Author Archives: Karissa Bell

Snap is redesigning Snapchat and adding new AI powers

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Since first introducing its generative AI assistant, Snap has been steadily ramping up the amount of AI in its app. Now, the company is adding a new slate of AI-powered features as it begins testing a larger redesign of the app.

Snap often brings new AI features to its Snapchat+ subscribers first, and the company is continuing the trend with a new feature called “My Selfie.” The feature uses selfies to create AI-generated images of users and their friends (if they also subscribe) in creative poses and situations. The company is also rolling out a new "grandparents lens" that uses AI to imagine what you might look like as a senior citizen. 

Snapchat+ subscribers will also get access to a new AI feature in memories, which tracks users’ previously saved snaps. With the change, Memories will be able to surface photos and videos that have been edited with with AI-generated captions or new AR lens effects. 

Additionally, Snap is making its chatGPT-powered MyAI assistant more powerful with the ability to “problem solve” based on photo snaps. The company says the assistant will be able to translate restaurant menus, identify plants and understand parking signs.

The new
The new "simplified" Snapchat design.
Snap

The new AI capabilities arrive as Snap is starting to test a larger redesign of its app that’s meant to make Snapchat, long criticized for a confusing interface, simpler and more intuitive. The new design will bring conversations between friends and Stories content into a single view, with Stories at the top of conversations. (Interestingly Snap previously combined users’ chats and Stories into a single feed in a previous, widely unpopular redesign in 2018.) The redesign will also eliminate a separate tab for the Snap Map, placing it instead in the “chat” tab.

And instead of keeping separate sections for Spotlight and Stories, Snap will combine the two into a single "Watch" feed that will algorithmically recommend content. While the current iteration of Snapchat has five distinct sections, the “simplified” version will have just three, including the camera, which will still be the first screen users see upon launching the app.

Snap has struggled with major redesigns in the past and the company says it intends to roll out the new look slowly, with only a small number of users getting the update to start.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/snap-is-redesigning-snapchat-and-adding-new-ai-powers-171552703.html?src=rss

Instagram ‘teen accounts’ with parental controls will be mandatory for kids under 16

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After years of scrutiny over its handling of teen safety on its platform, Meta is introducing a new type of account that will soon be required for all teens under 16 on Instagram. The new “teen accounts” add more parental supervision tools and automatically opt teens into stricter privacy settings that can only be adjusted with parental approval.

The changes are unlikely to satisfy Meta’s toughest critics, who have argued that the company puts its own profits ahead of teens’ safety and wellbeing. But the changes will be significant for the app’s legions of younger users who will face new restrictions on how they use the app.

With teen accounts, kids younger than 16 will be automatically opted into Instagram’s strictest privacy settings. Many of these settings, like automatically private accounts, the inability to message strangers and the limiting of “sensitive content” have already been in place for teenagers on Instagram. But younger teens will now be unable to change these settings without approval from a parent.

And, once a parent has set up Instagram’s in-app supervision tools, they’ll be able to monitor which accounts their kids are exchanging messages with (parents won’t see the contents of those DMs, however) as well as the types of topics their children are seeing posts about in their feeds. Parents will also have the ability to limit the amount of time their kids spend in the app by setting up “sleep mode” — which will mute notifications or make the app inaccessible entirely — or reminders to take breaks.

Parents will be able to see who their children are messaging with and limit their time in the app.
Meta

The changes, according to Meta, are meant to “give parents greater oversight of their teens’ experiences.” While the company has had some parental supervision features since 2022, the features were optional and required teens to opt-in to the controls. Teen accounts, on the other hand, will be mandatory for all teens younger than 16 and the more restrictive settings, like the ability to make an account public, aren’t able to be adjusted without parent approval.

The company says it also has a plan to find teens who have already lied about their age when setting up their Instagram account. Beginning next year, the company will use AI to detect signs an account may belong to a teen, like the age of other linked accounts and the ages on the accounts they frequently interact with, to find younger users trying to avoid its new restrictions. The app will then prompt users to verify their age.

In the meantime, Meta will start designating new accounts created by 13 to 15-year-olds as “teen accounts” beginning today. The company will start switching over existing teens into the accounts over the next two months in the US, Canada, UK and Australia, with a wider rollout in the European Union planned for “later this year.” Teen accounts will be available in other countries and on Meta’s other apps beginning in 2025.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/instagram-teen-accounts-with-parental-controls-will-be-mandatory-for-kids-under-16-120013852.html?src=rss

Apple refreshes its AirPods Max with USB-C and new colors

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After nearly four years, Apple finally delivered an update to its most premium headphones. But instead of a new generation of AirPods Max, the company simply refreshed the existing over-ear headphones with USB-C support and a handful of new colors. 

With the same $549 price tag, the updated AirPods Max will maintain their status as Apple’s most expensive AirPods, though the updates are mainly cosmetic. The over-ear headphones will now be available in five new colors: midnight, blue, purple, orange and starlight. Apple is also ditching the lightning connector for a USB-C port, much like it did with its Beats Studio Pro headphones. The lightly refreshed headphones go on sale September 20 and are available for pre-order now.

But anyone hoping for more significant upgrades will likely be disappointed. The latest AirPods Max will have the exact same design, with Apple’s “breathable knit mesh” band, stainless steel frame and memory foam cups. The company also didn't upgrade its chip from the H1, or add any new audio features to the almost four-year-old headphones. That may be because Apple is saving a bigger update for 2025. Bloomberg reported that Apple has an AirPods Max upgrade planned for the end of next year.

Those looking for upgraded audio, however, will find some major improvements elsewhere in the AirPods lineup. Apple introduced two new versions of its standard, non-pro buds with the AirPods 4. The in-ear buds come with the H2 chip, support "adaptive audio" features, and an option for active noise cancellation.

Catch up on all the news from Apple’s iPhone 16 event!

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/headphones/apple-refreshes-its-airpods-max-with-new-colors-and-usb-c-174330979.html?src=rss

Meta’s Oversight Board separates death threats and ‘aspirational statements’ in Venezuela

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Meta’s Oversight Board has weighed in on the company’s content moderation policies in Venezuela amid violent crackdowns and widespread protests following the country’s disputed presidential election. In its decision, the board said that Facebook users posting about the state-supported armed groups known as “colectivos” should have more leeway in making statements like “kill those damn colectivos.”

The company asked the Oversight Board for guidance on the issue last month, noting that its moderators had seen an “influx” of “anti-colectivos content” in the wake of the election. Meta specifically asked for the board’s input on two posts: an Instagram post with the words “Go to hell! I hope they kill you all!” that Meta says was directed at the colectivos, and a Facebook post criticizing Venezuela’s security forces that said “kill those damn colectivos.”

The Oversight Board said that neither post violated Meta’s rules around calls for violence and that both should be interpreted as “aspirational statements” from citizens of a country where state-supported violence has threatened free expression. “The targets of aspirational violence are state-backed forces that have contributed to the longstanding repression of civic space and other human rights violations in Venezuela, including in the present post-election crisis,” the board wrote in its decision. “By contrast, the civilian population has largely been the target of human rights abuses.”

The Oversight Board also criticized Meta’s practice of making political content less visible across its services. “The Board is also deeply concerned that in the context of Venezuela, the company’s policy to reduce the distribution of political content could undermine the ability of users expressing political dissent and raising awareness about the situation in Venezuela to reach the widest possible audience.” It recommended that Meta adapt its policies “to ensure that political content, especially around elections and post-electoral protests, is eligible for the same reach as non-political content” during times of crisis.

The case isn’t the first time the board has waded into the debate surrounding the role of political content on Meta’s apps. Earlier this year, the board accepted its first case related to a post on Threads, which is also expected to weigh in on Meta’s controversial decision to limit recommendations of political posts on the service. The board has yet to publish its decision in the case.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/metas-oversight-board-separates-death-threats-and-aspirational-statements-in-venezuela-100050434.html?src=rss

Report: A quarter of X advertisers plan to cut spending next year

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X’s advertising woes are about to get a whole lot worse, according to a new report from Kantar, details of which were published by Advanced Television. The market research firm found that 26 percent of marketers plan to cut their spending on X in the coming year, and that advertisers’ trust in X is “historically low.”

Kantar’s report, which is based on interviews with 18,000 consumers and 1,000 marketers from around the world, underscores just how far X’s advertising business has declined since Elon Musk took over the company. Over the last year and a half, the platform has seen numerous high-profile advertisers halt or slow down their spending amid concerns about hate speech and other toxic content.

Musk has also antagonized major advertisers, saying that brands worried about hate speech should “go fuck yourself.” he’s also accused advertisers of “blackmail,” and recently sued an industry group and several global companies for conducting an “illegal boycott” of the platform. Of note, Kantar found that only 4 percent of marketers believe X is safe for brands.

X didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The company told the Financial Times that “advertisers know that X now offers stronger brand safety, performance and analytics capabilities than ever before, while seeing all-time-high levels of usage.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/report-a-quarter-of-x-advertisers-plan-to-cut-spending-next-year-235447747.html?src=rss

Social media companies can’t be forced to block teens from seeing ‘harmful’ content, judge rules

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A federal judge has ruled that social media companies can’t be required to block certain types of content from teens. The ruling will prevent some aspects of a controversial social media law in Texas from going into effect.

The ruling came as the result of tech industry groups’ challenge to the Securing Children Online Through Parental Empowerment (SCOPE) Act, a Texas law that imposes age verification requirements and other policies for how social media companies treat teenage users. But, as The Verge points out, the measure also requires companies to “prevent the known minor’s exposure to harmful material,” including content that “glorifies” self-harm and substance abuse.

It’s that latter requirement that was struck down, with the judge saying that “a state cannot pick and choose which categories of protected speech it wishes to block teenagers from discussing online.” The judge also criticized the language used in the law, writing in his decision that terms like “glorifying” and “promoting” are “politically charged” and “undefined.”

At the same time, the judge left other aspects of the law, including age verification requirements and bans on targeted advertising to minors, in place. NetChoice, the tech industry group that challenged the law, has argued that measures like the Scope Act require major tech companies to increase the amount of data collected from minors.

The Texas law, originally passed last year, is one of many across the country attempting to change how social media platforms deal with underage users. New York recently passed two laws restricting social media companies’ ability to collect data on teenage users, and requiring parental consent for younger users to access “addictive” features like algorithmic feeds. California lawmakers also recently passed a measure, which has yet to be signed into law by the governor, that requires social media companies to limit notifications to minors and restrict them from “addictive” algorithms.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/social-media-companies-cant-be-forced-to-block-teens-from-seeing-harmful-content-judge-rules-221321184.html?src=rss

Starlink’s local bank accounts are frozen as X prepares to be shut down in Brazil

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A judge in Brazil has blocked Starlink’s bank accounts in the country amid a deepening dispute with X. The move comes as the same Supreme Court judge has threatened to shut down X in the country, and is a direct response to the ongoing legal battle with the social media company, Reuters reported.

X owner Elon Musk has been feuding with Brazil Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes for months over demands to block certain accounts in the country. The company closed down its operations in Brazil earlier this month as a result of the court orders, which X has characterized as “censorship orders.”

Now, Moraes is apparently attempting to use one of Musk’s other companies, SpaceX-owned Starlink, in an attempt to get X to comply with the court order. “This order is based on an unfounded determination that Starlink should be responsible for the fines levied—unconstitutionally—against X,” Starlink wrote in a statement on X. “It was issued in secret and without affording Starlink any of the due process of law guaranteed by the Constitution of Brazil. We intend to address the matter legally.”

Moraes has also threatened to shut down X in the country entirely. On Wednesday, the judge said X would be shut down in Brazil if they didn’t appoint a legal representative in the country. X said in an update Thursday, shortly after that deadline had passed, that it “soon” expects Moraes to order the shutdown.

“We are absolutely not insisting that other countries have the same free speech laws as the United States,” the company wrote in a statement published in English and Portuguese. “The fundamental issue at stake here is that Judge de Moraes demands we break Brazil’s own laws. We simply won’t do that.” The company said it planned to publish Moraes' "illegal demands and all related court filings" in the coming days. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/starlinks-local-bank-accounts-are-frozen-as-x-prepares-to-be-shut-down-in-brazil-234046493.html?src=rss

X labeled an unflattering NPR story about Donald Trump as ‘unsafe’

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X briefly discouraged users from viewing a link to an NPR story about Donald Trump's recent visit to Arlington National Cemetery, raising questions about whether the Elon Musk-owned platform is putting its thumb on the scale for the former president.

On Thursday, NPR reporter Stephen Fowler posted a link to a story in which he quoted an Army official who said that an employee at Arlington National Cemetery was “abruptly pushed aside” during an event attended by Trump and members of his campaign earlier this week. The outlet had previously reported that there was a “physical altercation” at the event with campaign staff over federal laws barring campaign activities at the cemetery.

Some users on X who attempted to click a link to the story were greeted with a warning message saying that X deemed that “this link may be unsafe.” It stated that it could be malicious, violent, spammy or otherwise violate the platform’s rules, but didn't explain why the link was flagged. Fowler posted a thread on X, each tweet of which contained a link to his story — the warning appeared to affect the first two instances of the link but not others, for reasons unknown. It’s highly unusual for such a warning to appear before a link to a mainstream website. Other links to NPR, as well as other coverage of Trump’s visit to Arlington, don’t appear to have such a label.

In a statement to an NPR reporter, an X spokesperson claimed the warning appeared due to a "false positive" and that it had been corrected. The company didn't explain further.

Notably, Musk has been a vocal supporter of Trump this election, and recently held a lengthy live streamed conversation with him on X. Musk has also publicly feuded with NPR in the past, adding a “state affiliated media” label to its account for several months last year. NPR hasn’t posted from its main account on X since the label was added last April.

Update August 29, 2024, 2:35 PM ET: This story was updated to add additional details from an X spokesperson and to indicate that the link is no longer labeled as "unsafe."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/x-is-labeling-an-unflattering-npr-story-about-donald-trump-as-unsafe-163732236.html?src=rss

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has been charged and released from police custody

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Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has been formally charged by French prosecutors and is barred from leaving the country amid their investigation into the Russian billionaire. Durov was officially charged Wednesday with “complicity in distributing child pornography, illegal drugs and hacking software” on the messaging app he founded, as well as “refusing to cooperate with investigations into illegal activity on the Telegram,” The Wall Street Journal reported.

Durov, who was arrested outside of Paris on Saturday, was released from police custody after paying €5 million in bail. He is required to stay in France “under court monitoring” and check in at a police station twice a week while the investigation plays out. That could take months or possibly years, as The WSJ points out.

That means Durov, who is known for frequently moving around and working from other countries, will be stuck in France for the foreseeable future unless the charges against him are dropped. In an earlier statement, Telegram called the charges against its founder “absurd” and said that he should not be responsible for the actions of his app’s users.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/telegram-ceo-pavel-durov-has-been-charged-and-released-from-police-custody-214333241.html?src=rss

Threads is making fediverse replies more visible in its app

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Over the last six months, Meta has slowly begun to make good on its promise to make Threads compatible with the fediverse. The app allows users to share their posts to Mastodon and other Activity Pub-enabled services and began showing replies originating on those services earlier this summer.

Now, Threads is making those replies even more visible by allowing users who have opted in to fediverse sharing to see replies on other people’s posts. With the change, a new “fediverse replies” section will appear underneath posts that have drawn replies from Mastodon servers and other federated accounts.

How replies from Mastodon will appear on threads.
Threads

Practically, this means that a lot more fediverse content will be visible within Threads. Up until now, most users probably weren’t seeing that many replies from Mastodon and other sites unless they had a particularly large following or a post that was widely shared. But now, you’ll be able to see all those replies just by browsing Threads.

As with previous updates, Threads’ support for other Activity Pub content is still limited. Users need to opt-in to fediverse sharing in order to view replies from other apps. The feature, which is still labeled as being in “beta,” notes that some replies may not be visible on the Meta-owned service. And Threads still doesn’t support replies to those replies, which drastically limits the ability to engage with other fediverse users. (In a follow-up, Meta engineer Peter Cottle said adding that functionality is “top of mind.”) But the update might help incentivize more users to open their accounts to the fediverse, which is an important step for anyone hoping to bring decentralized social media into the mainstream.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/threads-is-making-fediverse-replies-more-visible-in-its-app-194543494.html?src=rss