Social Media

How Doomscrolling shaped the path of the future

COVID-19 came, and with it came the reshaping of human habits. We went from constantly checking our phones for entertainment purposes to the endless scrolling for news updates, be it pandemic-related, politics, or any kind of news that would deliver a higher clarity to where the world was going. November 19, a date will be […]

Facebook working on Instagram for kids under 13

Facebook says it is working on a version of its Instagram app for kids under 13, who are technically not allowed to use the app in its current form due to federal privacy regulations. The company confirmed an earlier report by Buzzfeed News on Friday, saying it is “exploring a parent-controlled experience” on Instagram. The […]

Twitter sues Texas AG, claiming retaliation for Trump ban

Twitter has filed a lawsuit against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, claiming the Republican used his office to retaliate against it for banning the account of former President Donald Trump following the riot at the U.S. Capitol. Days after the deadly January insurrection, Paxton announced an investigation into Twitter and four other major technology companies […]

Uganda lifts internet ban, as social media remains blocked

Uganda has lifted its blanket ban on internet access on Tuesday following a heated presidential election that saw the country’s long-time president Yoweri Museveni declared the winner. However, many have reported that certain social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are yet to be restored, with access to them only attained via Virtual Private […]

Uganda bans social media in run off to presidential election

Uganda’s communications regulator has imposed a blanket ban on all social media and messaging apps since Wednesday until further notice, South African telecoms company MTN Group said in a statement. Reuters confirmed it had seen a letter from the Ugandan communications regulator dated 12th January 2021 which ordered internet service providers to “immediately suspend any […]

Twitter without Trump tumbles along with other tech shares

Shares of social media and other tech companies slid Monday, hit by fallout from the siege on the U.S. Capitol by supporter of President Donald Trump. Twitter’s stock ended the day down 6.4% after the company on Friday permanently shut down Trump’s account, @realDonaldTrump, which had 89 million followers. The social network cited concerns the […]

Report: Social media manipulation affects even US senators

The conversation taking place on the verified social media accounts of two U.S. senators remained vulnerable to manipulation, even amid heightened scrutiny in the run up to the U.S. presidential election, an investigation by the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence found. Researchers from the center, a NATO-accredited research group based in Riga, Latvia, paid […]

Did social media actually counter election misinformation?

Ahead of the election, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube promised to clamp down on election misinformation, including unsubstantiated charges of fraud and premature declarations of victory by candidates. And they mostly did just that — though not without a few hiccups. But overall their measures still didn’t really address the problems exposed by the 2020 U.S. […]

Trump, Biden fight for primacy on social media platforms

WASHINGTON (AP) — On an average day, President Donald Trump sends about 14 posts to the 28 million Facebook followers of his campaign account. His Democratic rival, Joe Biden, delivers about half that many posts to an audience of just 2 million. The numbers are similarly skewed in other spheres of the social media landscape. […]

Will social media platforms retain their power?

US President Donald Trump’s War with Twitter has engendered a series of legal moves against social media platforms. In fact, not only is Trump wanting to drop immunity for the online platform but also US lawmakers. The Department of Justice and Trump administration have been urging Congress to limit legal protection enjoyed by these platforms […]