Category: social networking

India ruling party accused of tricking Twitter users into backing a law

[ad_1] It’s not certain that this is is a coordinated campaign, but the misleading tweets came soon after Home Minister Amit Shaw shared the number. When asked for comment, Twitter’s Indian team directed TechCrunch to an article explaining Trending Topics, but the link didn’t address the question. If accurate, this wouldn’t be the first instance […]

Nearly the whole US military has banned TikTok

[ad_1] There are no restrictions on use with personal devices, but officials have encouraged personnel and their kids to uninstall the app. The Air Force and Coast Guard didn’t provide specific reasoning for the ban, but it’s likely to be consistent with earlier bans. There’s been concerns that TikTok’s ownership might leave it susceptible to […]

TikTok report says China didn’t request user info in the first half of 2019

[ad_1] Following India, TikTok received the most user information requests from American authorities. In the US, it got 79 requests related to 255 accounts, and went on to share information in 86 percent of cases. In third was Japan, where authorities requested information 35 times. “To foster candid dialogue essential to earning and maintaining trust, […]

US Army is the latest military branch to ban TikTok

[ad_1] As with the Navy ban, the Army is likely concerned that TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance could pose problems. While there’s no evidence of suspicious activity taking place, ByteDance could theoretically be compelled to forward soldiers’ sensitive info to the Chinese government or to recruit soldiers as spies.The company has been eager to fend […]

Snapchat’s Bitmoji TV series will make your avatar the star

[ad_1] The company has declined to provide more details, including the frequency of releases, the presence of ads or whether there’s any top talent producing the show. However, a spokesperson told TechCrunch that a worldwide premiere is coming “soon.” This is partly about boosting the worth of Bitmoji. However, it’s likely also about improving the […]

Twitter flaw let a researcher match 17 million phone numbers with users

[ad_1] The users were in countries like France, Greece and Turkey, and some of them were politicians and officials. TechCrunch found a senior Israeli politician, for instance. Balic didn’t notify Twitter, but did warn some users directly. Twitter blocked his effort on December 20th and hasn’t publicly acknowledged the flaw so far. We’ve asked Twitter […]

Pokémon games are available to play on Facebook

[ad_1] Before you ask: there aren’t any in-app purchases, at least not at this stage. The Pokémon Company isn’t shy about its goals with producing Facebook titles. This is about making Pokémon games available to “people all over the world” who otherwise couldn’t (or wouldn’t) play. For Facebook, meanwhile, this is a big boost to […]

Online bulletin board inventor Randy Suess dies at 74

[ad_1] For the next couple of decades, these dial-up bulletin boards (BBSes for short) were the first taste of the online world for many people. They quickly grew to cover many of the features you expect from the modern internet, such as live chat, multiplayer games and, of course, social posts. It was just cruder […]

Navy bans TikTok from government-issued phones

[ad_1] There’s little doubt as to why TikTok might face restrictions, though. US politicians remain concerned about TikTok’s Chinese ownership and the potential for the app to serve as a conduit for Chinese government plans. There’s no evidence that TikTok is siphoning personal info, but that might not matter to jittery officials. As it stands, […]

Twitter shares data for 5,929 accounts that spread Saudi Arabian propaganda

[ad_1] The activity was linked to Smaat, a social network marketing company inside Saudi Arabia. It reportedly created, bought and ran the accounts on behalf of its clients, some of whom include “high-profile individuals” and Saudi government departments. Twitter has since banned both Smaat and some of its executives. The accounts are part of a […]