelling the oral deposition” of Zuckerberg at an undisclosed date, reports CNBC.

In February 20222, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton had filed the suit, saying that Meta has been “capturing and using the biometric data of millions of Texans without properly obtaining their informed consent to do so”.

He also held that Meta violated the state’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act by “failing to disclose information — including the fact that it collects biometric identifiers — with the intent to induce Facebook users in Texas into using Facebook, which such users would not have done had the information been disclosed”.

According to the latest ruling, the state of Texas has claimed that Zuckerberg possesses “unique personal knowledge of discoverable information” that is pertinent to its lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges that Meta has violated state laws regarding the collection of biometric data and engaged in deceptive trade practices, the report noted.

In 2020, Meta settled a $650 million class action lawsuit in Illinois over similar violations to the state’s biometric privacy law.

In late 2021, the tech giant ceased its use of the technology.

Meanwhile, privacy rights advocacy group noyb has filed a new complaint against Meta, alleging that the social media platform unlawfully ignores the users’ right to easily withdraw consent and asks them to pay.

Since the beginning of November, Instagram and Facebook users who don’t want to be tracked have to pay a “privacy fee” of up to 251.88 euros per year.

ALSO READ-Zuckerberg building $100 mn top-secret property with a bunker

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Social Media

WhatsApp set to introduce new Channel Alerts feature

The ‘channel alerts’ function aims to improve the channel managers’ overall experience…reports Asian Lite News

Meta-owned WhatsApp is all set to introduce new features for Android users that allow users to search messages by date, access hidden navigation labels, and receive channel alerts.

WhatsApp has introduced the new Channel Alerts feature with the WhatsApp Beta for Android 2.23.26.6 update and will be rolling it out to all users in the coming days, according to the Mashable website.

According to a report from WABetaInfo, WhatsApp is rolling out a feature to search messages by date, channel alerts, and hidden navigation labels, and they are available to some beta testers.

The new features are currently accessible to a select group of beta testers, with plans to gradually expand availability to additional users in the near future, as per the WABetaInfo report.

The ‘channel alerts’ function aims to improve the channel managers’ overall experience. Provided that administrators are provided with up-to-date information about channel suspensions, any problems can be resolved quickly.

Administrators can also use this feature to send a direct WhatsApp request for the restoration of their channels. According to the report, channel owners are advised to access the “channel alerts” option in the channel info screen to ensure compliance and identify any potential violations, as quoted by Mashable website.

The addition of channel alerts gives the platform an additional level of transparency.

Moreover, the communication platform is introducing two new capabilities following the installation of the most recent app update. These enhancements include an automatic hiding of navigation labels and the top app bar while scrolling down the screen, as well as the ability to search messages by date. The latter feature will provide users with an efficient and convenient method to navigate their chat history. This functionality will assist in retrieving specific messages from a particular date, ultimately saving users valuable time, as stated in the report.

An additional feature added to WhatsApp is the ability to transmit voice messages that can only be heard once before disappearing. Similar to the ‘View Once’ option for images and videos, this feature further protects the privacy of your messages and was added in 2021. (ANI)

ALSO READ-WhatsApp to roll out automatic album feature for channels

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Social Media Tech Lite USA

Google agrees to pay $700 mn in Play Store dispute settlement

In September, a class action lawsuit was filed against Google by US states and consumers. The lawsuit alleged that Google has a monopoly over app distribution on Android through its Play Store…reports Asian Lite News

Google has agreed to pay $700 million to the US consumers and states in a settlement over Play Store reached in September.

The company will pay $630 million to consumers and $70 to a fund used by states.

“Google will pay $630 million into a settlement fund to be distributed for the benefit of consumers according to a Court-approved plan and $70 million into a fund that will be used by the states,” the tech giant said in a blogpost on Monday.

In September, a class action lawsuit was filed against Google by US states and consumers. The lawsuit alleged that Google has a monopoly over app distribution on Android through its Play Store.

“This settlement builds on Android’s choice and flexibility, maintains strong security protections, and retains Google’s ability to compete with other OS makers, and invest in the Android ecosystem for users and developers. We’re pleased to resolve our case with the states and move forward on a settlement,” Google said.

This comes after Fortnite maker Epic Games won its antitrust battle with Google in a landmark case that went on for three years.

The unanimous verdict by a US jury wraps up the legal battle between the tech companies. The jury found that Google turned its Play Store and Google Play Billing service into an illegal monopoly, reports The Verge.

Epic filed its lawsuit against Google in 2020, alleging that Google Play Store practices violated US antitrust laws.

ALSO READ-Google to end ‘geofence warrant’ requests for users’ location

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Social Media Tech Lite

Zuckerberg building $100 mn top-secret property with a bunker

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. (File Photo: IANS)

The mansion on the Hawaiian island of Kauai includes a sprawling, 5,000-square-foot bunker that has its own source of power, the report mentioned…reports Asian Lite News

Meta Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly building a top-secret $100 million mansion in Hawaii that has a huge underground bunker.

The scale of the roughly 1,400-acre compound is staggering and according to public documents obtained by Wired, the compound will consist of more than a dozen buildings, featuring 30 bedrooms and 30 bathrooms.

The mansion on the Hawaiian island of Kauai includes a sprawling, 5,000-square-foot bunker that has its own source of power, the report mentioned.

A wooded area will be decked out with 11 treehouses, connected by rope bridges. The work on the compound is shrouded in secrecy and if someone reveals the plan to the media at the site, he or she stands to get fired immediately.

“It’s a fight club. We don’t talk about fight clubs,” a former contractor was quoted as saying. “Nobody working on this project is allowed to talk about what they’re building… Different construction crews within the site are assigned to separate projects and workers are forbidden from speaking with other crews about their work,” the report mentioned.

Known as Koolau Ranch, Zuckerberg’s property includes a 5,000-square-foot underground shelter and has its own energy and food supplies. “Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan continue to build one of the most expensive properties in the world,” the report said.

According to plans, the compound is centred around two mansions with a total floor area comparable to a professional football field (57,000 square feet), which contain multiple elevators, offices, conference rooms, and an industrial-sized kitchen.

“The scale of the project suggests that it will be more than a personal vacation home — Zuckerberg has already hosted two corporate events at the compound,” according to the report.

According to sources, the compound will be self-sufficient, with its own water tank, 55 feet in diameter and 18 feet tall — along with a pump system. “A variety of food is already produced across its 1,400 acres through ranching and agriculture,” the report claimed.

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