India Observers

  A US federal court decision will subject major tech companies — Meta (formerly Facebook), TikTok’s ByteDance, Google’s Alphabet, and Snapchat’s Snap — to a lawsuit alleging their social media platforms negatively impact children’s mental health. The court, led by Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, rejected the companies’ attempt to dismiss the lawsuits, allowing the legal challenge to proceed. School districts across the United States assert that platforms like  Facebook , Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Snapchat cause physical and emotional harm to children. Last month, forty-two US states took legal action against Meta, emphasizing the significant impact on the psychological and social realities of young Americans. The ruling consolidates over 140 actions against these tech giants. Judge Gonzalez Rogers clarified that the First Amendment and Section 230 do not shield the companies from all liabilities in this case. She suggested addressing platform defects, like insufficient pa...

  Instagram’s Chief, Adam Mosseri, has made it clear that their new app,   Threads , is not intended to compete with Twitter in terms of news and political discussions. Mosseri believes that the potential engagement and revenue generated by such topics would not outweigh the integrity and security risks they pose. While politics and hard news may appear on Threads, the platform will not actively encourage or prioritize such content. Meta, the parent company of Instagram, has been actively moving away from news and taking steps to reduce the visibility of multiple political posts in a row. In an interview with The Verge, Mosseri emphasized that Threads’ main goal is to create a less contentious and angry space for conversations on Instagram. The app aims to focus on vibrant communities centered around sports, music, fashion, beauty, and entertainment, rather than engaging in political discussions. This approach aligns with Meta’s broader efforts to distance itself from news and...

  Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is preparing to launch a new social networking platform called Threads, positioning it as an alternative to   Twitter . The app, led by Mark Zuckerberg, is set to debut on July 6, as indicated by its listing on the Apple App Store. Threads was initially discovered on the Google Play store in Europe before becoming available on the App Store. Meta aims to offer a more inclusive and well-managed platform in response to advertiser concerns about Twitter’s association with far-right figures. Threads combines elements from Instagram and Twitter, providing users with a space to engage in discussions on various topics and connect with favorite creators. The launch of Threads comes at a time when Twitter is facing challenges, including declining advertising revenue and user dissatisfaction due to restrictions on access. Elon Musk, who acquired Twitter for $44 billion, has made changes within the platform, such as appointing Linda Yaccarino as th...

  WhatsApp, owned by Meta (formerly Facebook), has introduced a   new feature   allowing users to transfer chats between devices using QR codes. This method ensures faster and more secure transfers without relying on cloud storage. The CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, announced the feature on Instagram, emphasizing its privacy benefits and the localized transfer process. The user simply needs to scan a QR code on the new device, connected to the same Wi-Fi network, to complete the transfer. WhatsApp  has introduced a local transfer method using QR codes for the first time, offering a convenient alternative to cloud storage. Users can easily transfer chats between devices without relying on third-party apps. By utilizing local data transfer, WhatsApp ensures a more private and efficient process, eliminating the need for cloud connections. The new QR code feature makes WhatsApp chat transfers easier and more secure, without the need for cloud storage. It provides a simple...

  Instagram’s Chief, Adam Mosseri, has revealed some of the secrets behind the platform’s algorithm in a recent blog post. The post aims to provide better transparency and introduces new features based on creator feedback. It clarifies that   Instagram   utilizes multiple algorithms, classifiers, and processes for different parts of the app. When it comes to the Feed, Instagram takes into account users’ activity, post information, and interaction history to personalize the user experience. Factors like time spent on a post, comments, likes, shares, and profile taps are closely monitored. The more user actions and their importance, the higher the post will appear in the Feed. In the case of Stories, ranking is determined by users’ frequency of viewing and engagement with an account’s stories, as well as the closeness of their relationship with the author. Predictions are made based on user actions such as tapping, replying, or moving on to the next story. For Reels, user a...

  Instagram , a popular photo-sharing platform owned by Meta, is reportedly developing a new text-based app to compete with Twitter. Referred to as “Instagram’s new text-based app for conversations,” the app is expected to be released in late June. It will have a decentralized structure, similar to Mastodon and Jack Dorsey’s BlueSky project, enabling users from different apps to connect and interact. The app will allow users to log in with their existing Instagram credentials, carrying over their profile information, followers, and settings. It will feature a centralized feed, supporting text updates, videos, and images. The forthcoming text-based app from Instagram offers an alternative to users who are dissatisfied with the recent developments on Twitter, particularly with  Elon Musk ’s involvement. It aims to provide a personalized interface across various platforms, aligning with its compatibility with Mastodon and other social media platforms. The app is currently undergo...

 Facebook has extended its Reels length to 90 seconds, trending Reels templates, plus introduced a ‘Grooves’ feature to align video motion with the song beats. On Friday, the business announced it on Facebook through its “Meta for Creators” account. Producers may now quickly create “Ready-made” Reels from their “Memories” exactly like they do on Instagram, a social media platform for sharing photos and videos. Also, the company unveiled a brand-new “Grooves” function that automatically synchronizes and aligns the motion in a user’s video with the beat of the music, according to news agency IANS.  Users can quickly construct Reels using popular templates with the new “Templates” feature. The “Why am I seeing this ad?” function on Facebook was updated last month by Meta to increase transparency about how it used machine learning algorithms to serve ads to people. The tool would explain “how your behavior on and off our services may impact the machine learning models we employ to...