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Universal Music threatens to pull songs from TikTok over payment terms
Universal Music Group (UMG) is threatening to pull all of its music from TikTok today following a breakdown in negotiations over royalties.
Proposed California bill would let parents block algorithmic social feeds for children
California will float a pair of bills designed to protect children from social media addiction and preserve their private data. SB 976 and AB 1949 were introduced Monday by the state’s Attorney General Rob Bonta.
New York City has designated social media as a ‘public health hazard’
New York City has officially become the first city in the US to designate social media as a “public health hazard.”
How the EU forced tech companies to change in 2023
This year, tech companies have made concessions that would have once been unthinkable. It's all because of the European Union.
Bluesky changed its logo and now lets everyone view posts, even without an account
Bluesky announced this week that you can now view posts on from the social network without logging in. It's also overhauled its logo, replacing the cloudy blue sky with a simple blue butterfly.
TikTok upgrades its app experience for tablets and foldables
TikTok, which is traditionally mobile-forward, will video feeds to bigger screens with “enhanced clarity.”
Threads’ new hashless tags have opened the door for the silliest form of trolling
Threads last week rolled out searchable topic tags, which work like hashtags but have some key differences. They don't start with the # symbol, and they can contain spaces and special characters. In some cases, they may not stand out as obvious tags, which is exactly what makes this trick work.
Threads finally launches in Europe
Threads has finally arrived in Europe over five months after it launched in the US, UK and elsewhere around the world.
Instagram is making it easier to remove spammy followers
Meta is rolling out a suite of new tools on Instagram that give users more control over how much spam content and bots they will see on their feeds.
Snapchat+ subscribers can now use AI to generate or extend images within the app
Snapchat+ subscribers can now use AI to extend images — or "zoom out" — at the click of a button.
Meta is going to fact-check content on the Threads app
Threads is going to make an effort to moderate more of the user-generated content on the platform.
BeReal, which still exists, gets tags, private groups and a 2023 recap
BeReal is launching new features for its app, which has over 25 million daily active users globally. The company, which tries to differentiate its platform by focusing on spontaneous authenticity, is adding a feature similar to Apple’s Live Photos.
How a social engineering hack turned these Facebook pages into a dumping ground for spam
Much of the cyber criminality today is social engineering jobs, ripping off mid-level creators with much fewer resources than a multinational corporation, but also significantly less technical know-how.
Fitness app Strava finally lets users message each other
Strava app users can now send other profiles messages in either direct one-on-one chats or in groups.
Telegram now offers all users limited transcriptions of voice messages
Telegram has released an iOS and Android app update that includes several new features. Anyone can now get a transcription of a voice message, while you can finally repost other people's public stories.
Meta, X, TikTok, Snap and Discord CEOs will testify before the Senate over online child safety
Not every company is participating voluntarily.
Instagram reportedly served up child-sexualizing reels to followers of teen influencers
Instagram’s Reels video service would apparently serve "risqué footage of children" to test accounts that only followed teen and preteen influencers.
Instagram makes public Reels downloadable for everyone
Instagram launched the ability to download publicly viewable Reels in June, but it limited the feature's availability to users on mobile in the US.
Meta’s Content Library provides researchers with digital ‘clean room’ for data access
The Meta Content Library and Content Library API tools will share real-time information about user-generated content.
Instagram update adds new camera filters and video editing tools for content creators
Instagram just rolled out an update to its app that adds a whole bunch of new features, including brand-new filters. You also get more video editing tools, a media hub and more.