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Google overhauls its Maps app, adding in more AI features to help people get aroundGoogle Maps will depend more heavily on artificial intelligence to help people figure out where they want to go and the best way to get there as part of a major redesign unveiled on Thursday.... Read more -
Early-warning model developed to predict toxic social media stormsResearchers at the University at Albany and Rutgers University have developed an early-warning framework that can predict harmful social media interactions before they erupt, paving the way for interventions that can minimize harm and make platforms safer for users. Using publicly available datasets from Reddit and Instagram, two social media... Read more -
What makes a hit? On TikTok and Spotify, listeners only partly decideTikTok is built for people to create and share their own content, so dance music and indie artists fill the platform's Top 100. On Spotify, love songs and music from major record labels dominate its top charts. On both platforms, people's preferences only partly explain what songs become hits.... Read more -
Are Google's 'preferred sources' a good thing for online news?Why do you see the results you do when you search for information online? It's a complex mix of what the source is, its relationships to other sources online, and your own past browsing history and device settings.... Read more -
'Smartphone-only' internet access deepens digital inequality, study findsA new study examining digital behavior in Taiwan suggests that simply having internet access is no longer enough to ensure digital inclusion—a finding with growing implications for the United States as governments, schools, and employers continue shifting services online.... Read more -
Age verification online can be done safely and privately. Here's howOnline chat service Discord has announced it will begin testing age verification for some users, joining a growing list of platforms trying to work out who is actually behind the screen.... Read more -
Social media can be addictive even for adults, but there are ways to cut backSocial media addiction has been compared to casinos, opioids and cigarettes.... Read more -
Zuckerberg to testify in landmark social media addiction trialMeta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is set to testify Wednesday at a groundbreaking social media addiction trial, summoned by lawyers representing a plaintiff who alleges Instagram and other platforms were deliberately designed to make young users addicted.... Read more -
YouTube says brief outage fixedYouTube said late Tuesday it had fixed a widespread outage that hit hundreds of thousands of users around the world.... Read more -
Instagram boss to testify at social media addiction trialInstagram chief Adam Mosseri is to be called to testify Wednesday in a Los Angeles courtroom by lawyers out to prove social media is dangerously addictive by design to young, vulnerable minds.... Read more -
YouTube rejects addiction claims in landmark social media trialYouTube's legal team insisted Tuesday that the Google-owned video platform was not intentionally addictive or even technically social media, on the second day of a landmark U.S. trial targeting tech giants.... Read more -
OpenAI starts testing ads in ChatGPTOpenAI has begun placing ads in the basic versions of its ChatGPT chatbot, a bet that users will not mind the interruptions as the company seeks revenue as its costs soar.... Read more -
Jury told that Meta, Google 'engineered addiction' at landmark US trialMeta and Google-owned YouTube were accused Monday of pushing highly addictive apps on children as a landmark social media trial began in earnest in a California court.... Read more -
Discord adopts facial recognition in child safety crackdownMessaging platform Discord announced Monday it will implement enhanced safety features for teenage users globally, including facial recognition, joining a wave of social media companies rolling out age verification systems.... Read more -
Countries using internet blackouts to boost censorship: ProtonAs countries step up their use of internet shutdowns to muzzle dissent, some are also taking advantage of the blackouts to increase censorship firewalls, internet privacy company Proton warned in an interview with AFP.... Read more
