UIDAI's bid to hire social media agency against its submissions: SC

The Supreme Court Friday said the proposal of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which runs the Aadhaar scheme, to hire a social media agency to monitor such platforms was contrary to its earlier submissions. A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud also asked Attorney General K K Venugopal to assist it in the hearing of the plea on the issue filed by Mohua Moitra, an MLA of the Trinamool Congress. "It (monitoring) is directly against the submissions made by the UIDAI during the hearing of the Aadhaar matters," the bench said, adding that what the UIDAI was proposing was contrary to "what it had argued while seeking validity of Aadhaar". The UIDAI, during the hearing of a clutch of petitions challenging the validity of Aadhaar scheme, had told the apex court that it did not want to monitor the online activities of citizens holding Aadhaar cards.

Fake news: Companies say top bosses may quit over persecution fears

The blow-hot-blow-cold relationship between the government and social media and technology-backed firms seems to have taken a turn for the worse. Some companies now fear exits of their India heads and senior management if the government goes ahead with its plans to carry out criminal proceedings against top bosses over spread of fake news via their platforms.

Apart from global technology giants Google and Facebook (which together have four to five social media platforms), Twitter, LinkedIn, smaller social media portals and payments apps with chat capabilities are planning to approach the government on putting back its plans of booking their top bosses.

While it has not been decided if they would form a common front, the public policy teams in these firms are getting ready for a long discussion with the government. “We are constantly in touch with government officials. We want them to know that we are taking steps to prevent spreading of fake news and such drastic actions are unnecessary,” said a senior public policy executive at one of the tech firms.

Why it matters that teens are reading less & focusing more on social media

Most of us spend much more time with digital media than we did a decade ago. But today’s teens have come of age with smartphones in their pockets. Compared to teens a couple of decades ago, the way they interact with traditional media like books and movies is fundamentally different.

My co-authors and I analyzed nationally representative surveys of over one million U. S. teens collected since 1976 and discovered an almost seismic shift in how teens are spending their free time.

Increasingly, books seem to be gathering dust.
It’s all about the screens

By 2016, the average 12th grader said they spent a staggering six hours a day texting, on social media, and online during their free time. And that’s just three activities; if other digital media activities were included, that estimate would surely rise.

Teens didn’t always spend that much time with digital media. Online time has doubled since 2006, and social media use moved from a periodic activity to a daily one. By 2016, nearly nine out of 10 12th-grade girls said they visited social media sites every day.

Facebook argues against company break-up, says 'we keep you safe'

Faced with new questions about whether it’s a monopoly, Facebook Inc. is making a bold argument: owning so many communications platforms helps keep users safe.

On Tuesday, the European Parliament asked Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg whether he should be allowed to own two of the world’s largest chat applications, Messenger and WhatsApp, in addition to the biggest social network and the photo app Instagram. The company answered Wednesday in an online post, saying there are “many consumer benefits” to having Facebook control so much of the world’s communication. “By working together we have been able to improve safety across all these services," the company wrote. When Facebook sees spam, exploitative images or illegal content, for example, it can obliterate it on all platforms at once.

European regulators may not buy the argument, especially since they spent some of Tuesday’s hearing critiquing Facebook for not being effective enough in its treatment of harmful content. Though Facebook is investing in computer-based solutions, the company still relies heavily on users to flag the worst offenders on its apps. Also, Facebook has shown it doesn’t necessarily have to own something to help keep it safe. The social network shares its tips on terrorist content with other companies, including Twitter Inc. and Google, through the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism, for example.

After Facebook ad ban, Twitter moves to prevent crypto scams on platform

Twitter is taking measures to prevent cryptocurrency-related accounts from running scams on its platform, the company said on Wednesday.
“We’re aware of this form of manipulation and are proactively implementing a number of signals to prevent these types of accounts from engaging with others in a deceptive manner,” Twitter said in a statement.
The measures come amid a boom in the price of bitcoin, the world's best known cryptocurrency. Bitcoin rose some 1,400 percent last year, but has fallen nearly 30 percent in 2018.
Last month, a Twitter account posing as Elon Musk targeted fans of the Silicon Valley billionaire, claiming to give away cryptocurrency. On Wednesday, the account appeared to be suspended.

Facebook testing a 'downvote' button for users to judge others comments

Facebook is testing a feature that lets users register a negative reaction to comments on the social network platform but it is not the "dislike" button users have long desired.

Clicking the downvote button hides the comment for the user who taps it, then asks them to say whether the comment was "offensive", "misleading", or "off topic".

"The company has confirmed the test but added it is only intended to be a method for flagging questionable comments on public posts," The Verge quoted a Facebook spokesperson as saying late on Thursday.

Notably, downvote view counts not being visible to users.

"We are exploring a feature for people to give us feedback about comments on public page posts.

New Snapchat update to let users share public 'Stories' outside the app

Image messaging and multimedia mobile application Snapchat on Wednesday announced that the platform will now let its user base to share some public 'Stories' via links.

"Stories eligible for sharing right now include those Official Stories and Our Stories found in the Discover tab, as well as Search Stories," TechCrunch reported.

However, according to the company, the type of 'Stories' that one can share will expand over time.

The aim is to allow users to share content from within the app to let people, who don't use the platform, know what it can do.

This feature will be going live to users running the redesigned Snapchat app, which also includes test markets like Australia and Canada.

It will become available for iOS and Android over the next few weeks.

How WhatsApp launched 'Reply Privately' feature in beta update - mistakenly

WhatsApp mistakenly rolled out the 'Reply Privately' feature in a beta update that will allow users to privately send a message to a participant in a group without anyone else knowing about it.

According to Express.co.uk, the hotly-anticipated feature is under development and could be rolled out with other features as well.

The feature appeared and was subsequently dropped from the beta version of the app, watcher of the popular chat app @WABetaInfo said, confirming that the developers wrongly enabled the feature.

"In the new WhatsApp beta for Windows Phone 2.17.344 the private reply feature is disabled. Probably WhatsApp has wrongly enabled it in 2.17.342," WABetaInfo tweeted.

WABetaInfo said that the option will only be available in group chats and will be included in the small menu that pops-up when users press and hold on a message.

Earlier this month, WABetaInfo leaked the details of the features that WhatsApp was developing for web and desktop, including tap to unblock and a picture-in-picture (PIP) mode.
READ MORE

Facebook, Twitter to face sanctions if they don't help in fake news inquiry

Facebook and Twitter have been warned of sanctions if they fail to provide all the necessary information to a British Parliamentary committee investigating Russian interference in the EU referendum through spread of the so called "fake news" on the social networking platforms, a media report said.

The social media giants have time until January 18 to hand over information the committee has requested, The Telegraph reported on Thursday.

If they fail to comply, the committee will consider sanctions that could be imposed, such as encouraging the advertising industry to withdraw business on "ethical" grounds, said Damian Collins, Chair of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport ( DCMS) select committee, which is conducting the "fake news" inquiry.

There are allegations that during the EU referendum campaign, Facebook and Twitter platforms were used by the Russians to spread false information.

Therefore, the DCMS committee has asked the companies for details of the accounts and pages operated by Russians suspected of meddling.

"There has to be a way of scrutinising the procedures that companies like Facebook put in place to help them identify known sources of disinformation, particularly when it's politically motivated and coming from another country," Collins told The Guardian.

"But what there has to be then is some mechanism of saying: if you fail to do that, if you ignore requests to act, if you fail to police the site effectively and deal with highly problematic content, then there has to be some sort of sanction against you," Collins added.
READMORE

Social media corroding civil discourse: Obama tells Prince Harry

Former US President Barack Obama told Britain's Prince Harry he was concerned social media was "corroding civil discourse", in what he said was his first interview since leaving the White House, aired on Wednesday.

"One of the dangers of the internet is that people can have entirely different realities," he told the prince, who was guest editing BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"They can be cocooned in information that reinforces their current biases. Things aren't as simple as they've been portrayed in whatever chat room you've been in," he added.

"The question has to do with how do we harness this technology in a way that allows a multiplicity of voices, allows a diversity of views, but doesn't lead to a Balkanisation of society and allows ways of finding common ground."

The interview was recorded in Toronto, Canada, in September on the sidelines of the Invictus Games, the athletic tournament created by Harry for wounded former soldiers.

Despite admitting concern over the future of the US, Obama, who did not mention his successor Donald Trump by name, said he felt a sense of "serenity" on leaving the White House.

"There was a sense that we had run a good race," he added.

On his new routine, Obama told the prince: "I wake up later, it's wonderful to be able to control your day."
READ MORE

Brexit will work not just for citizens but for animals too: Britain

Brexit must work for animals too, Britain's Environment Secretary Michael Gove said today, promising that welfare standards would improve after leaving the European Union.

"We are a nation of animal lovers so we will make Brexit work not just for citizens but for the animals we love and cherish too," said Gove, a leading pro-Brexit campaigner for the 2016 EU referendum.

Gove was presenting a draft law that would enshrine the concept of animal sentience into British law and introduce new jail sentences for animal abusers.

"Britain outside the European Union can have higher standards on the environment and indeed on animal welfare," he said.

The move follows a social media storm after MPs last month during a heated Brexit debate voted against transposing an EU protocol recognising animals as sentient beings into British law.

Commentators took that to mean MPs had voted to say animals did not have feelings.

"As we leave the EU we will deliver a green Brexit, not only maintaining but enhancing animal welfare standards," Gove said.
READ MORE

Gujarat polls: EC bars BJP from using 'Pappu' in electronic advertisement

The Election Commission has barred the ruling BJP in Gujarat from using the word "Pappu" in an electronic advertisement, which apparently targeted Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, calling it "derogatory".

"Pappu" is perceived as a social media slur coined to target Gandhi.

Confirming the development, sources in the BJP today said the script of the advertisement did not link the word to any individual.

According to BJP sources, the media committee under the Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) objected to the word mentioned in the script of the advertisement which was submitted by the party for approval last month.

"Before making any election-related advertisement, we have to submit a script to the committee to get a certificate. However, they raised objection to the word 'Pappu', saying it is derogatory. They asked us to remove or replace it," a senior BJP leader said.

He said the party will replace the word and submit a new script for the EC's approval.

"Since there was no direct mention or linkage with any person while mentioning 'Pappu' in the entire script, we had appealed to the committee to reconsider their decision, but they rejected it. Now, we will change that word and submit a new script for approval," he said.

When contacted, Gujarat CEO BB Swain said he was not aware of any such development and can comment only after getting the details tomorrow.
READ MORE

UK may ban kids under 13 from social media to curb sexual abuse

Under a new legislation to be debated in the UK's House of Lords later this week, children under the age of 13 will be banned from joining Facebook and Twitter to keep them safe from child abuse on the social media platforms.

According to a report in The Telegraph, the government's Data Protection Bill will legally enshrine the age at which children will be allowed to create accounts on social media platforms.

The proposal, however, might not get support from cross-party peers who are insisting that the measure must be accompanied by new rules forcing companies to adapt their sites for younger users.

The move comes as Home Secretary Amber Rudd is to meet executives from the Internet giants in the US this week.

Writing in a national daily The Sun on Sunday, Rudd said social media giants must do more to stop child sexual exploitation, adding that the companies have a "moral duty" to go "further and faster" in their efforts to tackle the abuse.

"Online technology had made 'vile child sexual abuse content vastly easier to find'. It is an absolute urgency that I call on all Internet companies to go further and go faster in tackling online child sexual abuse.

"We need you all to bring your resources and your technical expertise to help us turn the tide on this horrendous scourge. It is your moral duty," she added.

During her trip to Washington, Rudd will attend a roundtable discussion which will be joined by tech companies, including Google, Facebook and Microsoft.

As per a BBC report, new government figures show there was a 700 per cent increase in the number of indecent images identified on technology company servers and flagged to law enforcement agencies between 2013 and 2017.

Each month there are more than 400 arrests for indecent images of children offences in Britain and some 500 children are being protected from online sexual exploitation, BBC cited the government data as saying.
READ MORE

Facebook, Twitter, Google under scrutiny for 'Russian meddling'

Facebook, Twitter and Google lawyers defended themselves to US lawmakers probing whether Russia used social media to influence the 2016 Presidential election.

The three firms faced hard questions at a Senate panel on Tuesday on crime and terrorism about why they missed political ads bought with Russian money, BBC reported on Wednesday.

Lawmakers are eyeing new regulations for social media firms in the wake of Russia's alleged meddling in 2016. The firms said they would tighten advertising policies and guidelines.

Senator Al Franken, a Democrat from Minnesota, asked Facebook -- which absorbed much of the heat from lawmakers -- why payment in Russian rubles did not tip off the firm to suspicious activity.

"In hindsight, we should have had a broader lens," said Colin Stretch, general counsel for Facebook. "There are signals we missed."

A day earlier, Facebook said as many as 126 million US users may have seen Russia-backed content over the last two years.

Lawyers for the three firms are facing two days of congressional hearings as lawmakers consider legislation that would extend regulations for television, radio and satellite to also cover social media platforms.

The firms said they are increasing efforts to identify bots and spam, as well as make political advertising more transparent.

Facebook, for example, said it expects to have 20,000 people working on "safety and security" by the end of 2018 -- double the current number.
READ MORE

Trump overtakes Pope to become Twitter's most followed world leader

President Donald Trump has passed Pope Francis to become the most-followed world leader on Twitter, a social media tracker says.

Twitplomacy says Trump, with about 40 million followers, over the weekend took the top spot on its tracked list of about 890 accounts of leaders like heads of state and government. The pope's followers in all languages are slightly fewer.

Twitplomacy founder Matthias Luefkens, head of digital with Burson Marsteller EMEA, acknowledged that many followers could be dormant accounts or "bots." The list also doesn't count ex-leaders like Barack Obama, who has 95 million-plus followers.

Trump has frequently announced government policy or made controversial statements on Twitter.

Luefkens said today that Trump's tweets get many "interactions" and he expects the US leader might trumpet the achievement: "He does like his crowd size.
READ MORE

Gujarat govt announces Rs 1 lakh reward to find Blue Whale curators

The Gujarat government on Thursday announced a cash reward of Rs 1 lakh to those providing information about the "administrators and curators" of the deadly Blue Whale Challenge.

After banning the challenge, which incites people to commit suicide, the state home department on Thursday came out with an advisory and directed police department and district administrations to prohibit people from undertaking the challenge.

Minister of State for Home, Pradipsinh Jadeja, said that the cyber cell of the state police has launched a helpline number -- 079-22871917 -- for anyone seeking information on the online game which has resulted in several young people allegedly killing themselves worldwide.

Jadeja said the state government has directed commissioners and district magistrates to prohibit undertaking of the "game" under relevant provisions of the CrPC and the Gujarat Police Act.

"The state government has banned Blue Whale Challenge. Educational institutes are taking steps to create awareness about its adverse impact, and the police's cyber crime cell has launched a helpline number for parents seeking to know what they should do when they find out their children playing the game," he was quoted as saying in a release.
READ MORE

Here is why Mark Zuckerberg can't be blocked on Facebook

The Facebook profiles of Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan cannot be blocked because they have reportedly been blocked so many times that the social media giant is stopping it happening.

When people do not want to see your posts, they will either unfriend you, stop following you or they will block you.

If you press the block button on both of their profiles, a message saying "Block Error" will be returned -- meaning that there "was a problem while blocking Mark Zuckerberg or Priscilla Chan" and you should "try again".

Zuckerberg writes a lot about updates to Facebook and news about his personal life or statements on current events on his personal page.

According to a report in The Independent, those posts then seem to benefit from help from the Facebook algorithm and are interacted with, pushing them onto people's news feeds.

Blocking the Facebook founder and his wife was a useful way of keeping those posts from appearing before it was banned.

The ban has been in place since 2010 and even led to a now-defunct website that exists only to point out that it's impossible to block Zuckerberg, the report pointed out.
READ MORE

Snap shares wither more as filings show some investors bailing

Snap Inc stock rebounded on Monday from a record low hit earlier in a choppy trading session as big investors report their latest stakes in the beleaguered social media company and as a wave of employees became eligible to sell their shares.

The shares were up 5.2 per cent at $12.44 in morning trading after falling as much as 4.7 per cent to $11.28 shortly after the market opened, their lowest point since their March debut.

Within just 45 minutes of regular trading, volume had already reached half of the stock's daily average for the past 10 days.

Starting on Monday, employees for the first time are allowed to sell their stock following the Snapchat parent's blockbuster initial public offering, potentially increasing the supply of shares in the market and their volatility.

Monday is also the deadline for hedge funds and other institutional investors to report their quarter-end holdings of U.S. equities.
READ MORE

Saudi charges Twitter users with promoting extremism in bid to fight terror

Saudi Arabia's public prosecution has issued an order to summon a group of Twitter users who have been charged with criminal offence for promoting extremism, media reports said on Sunday.

These Twitter users are accused of "influencing the integrity and moderation of the intellectual curriculum of the society with harmful participations that took the seriousness of extremism leading to the misguided campaign of thought."

The names of those summoned and the nature of their posts haven't been revealed.

Saudi Arabia's public prosecution has warned of legal actions against those who will carry contents that are harmful to the society -- regardless of its material, pretexts, and means of publication, Xinhua reported.

The includes media publications, social media, lectures, speeches, books and others.

This act is part of many steps by Saudi Arabia to fight extremism and terrorism that could affect the security of the state.

The country has registered a number of deadly blasts in recent years by terror cells that are backed by the Islamic State (IS) militant group.
READ MORE

Why aren't investigators looking into 'crooked' Hillary's crimes: Trump

US President Donald Trump took to social media to ask why congressional committees and Attorney General Jeff Sessions are not investigating the links between the Russian government and "dishonest" Hillary Clinton, his Democratic rival in the 2016 presidential election.

Trump on Monday resorted once again to Twitter to lambaste Clinton and lash out at the investigations being pursued by several congressional committees to determine if his election campaign coordinated with the Kremlin to influence the result of the election and hurt Clinton's chances at the polls, Efe news reported.

"So why aren't the Committees and investigators, and of course our beleaguered A.G., looking into Crooked Hillarys crimes and Russia relations?" tweeted Trump.


So why aren't the Committees and investigators, and of course our beleaguered A.G., looking into Crooked Hillarys crimes & Russia relations?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 24, 2017
 The President's comment comes a few hours after his son-in-law Jared Kushner denied having "improper contacts" with Russian officials.
Kushner released a statement outlining the testimony he intends to provide on Monday behind closed doors before the Senate Intelligence Committee, one of the congressional bodies pursuing the Russia investigation.
READ MORE