Back in 2021, the UK government ordered Meta to sell Giphy, and now the buyer has been announced. It’s Shutterstock, the famous stock photo company, which agreed to buy Giphy from Meta for $53 million.
TikTok and Meta face lawsuit from Maryland public schools over “addictive” platforms
A public school in Maryland has filed a lawsuit against the owners of social media giants like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube. The 200-page lawsuit blames them for a growing mental health crisis and an increase in cyberbullying, as well as for intentionally targeting children with addictive platforms.
Meta is introducing a verified badge, but of course it’s not free
The rumours last month were correct: Meta is introducing a verified status similar to Twitter’s Blue Tick. Imaginatively called ‘Meta Verified, ‘ the new feature rolled out first in Australia and New Zealand in the first phase of testing. Meta has now opened it up to US-based users.
The feature will be available on both Facebook and Instagram, and users will have to submit a valid government ID and pay a subscription to access it.
Utah law now requires minors to ask parents consent for social media
A new law in Utah requires kids under 18 to ask their parents for permission if they want to use social media. Yup, you read that right – what should probably be a part of parents’ responsibilities, the lawmakers took into their own hands. Other than parental consent, kids who do have it will still have a curfew and will be banned from using their favorite social media apps between 10:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m.
While the law is designed to “protect the young from addictive features” of social media apps, it raises other concerns. Among them are privacy, as well as freedom of speech.
You can no longer sell NFTs on Instagram and Facebook
Not even a year after announcing NFT for Instagram and Facebook, Meta has decided to wind it down. According to the company, there will be other ways to monetize your work, but from now on, selling it as NFTs will no longer be one of them.
Meta wants teens’ nudes to stop them from spreading online. Again
In previous years, Facebook and Instagram had a couple of attempts to help you stop your nudes from spreading – by sharing them with Meta. The company has just announced yet another program that stops intimate images from going around the internet, and it’s aimed particularly at teenagers.
Take It Down is Meta’s latest initiative, made in partnership with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). It’s made to protect the young from having their nude photos shared without their knowledge or consent.
Facebook and Instagram told to stop censoring female nipples by advisory board
The advisory board for Meta has informed Facebook and Instagram that they need to reverse their policy of censorship of bare breasts on the platforms. Previously, what were perceived to be female nipples were automatically banned by the social media apps.
The advisory board, however, responded by saying that the policy impedes the right to expression for women, trans and nonbinary people.
Seattle schools sue TikTok, Meta, Snapchat, and YouTube over students’ mental health and behavioral issues
TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube; and their parent companies are facing yet another lawsuit over mental health issues in children. This time, it comes from Seattle’s public school district, claiming that apps have had a major role in the “youth mental health crisis.”
The district accuses social media platforms of causing a variety of mental health and behavioral issues in children and being “exploitive and manipulative.” According to the lawsuit, all these platforms are deliberately manipulating and exploiting users, targeting particularly the youngest ones among them.
Your photos could be damaging to snowy owls says facebook groups amid photo ban
What does a stressed owl look like? If you’re one of many amateur wildlife photographers who snap images of snowy owls, you could be unwittingly contributing to it.
According to the Bangor Daily News, several social media groups are actively banning photographs of snowy owls in a bid to protect the birds from disturbances.
It’s official: Instagram is becoming a place to mint and sell NFT. Sigh
Earlier this year, it was announced that Instagram would become an NFT market in addition to being… Well, everything else. It looks like NFTs are here to stay and what’s more, the options to mint and buy them are here to extend, at least on Instagram.
At its Creator Week event this week, Meta confirmed what we’ve heard before: Instagram will soon let users mint and sell their own NFTs directly in the app. The new tool is meant for creators, and Instagram presents it as another way for followers to support creators.
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