TikTok agrees to daily usage limits for teens after settling for $100 million

As part of the settlement it has with the state of Alabama, TikTok will impose a daily 2-hour limit and restrictions on night time usage, among other measures to reduce the harms caused by social media usage.

Phones     Nadeem Sarwar     September 26

Rivet is a new kind of dating app where strangers play the matchmaker

Instead of swiping alone, Rivet lets other users recommend matches for you, then leaves the final decision in your hands.

Phones     Nadeem Sarwar     September 24

Think X buried your post? It will now tell you if a government made it happen

X expanded its Under the Hood tool to reveal when government legal demands, not algorithms, restrict user posts and accounts.

Phones     Shikhar Mehrotra     September 23

Snapchat Lens+ Subscribers get five new AI tricks, including one that sings your messages

Snapchat is rolling out five new AI-powered Lens+ features, including Chat to Song, AI Photoshoot, AI Remix, sticker restyling, and AI-enhanced caption fonts.

Phones     S. Kumar Manglam     September 22

TikTok, YouTube, and AI chatbots face a major shake-up under Europe’s new child safety plan

Europe's proposed EU KIDS Act would ban social media accounts for under-13s, limit 13- and 14-year-olds to one hour daily, and impose new child safety rules.

Phones     Paulo Vargas     September 17

Snapchat is open to time limits for teens spending too much time on social media

Snap CEO Evan Spiegel says Snapchat is open to introducing a daily time limit for teens as pressure grows on social platforms to adopt stricter safeguards for younger users.

Phones     S. Kumar Manglam     September 17

Scientists say just because you watch sports on YouTube doesn’t mean you’ll shake off your lazy habits

A new study looked at whether watching sports content on YouTube encourages college students to become more physically active. The connection isn't as straightforward as you might expect.

Phones     Shimul Sood     September 16

Social Media is now the hot avenue to stop shoplifters by naming and shaming them

UK shop owners are posting CCTV footage of suspected shoplifters on social media, saying viral videos can help identify thieves and recover stolen goods.

Phones     Rachit Agarwal     September 16

Meta One subscription arrives with over 50 premium features across Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Meta AI

Meta One is finally live, bringing more than 50 premium features across Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Meta AI under a new subscription lineup.

Phones     Pranob Mehrotra     September 15

Child abuse material continues to surface on X despite Elon Musk’s promises

New reviews find X still struggles to remove child sexual abuse content, even though Musk pledged this as a top priority.

Phones     M. Priyadarshini     September 13

Researchers warn that social media can reveal sensitive details about users

A new research review warns that social media activity can reveal sensitive information users never deliberately share, including politics, religion and shopping habits.

Phones     Moinak Pal     September 12

Instagram scammers are holding creators’ accounts hostage with copyright strikes

Instagram creators are facing fake copyright complaints and ransom demands, with some paying scammers to restore suspended accounts while Meta promises additional protections.

Phones     Vikhyaat Vivek     September 8

Social media users in Australia might get freedom from algorithms. I want it for us all.

Australia's new draft law could let you switch off the algorithm on your social feed. Here's what it means, and why I hope every country follows suit.

Phones     Rachit Agarwal     September 7

Instagram will limit reach for AI influencers who skip AI-generated label on their profile

Instagram is renaming its AI creator label to AI-generated profile, and unlabeled accounts featuring fake humans will now see their reach cut.

Phones     M. Priyadarshini     August 31

Bluesky now has a feature to save you from accidentally going viral. I want it everywhere.

Bluesky launched a feature letting users opt out of its algorithmic Discover feed, stopping posts from being pushed to non-followers.

Phones     M. Priyadarshini     August 28

Meta’s new teen restrictions will only apply to users in the US for now

Meta is introducing tougher protections for U.S. teens, including daily screen-time limits, overnight blocks, muted school-hour notifications and stronger parental controls.

Phones     Moinak Pal     August 27

Meta is putting hard limits on Facebook and Instagram after $17 billion settlement

Meta is promising major changes for teen users, including daily time limits, overnight blocks, hidden likes, algorithm controls and stronger parental supervision.

Phones     Moinak Pal     August 26

Meta pays $17 billion to settle social media addiction trial and promises tighter rules

Meta has agreed to pay a fine of $17 billion dollars to settle a lawsuit over harm done to kids due to the addictive nature of its social media platforms.

Phones     Nadeem Sarwar     August 26

Instagram’s new editing tool ‘First Draft’ turns your clips into a Reel in seconds

Instagram launched First Draft, a one-tap tool that automatically trims and assembles raw clips into a finished Reel in a few seconds.

Phones     M. Priyadarshini     August 25

WhatsApp is making a big change to how you secure your account

WhatsApp is rolling out a trio of security upgrades designed to make account takeovers and suspicious calls easier to avoid.

Phones     Shimul Sood     August 25

Threads wants to make podcasts easier to follow with transcripts

Threads is testing automatic transcripts for podcast clips, letting users follow along without turning on the sound.

Phones     Varun Mirchandani     August 24

U.S. users can now vibe-code and share mini-games with Meta’s Pocket app

Meta’s Pocket is now rolling out in the U.S., letting users vibe-code simple game ideas into playable mini-games they can share and remix.

Phones     Sudhanshu Kumar Mangalam     August 20

Meta’s smart glasses are the latest weapon for school bullies

Teens are using Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses to secretly film classmates and teachers at school, with the harassment disproportionately aimed at girls. Much of the footage stayed online until Futurism contacted Meta and TikTok directly.

Phones     Pranob Mehrotra     August 20

A face-search tool left more than 9 million photos sitting unprotected

A security researcher found more than 9 million face photos sitting in an unsecured ClarityCheck database that required no password to access.

Phones     S. Kumar Manglam     August 19

TikTok might soon let you send money straight through DMs

Hidden code in TikTok's iPhone app hints at a DM payment feature powered by TikTok Pay, the tool already used for TikTok Shop purchases in parts of Asia.

Phones     Rachit Agarwal     August 19

New report says Meta pays influencers to fight social media bans for teens accounts worldwide

As countries move to ban teens from social media, Meta pays actors, psychologists, and parenting influencers across more than a dozen countries to argue against blanket ban for teen accounts.

Phones     M. Priyadarshini     August 18

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