Social Media

Alphabet Inc’s Google will not build or use alternate tools to track web browsing traffic once it begins phasing out existing technology from its Chrome browser next year, it said in a blog post on Wednesday, in a move that will reshape how online advertising works. Google first announced it …

Darth Vader, Bruce Lee and Elie Ferzli – only a couple of the many of crossover meme’s Lebanese social media users created following the Lebanese MP and deputy speaker’s meltdowns on television earlier this week. Ferzli found himself going viral and becoming the meme of the moment after losing his …

Facebook said it has banned all remaining accounts linked to the Myanmar military on Thursday, citing the junta’s use of deadly force against anti-coup demonstrators. The move, which takes effect immediately, applies to the military and entities controlled by the armed forces on both Facebook and Instagram. It also bans …

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan warned of an attempted military coup against him on Thursday after the army demanded he and his government resign. Pashinyan has faced protests and calls to quit after what critics said was the disastrous handling of a six-week conflict between Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian forces …

Al Jazeera’s announcement of the launch of a new US conservative platform catering to center-right Americans on Tuesday raised caused a stir across social media where users questioned the outlet’s motive. “Al Jazeera is starting a news platform for conservative Americans who feel alienated. IN WHAT UNIVERSE ARE CONSERVATIVES IN …

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison vowed on Friday to press ahead with laws to force Facebook Inc to pay news outlets for content, saying he had received support from world leaders after the social media giant blacked out all media. Facebook stripped the pages of domestic and foreign news outlets …

Social media is inundated with offensive content, including hate, anger, personal attacks and, of course, exaggerated and false claims. Much of it is driven by angry political hyperbole and partisan attacks. It can be nauseating. But every once in a while you come across a social media account that is …

Australians woke to empty news feeds on their Facebook Inc pages on Thursday after the social media giant blocked all media content in a surprise and dramatic escalation of a dispute with the government over paying for content. The move was swiftly criticised by news producers, politicians and human rights …

Death threats. Racist abuse. Sexist slurs. And social media accounts allowed to stay active even after spreading bile. English football has reached breaking point with players, coaches, referees and officials aghast at the ongoing proliferation of hate aimed at them on Instagram and Twitter. A week that began with the …

A White House press aide who repeatedly threatened a reporter working on a story about his romantic life resigned on Saturday. Vanity Fair reported Friday that the aide, TJ Ducklo, told a reporter for Politico “I will destroy you” and made other crude remarks when asked to comment on a …

BBC Arabic has remained tight-lipped over the details of a recent report accusing it of having an overtly anti-Israeli bias. An investigation by the Jewish Chronicle titled, “Shame of BBC Arabic as systematic bias revealed,” highlighted the Arabic-language news channel’s consistent use of anti-Semitic and “Hamas-inspired language.” A BBC spokesperson …

Australia will introduce landmark legislation to force Alphabet’s Google and Facebook to pay publishers and broadcasters for content next week, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said on Friday. Australia is on course to become the first country to require Facebook and Google to pay for news content, legislation that is being closely …

Facebook Inc. said on Wednesday it would temporarily reduce political content appearing on New Feeds for some users in Canada, Brazil and Indonesia this week and in the United States within the coming weeks. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said in January that he wanted to “turn down the temperature” …

Private social audio app Clubhouse is attracting masses of new users from mainland China, where the US app remains uncensored by authorities despite flourishing discussions on rights, national identity and other sensitive topics. Western social media apps including Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are banned in China, where the local Internet …

British-Moroccan model Nora Attal is the star of luxury e-commerce platform Net-a-Porter’s newest campaign. The 21-year-old catwalk star features in the stunning advertorial wearing key pieces from the Spring 2021 collections available on the site. She can be seen wearing a beige knit piece from Christopher Kane paired with a …

The Tawakkalna app that helps prevent the spread of the coronavirus in Saudi Arabia has been fixed following a massive surge in applications which caused it to crash. Almost 10 million users registered with Tawakkalna since May 2020 – that number recently rose by 22.5 percent to 12.5 million. But …

Human rights groups and media watchdogs have condemned the separate arrests of two journalists in Iran on vague charges. The journalists are Reza Taleshian Jelodarzadeh, editor in chief of Tehran-based magazine Nour-e Azadi, and Mahmoud Mahmoudi, editor of the Kurdish Aigrin Roj Weekly. Jelodarzadeh used Instagram to post a photo …

Egyptian authorities on Saturday released a journalist working for Qatar’s Al Jazeera television network who was held in pre-trial detention for more than four years, his brother and a lawyer told Reuters. Mahmoud Hussein, an Egyptian detained in December 2016‮‮ ‬‬after arriving in Cairo from Doha on vacation, was held …

Myanmar’s new military government has blocked access to Facebook as resistance to Monday’s coup surged amid calls for civil disobedience to protest the ousting of the elected civilian government and its leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Facebook is especially popular in Myanmar and the ousted government had commonly made public …

Florida lawmakers, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, intensified their battle with Facebook, Twitter and Silicon Valley when they announced new proposals Tuesday aimed at reigning in platforms they accuse of squelching the free speech of conservatives. “Over the years, these platforms have changed from neutral platforms that provide Americans with the …

During one of the most politically divisive years in recent memory, the number of active hate groups in the US actually declined as far-right extremists migrated further to online networks, a move that has made it harder to track adherents of white nationalist and neo-Nazi ideologies. In its annual report, …

As Lebanon’s unprecedented economic downfall continues, catalyzed by a medical crisis and mass anti-corruption protests, the country’s tweeters took to social media to showcase the vast wealth of the politicians that are meant to serve them. # Photos of the country’s political leaders wearing luxury watches worth thousands of dollars …

Last week, Victoria Coates was fired from her job as head of the US State Department-funded Middle East Broadcasting Network (MBN) by the administration of US President Joe Biden, a role she had barely held two months. Coates’ firing brings the long-troubled network to its third president in just over …

Egyptian-Tunisian actress Hend Sabri and Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy have been named this week Officer and Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government, respectively. Ordre des Arts et des Lettres is awarded to artists who have contributed to flourishing the arts scene in France and …

Italian police on Thursday accused a Sicilian woman of “inciting suicide” for an asphyxiation video she posted on TikTok, a week after a child accidentally died in a so-called blackout challenge. Police said the video, posted without restrictions on the social media platform by the 48-year-old Sicilian “influencer,” was “extremely …

A former FBI lawyer was sentenced to probation on Friday for altering an email the Justice Department relied on in its surveillance of an aide to President Donald Trump during the Russia investigation. Kevin Clinesmith apologized for doctoring the email about Carter Page’s relationship with the CIA, saying he was …

YouTube has suspended Donald Trump indefinitely from the platform and said it will also prevent the former president’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani from being able to monetize his clips, US media reported. It comes a week after the social media giant confirmed it would extend a ban on Trump’s channel — …

Twitter is enlisting its users to help combat misinformation on its service by flagging and notating misleading and false tweets. The pilot program unveiled Monday, called Birdwatch, allows a preselected group of users — for now, only in the US — who sign up through Twitter. Those who want to …

Facebook said on Monday it removed a post and suspended a messenger bot from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s page, after it posted that he wanted phone numbers to call and convince people to get COVID-19 vaccinations. Netanyahu on Thursday posted a video on Twitter encouraging senior citizens to get …

YouTube permanently deleted seven Houthi accounts on Sunday due to a breach of its policy, less than a week after the US designated the militia as a foreign terrorist organization. It deleted accounts that the group had been using to share its agenda, such as its main channel “Ferqat Ansar …

The Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP) has launched a campaign aimed at inspecting websites to verify their compliance with intellectual property systems and ensure they do not violate intellectual rights. The SAIP’s inspection campaigns have been on two fronts, visiting websites that broadcast movies, sports matches and TV series …

The United States seeks to lengthen and strengthen the nuclear constraints on Iran through diplomacy and the issue will be part of President Joe Biden’s early talks with foreign counterparts and allies, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said. Biden has said that if Tehran resumed strict compliance with the …

Twitter has locked the account of China’s U.S. embassy for a tweet that defended China’s policy towards Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang, which the U.S. social media platform said violated its stand against “dehumanizing” people. China’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that it was confused by the move and that it …

Turkey’s advertising ban for social media platforms with more than 1 million daily users that have failed to establish a local representative office in the country came into force on Tuesday. As of Jan. 19, nobody will be allowed to advertise on Twitter, its live-streaming app Periscope and image-sharing app …

Turkey’s Information and Communication Technologies Authority has imposed advertising bans on Twitter, Periscope and Pinterest under a new social media law, according to decisions published in the country’s Official Gazette on Tuesday. The law, which critics say will muzzle dissent, requires social media companies to appoint local representatives in Turkey. …

A newly elected Republican congresswoman known for promoting QAnon conspiracy theories accused Twitter of censorship on Sunday after her account was temporarily suspended for “multiple violations.” Marjorie Taylor Greene was hit with the 12-hour suspension after she tweeted claims of alleged election fraud in Georgia, her home state. Twitter flagged …

Ushirika School is located in the Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya and is a longtime partner of One Girl Can. Due to the global pandemic, many schools in Kenya have been closed since March and they will remain closed until 2021 to ensure the safety of students and communities. As …

Facebook Inc said on Saturday it will ban advertisements for weapon accessories and protective equipment in the United States with immediate effect until at least two days after U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20. Following the attack by supporters of President Donald Trump against the U.S. Capitol on …

The General Authority for Competition (GAC) imposed on Jan. 14, a fine of SR3 million ($800,000) on National Gas and Industrialization Co. (GASCO), as the company abused its dominant position, the authority said on its Twitter account. According to GAC, GASCO imposed special conditions on the purchase and sale transactions …

Bahrain-born actress May Calamawy has reportedly joined the cast of Disney+’s series “Moon Knight,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. It is not known what role the “Ramy” star will have in the upcoming Marvel series. She will join American-Guatemalan actor Oscar Isaac who is expected to play one of the …

Twitter chief Jack Dorsey backed the messaging platform’s ban of US President Donald Trump, but said Wednesday it sets a “dangerous” precedent and represents a failure to promote healthy conversation on the social network. “Having to ban an account has real and significant ramifications,” Dorsey said in a string of …

Israeli Prime Benjamin Netanyahu dropped U.S. President Donald Trump from the banner photo of his Twitter account on Tuesday in an apparent break with a political ally facing possible impeachment. A photo of Netanyahu sitting next to Trump at a White House meeting had long taken pride of place on …

Uganda banned social media on Tuesday, two days ahead of a presidential election pitting Yoweri Museveni, one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders, against opposition frontrunner Bobi Wine, a popular singer. In a letter seen by Reuters to internet service providers dated Jan. 12, Uganda’s communications regulator ordered them to block all …

British singer Zayn Malik sent fans into a tailspin online after he released a new song from his upcoming album “Nobody is Listening.” The singer, who welcomed a daughter with model Gigi Hadid in September, teased a preview of the new track, called “Vibez,” on Instagram. “Thank you for the …