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Meta offers immigration help to H-1B visa holders

H-1B visa holders can stay and work in the US for a period of three years, extended by another three years…reports Asian Lite News

As large-scale layoffs begin at Facebook’s parent company Meta, employees on work visas such as H-1Bs are now faced with uncertainty over their immigration status, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledging “this is especially difficult if you’re here on a visa” and offering support to those impacted.

The US-based technology companies hire a large amount of H-1B workers, the majority of whom come from countries such as India.

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.

H-1B visa holders can stay and work in the US for a period of three years, extended by another three years.

They are then required to leave the country unless their employee sponsors them for permanent residency, known as the Green Card, the backlog for which runs into decades. If H-1B visa holders lose their jobs, they only have a “grace period” of 60 days to find an employee willing to sponsor their H-1B, failing which they will be required to leave the US.

A Washington-based reporter Patrick Thibodeau wrote on Twitter Monday that “Facebook layoffs may hit H-1B workers hard. Facebook is classified as H-1B “dependent,” meaning 15 per cent or more of its workforce is on the visa. When visa holders lose their job, they may have to leave the US if they don’t quickly find a new employer sponsor.” Other support measures announced by Meta include severance pay for 16 weeks of base pay plus two additional weeks for every year of service, with no cap; coverage of healthcare cost for people and their families for six months and three months of career support with an external vendor, including early access to unpublished job leads.

He said outside the US, support will be similar, and the company will follow up soon with separate processes that take into account local employment laws.

ALSO READ-Massive global Meta layoffs hit India teams

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-Top News Social Media USA

‘Unfortunately No Choice’: Musk Justifies Twitter Bloodbath

Defending his decision over layoff of Twitter employees, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that the micro-blogging site was losing more than USD 4 million per day.

Taking to Twitter, Elon Musk said, “Regarding Twitter’s reduction in force, unfortunately, there is no choice when the company is losing over USD 4M/day. Everyone exited was offered 3 months of severance, which is 50% more than legally required.”

“Again, to be crystal clear, Twitter’s strong commitment to content moderation remains absolutely unchanged. In fact, we have actually seen hateful speech at times this week decline *below* our prior norms, contrary to what you may read in the press, he added.

On Friday, as per an unsigned internal memo seen by The Verge, Twitter employees were notified in an email that the layoffs were set to begin. Musk is expected to cut roughly half of Twitter’s roughly 7,500-person workforce.

The entrepreneur’s purchase of Twitter for USD 44 billion was completed last week and on that same day, he fired several of the company’s top leaders, including the chief executive Parag Agrawal.

Musk had already indicated that he would make job cuts at Twitter, telling employees at a town-hall meeting this summer that there needs to be “a rationalization of headcount” at the social network.

Meanwhile, talking about the new changes in the micro-blogging site, Musk said in a tweet, “Again, to be crystal clear, Twitter’s strong commitment to content moderation remains absolutely unchanged. In fact, we have actually seen hateful speech at times this week decline *below* our prior norms, contrary to what you may read in the press.”

Earlier, Elon Musk, who closed the USD 44 billion twitter acquisition deal and took control of the micro-blogging platform, blamed “activist groups pressuring advertisers” for a “massive drop in revenue” as the company

“Twitter has had a massive drop in revenue, due to activist groups pressuring advertisers, even though nothing has changed with content moderation and we did everything we could to appease the activists. Extremely messed up! They’re trying to destroy free speech in America,” Musk said in a tweet.

The billionaire owner of Tesla tweeted that “activists” raising concerns about how Twitter is moderated are “trying to destroy free speech in America”. (ANI)

ALSO READ: Twitter sued over Musk’s mass layoffs

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-Top News Social Media

Twitter sued over Musk’s mass layoffs

The plaintiffs asked the court to declare that Twitter has violated the federal and California WARN Acts and “certify the case as a class action suit”…reports Asian Lite News

lon Musk-run Twitter has been sued in the US for mass lay offs without giving employees advanced written notice, the media reported on Friday.

The lawsuit has been filed in the US District Court in the Northern District of California, in violation of worker protection laws including the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act as well as the California WARN Act, both of which require 60 days of advance notice, reports TechCrunch.

The plaintiffs said they were “terminated on November 3 by being locked out of their accounts”.

“Twitter is also enacting widespread layoffs across its workforce today, on Nov. 4, 2022, it stated, adding that California’s Employment Development Department had not received a notice related to the event,” they said.

The plaintiffs asked the court to declare that Twitter has violated the federal and California WARN Acts and “certify the case as a class action suit”.

The lawsuit is seeking “a range of relief, including compensatory damages (including wages owed), as well as declaratory relief, pre- and post-judgment interest, plus other attorneys’ fees and costs”.

Under Twitter’s takeover deal terms, the laid-off employees should receive 60 days of salary and the cash value of the stock.

Musk has previously laid off employees without any proper notice at Tesla, and is facing a class-action lawsuit.

Musk admits ‘revenue drop’

Elon Musk on Friday said that Twitter has seen a massive drop in revenue as activist groups are putting undue pressure on its advertisers.

In a tweet, the new Twitter CEO who is firing at least half of its workforce globally, including in India, said these activist groups are destroying free speech.

“Twitter has had a massive drop in revenue, due to activist groups pressuring advertisers, even though nothing has changed with content moderation and we did everything we could to appease the activists,” Musk said in a tweet.

“Extremely messed up! They’re trying to destroy free speech in America,” he added.

The company lost $270 million in the April-June period after revenue slipped 1 per cent to $1.18 billion, reflecting advertising industry headwinds.

The number of daily active users rose 16.6 per cent to 237.8 million compared with the same period a year before.

Advertising revenue was $1.08 billion while subscription and other revenue totalled $101 million, a decrease of 27 per cent year-over-year,

In 2021, the company made a revenue of $5.07 billion.

Meanwhile, Twitter notified employees that it will be “reducing its global workforce” on Friday, as its new CEO aims to cut roughly half of its 7,600-strong workforce.

ALSO READ-Musk’s Twitter begins layoffs

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India News Social Media

WhatsApp bans 26 lakh bad accounts in India

Under the upgraded IT Rules 2021, major digital and social media platforms, with in excess of five million users, have to publish monthly compliance reports…reports Asian Lite News

Meta-owned WhatsApp on Tuesday said it banned over 26 lakh accounts in India in the month of September in compliance with the new IT Rules, 2021, which are now being amended to put more responsibilities on social media platforms.

The messaging platform, which has nearly 500 million users (according to third-party data) in the country, received 666 complaint reports in September in India, and the records “actioned” were 23.

“In accordance with the IT Rules 2021, we’ve published our report for the month of September 2022. This user-safety report contains details of the user complaints received and the corresponding action taken by WhatsApp, as well as WhatsApp’s own preventive actions to combat abuse on our platform,” a company spokesperson said in a statement.

The platform banned over 23 lakh bad accounts in India in August.

Under the upgraded IT Rules 2021, major digital and social media platforms, with in excess of five million users, have to publish monthly compliance reports.

Meanwhile, in a major push towards an open, safe, trusted and accountable Internet, the Ministry of Electronics and IT has notified some amendments aimed at protecting the rights of “Digital Nagriks”.

Currently, social media intermediaries are only required to inform users about not uploading certain categories of harmful/unlawful content.

The amendments impose a legal obligation on intermediaries to take reasonable efforts to prevent users from uploading such content.

Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that protection of constitutional rights of the Indian citizens is a must.

The amendments were notified after the Ministry followed an exhaustive public consultation process involving all stakeholders.

The new provisions will ensure that the intermediary’s obligation is not a mere formality.

Snapchat AR creator community grows 60% in India

Snapchat on Tuesday said that its augmented reality (AR) creator community in India grew by 60 per cent this year, riding on its successful localisation strategy piloted in the country.

Since its launch in India, time spent on Spotlight by the Indian Snapchatter community has increased by 175 per cent (YOY).

Discover, Snap’s content platform featuring selected partners, had over 140 million Indian Snapchatters watching a show in 2022, while local channels publishing premium content on Discover increased by 150 per cent (YOY), said the company.

Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, said in a statement that the localisation strategy has been the key in expanding cultural moments by adding more regional festivals, upskilling the Indian youth in AR to develop highly active and creative local creator communities, and has gone on to become a roadmap adopted by other global Snap markets.

“This year, to celebrate the diversity and festive spirit in India, Snap collaborated with Indian lens creators to introduce AR Lenses for over 75 local festivals and rolled out over 500 hyperlocal geofilters across cities to help Snapchatters engage with their communities at a hyper-local level,” said the company.

These creators are now active users of Lens Studio, Snap’s free, desktop application designed to help artists, designers, and developers build AR experiences

To drive AR skilling among the Indian youth, Snap partnered with Atal Innovation Mission and NITI Aayog to help reach more than 8,000 government schools in India and train over 12,000 teachers educating millions of students across the country with AR, over a two-year time frame, said the company.

ALSO READ-Indian cyber agency warns WhatsApp users of critical bugs

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Health Social Media UK News

Influencers Support Self Care Sundays

Self Care Sundays encouraged to tackle anxiety as new research reveals 6 in 10 South Asians worry about the week ahead South Asian influencers and mental health advocates back new better health – every mind matters campaign calling on the community to be kind to their minds

Despite Sunday being the traditional day of rest and recreation for most, as the weekend draws to a close, many begin to worry about the week ahead with lack of sleep (57%), juggling family life (57%) and a looming to-do list (54%) reported as the top causes. New research released this week reveals almost 6 in 10 South Asians regularly experience anxiety (57%).

For many people around the country, a typical weekend ends with worry as thoughts turn to the week ahead; with Google searches around sadness spiking on a Sunday as people turn to the internet for help. Searches for ‘trouble sleeping’ also peak on a Monday, reflecting the nation’s struggle to unwind as the weekend draws to a close. In fact, searches for anxiety have increased 170% in the last 10 years.

Leading South Asian influencers and mental health advocates, including Parle Patel, Dr Tina Mistry and Ummar Sadique are supporting the Better Health – Every Mind Matters campaign, calling on the South Asian community to adopt Self Care Sundays to help deal with feelings of anxiety by doing small things that can make a big difference.

Despite a significant number of South Asians regularly experiencing anxiety (57%), 1 in 3 (35%) rarely or never prioritise self-care on a Sunday. Those that do like to unwind go for a walk (41%), clean their home (39%) and spend time with friends or family (37%).

To address this, Dr Tina Mistry, Ummar Sadique and Parle Patel, who are long-standing advocates for the importance of good mental health, are sharing their tips for alleviating anxiety and preparing for the week ahead.

Parle Patel, Influencer and Comedian, said: “Sundays are a particularly good day to be kind to yourself and get into the right frame of mind for the week ahead. Try adopting a Self Care Sunday routine that works for you – whether that’s mindful breathing exercises in your room or going for a run outdoors. Take time to think about the good things in your life and list the things you’re thankful for. It’s important to speak to someone if you’re struggling.”

Dr Tina Mistry, Clinical Psychologist, said: “Stress is the body’s reaction to feeling threatened or under pressure. It’s very common and can affect our mood, our body, and our relationships – especially when it feels out of our control. Try keeping a diary of what you are doing and how you are feeling at different times of the day to help identify what’s causing you anxiety – this will help you create simple steps to better manage it.”

Ummar Sadique, Senior Psychological Well-being Practitioner, said: “Trying to relax and enjoy the last few moments of the weekend on a Sunday can quickly become stressful, especially when you can’t help but worry about the week ahead! For me, reviewing my to-do list and breaking down my biggest tasks into smaller, easier-to-manage chunks really helps. Making a plan for managing upcoming stressful days or events can really help.”

  • Self Care Sundays encouraged as new research reveals almost 6 in 10 South Asians  regularly experience anxiety about the week ahead
  • Top 3 causes identified as lack of sleep, juggling family life and a looming to-do list
  • Leading South Asian influencers and mental health advocates Parle Patel, Dr Tina Mistry and Ummar Sadique are supporting Better Health – Every Mind Matters, which offers NHS-approved tips and advice to improve mental health
Influencers Support Self Care Sundays
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-Top News Social Media USA

With Musk on helm, will Trump stage a Twitter comeback?

Hours after news of Musk’s takeover broke, a fake statement from Trump regarding restoration of his account began circulating online, reports Asian Lite News

Former US President Donald Trump lauded Twitter’s new ownership under billionaire Elon Musk on Friday.

“I am very happy that Twitter is now in sane hands, and will no longer be run by Radical Left Lunatics and Maniacs that truly hate our country,” Trump said in a Truth Social post following Elon Musk’s completed takeover.

On Thursday night, Musk fired a number of Twitter executives including CEO Parag Agrawal and Vijaya Gadde, Twitter’s longtime head of legal, policy and trust, who was in charge of significant account decisions, including suspending Trump.

The former president said Twitter “must now work hard to rid itself of all of the bots and fake accounts that have hurt it so badly. It will be much smaller, but better.”

Elon Musk said that the social media company “will be forming a content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints.” That means suspended accounts like those held by former President Donald Trump won’t immediately return to Twitter.

“No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes,” Musk added.

On Thursday, Musk wrote in a posted note to Twitter advertisers that “Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences! In addition to adhering to the laws of the land, our platform must be warm and welcoming to all.”

Hours after news of Musk’s takeover broke, a fake statement from Trump began circulating online.

“Congratulations to Elon Musk on his purchase of Twitter. Many people are saying that change was needed, as the old management was too concerned with the woke agenda,” the fabricated statement read.

“I have been told that my account will be back up and running on Monday — we will see. Happy to be able to engage with an African-American-owned business!”

In July, in a surprising turn of events, Elon Musk who had long been showing his interest to buy Twitter terminated the deal. The Tesla CEO did so by alleging that Twitter violated their mutual purchase agreement by misrepresenting the number of spam and fake bot accounts on its platform.

After Musk put out the deal termination announcement, the market saw a sharp decline. Later, Twitter sued Musk accusing him of using bots as a pretext to exit a deal. (ANI)

ALSO READ: Won’t cut 75% of jobs, Musk tells Twitter staff

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Social Media

1 in 2 Indian swamped with promotional messages in WhatsApp

About 95 per cent of Whatsapp subscribers surveyed got spam while every mobile subscriber surveyed got it…reports Asian Lite News

Meta-owned WhatsApp has become a spam factory as more than one in two Indians now say that they are facing four or more spam messages each day, a report showed on Wednesday.

Despite clear norms laid by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on unsolicited communication, consumers still face unwanted calls, SMS (short messaging services) and Whatsapp messages from vendors, telemarketers, banks, insurance brokers, car dealers, pathology labs, property and other investment agents, among others.

About 68 per cent mobile subscribers, on an average, receive 4 or more promotional or spam SMSs every day with every subscriber surveyed getting spam, according to online community platform LocalCircles.

About 95 per cent of Whatsapp subscribers surveyed got spam while every mobile subscriber surveyed got it.

Financial services, real estate services, and pathology services are top sectors sending spam SMS as well spam Whatsapp, indicating the same offenders are now spamming using both channels.

About 77 per cent mobile subscribers surveyed want the TRAI to work with telcos and enable mark spam feature with each SMS.

There were reports that the Department of Telecommunication (DOT) has decided to levy fines ranging from Rs 1,000 per violation for zero-10 breaches, Rs 5,000 each for 10-50 violations, and Rs 10,000 each for more than 50 violations by registered telemarketers.

However, the telecom authority has not issued any notification in this regard.

“Unsolicited SMS, not to be confused with communication from government or any other authorised source, is a misuse of citizens’ personal data. Many people face issues of unwanted messages and calls made to them by fraudsters, spammers, telemarketers, despite registering on TRAI’s Do Not Call Registry (NDNS),” the findings showed.

Last year, around 93 million phone numbers registered with the TRAI’s NDNS were kept on sale on the Darknet, according to reports.

Whatsapp Business was rolled out a few years ago and in 2021, the company mandated that users of the platform must receive messages from Whatsapp Business (based on their usage of Whatsapp and parent platform Facebook) for them to continue using the platform, according to LocalCircles report.

While users resisted this initially and started using alternate platforms like Signal and Telegram, over time most gave up and accepted the revised terms.

About 77 per cent said that TRAI should work with telcos to mandatorily embed mark spam in each SMS message so users can easily report spammers.

ALSO READ-Indian cyber agency warns WhatsApp users of critical bugs

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Social Media Tech Lite

Google receives 37,282 complaints from India in Aug

The company said that as part of its automated detection processes, it removed 551,659 accounts in the country…reports Asian Lite News

Google received 37,282 complaints from Indian users in the month of August in compliance with the new IT Rules, 2021. The tech giant also removed a total of 551,659 pieces of bad content, as a result of user complaints in the country.

The complaints Google received in India consisted of various categories including infringement of intellectual property rights and violation of local laws prohibiting types of content on grounds such as defamation.

Most of the complaints it received from Indian users were related to copyright violations (35,649), while other categories included trademark, court order, graphic sexual content, circumvention, and others.

“In addition to reports from our users, we invest heavily in fighting harmful content online and use technology to detect and remove it from our platforms,” it said in its monthly compliance report.

The company said that as part of its automated detection processes, it removed 551,659 accounts in the country.

“We invest heavily in fighting harmful content online and use technology to detect and remove it from our platforms. This includes using automated detection processes for some of our products to prevent the dissemination of harmful content such as child sexual abuse material and violent extremist content,” said Google.

In accordance with the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (IT Rules), Google, along with other social media platforms, is mandated to publish monthly transparency reports with details of complaints received from users in India and the actions taken, as well as removal actions taken as a result of automated detection.

Under the new IT rules 2021, big digital and social media platforms — with more than 5 million users — have to publish monthly compliance reports.

ALSO READ-Amazon, Google, Microsoft face UK probe over cloud dominance

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Bollywood Lite Blogs Social Media

Celebrity mom influencers on social media

She provides a lot of advice on meditation, proper food, how she handled the crazy hormones, and most importantly, how she maintained her composure throughout the childbirth journey…writes Olivia Sarkar

Women agree that becoming mother is a beautiful experience, but each woman’s experience is unique, for some its restless nights and swollen breasts, for others its about vaccinations and formula milk. There are countless of reasons for new mothers to get fussy, which is why you should tune into these social media handles of celebrity mothers who have used their outreach to become mom influencers. Not only will their Insta feeds boost your confidence during your 9-month pregnancy, but they also share great tips and tricks for demanding infants and parenting.


Kalki Koechlin

Kalki shared her experience along the nine months of her pregnancy regularly with her followers. She made sure to keep her fans interested by posting new updates from her journey, whether it be exercise photos or sharing helpful tips. She now proudly bears a daughter with Guy Hershberg. The fact that she continued working throughout this period, makes her handle a great option for working moms.

Lara Dutta

Another famous mother, who is well-known for her advice on exercise and yoga during pregnancy is Lara Dutta. She provides a lot of advice on meditation, proper food, how she handled the crazy hormones, and most importantly, how she maintained her composure throughout the childbirth journey. If you’re worried about staying healthy while pregnant, check out Lara’s fitness tips on Instagram. She is also an expert in endorsing various lifestyle and baby product brands.

Sameera Reddy


Although Sameera Reddy claims to be a social media star “by coincidence,” she made the switch soon after getting married and giving birth to her first born. Sameera is a content producer who excels at juggling several facets of her life, from being mother to her two kids, to cooking and taking her of the home, to sharing beauty and wellness tips. Those who enjoy a the ‘saas-bahu’ banter should tune into her handle for some surprises.

Soha Ali Khan

Soha Ali Khan is renowned for having strong views on parenting. She occasionally uses her voice to describe the difficulties of raising a child and being a parent. She is seen endorsing numerous infant product brands on Instagram and sharing her experiences with various products. In addition to endorsing numerous kid-friendly businesses, she is frequently seen sharing images of her family, spending time with her daughter, and giving tiny pieces of wisdom to all the aspiring mothers.

Neha Dhupia

Neha Dhupia speaks candidly about the challenges she faced during her second pregnancy. She often posts brand endorsements and paid partnerships along with insta stories about her travels and adventures with the family.

Mira Rajput Kapoor


On Instagram, Mira Rajput Kapoor has a massive following of more than three million people. The social media influencer, mother to two gorgeous children, is a brand favourite and she posts a lot of products and endrsments. Follow her for lifestyle, beauty and wellness stories.

ALSO READ-B’town stars add extra oomph to Asia Pacific premiere of ‘The Rings of Power’

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Social Media Tech Lite

Meta introduces new live-streaming platform for influencers

The report mentioned that Meta recently reached out to multiple creators asking them to try out the new project…reports Asian Lite News

Tech giant Meta, formerly Facebook, is testing a new live-streaming platform for influencers called “Super”, media reports say.

The new platform allows influencers to host live streams, earn revenue and engage with viewers. It has reportedly paid influencers between $200 and $3,000 to use the platform for 30 minutes, TechCrunch reported citing Business Insider.

Super entered development in late 2020 and is currently being built by Meta’s New Product Experimentation team.

The report mentioned that Meta recently reached out to multiple creators asking them to try out the new project.

The platform, which looks to have similar functionality to Twitch, is currently being tested with fewer than 100 creators, including tech influencer Andru Edwards and TikTok star Vienna Skye.

The platform currently operates on a tiered system where viewers pay for access to features included in the stream. Viewers can also leave a tip for live streamers.

The report indicates that creators pocket 100 per cent of the tips and revenue earned through the tiered system.

“Super is a small, standalone experiment being built by New Product Experimentation (NPE) and currently testing with a small group of creators,” a Meta spokesperson was quoted as saying in an email to TechCrunch.

Recently, the platform announced to shut its live shopping feature from October 1 and focus on the short-form video platform Reels on its main app and Instagram.

The users will still be able to use Facebook Live to broadcast live events, but they won’t be able to create product playlists or tag products in their Facebook Live videos.

ALSO READ-Meta posts first-ever revenue drop