Twitter takes a U-turn on blocking controversial New York Post story Earlier last week, we witnessed the latest moves in the war on misinformation from Facebook and Twitter, who had limited the spread of a controversial New York Post article critical of Joe Biden. Both platforms questioned the validity of the article and the origins of the materials featured, which are thought to have been pulled from a computer that had been left by Biden’s son in a computer repair shop. However, it now appears that Twitter has done a U-turn and these links are now able to be shared. Twitter states this is because its original intention was to ‘prevent the spread of private information’, but as the story is now so widespread, the information can no longer be considered private.
Instagram to crack down ‘hidden advertising’ from UK influencers Facebook-owned Instagram has committed to a package of measures to make paid-for influencer content more transparent in the UK, following pressure from The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The tools, which will launch next year, include a prompt requiring influencers to confirm whether they have received incentives to promote a product or service before they can publish their post, and new algorithms built to spot potential advertising content.
Snapchat lets all iOS users put music in their snaps With the rise of TikTok and the introduction of Instagram Reels, it’s hard to believe that it has taken Snapchat this long to bring music to its platform. With ‘Sounds on Snapchat’ iOS users can now include popular music in their snaps, a smart move from the app to hold on to its Gen Z audience. When a user receives a snap with sounds, they can swipe to view the album art, song title and name of artist, with a “Play This Song’ feature inviting users to listen to the full song on other streaming platforms.
Over 35 Million visited Instagram’s Voting Information Center With the battle for the White House soon to reach its climax on the 3rd of November, Instagram’s Voting Information Center revealed that it received 35 million visits in August, demonstrating how users are turning to their social channels to receive voting information prior to Election Day. The Center gives users one place to register to vote, confirm their registration status and make plans to vote. Instagram also rolled out stickers in both English and Spanish, with the ‘Register to Vote’ sticker having been tapped more than 17 million times and used in Stories over 2.4 million times.
Facebook will now ban Holocaust denial content Following years of critique for not taking down offensive Holocaust denial content, Facebook is now reversing its position by updating its hate-speech policy to ‘prohibit any content that denies or distorts the Holocaust.’ Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg had previously used this type of content as an example of where he thought that Facebook should not intervene, creating conflict amongst company employees. The reversal of this decision comes as part of the platform’s efforts to fight the spread of hate speech amid a growing number of online attacks across the channel.
Snapchat among first to leverage iPhone 12 Pro’s LiDAR Scanner for AR For weeks, the impending release of the latest iPhone models has kept tech enthusiasts on the edge of their seats. One platform paying attention to Apple’s updates was Snapchat, who has confirmed that it will be among the first to put the new LiDAR Scanner to use in its iOS app for a lidar-powered Lens. This new technology will allow for new AR experiences that Snapchat is prepared to introduce, with rumours of a Lens currently in the works. This is another big development in Snapchat’s move to AR, enabling a new level of creativity for augmented reality.
