Social Media

Social media giants 'failing' on extremism - MPs

The Home Affairs Select Committee said firms including Facebook, Twitter and Google, which owns YouTube, must show "a greater sense of responsibility".

The three companies have each said they take their role in combating extremism and terrorism very seriously.

Industry body techUK said the MPs had painted "an inaccurate picture" of how much work was being done.

In its report, the committee accuses the companies of "passing the buck" over combating online extremism - although one expert said the conclusions were arguably simplistic and misleading.

Whatsapp will share your phone number with Facebook

WhatsApp announced in a blog post Thursday that it will begin to share phone numbers and other data on the activity of its one billion users with its parent company Facebook (FBTech30), more than two years after getting acquired.

How your private social media posts can get you fired

Alvarez, a media sales consultant and mother of two from London, isn’t a prolific online sharer so didn’t think too much about posting a photo of her toddler with a bare bottom on her page. “The post was a funny, innocent photo,” she says. “Normally my posts receive a good reception.”

Mummy shaming?

But, after initial likes and positive comments, the criticism started, someone responded with ‘Very funny but take this off. There are a lot of perverts around.’ Then, a barrage of negative comments followed.

Chinese social media users question televised 'confessions'

Prominent human rights lawyer Wang Yu is the latest to appear in a widely disseminated online video, renouncing her legal work for the Beijing Fengrui Law Firm.

She has subsequently been freed, though many people online believe that she made the video under duress.

Televised confessions have become a trend in the past four years under Xi Jinping's presidency, and include confessions of crime, but also confessions of perceived dissent.

Drug deals on social media targeted by SA police

Serious and Organised Crime Branch detectives said the four accused were working independently of each other.

Three alleged offenders, a 30-year-old Adelaide man, a 23-year-old from Angle Vale and a 25-year-old man from Greenwith, are facing charges of trafficking a controlled drug.

A 32-year-old man from Aldgate is charged with trafficking a controlled drug, along with cultivation of a controlled plant for sale, possessing prescribed equipment and possessing a controlled drug for sale.

All are to face Adelaide Magistrates Court.

Who can't tweet about #Rio2016?

For ordinary people the answer is a definite no. You can use it in posts about your favourite athlete as much as you like.

But for companies it's a different matter. And the United States Olympic Committee has been accused of "bullying" firms that aren't official sponsors, to prevent them joining in the social media conversation about the upcoming games.

Like any major sporting event the organisers of the Olympics go to huge lengths to protect the rights of corporate sponsors who invest over a billion dollars in the games.

Qandeel Baloch: 'She was a girl just like you'

It's the one Qandeel Baloch rented for her parents. And this is where she died.

Inside, the walls are faded, the furniture is scarce. An old, disabled man is sobbing uncontrollably.

Qandeel's father Muhammad Azeem is grieving the death of his favourite daughter, allegedly at the hands of his own son, in the name of honour.

His wife sits on a day bed nearby. One moment she seems to sleeps as if to forget, the next she stares into space.

South China Sea: Chinese social media urges mango boycott

After an international tribunal on territorial disputes ruled against China and in favour of the Philippines, Chinese netizens used social media to call for a boycott of the Philippine fruit, as well as to make their feelings known through other memes and pictures.

Slogans like "If you want to eat mango, buy Thailand's" and "Starve the Filipinos to death" have been widely circulated on microblogging site Weibo.

"If you love China, don't buy Filipino imports", said one comment.

Social media 'outstrips TV' as news source for young people

     

Of the 18-to-24-year-olds surveyed, 28% cited social media as their main news source, compared with 24% for TV.

The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism research also suggests 51% of people with online access use social media as a news source.

This trend and the rising use of mobile phones to access news are undermining traditional business models.

The report, now in its fifth year, is based on a YouGov survey of about 50,000 people across 26 countries, including 2,000 Britons.

Internet addiction and school burnout vicious for teens

Now a study finds that internet addiction is leaving some students feeling burnt out at school, which causes them to spend more time on the internet, creating a cycle that can leave teens feeling depressed.