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Minors banned from live streaming on social media in China

Most popular live-streaming platforms are TikTok’s app Douyin, Alibaba Group’s Taobao Live, and Kuaishou Technology’s short video platform…reports Asian Lite News

Chinese regulators have moved to ban minors from live-streaming on various social media platforms to protect their physical and mental health, the media reported on Monday.

The new rules completely prohibit those under 16 from live-streaming, while users aged between 16 and 18 must obtain permission from their parents or guardians before doing live streams, reports the South China Morning Post.

“Internet platforms should a strictly implement the real-name registration requirement, and prohibit offering minors’ tipping services such as cash top-up, gift purchase, and online payment,” according to a statement issued by the regulators.

Most popular live-streaming platforms are TikTok’s app Douyin, Alibaba Group’s Taobao Live, and Kuaishou Technology’s short video platform.

The new requirements have been issued by four regulators, including the National Radio and Television Administration and the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC).

“If platforms are found to violate the above requirements, measures including suspension of the tipping feature and shutting down of the live-streaming business could be put in place,” the regulators mentioned.

Regulators said they want Big Tech to upgrade their “youth mode” to protect teenagers from gaming addiction and inappropriate content.

Last year, the regulators took action to only allow teenagers to play online games for three hours per week.

The Chinese regulators have introduced a series of “clear and bright” campaigns, targeting what it sees as “online chaos”.

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Social Media Tech Lite

Twitter to introduce new features including ‘media tweets’


This appears to be similar to Reddit awards, and it seems entirely possible this could be a perk of Twitter Blue or another form of monetisation for the social network…reports Asian Lite News

In a bid to make the platform more user-friendly, micro-blogging site Twitter is reportedly working on new features, including mixed-media tweets and more.

According to 9To5Google, this week, Twitter for Android has revealed support for adding both pictures and videos to the same tweet, hints at tweet “awards” and more.

The report mentioned that Twitter seems to finally be making it possible to tweet both a picture and a video in the same tweet.

As it stands today, tweets with media can include a gallery of up to four photos or a single video, with no mix of the two. Even with this new ability to mix media, tweets can still only house up to four pieces of media, the report said.

The other major new addition uncovered was “awards” for tweets.

While the exact details on how this feature will work are still unclear, Developer Dylan Roussel found a button that will allow users to give an award to a tweet and evidence that a tweet will show the number of rewards it has been given.

This appears to be similar to Reddit awards, and it seems entirely possible this could be a perk of Twitter Blue or another form of monetisation for the social network.

Meanwhile, recent reports said that Twitter is working on the edit button, as requested by its users as well as Elon Musk, but the micro-blogging platform is reportedly going to keep a digital trace of your earlier tweets.

App researcher and reverse engineer Jane Manchun Wong had said in a tweet that the edit button may have an “immutable” quality.

ALSO READ-‘Edit’ button in Twitter?

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‘Edit’ button in Twitter?

The Edit button will show the user the entire original content, and the user can then either delete the whole post or start over, as the tool appears not just for grammatical errors….reports Asian Lite News

 As Twitter plans to give its users an Edit button, after a push by its soon-to-be boss Elon Musk to help them correct errors in their tweets, app researcher and reverse engineer Jane Manchun Wong on Tuesday revealed the first glimpse of the new tool.

She tweeted a video with the steps needed to edit a tweet. A user has to press a button called “Edit Tweet” in the drop-down context menu, and then he or she can edit the post.

“The current unreleased version of Edit Tweet reuploads media (images, videos, GIFs, etc) instead of reusing them. An inefficient use of the bandwidth and media processing power – plus it turns my video into an image (mishandling media type),” she said in a tweet.

At the moment, it looks like a user will get 30 minutes after publishing a tweet to hit the Edit button.

One may even replace the entire media (photo/video file) embedded with the tweet.

The Edit button will show the user the entire original content, and the user can then either delete the whole post or start over, as the tool appears not just for grammatical errors.

Earlier reports suggest that the micro-blogging platform is also going to keep a digital trace of your earlier tweets.

Wong said the edit button may have an “immutable” quality.

“Looks like Twitter’s approach to Edit Tweet is immutable, as in, instead of mutating the Tweet text within the same Tweet (same ID), it re-creates a new Tweet with the amended content, along with the list of the old Tweets prior of that edit,” Wong posted last month.

Initially, the edit button will be available to Twitter Blue users and will be extended to all at a later stage.

Amid Musk’s $44 bilion takeover bid, Twitter last month announced that it is working to allow users to edit their tweets after posting them to fix typos and errors.

Jay Sullivan, the company’s VP of consumer product, said that the edit button has been the most requested Twitter feature for many years.

“Without things like time limits, controls, and transparency about what has been edited, Edit could be misused to alter the record of the public conversation,” he had commented.

ALSO READ: Twitter CEO worried about firm’s future, not his job

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-Top News Social Media USA

Jack Dorsey is against permanent Twitter bans

“I don’t believe any permanent ban (with the exception of illegal activity) is right, or should be possible,” Jack Dorsey, the founder and former CEO of Twitter said, reports Asian Lite News

Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey on Friday (local time) went on a tweetstorm in which he spoke about the microblogging site’s shortcomings, including a permanent ban on certain users on the platform.

Taking responsibility for every decision taken by the platform, he said, “I have tried taking a break from Twitter recently, but I must say the company has always tried to do its best given the information it had. Every decision we made was ultimately my responsibility. In the cases when we were wrong or went too far, we admitted it and worked to correct them.”

Reflecting on the platform’s shortcomings, he said it is important to get critical feedback. “Some things can be fixed immediately, and others require rethinking and reimplementing the entire system. It is important to me that we get critical feedback in all forms, but also important that we get the space and time to address it. All of that should be done publicly,” he said.

He further spoke about the user trust in Twitter and said that a transparent system, both in policy and operations, is the right way to earn trust.

“Whether it’s owned by a company or an open protocol doesn’t matter as much as deliberately deciding to be open about every decision and why it was made. It’s not easy to do, but it must happen,” he added.

Acknowledging his failure in correcting shortcomings, he said, “Doing this work means you’re in the arena. Nothing that is said now matters. What matters is how the service works and acts, and how quickly it learns and improves. My biggest failing was that quickness part. I’m confident that part at least is being addressed, and will be fixed.”

Noting that an individual or a company should not bear the brunt of flaws in service, Dorsey said that he does not believe in a permanent ban against certain users on Twitter. “It’s also crazy and wrong that individuals or companies bear this responsibility. As I’ve said before, I don’t believe any permanent ban (with the exception of illegal activity) is right, or should be possible. This is why we need a protocol that’s resilient to the layers above,” he said.

Notably, after Tesla Chief Elon Musk succeeded in his bid to take over Twitter, the former CEO of the microblogging site had dropped a series of tweets, suggesting that he supports the move.

Dorsey called Musk buying Twitter a step in the right direction for the website.

For those unaware, Dorsey, the maverick co-founder of Twitter, on November 29, 2021, had suddenly announced his resignation. Parag Agarwal, an IITian, who was CTO at Twitter, was named his replacement. (ANI)

ALSO READ: Twitter takeover: Parag Agarwal hits back at Musk

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Social Media Tech Lite

WhatsApp into ‘cash-back campaign’ to get customer attention

Earlier this month, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) approved an additional 60 million users for UPI for WhatsApp – taking its cap to 100 million for Payments…reports Asian Lite News

Meta-owned WhatsApp has confirmed that it is running a cash-back campaign in India to drive more users on its digital payments service.

The company is giving away Rs 11 cashback up to three times by sending money to three different contacts via unified payments interface (UPI) on WhatsApp.

“We are running a campaign offering cashback incentives in a phased manner to our users as a way to unlock the potential of payments on WhatsApp,” a company spokesperson told IANS.

“We’ll continue to drive awareness of payments on WhatsApp as part of our broader efforts to bring the next 500 million Indians onto the digital payments ecosystem,” the spokesperson added.

If you become eligible for the promotion, you will see a banner within the app, or a gift icon when you’re sending money to an eligible receiver, according to WhatsApp.

“Once selected, you can send money to any of your registered WhatsApp contacts and receive Rs 11 cashback per successful transaction,” the company informed.

Google and Paytm have also offered cask-back to users to drive more engagement and retention growth on their respective platforms.

On its support page, WhatsApp said that it will not offer cash-back for QR code payments, payments made on collect requests or made by entering the UPI ID of recipient, as well as payments on third-party online apps using WhatsApp.

Earlier this month, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) approved an additional 60 million users for UPI for WhatsApp – taking its cap to 100 million for Payments.

“We believe there is an opportunity for UPI to have an even greater impact for the country — especially in rural regions where digital and financial inclusion can significantly improve peoples’ lives,” Manesh Mahatme, Director-Payments, WhatsApp India, had told IANS.

In November last year, the NPCI approved increasing the user cap for WhatsApp’s payment service from the current 20 million to 40 million users.

The NPCI has been giving approval to WhatsApp in a phased manner so that the competition in the digital payment space in the country is not stifled.

WhatsApp kicked off its ambitious peer-to-peer (P2P) digital payments pilot project in India in 2018 with nearly 10 lakh users.

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Business Social Media Tech Lite

Pichai hails India’s digital payment growth

This was 11.5 per cent higher than the volume of transactions processed in February and 7.5 per cent higher in terms of value of transactions processed…reports Asian Lite News

Hailing the India digital payments growth story, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai has said that the company’s payments strategy is very similar to the strategy it has for commerce overall.

During the company’s quarterly earnings call, Pichai said that the digital payments work in India is “certainly what really got everything started”.

“We now have 150 million people across 40 countries using Google Pay. We’re making sure it works across the board, works well, easy to use for all the sites. And then over time, we will innovate and build new digital experiences,” Pichai said late on Tuesday.

He emphasised that the company seeks Google Pay to work smoothly, both on the merchant and the financial institution side, “and making sure they can connect with the customers well”.

‘We are really building for scale, building for simplicity. And then over time, we will layer on additional helpful features,” Pichai added.

According to the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), unified payments interface (UPI) processed 5.04 billion transactions till March 29, amounting to Rs 8.88 trillion.

This was 11.5 per cent higher than the volume of transactions processed in February and 7.5 per cent higher in terms of value of transactions processed.

The Indian digital payment space is currently dominated by PhonePe, Google Pay and Paytm.

ALSO READ-Pichai pitches India as hub for Google products  

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Social Media

Dorsey to get nearly 1bn once Musk’s Twitter deal gets through

Current CEO Parag Agrawal will receive nearly $39 million due to a clause in his contract…reports Asian Lite News

Jack Dorsey is set to take home a hefty amount of $978 million in cash once the Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover deal gets through.

Dorsey holds 2.4 per cent or a little over 18 million shares in the company and after once the $44 billion deal is closed, his Twitter shocks will be converted into cash, reports The Warp.

With Musk’s offer to buy each Twitter share for $54.20, Dorsey would receive a $978 million in cash.

Dorsey famously took a $1.40 annual paycheck while serving as Twitter CEO since its launch in 2006.

Current CEO Parag Agrawal will receive nearly $39 million due to a clause in his contract.

Agrawal’s total compensation for 2021 was $30.4 million, largely in stocks.

The company’s CFO Ned Segal would receive $25.4 million if leaves the company.

The chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde would get $12.4 million, whereas Twitter’s chief customer officer Sarah Personette would receive $11.2 million.

Twitter’s board chair Bret Taylor would receive a payout of just over $3 million and former board chair Omid Kordestani would get $50.6 million in his payout, the report mentioned.

Twitter has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by an entity wholly owned by Musk for $54.20 per share in cash in a transaction valued at nearly $44 billion.

Upon completion of the transaction, Twitter will become a privately-held company.

The purchase price represents a 38 per cent premium to Twitter’s closing stock price on April 1, which was the last trading day before Musk disclosed his nearly nine per cent stake in Twitter.

ALSO READ-Musk targets Indian-origin Twitter legal head 

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Musk targets Indian-origin Twitter legal head  

“Suspending the Twitter account of a major news organisation for publishing a truthful story was obviously incredibly inappropriate,” Musk said in a tweet…reports Asian Lite News

Even as tech billionaire Elon Musk took over Twitter, he slammed Indian-origin lawyer Vijaya Gadde over censoring exclusive stories related to US President Joe Biden’s son Hunter’s laptop in the wake of the Capitol Hill violence, early this year.

Gadde, who has been working with Twitter since 2011, has been a key executive charged with overseeing the microblogging platform’s trust and safety, legal and public policy functions. She had also been involved in decisions to remove former US President Donald Trump and banning political advertising on the platform.

Musk on Twitter slammed the lawyer for suspending the account of the New York Post. During the run-up to the 2020 US presidential elections, the Post wrote an exclusive article about Hunter Biden’s laptop. The article has since been verified by many outlets which had initially dismissed the report as misinformation.

“Suspending the Twitter account of a major news organisation for publishing a truthful story was obviously incredibly inappropriate,” Musk said in a tweet.

Musk said this in reply to podcast host Saagar Enjeti who shared a Politico report, stating that Gadde reportedly had a tearful virtual meeting with her teams, expressing concerns over the future of the platform, after Musk took over Twitter in a $44 billion deal.

“Vijaya Gadde, the top censorship advocate at Twitter who famously gaslit the world on Joe Rogan’s podcast and censored the Hunter Biden laptop story, is very upset about the Elon Musk takeover,” Enjeti tweeted.

Musk had long been advocating free speech on the platform, creating apprehensions for many as they fear the site will be left without regulations.

“The extreme antibody reaction from those who fear free speech says it all,” Musk wrote on Twitter.

“By ‘free speech’, I simply mean that which matches the law. I am against censorship that goes far beyond the law. If people want less free speech, they will ask government to pass laws to that effect. Therefore, going beyond the law is contrary to the will of the people,” he explained.

ALSO READ-Biden admin expresses concerns after Musk’s Twitter deal

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India News Social Media

‘India’s social media norms won’t change with Musk’s takeover’

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

Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Wednesday that despite the Twitter board accepting Elon Musk’s $44 billion takeover offer, the Indian guidelines for social media platforms will not change in order to protect users’ data privacy and safeguard them from any harm.

Speaking at the ‘Raisina Dialogue 2022’ here, the minister said the government’s guidelines on the social media intermediaries, including Twitter, will remain unchanged.

“Despite Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, IT guidelines governing the social media platforms remain the same. Social media needs to go beyond mere criminality and also expand focus on user harm when it comes to regulations,” Chandrasekhar told the audience.

The minister further said that algorithmic biases exist and therefore, “we need to create a mechanism to ensure accountability on algorithmic coding”.

In accordance with the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (IT Rules), social media platforms are 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.

Earlier this week, the Twitter board accepted Musk’s $44 billion offer and the Tesla CEO made it clear that he will promote ‘free speech’ on his platform going forward, a move that has irked many.

Musk has said that free speech is the “bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated”.

If Twitter softens its stand on content moderation, it could allow more bullying, violent speech, hate speech, misinformation and other abusive content to gain ground.

“This may make Twitter less palatable to newcomers who were already wary about posting in a ‘public square’.

“It could also disincentivise advertisers from investing their budgets with the platform,” according to reports.

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Twitter agrees to $44bn takeover by Musk

Earlier this April, Musk offered to buy Twitter for $54.20 a share, or about $43 billion…reports Asian Lite News

Shares of Twitter, arguably the world’s most influential social media platform, jumped after the Wall Street Journal reported that the company is nearing a deal with Elon Musk, the world’s richest man.

Later, Tesla CEO Musk finally caught the elusive Twitter bird for $44 billion, as the company’s board decided to give in to his takeover bid with his “best and final” offer.

Twitter announced late on Monday evening that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by an entity wholly-owned by Musk for $54.20 per share in cash in a transaction valued at nearly $44 billion.

Answering naysayers and his detractors, Musk, known for brusqueness, tweeted an olive branch: “I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means.”

A few minutes before that, the billionaire quoted American poet Robert Frost’s romantic poem “A Line Storm Song: And be my love in the rain.”

Musk sits at a net worth of $269.7 billion in the Forbes real-time billionaires’ index. That’s a savage lead of more than $99 billion over the second richest man, Jeff Bezos of Amazon.

Earlier this April, Musk offered to buy Twitter for $54.20 a share, or about $43 billion.

Twitter’s board of directors had met on Sunday to discuss Musk’s financing plan. The board negotiated with Musk into the early hours of Monday, The New York Times said.

Twitter shares fired up nearly 6 per cent on Monday afternoon chiefly because of media speculation that the deal was expected after market close, if not sooner.

So far, the social media giant was expected to decline a deal, which includes Musk’s plan to take it off the stock market.

Twitter had adopted a so-called ‘poison pill’ to fend off a potential hostile takeover.

However, the company betrayed greater receptivity after Musk revealed he secured $46.5 billion in financing.

The company’s board met on Sunday to discuss Musk’s financing plan for his proposed bid, a source told CNBC.

Twitter is set to report first-quarter earnings on Thursday.

Musk, who owns Tesla and SpaceX, built up more than 9 per cent in Twitter stock and turned down an offer to join the board before putting in a bid.

An avid Twitter user, Musk had claimed that it needs to be “transformed” into a private company so it can become a forum for free speech.

He also said Twitter’s board members’ interests “are simply not aligned with shareholders” and that the board “owns almost no shares” of the company.

The consequent disarray was palpable. While welcoming Musk till the foray was limited to a single-digit control of Twitter stock, CEO Parag Agrawal has gone off his own platform since the last 18 days.

On his part, Co-Founder (and former CEO) Jack Dorsey, whose Twitter bio states that he is a “romantic moron and 1/8 hippie”, is no longer the CEO of Block (his not-so-famous venture once called Square) either.

“Titles like ‘CEO’ get in the way of doing the right thing. Respect to the people who ignore titles, and fight like hell for what is right,” Dorsey had once tweeted.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Friday, Block said Dorsey has changed his title to “Block Head”.

Block updated its bylaws to reflect Dorsey’s new role, removing the requirement to have an officer holding the titles of CEO and President.

Dorsey and Musk have sparred in multiple theatres. Titles is one of them.

In its filing some months back, Tesla said Musk would henceforth be known as “Technoking” and Tesla CFO Zach Kirkhorn would be referred to as “Master of Coin”.

Musk IN and Parag OUT?

After Tesla CEO Elon Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion, its Indian-origin CEO Parag Agrawal said on Tuesday that the micro-blogging platform has a purpose and relevance that impacts the entire world.

“Deeply proud of our teams and inspired by the work that has never been more important. I know this is a significant change and you’re likely processing what this means for you and Twitter’s future,” Agrawal tweeted.

He was set to address Twitter employees in a town hall on what this takeover means to them and allay their fears.

The Twitter buyout casts doubts on the future of Agrawal, and it is still unclear whether he would like to remain at the helm, with Musk now being at the very top of the platform.

Musk has already said he doesn’t have faith in the management of Twitter.

The decision to sell the platform to the Tesla CEO also signals that the board is somehow not reportedly convinced in Agrawal’s capabilities, who took over from Jack Dorsey in November 2021, as the company is not making enough profits.

Musk has reiterated that the micro-blogging platform needs to be made private to grow and promote “free speech”.

Agrawal had earlier said the Tesla CEO had decided “not to join our board which I believe is for the best”.

Musk said “free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated”.

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