Tag Archives: Social Media

Social Media Given ‘Last Chance’ To Tackle Illegal Posts

smartphone, Social Media

Online platforms must begin assessing whether their services expose users to illegal material by 16 March 2025 or face financial punishments as the Online Safety Act (OSA) begins taking effect, BBC reported.

Ofcom, the regulator enforcing the UK’s internet safety law, published its final codes of practice for how firms should deal with illegal online content on Monday.

Platforms have three months to carry out risk assessment identifying potential harms on their services or they could be fined up to 10% of their global turnover.

Ofcom head Dame Melanie Dawes told BBC News this was the “last chance” for industry to make changes.

Under Ofcom’s rules, platforms need to identify if, where and how illegal content might appear on their services and ways they will stop it reaching users.

Many large tech firms have already brought in safety measures for teenage users and controls to give parents more oversight of their social media activity in a bid to tackle dangers for teens and pre-empt regulations.

For instance, on Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat, users under the age of 18 cannot be discovered in search or messaged by accounts they do not follow.

The Guardian reported: Social media platforms have a “job of work” to do in order to comply with the UK’s Online Safety Act and have yet to introduce all the measures needed to protect children and adults from harmful content, the communications regulator said.

Ofcom on Monday published codes of practice and guidance that tech companies should follow to comply with the act, which carries the threat of significant fines and closure of sites if companies breach it.

The regulator said many of the measures it is recommending are not followed by the largest and riskiest platforms.

Every site and app in scope of the act — from Facebook, Google and X to Reddit and OnlyFans – now has three months to assess the illegal risk of content appearing on the platform.

CNBC reported: The U.K. officially brought its sweeping online safety law into force on Monday, paving the way for stricter supervision of online  safety law into force Monday, paving the way for massive fines for technology giants like Meta, Google, and TikTok

OfCom, the British media and telecommunications watchdog, published its first-edition codes of practice and guidance for tech firms laying out what they should be doing to tackle illegal harms such as terror, hate, fraud and child sexual abuse on their platforms.

The measures form the first set of duties imposed by the regulator under the Online Safety Act, a sweeping law requiring tech platforms to do more to combat illegal content online.

In my opinion, it sounds like the UK’s regulator is intent on making sure that children – and adults – who use social media should be protected from seeing thing that do not belong online.

Threads Is Testing The Option To Choose Your Own Default Mode

Threads

Threads will now let users decide what feed they want as their default when opening the app. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the news in a post, saying that you’ll be able to choose between For You, Following, or any custom feed that you’ve set up. Zuckerburg’s post notes that Threads is “testing” this option and will also make different feeds “more visible” in the app, The Verge reported.

It took over a year to get here, but Threads is finally doing the obvious thing and allowing people to use the app however they prefer. Hopefully this test expands to all users before long.

Increased competition from Bluesky has sparked many recent improvements to Threads, including a reworking the For You algorithm to focus on accounts you actually follow and less on suggested content. The service’s search feature is also being overhauled to be more useful. Oh, and there’s landscape video now, too.

Competition truly works wonders.

Engadget reported Meta’s Threads is pushing out another test that could address a major long-running complaint about the service. The company is experimenting with allowing users to set the non-algorithmic “following” feed as the default, Mark Zuckerberg shared in a post.

The change, according to Zuckerberg, will allow users to select any feed as their default, including the newly announced custom feeds. But longtime Threads users will likely to be relieved to finally have the ability to make “following” their default view.

Up until now, Meta has pushed users to its “for you” algorithmic feed, which has long been criticized for its problems with engagement bait and its uncanny ability to push a mix of bizarre posts from strangers to the top of users’ feeds.

As part of the test, Meta will also make the ability to change your feed “more visible” in the app. Zuckerberg didn’t share how many users it might take for the feature to become official. “Interested to see how and if people use this,” he wrote.

Mashable reported Bluesky, the formerly Jack Dorsey-affiliated, decentralized answer to Elon Musk’s X, is closing the gap with Threads at breakneck speed. The browser version of Bluesky surpassed Threads in total usage weeks ago, but now the Bluesky app has exploded to 3.5 million daily active users, putting it just 1.5 times behind Meta’s Threads — an impressive feat considering the Threads app had 5X Bluesky’s active users at the start of the month.

Why Bluesky over Threads? Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s decision to downplay political content on Threads appears to have turned off many users seeking vibrant public discourse. Critics see it as an attempt to stay in President-elect Donald Trump’s good graces, effectively neutering the platform’s potential as a forum for political and cultural debate.

In my opinion, it is a good idea for the various social media sites to start a competition with each other. It will be interesting to see how many users make the switch from the service they are using now to one they want to try out.

Threads Is Overhauling Its Search And Trending Features

Threads

Meta is promising “long-overdue improvements” to its X competitor, Threads, including more precise search features and expanded trending topics. The Verge reported.

First, users will be able to search for posts within a specific date range or from a single account — similar to what X’s search allows. Threads is also testing a new trending page in the US that includes additional topics to follow as well as AI-generated summaries of what other users are talking about.

Instagram head Adam Mosseri, who led the launch of Threads, wrote in a post that the tests begin today.

“Today we’re beginning to test a couple of long-overdue improvements to Search and Trending Now on Threads. In the new Search experience, you’ll be able to search within a specific date range or search for posts from a single account. In the US, where Trending now is available, we’re testing an expanded set of trending topics, along with AI-powered summaries of what people are discussing. If you try out the new features, please share your feedback below.”

A long-running complaint about Threads is that the default home fed is filled with irrelevant, and at times annoying content from account users don’t follow. (Bluesky’s default feed is the opposite. Just yesterday, Mosseri said Meta was tweaking the Threads algorithm to prioritize posts from people you do follow, a significant change to how the platform ranks content.

Engadget reported Threads is making more changes to address long-running complaints from users. This time, the company is testing out improvements to its search and trending topics feature in updates that Adam Mosseri described as “long-overdue improvements.”

On search, Threads is testing the ability to search for posts within specific date ranges and account-specific searches. The change are similar to some of X’s advanced search capabilities and could make it easier for users to look for a specific post they want to revisit. The lack of advanced search on Threads has long been frustrating and up to now, the most reliable way to search for a specific Threads post was to use Google.

Threads is also experimenting with AI-powered summaries for its “trending now” topics, which shows US users a handful of popular topics on the platform. The app will also show an “expanded set” of up to 15 trends (currently, Threads only displays five trends at a time). 

TechCrunch reported: As the Twitter-like social network Bluesky sees a significant surge in users this month, Meta’s own X competitor Threads has been rapidly building out its platform. 

The new addition sounds similar to X’s Stories feature, which uses Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok to summarize trending topics in the social network’s explore section.

Threads is also going to test an expanded set of trending topics, the company noted. Plus users will now be able to search within a specific date range and search for posts from an individual account.

In my opinion, I think Threads is intending to convince more people to use its services. Ideally, having more people use Threads could be good for the social media service.

Bluesky Has 20M+ Users After Hitting 15M On November 13

Bluesky, Social Media

Bluesky, the social media network and X competitor has been benefiting from a surge of departures from the Elon-Musk-owned app formerly known as Twitter, TechCrunch reported.

Today, Bluesky has hit a major milestone: it’s topped 20 million users. What’s more, new data indicates the app’s rapid growth is seeing it close the gap with another prominent X rival, Instagram Threads, across metrics like daily active users and website visits.

Bluesky’s user base is still much smaller than Threads, which recently reported north of 275 million monthly active users. However, if Bluesky’s current rate of growth holds up, I could catch up with Threads in time, market intelligence form Similarweb believes.

The Musk-owned app X remains dominant, though, with a U.S. daily active user count that’s more than 10 times larger than Bluesky at present.

The firm’s data also indicates that Bluesky overtook Threads in daily website visits in both the U.S. and the U.K., which signals strong interest from potential new users. Globally, daily website visits on Bluesky haven’t yet surpassed Threads, but its come very close as of mid-November.

Engadget reported Bluesky has passed the 20 million user mark as the app continues its recent surge in growth. The decentralized service, which reached 15 million users less than a week ago, has just about tripled its user base in the last three months.

Though it’s still smaller than its rivals on Threads and X, Bluesky’s current momentum is notable. The app has had several days over the last week where it added a million new users in a single 24-hour period.

That’s similar to the growth rate of Threads, which has been getting a million new sign-up a day for “going on three months,” according to an update last week from Meta’s Adam Mosseri. Threads reached 275 million monthly users this month and has added at least 15 million since the start of November.

And while Bluesky remains the underdog, there are other signs it’s gaining momentum. Bluesky has been the top app in Apple’s App Store for the last six days and has been the top non-gaming app in Google Play for four days, according to data provide by the analytics firm App Figure. Meta’s Threads is currently in the number two spot on the App Store.

The Hollywood Reporter posted: “#Xodus: Bluesky Hits 20M Users as People Continue to Flee X”

A trickle is becoming a flood for Bluesky, the social media company that has seen spectacular growth since the presidential election. On Tuesday, the microblogging platform hit 20 million users, after averaging 1 million new users per day over he past five days.

Bluesky has been one of the main beneficiaries of millions of users leaving Elon Musk’s X, as the site formerly known as Twitter descends into a mess of bots, extreme content, crypto scams, ads, pornography, racism, transphobia and misinformation.

In my opinion, a large number of people are moving to Bluesky and leaving Elon Musk’s X. This could be a really good thing for Bluesky.

Supreme Court Rules Public Officials Can Block Social Media Followers

Social Media, ,

The Supreme Court ruled Friday that public officials may block people on social media in certain circumstances, tossing aside challenges against local government officials in Michigan and California who blocked followers who were critical of them on Facebook, CNN reported.

In an unanimous opinion written by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the court set a clearer standard for when public officials are state actors online and when they can have more control over their social media presence. A second opinion dealing with a related dispute was unsigned and there were no noted dissents.

According to CNN, in an era when public officials often communicate with voters through social media, the cases raised important First Amendment questions about whether those pages were private or whether they are an extension of the government. Some of the pages included information that appeared official alongside personal posts showing the family dog.

“When a government official posts about job-related topics on social-media, it can be difficult to tell whether the speech is official or private,” Barrett wrote.

ArsTechnica posted a headline: “Public officials can block haters — but only sometimes, SCOTUS rules.” There are some circumstances where government officials are allowed to block people from commenting on their social media pages, the Supreme Court said.

According to the Supreme Court, the key question is whether officials are speaking as private individuals or on behalf of the state when posting online. Issuing two opinions, the Supreme Court declined to set a clear standard for when personal social media use constitutes state speech, leaving each unique case to be decided by lower courts.

Instead, SCOTUS provided a test for courts to decide first if someone is or isn’t speaking on behalf of the state on their social media pages, and then if they actually have authority to act on what they post online.

The ruling suggests that government officials can block people from commenting on personal social media pages where they discuss official business when that speech can not be attributed to the state and merely reflects personal remarks. This means that blocking is acceptable when the official has no authority to speak for the state or exercise that authority when speaking on their page.

NBC News reported the Supreme Court ruled Friday that members of the public in some circumstances can sue public officials for blocking them on social media platforms, deciding a pair of cases against the backdrop of former President Donald Trump’s contentious and colorful use of Twitter.

The court ruled unanimously that officials can be deemed “state actors” when making use of social media and can therefore face litigation if they block or mute a member of the public.

In ruling that it can, the court found that blocking someone from following an official constitutes a government action that could give rise to a constitutional claim under the Constitution’s First Amendment, which protects free speech.

In my opinion, we might see less posts from public officials on social media, considering the SCOTUS decision. That said, it is unclear to me if SCOTUS is requiring “state actors” to put up with angry people on social media.

 

Supreme Court Questions Florida And Texas Social Media Laws

Social Media,

The Supreme Court on Monday appeared to have deep concerns of state laws enacted in Florida and Texas that would prohibit social media platforms from throttling certain political viewpoints, CNN reported.

The high-stakes battle gives the nation’s highest court an enormous say in how millions of Americans get their news and information, as well as whether sites such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok should be able to make their own decisions about how to moderate spam, hate speech, and election misinformation.

According to CNN, the state laws ban online platforms from removing posts that express opinions, such as political content. States say the laws are necessary to keep the social media platforms from discriminating against conservatives.

At least at this stage of the case, however, it’s unclear how the justices will rule. Several of the justices were unsettled by the possibility that the laws could be applied to other sites, like Uber, without violating the Constitution. Some of the nine, meanwhile, signaled a desire to send the case back down to lower courts for further review about the potential sweep of the laws’ provisions beyond social media platforms.

NPR reported that the Supreme Court wrestled Monday with a pair of cases that could help define the future of the internet.

Legal experts say they’re the most important First Amendment cases in a generation. The question is whether states like Florida and Texas can force big social media platforms to carry content the platforms find hateful or objectionable.

According to NPR, Republicans in Florida and Texas took action, signing sweeping laws that prevent the largest platforms from banning users based on their political viewpoints and require them to provide an individual explanation to users about why their posts have been edited or removed.

NBC News eported that the Supreme Court on Monday grappled with knotty free speech questions as it weighted laws in Florida and Texas that seek to impose restrictions on the ability of social media companies to moderate content.

According to NBC News, after almost four hours of oral arguments, a majority of the justices appeared skeptical that states can prohibit platforms from barring or limiting the reach of some problematic users without violating the free speech rights of the companies.

But justices from across the ideological spectrum raised fears about the power and influence of big social media platforms like YouTube and Facebook and questioned whether the laws should be blocked entirely.

In my opinion, the Supreme Court justices are going to take some time before they come to a conclusion about what to do with the cases from Florida and Texas. Eventually, they will either release their decision or choose to not step into this particular case.

Bluesky Announces A New Look – The Social Butterfly

Bluesky,

Bluesky remains an invite-only decentralized Twitter alternative, but now, you don’t have to be logged in to be able to see posts on the platform, according to a blog post from Bluesky CEO Jay Grabber, The Verge reported. You can now see posts from both the web and from the Bluesky App.

According to The Verge, if you want to prevent logged-out users from seeing your posts, you can “discourage” that by clicking a toggle in settings. But Bluesky notes that “other apps may not honor this request” and that the toggle doesn’t make your account private.

Bluesky posted the following in the Bluesky blog:

A New Look for Bluesky: The Social Butterfly (written by Jay Graber)

Today, we announced a new logo for Bluesky.

Why did we choose a butterfly?

Well, of course, it flies. But more importantly, it is a symbol of change and transformation. Early on, we noticed that people were organically using the butterfly emoji ? to indicate their Bluesky handles. We loved it, and adopted it as it spread. The butterfly speaks to our mission of transforming social media into something new.

Like a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis, we are starting to open up. Posts on Bluesky have been public from the start through the open protocol, but today, we’re making them publicly accessible through the app. We’re unfolding a little bit at a time, and are excited to bring you along on this journey of metamorphosis!

What’s in a name?

The name “Bluesky” was originally a placeholder for the project started by Twitter to build an open source protocol. I decided to keep the name when I was chosen as the lead of the project. It’s memorable and symbolizes the open space of possibilities: The Twitter bird freed from a closed platform to fly in Bluesky’s open ecosystem.

As the project matured, we named the underlying standard the AT Protocol, or atproto. Bluesky, as the more colorful (and less technical) name everyone was familiar with, is also what we named the first app we built on atprotp. But Bluesky is not the limit. Many more apps and experiences are already beginning to emerge – there are thousands of custom feeds, dozens of other clients, and atproto will eventually support other apps. We hope that Bluesky, as the first app, will be a catalyst for change and transform how social media works, like a butterfly flapping its wings…

TechCrunch reported that decentralized social network and Twitter rival Bluesky is finally letting users look at posts on the platform without logging in. People still need an invite to create an account and start posting but can read posts through a link.

This move will also let publishers link to or embed Bluesky posts in blogs. Plus, users can share them in individual group chats.

Personally, I have been enjoying Bluesky. I think the new butterfly emoji/logo is cute and feels like a good fit for the platform.