Social Media & Big Tech news and discussions

[Time_Traveller]

EU investigates Apple, Meta and Google owner Alphabet under new tech law

Mon 25 Mar 2024 13.17 GMT

Apple, Google’s parent company and Meta are being investigated by the EU for potential breaches of the bloc’s new laws designed to police anti-competitive behaviour by big technology companies.

The trio face significant fines if they are found guilty of breaching the Digital Markets Act (DMA), a landmark piece of regulation that came into force on 7 March and is aimed at increasing choice for online consumers.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, said it was looking at potential breaches related to: Apple and Google’s measures allowing app developers to “steer” users to offers outside their app stores; whether Alphabet, Google’s owner, favours its own services such as Google shopping in search results on its search engine; Meta’s decision to charge users for an ad-free experience on Facebook and Instagram and whether it complies with DMA provisions on users’ personal data; and whether Apple is making it easy for users to pick alternative browsers on their phones.

“The commission suspects that the measures put in place by these gatekeepers fall short of effective compliance of their obligations under the DMA,” said the commission.

The law requires the six tech “gatekeepers” – Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft and the TikTok owner ByteDance, which provide services such as search engines, social networks and chat apps used by other businesses – to comply with guidance to ensure a level playing field for their rivals and to give users more choices.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... arkets-act

[weatheriscool]

DeSantis signs ban on kids using social media

TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday signed a bill blocking most kids from social media websites, setting up an expected court battle that could prevent the legislation from ever taking effect.

House Bill 3, passed by lawmakers with bipartisan support this month, forbids kids 13 and younger from creating social media accounts and requires the platforms to seek out and remove their profiles. Kids 14 and 15 would need parents’ consent.

The legislation also blocks all minors from adult websites, requiring all visitors to prove their age before viewing content.

Florida follows a handful of other states, from California to Arkansas, that have placed similar limits on kids’ social media use in response to rising rates of teen depression and suicide.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-p ... k-consent/

[Time_Traveller]

Trump’s Social Media Company Is Finally Going Public. He Could Make Billions.
by Russ Choma
March 22, 2024

Introduction:

(Mother Jones) After repeated delays, Donald Trump finally seems to be taking his Truth Social app public—an accomplishment that could set him up for a gigantic potential windfall. “Potential” being the operative word there.

In the moments after shareholders approved a merger between a publicly traded SPAC corporation and Trump Media and Technology Group—the parent company of Truth Social—the SPAC’s stock price began to slide. (A SPAC is a blank-slate corporation established for the sole purpose of merging with another business that wants to go public.) While some noted that the deal could give Trump an enormous shot of money right when he needs it most—he’s facing a deadline early next week to pony up around half a billion dollars for a bond in his fraud case—the stock’s initial volatility also wiped approximately that much money off his balance sheet in a matter of hours. Of course, that’s a danger with any publicly traded stock, and it’s entirely possible that the price will have rebounded by the time you read this. But it demonstrates why the long-awaited merger doesn’t necessarily solve Trump’s cash problems.

Trump established Truth Social in 2022 to be a MAGA-version of Twitter, and the app has sputtered along, powered almost exclusively by Trump’s own posting on the site.

Read more here: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2 ... -public/

More news on this:-

Donald Trump media firm soars in stock market debut

2 hours ago

Shares in Donald Trump's media company have soared, as the firm makes its formal debut on the stock market.

Shares surged past $70 each in opening trade - a price that gives the firm a market value of more than $9bn.

The long-awaited moment will inject more than $200m into Trump Media & Technology Group and hands the former president a stake worth more than $5bn.

Analysts say that is far more than warranted, given the performance of the business.

Trump Media operates Truth Social, a Twitter-like service that brought in just $3.3m in revenue in the first nine months of last year and lost nearly $50m.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68667664

[Time_Traveller]

TikTok to take on Instagram with photo app

9 April 2024, 16:16 BST



TikTok is to take on social media rival, Instagram, by launching a photo-sharing app.

The company said it was working on a "dedicated space" for images and text.

Some users have received notifications saying their photo posts will be shared to a new "TikTok Notes" app unless they opt out.

It is the latest example of social media firms imitating each others' products - including Instagram launching Reels, a TikTok-like video tool, in 2020.

“The copycat phenomenon runs rampant across social media platforms", Mike Proulx, a research director at analysis firm Forrester, told the BBC.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cge8j2dyg1qo

[weatheriscool]

[weatheriscool]

[Powers]

No way it can save (live) from that.

[weatheriscool]

[Time_Traveller]

Apple removes WhatsApp and Threads from Chinese App Store

Fri 19 Apr 2024 07.46 BST

Apple has removed WhatsApp and Threads from its Chinese App Store after the Chinese government ordered it to do so for “national security” reasons.

Apple confirmed it had withdrawn the two apps – both owned by Meta, also the owner of Facebook – under instruction from the Cyberspace Administration of China, which regulates and censors China’s highly restricted internet and online content.

“The Cyberspace Administration of China ordered the removal of these apps from the China storefront based on their national security concerns,” Apple said in an emailed statement to Reuters. “We are obligated to follow the laws in the countries where we operate, even when we disagree.”

China’s Great Firewall blocks numerous foreign apps and websites – including WhatsApp – from being accessed or used domestically, but individuals can often bypass the blocks using VPNs. Apple users in China can still download WhatsApp and Threads if they have iCloud accounts set outside China.

China’s ruling Communist party continues to tighten its control over internet usage in the country, with comprehensive censorship of sensitive topics on social media, and monitoring of communication. It has proposed policies designed to reduce the amount of time children spend online.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/ ... -app-store

[Time_Traveller]

Quarter of children under seven own smartphones

5 hours ago

Around a quarter of five-to-seven-year-olds now own a smartphone, and three-quarters use a tablet or computer, according to a new study from Ofcom.

In its annual study of children’s relationship with the media and online worlds, Ofcom said the number of children aged between five and seven who go online to send messages or make voice and video calls had risen 6 per cent on last year to 65 per cent, while half now watch live-streamed content, up from 39 per cent.

The use of social media sites has also risen, with 38 per cent of the young age group now said to be using social media platforms, with WhatsApp, TikTok, Instagram and Discord in particular seeing growth – despite these sites requiring users to be at least 13 years old to have an account.

In addition, the study also found that while 42 per cent of parents said they used social media with their child, 32 per cent said their child used social media independently.

https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/smar ... 31304.html