Social Media

Mashable reports: Instagram is introducing a new feature today that will allow users to run joint live streams with three other people, letting you broadcast the group video chat for the world to see. Called Live Rooms, the feature ups the number of accounts that can join an IG Live from two to four. So it’s kind of like Zoom, …

The Washington Post reports: “Cool it with the vaccine selfies for a while,” read the headline of a Boston Globe opinion column. “Go ahead, share your vaccine selfie,” the Atlantic’s Brit Trogen wrote. Posting a vaccine selfie when many are still not on the priority lists is boastful and could end up inflaming people’s fear of missing out (otherwise identified …

Wired reports: DDoSecrets cofounder Emma Best says that the hacked data includes not only all of Gab’s public posts and profiles—with the exception of any photos or videos uploaded to the site—but also private group and private individual account posts and messages, as well as user passwords and group passwords. “It contains pretty much everything on Gab, including user data …

The Associated Press reports: A federal judge on Friday approved a $650 million settlement of a privacy lawsuit against Facebook for allegedly using photo face-tagging and other biometric data without the permission of its users. U.S. District Judge James Donato approved the deal in a class-action lawsuit that was filed in Illlinois in 2015. Nearly 1.6 million Facebook users in …

CBS News reports: Facebook announced Thursday it has blocked Australians from viewing and sharing news on the platform because of proposed laws in the country to make digital giants pay for journalism. Australian publishers can continue to publish news content on Facebook, but links and posts can’t be viewed or shared by Australian audiences, the U.S.-based company said in a …

Just in via press release: Parler was built to offer a social media platform that protects free speech and values privacy and civil discourse. When Parler was taken offline in January by those who desire to silence tens of millions of Americans, our team came together, determined to keep our promise to our highly engaged community that we would return …

CNN Business reports: Twitter permanently banned an account on Thursday belonging to Project Veritas, a conservative group founded by controversial activist James O’Keefe. The decision followed what a Twitter spokesperson described to CNN Business as repeated violations of the platform’s policies prohibiting sharing — or threats of sharing — other people’s private information without consent. Twitter declined to say what …

CNN Business reports: Instagram on Wednesday took down the account of controversial anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “We removed this account for repeatedly sharing debunked claims about the coronavirus or vaccines,” a spokesperson for Facebook, which owns Instagram, said in a statement. Kennedy, the son of late former US Attorney General, US Senator and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, …

The Daily Beast reports: Donald Trump will never be allowed to return to Twitter—even if he decides to run for president again in 2024, and wins. The social-media company’s CFO Ned Segal appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box on Wednesday morning, and was asked whether Trump could ever turn to the platform in the scenario that he returns to the White …

Business Insider reports: Republican Rep. Devin Nunes was briefly locked out of his Twitter account on Tuesday evening after he failed to get past the company’s anti-spam filters, the company said. “Our automated systems took enforcement action on the account in error and it has since been reversed. The enforcement action was taken as a result of the account’s failure …

The Wall Street Journal reports: A U.S. plan to force the sale of TikTok’s American operations to a group including Oracle Corp.and Walmart Inc. has been shelved indefinitely, people familiar with the situation said, as President Biden undertakes a broad review of his predecessor’s efforts to address potential security risks from Chinese tech companies. The TikTok deal—which had been driven …

The El Paso Times reports: Judge Roy Ferguson of the 394th Texas District Court in Brewster County took to Twitter to share a link to a portion of a Zoom meeting that featured three lawyers. Two of the lawyers, Jerry L. Phillips and H. Gibbs Bauer, appeared as they do on their LinkedIn profiles. But Ron Ponton, who is listed …

Forbes reports: House Democrats are looking into Parler’s finances and foreign ties as the suspended social media network comes under increased scrutiny following the attack on the U.S. Capitol building, with House Oversight Committee chair Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) sending a letter to the company Monday demanding it turn over documents regarding its associations with Russia and former President Donald …

From Facebook’s corporate blog: Today, we are expanding our efforts to remove false claims on Facebook and Instagram about COVID-19, COVID-19 vaccines and vaccines in general during the pandemic. Since December, we’ve removed false claims about COVID-19 vaccines that have been debunked by public health experts. Today, following consultations with leading health organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO), we …

Bloomberg News reports: Twitter Inc. is building a subscription product as a way to ease its dependence on advertising – a plan the social network has considered for years, and one that has taken on a heightened priority given the pandemic and pressure from activist investors to accelerate growth. At least one idea being considered is related to “tipping,” or …

Fox News reports: Twitter suspended radio host Wayne Allyn Root this weekend. “I am in shock,” Root told Fox News. “It appears to be a permanent ban. Twitter never warned me and never sent any communication saying I’ve been suspended or banned. “I simply tried to tweet yesterday afternoon and could not. But unlike a previous suspension, my followers suddenly …

The Tennessean reports: Timothy Wilks, 20, was shot and killed in the parking lot of Urban Air Trampoline and Adventure Park around 9:20 p.m. When officers arrived at the scene around five minutes later, 23-year-old David Starnes Jr. admitted to shooting Wilks. Investigators were told that Wilks and a friend approached a group of people, including Starnes, with butcher knives …

Fox News reports: Parler has terminated CEO John Matze, according to a memo Matze sent to staffers that has been obtained by Fox News. “On January 29, 2021, the Parler board controlled by Rebekah Mercer decided to immediately terminate my position as CEO of Parler. I did not participate in this decision,” Matze wrote. “I understand that those who now …

The New York Daily News reports: Twitter has permanently suspended MyPillow’s corporate account after controversial CEO Mike Lindell, who was himself banned just a week ago, apparently used his company’s account to spew lies about the 2020 election. The fervent Donald Trump supporter seems to have hijacked the MyPillow account to circumvent his own ban and taunt Twitter CEO Jack …

Via press release from the Better Business Bureau: You got your COVID-19 inoculation, and you are excited to share the good news and encourage others to do the same. You take a selfie holding your vaccination card and post it to Facebook, Instagram, or another social media platform. Unfortunately, your card has your full name and birthday on it, as …