Social Media

Pakistani Court Sentences Man to 13 Years in Prison for Facebook Post

A Pakistani man was sentenced to 13 years in prison Thursday for allegedly posting religiously offensive material on his Facebook page, lawyers in the case said. Rizwan Haider, 25, was convicted in an anti-terrorism court of three charges including promoting sectarian hatred, after he supposedly published a post referring to Prophet Mohammed. “This case… was registered against Haider, who is ... Read More »

Deep Drumpf: A Bot That Tweets Like Donald Trump

A researcher at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has developed a Donald Trump Twitterbot that tweets out remarkably Trump-like statements such as “I’m what IS (Islamic State) doesn’t need.” Dubbed as “Deep Drumpf”, the bot is based on an artificial-intelligence (AI) algorithm that is trained on just a few hours of transcripts of Republican presidential candidate Trump’s victory speeches and ... Read More »

Twitter Taking Down Our Accounts in Fight Against IS: Anonymous

As the micro-blogging website prepares to tackle terror-related tweets, online activists now claim that in the bid to stop Islamic State (IS) from using its platform to spread its hate agenda and recruits new members, Twitter has been shutting down accounts of those who actually report terrorism. A hacker with Anonymous – a global network of activists and “hacktivists” – ... Read More »

Twitter Praised for Cracking Down on Use by Islamic State

Officials with the nonprofit Simon Wiesenthal Center praised Twitter Inc on Monday for increasing efforts to thwart Islamic State’s use of its platform for recruitment and propaganda. The centre’s Digital Terrorism and Hate Project gave Twitter a grade of “B” in a report card of social networking companies’ efforts to fight online activity by militant groups such as IS. “We ... Read More »

Microsoft Offers First Major Endorsement of EU-US ‘Privacy Shield’ Data Pact

Microsoft became on Monday the first major US tech company to say it would transfer users’ information to the United States using a new transatlantic commercial data pact and would resolve any disputes with European privacy watchdogs. Data transfers to the United States have been conducted in a legal limbo since October last year when the European Union’s top court ... Read More »

Facebook Messenger Gets Dropbox File Sharing, Video Chat Heads

Messenger users can now share photos, videos, and other files saved in the Dropbox without having to leave Facebook’s standalone instant messaging app. Dropbox on Tuesday announced the new feature which will be available to both Messenger for Android and iOS users. The app will also soon support Video Chat Heads, allowing users to continue video calls while messaging other ... Read More »

Facebook Messenger’s Latest Update Shows ‘Bots and Businesses’

Facebook’s standalone instant messaging app has been rumoured to receive a new chat bot feature which allows users to have conversations with company’s automated representatives. A new update to the Messenger shows a new heading added in the app – “Bots and Businesses” – seen when searching or as contacts when creating a new message. Engadget spotted the feature first ... Read More »

Facebook to Let Users Buy Tickets Directly

Facebook users will soon be able to buy tickets directly as the social networking giant expands further into e-commerce, company officials said Tuesday. Facebook will in the coming weeks connect to ticketing leaders Ticketmaster and Eventbrite, which will offer an option to buy tickets for selected US events listed on the networking site. Eventbrite said it would provide a QR ... Read More »

Online Shopping Top Reason for Accessing Internet in India: Survey

Online shopping is the top reason for Indians to access Internet followed by social networking, said a joint survey by American Express and Nielsen on Tuesday aimed at gaining consumer insights on online buying habits. Titled “Understanding Online Consumers”, the survey undertaken in six cities – Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad – discovered banking, booking tickets and emailing ... Read More »

Facebook Expands Free Internet Efforts, Unveils Terragraph and Project Aries

After taking to the air with drones to provide Internet to remote spots, Facebook on Wednesday unveiled new land-based systems to provide connectivity to people in urban settings. “We are really going at this problem from every possible angle,” Facebook co-founder and chief Mark Zuckerberg said of efforts by the social network to make Internet connectivity more widely available around ... Read More »