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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.

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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.

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-Top News Social Media UK News

TikTok fastest growing news source for teens, BBC loses steam

Users of TikTok for news get more of their news from ‘other people they follow’ than ‘news organisations’…reports Asian Lite News

Teenagers in the UK are turning away from traditional news channels and are instead looking to Instagram, TikTok (that saw fastest growth) and YouTube to keep up to date, the country’s communications regulator Ofcom said on Thursday.

For the first time, Instagram is the most popular news source among teenagers, used by nearly three in 10 in 2022 (29 per cent).

TikTok and YouTube follow closely behind, used by 28 per cent of youngsters to follow news.

Chinese short video-making platform TikTok has seen the fastest increase in use of any news source between 2020 and 2022 – from 0.8 million UK adults in 2020 to 3.9 million in 2022.

“This brings it onto a par with Sky News’ website and app. TikTok’s growth is primarily driven by younger age groups, with half of its news users aged 16 to 24,” the report said.

Users of TikTok for news get more of their news from ‘other people they follow’ than ‘news organisations’.

“Social media is overtaking traditional channels for news among teens. Instagram, TikTok and YouTube are now their top three most used sources for news,” Ofcom said in its report.

Five of the top six TV channels (including BBC One which remains the top news source across platforms) saw decreased reach from 2021 among online adults.

“BBC One and BBC Two – historically the most popular news sources among teens – have been knocked off top spot down to fifth place. Around a quarter of teens (24 per cent) use these channels for news in 2022, compared to nearly half (45 per cent) just five years ago,” the report mentioned.

Reach of print/online newspapers has seen a decrease from 2020 (47 per cent) to 2022 (38 per cent).

“The decrease is driven by decreases in print (online newspaper reach remains steady) which have likely been exacerbated by the pandemic,” the report mentioned.

While the reach of print newspapers is decreasing, online newspaper reach remains steady.

BBC

The Daily Mail/Mail on Sunday remains the most widely-read print news title overall, whilst The Guardian/Observer and Daily Mail/Mail on Sunday are the most widely-read digital titles, the report noted.

The BBC website / app remains the most used ‘other website/app’, used by 23 per cent of the UK adults, followed by Google (search engine) used by 12 per cent of the UK adults, a decrease from 2020.

YouTube, Yahoo News and Apple News reach all have increased since 2020 and 13 per cent of the adults say they use news aggregators, the report mentioned.

“The reach of podcasts is small overall (10 per cent) and the attitudes towards online sources’ news provision remain consistent with 2020,” it added.

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Social Media UK News

Watchdog seeks review into UK govt use of WhatsApp

“However, the price of using these methods, although not against the law, must not result in a lack of transparency and inadequate data security,” he added…reports Asian Lite News

Britain should review the use of WhatsApp, private emails and other messaging apps by ministers and government officials after an investigation found “inadequate data security” during the COVID-19 pandemic, its data protection watchdog said on Monday.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said the review should examine the “systemic risks” around the use of private correspondence channels and to ensure improvements were made.

“I understand the value of instant communication that something like WhatsApp can bring, particularly during the pandemic where officials were forced to make quick decisions and work to meet varying demands.” said John Edwards, the UK Information Commissioner.

“However, the price of using these methods, although not against the law, must not result in a lack of transparency and inadequate data security,” he added.

The recommendation follows a year-long investigation into the use of such messaging channels by government ministers and officials at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) during the COVID pandemic.

The IOC said the investigation found a “lack of clear controls” and the potential of important information “being lost or insecurely handled”.

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India News Social Media

Twitter vs GoI: Debates reignite over insufficient IT laws

According to experts, failure to comply with any such directions would take away the indemnity provided under section 79 of the IT Act…reports Nishant Arora

With Twitter once again taking the Indian government to court, the debate has reignited over insufficient IT laws — demanding the clearance of new IT Rules, 2021 as soon as possible — to tame Big Tech and penalise them if found not complying with the law of the land, amid a completely changed digital landscape from two decades ago.

When the IT Act, 2000 was passed, there was no social media presence. Today, platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube are dictating the public discourse and being used for disseminating fake news and trolls from across the spectrum.

The Information Technology Act, 2000, which got amended only in 2008, is neither a data privacy law nor a data protection law.

In such a scenario, is its Section 69A sufficient to book social media biggies and even penalise them for not complying with the government content blocking orders, especially when it comes to national security?

According to New Delhi-based cyberlaw expert Virag Gupta, two decades back, intermediaries were acting as the messenger carrying a message from point A to point B, without interfering in it in any manner.

“Nowadays, social media platforms are aggressively active and no longer playing the role of a conventional intermediary,” Gupta told.

Twitter is an intermediary as per the Indian law which has to compulsorily comply with directions issued by the authorities under section 69A of the IT Act.

According to experts, failure to comply with any such directions would take away the indemnity provided under section 79 of the IT Act.

“Section 69A of the IT Act gives immense and extraordinary power to the government for blocking the content, which can be challenged before the High Court or Supreme Court,” said Gupta.

However, its purpose is to maintain public order, prevent cognisable offences and protect sovereignty, integrity, defence, security and India’s friendly relation with foreign states.

Freedom of speech is guaranteed under Article 19 of the Constitution. However there are many restrictions under Article 19(2), which are part of the Section 69A of the IT Act.

“So in such matters of national security, judicial review of the government orders may not be normally allowed,” Gupta told.

Twitter was also involved in a legal battle in the Delhi High Court last year with the Centre over not complying with the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, that aim to redefine India’s digital landscape.

After Twitter went to the Karnataka High Court this time, the government reiterated that all Internet intermediaries and social media platforms have to comply with the law of the land.

IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that “be it any company, in any sector, they should abide by the laws of India”.

Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that all foreign intermediaries and platforms have a right to approach the court and judicial review in India.

“But equally, all intermediary/platforms operating here have an unambiguous obligation to comply with our laws and rules,” Chandrasekhar emphasised.

The IT Minister has given the hint for a new IT Act to fight multiple cyber challenges faced by the authorities and users.

The republished draft by the IT Ministry has revealed a plan to form an appeals panel that can reverse content moderation decisions by Big Tech companies like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

The new IT rules also require big social media platforms to help the government trace the originator of messages in special cases.

“The intermediary shall respect the rights accorded to citizens under the constitution,” according to the new draft.

By virtue of Rule 7 of the IT Rules, 2021, the moment any intermediary including any significant social media intermediary does not comply with the Information Technology Rules, they automatically lose their statutory exemption from legal liability.

Further, they become liable for being punished for various offences under the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Indian Penal Code, 1860.

“There is actually no rationale for any service providers not to comply with the applicable law in India. The Internet service providers and social media platforms ought to comply with the rules immediately so as to prevent any potential future legal consequences,” said Pavan Duggal, a seasoned Supreme Court advocate and a cyber law expert.

The government is clearly entitled to take action for criminal prosecution against the service provider as per Rule 7 of the IT Rules, 2021.

Further, all affected persons who have been affected by the inactions of the service provider, can sue the service provider, both for legal action and also for criminal liability, Duggal added.

“The ultimate idea is to give a deterrent message to all service providers that they will have to ensure compliance with the applicable laws, otherwise they will continue to keep on facing legal consequences under the Information Technology Act, 2000 and rules and regulations,” Duggal told.

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-Top News Social Media Tech Lite

Twitter sues Centre

In a June letter, the IT Ministry had warned Twitter of strict action if it does not comply with some content takedown orders…reports Asian Lite News

Twitter has moved the Karnataka High Court against the Indian government’s order to take down some content on its platform, on the grounds that the content blocking orders from the IT Ministry do not pass “the test of the grounds provided under Section 69A of the IT Act”, reliable sources said on Tuesday.

Twitter has alleged in its writ petition that multiple accounts and content included in the blocking orders are either “overbroad and arbitrary”, fail to provide notice to the “originators” of the content, and are “disproportionate” in several cases, sources said.

The social media platform alleged in the court petition that several blocking orders that were issued to Twitter only “cite” the grounds of Section 69A but fail to demonstrate how the content falls within those grounds or how the said content is “violative” of Section 69A, the sources added.

In a June letter, the IT Ministry had warned Twitter of strict action if it does not comply with some content takedown orders.

According to sources, Twitter has now sought judicial review of some of the content that forms a part of various blocking orders, requesting relief from the court to set aside these blocking orders.

The IT Ministry was yet to react to Twitter’s move.

According to the writ petition, account-level blocking is a “principally disproportionate measure” and “violates rights of users under the constitution, especially when the reasons stated to block URLs and reasons stated to block an account lack specificity and merely cite grounds under Section 69A”.

The MeitY itself, in various filings in the Delhi High Court, stated that if only some portion or some content is unlawful, then the platform may take proportionate action of removing such alleged information alone, and should not completely suspend the user account.

“In fact, MeitY has noted that taking down the whole user account should be a last resort,” the writ petition alleged.

In the June letter, the MeitY set out serious consequences of non-compliance, including, but not limited to, initiating criminal proceedings against Twitter’s Chief Compliance Officer, and granted last opportunity to comply with a series of blocking orders which are issued under the Section 69A of India’s IT Act.

The letter also threatened that failing to do so would cause Twitter to lose its safe harbour immunity as available to it under Section 79(1) of the IT Act.

Due to the seriousness of these threats, Twitter has chosen to challenge several blocking orders issued by the MeitY under Section 69A through the legal mechanism of a writ petition before the High Court of Karnataka.

“These blocking orders are being challenged on the basis that they are procedurally and substantially deficient of the Section 69A requirements,” according to the sources who have seen the writ petition.

Earlier this month, Delhi Police sent a notice to Twitter seeking details of the account that led to the arrest of fact-checking website Alt News’ co-founder Mohammed Zubair.

Twitter was also involved in a legal battle in the Delhi High Court last year with the Centre over not complying with the new IT Rules, 2021.

Govt cracks the whip

The Indian government on Tuesday said that all Internet intermediaries and social media platforms have to comply with the law of the land, after Twitter moved the Karnataka High Court against its order to take down some content on its platform.

Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said in a tweet that all foreign intermediaries and platforms have a right to approach the court and judicial review in India.

“But equally, all intermediary/platforms operating here have an unambiguous obligation to comply with our laws and rules,” Chandrasekhar posted.

IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that “be it any company, in any sector, they should abide by the laws of India”.

ALSO READ-Hackers post crypto scams on UK Army’s YouTube, Twitter accounts

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-Top News Business Social Media

Hackers post crypto scams on UK Army’s YouTube, Twitter accounts

The hacked Twitter account posted various retweets for NFT giveaways, and its pinned tweet linked users to a fake NFT minting website…reports Asian Lite News

Hackers infiltrated the British Army’s Twitter and YouTube accounts to promote cryptocurrency scams and on YouTube, they replaced the British Army’s videos with old livestreams featuring Tesla CEO Elon Musk and former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.

The UK Ministry of Defence confirmed in a tweet late on Sunday that they were aware of a breach of the Army’s Twitter and YouTube accounts and an investigation was underway.

“The Army takes information security extremely seriously and is resolving the issue. Until their investigation is complete it would be inappropriate to comment further,” the Ministry further posted.

Both the social media accounts were later restored.

“The breach of the Army’s Twitter and YouTube accounts that occurred earlier today has been resolved and an investigation is underway,” the Ministry said on Monday.

The hacked Twitter account posted various retweets for NFT giveaways, and its pinned tweet linked users to a fake NFT minting website.

The hackers also entered the British Army’s YouTube channel, deleting all its videos, as well as changing its name and profile picture to resemble the legit investment firm Ark Invest.

Hackers replaced the British Army’s videos with a series of old livestreams featuring Dorsey and Musk.

A Twitter spokesperson later said that the British Army’s account has since been locked and secured and the account holders have now regained access and the account is back up and running”.

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India News Social Media

Google India took down 4L bad content pieces in May

Over 24,000 of these complaints involved copyright infringement, which was followed by trademark infringement (433) and other legal problems (257)…reports Asian Lite News

In accordance with the Information Technology Rules, 2021, tech giant Google India took down nearly four lakh bad content pieces in May through an automated detection process.

The company said it received 25,694 complaints from individual users located in India via designated mechanisms during the one-month reporting period.

“These complaints relate to third-party content that is believed to violate local laws or personal rights on Google’s SSMI platforms,” the company said in the report.

“The complaints received consist of various categories. Some requests may allege infringement of intellectual property rights, while others claim violation of local laws prohibiting types of content on grounds such as defamation,” it added.

Over 24,000 of these complaints involved copyright infringement, which was followed by trademark infringement (433) and other legal problems (257).

The tech giant removed 62,673 pieces of content that broke community guidelines in response to user complaints.

Google mentioned that when it receives complaints regarding content on its platforms, they assess them carefully.

Twitter bans over 46K bad accounts

Twitter banned more than 46,000 accounts of Indian users in May over violation of its guidelines, the microblogging platform said in its monthly compliance report on Sunday.

According to the report, Twitter removed 43,656 accounts for child sexual exploitation, non-consensual nudity, and similar content, while 2,870 accounts were banned for promoting terrorism.

The platform received 1,698 complaints in India via its local grievance mechanism between April 26, 2022 and May 25, 2022.

This includes complaints pertained to online abuse/harassment (1,366), hateful conduct (111), misinformation and manipulated media (36), sensitive adult content (28), impersonation (25), among others.

It also took action against 1,621 uniform resource locators (URLs) during the period, which includes URLs for violating norms related to online harassment (1,077), hateful conduct (362), and sensitive adult content (154).

In addition, Twitter also processed 115 grievances which appealed account suspensions. No account suspensions were revoked, the report said.

“While we welcome everyone to express themselves on our platform, we do not tolerate behaviour that harasses, threatens, dehumanises, or uses fear to silence the voices of others,” Twitter said in the report.

Meanwhile, Google India purged 393,303 pieces of bad content in May via automated detection to prevent dissemination of harmful content such as child sexual abuse and violent extremist content, according to its monthly transparency report on Sunday.

The tech giant also removed 62,673 pieces of content as a result of user complaints in May.

On Friday, Meta-owned WhatsApp also announced that it banned over 19 lakh bad accounts in India in the month of May in compliance with the new IT Rules 2021.

The platform had banned over 16.6 lakh bad accounts in India in April.

The company also received 528 grievance reports in May within the country, and the accounts “actioned” were 24.

In April, WhatsApp received 844 grievance reports within the country, and the accounts “actioned” were 123.

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

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Business Social Media USA

Advocacy groups launch campaign against Musk’s twitter deal

The group with nonprofits like Accountable Tech, Center for Countering Digital Hate, GLAAD and MediaJustice, has also asked Tesla stakeholders to ask advertisers to stop spending on the platform…reports Asian Lite News

Nearly a dozen advocacy groups have launched a new campaign against Elon Musk to block his $44 billion takeover deal, as the micro-blogging platform said the waiting period for the deal has expired under the HSR (Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements) Act in the US.

The Stop the Deal campaign is persuading Tesla stockholders to take action against the takeover deal, which has been put on hold by Musk as he wants more information on fake accounts on the platform,

The group with nonprofits like Accountable Tech, Center for Countering Digital Hate, GLAAD and MediaJustice, has also asked Tesla stakeholders to ask advertisers to stop spending on the platform.

Musk “would steamroll basic content moderation safeguards and provide a megaphone to extremists who traffic in white nationalism, hate, disinformation, and harassment, further endangering marginalized communities”, the group said in a statement.

Musk would “reinstate Twitter accounts of public figures who were banned for inciting violence and spreading dangerous disinformation”.

“Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter will not lead to more ‘free speech’ on the platform,” Rahna Epting, executive director of MoveOn, said in a statement.

“It will simply lead to more extreme voices exploiting the platform to stoke hate, violence and harassment. Social media platforms that are nothing more than toxic cesspools of disinformation are harmful to our society and our politics.”

Meanwhile, Twitter said late on Friday that the completion of the deal is now “subject to remaining customary closing conditions, including approval by Twitter stockholders and the receipt of applicable regulatory approvals”.

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Business Social Media

Meta disables location-tracking features due to low usage

According to the report, this does not mean that the tech giant will stop collecting location data altogether, though…reports Asian Lite News

Due to “low usage”, Facebook is reportedly discontinuing several services that tracked your real-time location, including Nearby Friends, location history and background location.

In a notification sent to people who have used the feature in the past, the tech giant said it will stop collecting data associated with these features on May 31 and will wipe any stored data on August 1, reports The Verge.

“While we are deprecating some location-based features on Facebook due to low usage, people can still use Location Services to manage how their location information is collected and used,” confirming the news, Meta spokesperson Emil Vazquez said in an emailed statement.

According to the report, this does not mean that the tech giant will stop collecting location data altogether, though.

As stated in its note to users, Facebook said it will “continue collecting location information for other experiences” to serve up relevant ads and location check-ins in line with its data policy.

Users can view, download or delete any location data the platform saved within the Settings and Privacy menu. Otherwise, Facebook will automatically delete any stored data related to its discontinued services on August 1, the report said.

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