X now lets you sort replies so blue checks don’t bury other users’ comments

X has introduced new options for sorting replies that should make it easier to see the comments you’re actually interested in. The social media platform announced that replies can now be sorted by most relevant, most recent and most liked. While the average X user may not be getting hundreds of replies to their posts, the reply section on posts from accounts with thousands or millions of followers can be chaotic. And since replies from blue check users are ranked higher, what shows up at the top may not be what’s newest or most pertinent.

Being able to sort replies by most recent or most liked could help to cut through some of the noise. X hasn’t said how it will determine which replies are most relevant, but it appears that option just shows replies ranked the way already used to seeing them. The change started rolling out this weekend.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/x-now-lets-you-sort-replies-so-blue-checks-dont-bury-other-users-comments-173429525.html?src=rss

X appears to be suppressing Trump-related searches

If you want to find a specific tweet by Donald Trump, you may have to go through his timeline and look for it yourself. According to Mediaite, X has switched off the ability to search for Trump's tweets. As the publication explains, you can do a search for specific posts by typing "from:[username without the @ symbol]" followed by the term or phrase you're looking for. 

So if you want to see the former president's tweet wherein he said that the COVID cases and deaths are "far exaggerated in the United States" due to the CDC's "ridiculous method of determination," you could do a search for "from:realDonaldTrump COVID." That's supposed to bring up all his tweets with the term "COVID," except... it doesn't. What does show up is a selection of his tweets that don't even appear in chronological order. We were able to replicate the results Mediaite has reported, as you can see below.

A screenshot of Donald Trump's tweets.
Twitter

The former president's Twitter account was suspended in 2021 after the company determined that some of his tweets violated its policies. His was kicked out of the website after the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol. Trump sued Twitter in an attempt to get his account back, but it wasn't until Elon Musk took over that he was reinstated. His first and only post since then was his mug shot, which was taken when he was booked on charges that he conspired to overturn the results of 2020 Presidential election. 

As Mediaite notes, it's not quite clear why this happening. Other accounts that had been suspended in the past and then reinstated, such as Alex Jones', remain searchable. The accounts of other high-profile political personalities, such as Kamala Harris, remain searchable, as well. A software engineer that the publication talked to claimed that it was a deliberate move on X's part, seeing as the issue doesn't seem to affect other previously suspended users. We reached out to X for a statement and will update this post if we hear back. It's worth noting, however, that there's a free resource called "Trump Twitter Archive" that contains a searchable database of Trump's tweets, and it still works perfectly. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/x-appears-to-be-suppressing-trump-related-searches-140026507.html?src=rss

Warner Bros. sends Cartoon Network’s website to the digital graveyard

Warner Bros. Discovery has pulled Cartoon Network’s entire website from the web, which means that you can no longer access free episodes and other interactive content. Instead, visitors to CartoonNetwork.com are redirected to the channel’s section on the subscription streaming network Max, Variety reported.

The Cartoon Network website offered full, free episodes and clips of some of its most popular shows including Adventure Time, The Amazing World of Gumball, Teen Titans GO! and Steven Universe. Now if you need a quick fix of those shows, you’ll have to get on Max, pay for them on another digital streaming service or dig up a copy from your stash of old Blu-Rays and DVDs.

A spokesperson for the Cartoon Network told Variety it’s refocusing its efforts on “shows and social media where we find consumers are the most engaged and there is a meaningful potential for growth.” The decision to take down the website will not affect the network’s cable TV programming.

The demise of Cartoon Network’s website comes a week after Warner Bros. Discovery announced the end of its classic cartoon streaming service Boomerang. Warner Bros. Discovery announced that the network for fans of classic cartoons like Tom & Jerry, Wacky Races and the original Looney Tunes shorts will end its operations on September 30. Subscribers will be added to Max’s ad-free tier for no additional cost.

In June, media giant Paramount, too, pulled down some of its cable channels’ old show episodes including The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report from the Comedy Central website as well as free content from other channels’ websites such as TV Land, CMT and the Paramount Network.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/warner-bros-sends-cartoon-networks-website-to-the-digital-graveyard-174502048.html?src=rss

You can now include 20 images in a single Instagram post

Good news, oversharers: Instagram has doubled the number of photos and videos users can share in a carousel post. A representative for the social media network told Engadget that the limit has been increased from 10 to 20 pieces of media. This update will roll out to all Instagram users round the world beginning today.

For users of a certain age, this change may harken back to the late 2000s era of photo dumps on Facebook. Long before it became “Meta,” Facebook was the place to share vast numbers of photos. And since smartphones were only just arriving on the market, most of those photos were from digital cameras that would never fit in your pocket. Ah, memories!

The carousel post format first rolled out to all Instagram users back in 2017  but was restricted to 10 items until now. Instagram has explored additional carousel features since that original launch, such as the ability to delete a single photo from the batch and setting the posts to music.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/you-can-now-include-20-images-in-a-single-instagram-post-211516632.html?src=rss

X makes its Premium+ subscription tier fully ad-free

X has updated its Premium+ subscription tier so that paying users don't have to see any advertisement at all. The website formerly known as Twitter has announced that Premium+, which costs $16 a month in the US, is now fully ad-free. While one of the tier's original perks is having an ad-free For You and Following timelines, subscribers still saw advertisements on other parts of the social network.

As Social Media Today points out, the FAQ page for X's subscriptions used to say that the no-ads feature for Premium+ "does not apply to promoted content elsewhere on X, including but not limited to ads on profiles, ads in post replies, ads in Immersive Media Viewer, promoted events in Explore, promoted trends, and promoted accounts to follow."

Some users in that announcement thread on X have expressed concerns about the company's revenue-sharing scheme. People can earn on the social network by getting some of X's ad revenue, but they can only earn money for an add if a fellow verified user sees it. That is why X engineer Eric Farraro had to write a post answering a common complaint from creators that their payouts were lower than expected. "Revenue is only earned for ads shown to Verified users. This is one of many ways we mitigate attempts to manipulate the program," he tweeted. Since ads had been limited for Premium+ subscribers from the start, though, this might not have a big impact on the revenue amount X can share with its users. People paying for the basic tier, the cheapest option at $3 a month, will continue seeing ads like usual. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/x-makes-its-premium-subscription-tier-fully-ad-free-120017998.html?src=rss

YouTube invites users to test its community notes feature

YouTube seems to be starting to roll out its community notes feature to a select group of users. Screenshots of YouTube’s official invitation to join the pilot program for its new community correction feature are popping up all over social media, according to 9to5Google.

YouTube first announced its community notes feature in June. The new feature allows viewers to submit short blurbs that provide additional context or correct information to certain video content. The community notes feature comes ahead of the US presidential election.

There is no official start date for the new feature, but YouTube has added a section to its “Help” database with instructions on writing and submitting notes. We’ve also reached out to Google for a comment on the new feature.

The pilot program is currently only available in English for mobile devices in the US, according to the support page. The company previously said it would invite participants through email or their Creator Studios account. The select group of test subjects will provide feedback to YouTube to help the platform determine which notes are “helpful,” “somewhat helpful” or “unhelpful,” before rolling out its community notes feature to the public, according to the official YouTube blog.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/youtube-invites-users-to-test-its-community-notes-feature-224823088.html?src=rss

Facebook will let creators remove account warnings if they complete ‘educational training’

Meta is making it a little easier for creators to avoid the dreaded “Facebook jail.” The company announced a new policy that will allow people with professional accounts to complete in-app “educational training” in order to avoid a strike on their account for first-time violations of the platform’s community standards.

In a blog post announcing the change, Meta notes that it can be frustrating for creators to navigate the company’s penalty system, which restricts Facebook accounts from certain features, including monetization tools, after multiple offenses. Under the new rules, creators who receive a warning for a first-time offense will have the option to remove the warning if they view an in-app explanation of the rule they broke.

Particularly serious offenses, “such as posting content that includes sexual exploitation, the sale of high-risk drugs, or glorification of dangerous organizations and individuals” are not able to be removed. Instead, the system is geared toward helping creators correct “unintentional mistakes,” according to the company. “We believe focusing on helping people understand why we have removed their content will be more effective at preventing re-offending, giving us not just a fairer approach, but a more effective one,” Meta explains.

It’s not the first time Meta has tried to reform its penalty system, which has been criticized by the Oversight Board and is a frequent source of frustration to users who may get strikes for mundane comments taken out of context. Last year, the company said it was trying to focus more on educating users about its rules rather than restricting their ability to post. Though the latest policy change will only affect creators with professional accounts to start, the company says it is planning to expand it “more broadly in the coming months.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/facebook-will-let-creators-remove-account-warnings-if-they-complete-educational-training-181503330.html?src=rss

Reddit CEO teases AI search features and paid subreddits

Reddit just wrapped up its second earnings call as a public company and CEO Steve Huffman hinted at some significant changes that could be coming to the platform. During the call, the Reddit co-founder said the company would begin testing AI-powered search results later this year.

“Later this year, we will begin testing new search result pages powered by AI to summarize and recommend content, helping users dive deeper into products, shows, games and discover new communities on Reddit,” Huffman said. He didn’t say when those tests would begin, but said it would use both first-party and third-party models.

Huffman noted that search on Reddit has “gone unchanged for a long time” but that it’s a significant opportunity to bring in new users. He also said that search could one day be a significant source of advertising revenue for the company.

Huffman hinted at other non-advertising sources of revenue as well. He suggested that the company might experiment with paywalled subreddits as it looks to monetize new features. “I think the existing, altruistic, free version of Reddit will continue to exist and grow and thrive just the way it has,” Huffman said. “But now we will unlock the door for new use cases, new types of subreddits that can be built that may have exclusive content or private areas, things of that nature.”

A Reddit spokesperson declined to elaborate on Huffman’s remarks. But it’s no secret the company has been eyeing new ways to expand its business since going public earlier this year. It’s struck multi million-dollar licensing deals with Google and OpenAI, and has blocked search engines that aren’t paying the company.

“Some players in the ecosystem have not been transparent with their use of Reddit’s content, and in those instances, we block access to protect Reddit content and user privacy,” Huffman said. “We want to know where Reddit data is going and what it's being used for, and so those are the terms of engagement.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/reddit-ceo-teases-ai-search-features-and-paid-subreddits-225636988.html?src=rss

NVIDIA’s AI team reportedly scraped YouTube, Netflix videos without permission

In the latest example of a troubling industry pattern, NVIDIA appears to have scraped troves of copyrighted content for AI training. On Monday, 404 Media’s Samantha Cole reported that the $2.4 trillion company asked workers to download videos from YouTube, Netflix and other datasets to develop commercial AI projects. The graphics card maker is among the tech companies appearing to have adopted a “move fast and break things” ethos as they race to establish dominance in this feverish, too-often-shameful AI gold rush.

The training was reportedly to develop models for products like its Omniverse 3D world generator, self-driving car systems and “digital human” efforts.

NVIDIA defended its practice in an email to Engadget. A company spokesperson said its research is “in full compliance with the letter and the spirit of copyright law” while claiming IP laws protect specific expressions “but not facts, ideas, data, or information.” The company equated the practice to a person’s right to “learn facts, ideas, data, or information from another source and use it to make their own expression.” Human, computer… what’s the difference?

YouTube doesn’t appear to agree. Spokesperson Jack Malon pointed us to a Bloomberg story from April, quoting CEO Neal Mohan saying using YouTube to train AI models would be a “clear violation” of its terms. “Our previous comment still stands,” the YouTube policy communications manager wrote to Engadget.

That quote from Mohan in April was in response to reports that OpenAI trained its Sora text-to-video generator on YouTube videos without permission. Last month, a report showed that the startup Runway AI followed suit.

NVIDIA employees who raised ethical and legal concerns about the practice were reportedly told by their managers that it had already been green-lit by the company's highest levels. “This is an executive decision,” Ming-Yu Liu, vice president of research at NVIDIA, replied. “We have an umbrella approval for all of the data.” Others at the company allegedly described its scraping as an “open legal issue” they’d tackle down the road.

It all sounds similar to Facebook’s (Meta’s) old “move fast and break things” motto, which has succeeded admirably at breaking quite a few things. That included the privacy of millions of people.

In addition to the YouTube and Netflix videos, NVIDIA reportedly instructed workers to train on movie trailer database MovieNet, internal libraries of video game footage and Github video datasets WebVid (now taken down after a cease-and-desist) and InternVid-10M. The latter is a dataset containing 10 million YouTube video IDs.

Some of the data NVIDIA allegedly trained on was only marked as eligible for academic (or otherwise non-commercial) use. HD-VG-130M, a library of 130 million YouTube videos, includes a usage license specifying that it’s only meant for academic research. NVIDIA reportedly brushed aside concerns about academic-only terms, insisting their batches were fair game for its commercial AI products.

To evade detection from YouTube, NVIDIA reportedly downloaded content using virtual machines (VMs) with rotating IP addresses to avoid bans. In response to a worker’s suggestion to use a third-party IP address-rotating tool, another NVIDIA employee reportedly wrote, “We are on [Amazon Web Services](#) and restarting a [virtual machine](#) instance gives a new public IP[.](#) So, that’s not a problem so far.”

404 Media’s full report on NVIDIA’s practices is worth a read.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/nvidias-ai-team-reportedly-scraped-youtube-netflix-videos-without-permission-204942022.html?src=rss

Hack and payback Instagram scammer gets nabbed after bragging about it on a podcast

A guest who appeared on the No Jumper podcast to boast about a hack and payback scheme involving his victims’ social media accounts could face federal charges. Idriss Qibaa, also known as “Dani” and “Unlocked” who authorities allege ran the social media hacking site Unlocked4Life.com, faces two criminal felony counts filed by the US Attorney's Office in Nevada for allegedly violating interstate communications laws for threats he issued in text messages to two victims and members of their families, according to documents obtained by 404 Media.

Investigators filed the sealed complaint against Qibaa on July 25 and issued a warrant the following Monday when also made his first initial appearance in court, according to federal court records.

The criminal complaint states that the FBI received a tip about Qibaa’s alleged extortion scheme on April 1 pointing to an appearance he made on the No Jumper podcast hosted by Adam22, also known as Adam Grandmaison, back in January under his pseudonym “Dani.” Qibaa outlined a financial scheme using over 200 victims’ social media accounts in which he would lock them out of their pages and charge them to regain access.

He also boasted that he made about $600,000 a month from his activities and hired two security guards to follow him.

“You’re making $2 million a month off your Instagram and Telegraph,” Qibaa says on the podcast. “I come and I take it away and make you pay for it back and I make it public and I post it and I expose you.”

Qibaa even said on the podcast episode that he pulled the scheme on celebrities who unknowingly kept paying him to get their social media back. He later noted “I’m very petty” followed by a menacing laugh.

“I’ve talked to stars who have told me that they’ve paid to get it back 20 times over and over and over they just have to keep paying to get it back,” Qibaa says, “and I’m like you realize what’s happening to you right like the same that’s getting you it back is…you’re getting extorted.”

The criminal complaint tells the story of eight victims’ encounters with Qibaa and his services. One identified as “J.T.” operated two Instagram accounts: a cannabis news aggregate account called “theblacklistxyz” and a cannabis merchandising store under “caliplug,” both of which are currently set to private. J.T. reached out to Qibaa asking if he could obtain a username. Qibaa quoted a price back between $4,000-$5,000. J.T. refused to take Qibaa up on the offer and Qibaa responded with threats.

“Qibba told J.T. that J.T. had wasted Qibaa’s time, blocked J.T.’s Instagram pages and demanded $10,000 to reinstate it,” the complaint reads. “J.T. offered Qibaa $8,500 to reinstate the account, an offer Qibaa accepted.”

The complaint asserts that Qibba reached out to J.T. two more times. The first time, Qibba asked if J.T. would promote his Instagram page under the username “unlocked4life” that’s since been taken down. J.T. agreed but when he learned Qibaa had been threatening and extorting other victims, he confronted Qibaa and “Qibaa was irate.”

A few months later, Qibaa apparently increased the scope of his threats to J.T. and members of his family. He sent threats to call the victim’s ex-wife’s lawyer and child protective services on his kids. Screenshots of the victims’ phone show Qibaa allegedly identifying the address and phone number of the victim’s sister. He texted another family member and introduced himself as “The guy that’s gonna murder your drug dealer brother. Tell him Unlocked says hi though. We have your entire family’s info.”

Another victim identified as a journalist and comedian with the initials “E.H.” learned they were a target of Qibaa’s illegal services. Qibaa blocked their Instagram account, the name of which was redacted, at the request of a dentist in California who treated them. E.H. reached out to the Unlocked4Life account and received a reply that read, “Yo its Idriss.” He then told E.H. to pull up the No Jumper podcast episode featuring his interview. Qibaa not only took the victim’s Instagram account access away but also threatened to take their Social Security number and “blast it out” if they didn’t pay him $20,000.

According to the complaint, not even restraining orders could make Qibaa leave his victims alone. One named “R.B.” received a restraining order from Los Angeles County Superior Court in July but “Unblocked” responded, “Cute restraining order..last I checked you’re still gonna die.” Then “UNLOCKED UNCENSORED” posted on Telegram, “$50,000 reward for whoever sleeps BO this week.”

Perhaps the most disturbing threats happened to several victims in which Qibaa claimed he’d happily go to jail if payments weren’t made to him. Screenshots of the text chains show a person named “Dani” and “Daniel” telling his victims, “I will come and shoot you myself,” “I’m going to bury you for this shit” and “D., L., J., T., Children-Main Targets” referring to the victims’ children.

Another text chain shows Qibaa allegedly threatening someone that he would “rather take a life sentence for murdering you then this,” “Idc if I have to shoot you my self [sic]” and “I’ll go to jail happily.” He follows the text with the threat “Here’s the last guy that came to take photos / came near my home” and sends three pictures of an unidentified bearded man, his car and a photo of his badly bruised and bloodied on the ground.”

Adam22 concluded his podcast interview with “Dani” saying he was “very excited to see the fallout from this” and “I respect the hustle even though I can’t justify it on a moral level.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/hack-and-payback-instagram-scammer-gets-nabbed-after-bragging-about-it-on-a-podcast-202509349.html?src=rss