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App’s ‘secret source’ algorithm reportedly core to operations of parent company, which sources say make a sale highly unlikelyByteDance would prefer to shut down TikTok rather than sell it if the Chinese company exhausts all legal options to fight legislation to ban the platform from app stores in the US, four sources said.The algorithms TikTok relies on for its operations are deemed core to...

App feature could be suspended unless child safety concerns addressed, in first use of sweeping new digital powersThe EU has said it will ban a new service launched by TikTok in Europe that it believes could be “as addictive as cigarettes” unless the company offers “compelling” fresh evidence that children are safeguarded.If the ban goes ahead, it would be the first time the EU...

Bill – with updated language that extends deadline to a year for ByteDance to divest of TikTok – to go before Senate next weekThe House of Representatives voted 360 to 58 on the updated divest-or-ban bill that could lead to the first time ever that the US government has passed a law to shut down an entire social media platform.The Senate is expected to...

Julie Inman Grant issues notices compelling companies to remove offending material within 24 hoursFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastFacebook’s parent company Meta and X/Twitter have been told to remove violent and distressing videos and imagery of the stabbing of a prominent Orthodox Christian leader in Sydney’s west on Monday...

More than 40 locations across the US reported the backlash after rightwing account stokes anti-trans rhetoric about its rulesMore than 40 Planet Fitness locations across the country have received bomb threats after a conservative movement against the gym’s trans-inclusive locker room policy went viral online.In the weeks since the backlash against the gym chain started in March, at least 43 locations in Connecticut, Florida,...

Cross-party committee urges creation of strategy engage with new platforms that appeal to youngThe government needs a TikTok strategy to help combat misinformation directed at young people, MPs have said.Members of the cross-party culture, media and sport committee said the government needed to adapt to new apps and platforms that appeal to young people who are increasingly turning away from traditional sources of news....

German chancellor follows in the footsteps of Joe Biden and other leaders on social media platformThe German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has opened a TikTok account, promising he will not be seen dancing on the social media platform popular with young people.The newest official government channel “increases the information offer to citizens, who increasingly inform themselves and discuss politics on TikTok”, Scholz’s spokesperson, Steffen Hebestreit,...

District education authorities launch multibillion-dollar lawsuit against Meta, Snap Inc and ByteDanceFour of Canada’s largest school boards have launched a multibillion-dollar lawsuit against the social media companies Meta, Snap Inc and ByteDance, accusing them of acting in a “high-handed, reckless, malicious, and reprehensible manner” with products the boards claim harm student learning and “rewire” how children think.The four district boards – Ottawa-Carleton, Toronto, Peel...

Shadow home affairs spokesperson James Paterson labels social media platform a ‘bad faith actor’Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastThe shadow home affairs spokesperson has labelled TikTok a “bad faith actor” and a “serious threat” to Australia’s national security, urging the Albanese government to follow the United States in its...

Industry minister says review of popular video app that is planning to expand in country has been ongoing since September 2023Canada is conducting a national security review of Chinese-owned TikTok’s proposed expansion of the popular video app in the country, the industry minister, François-Philippe Champagne, said on Friday.In a teleconference from Italy after meeting with his G7 counterparts, Champagne said the review under the...

This blog is now closed.Aged care workers to get 23% average pay boost as union heralds move as ‘one of the best outcomes’ ever achievedAustralia reinstates funding to UNRWA to provide aid in GazaGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast‘Important [that] age care providers … are not profiteering’, Health Services Union president saysSpeaking to ABC News Breakfast, Gerard...

CEO of China-based company says vote is ‘disappointing’ and that it will do all it can to protect the platformThe House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday that would require the TikTok owner ByteDance to sell the social media platform or face a total ban in the United States.The vote was a landslide, with 352 Congress members voting in favor and only 65...

A bill passed Wednesday by the House requiring TikTok owner ByteDance to sell or face a US ban is most existential threat yetThe House of Representatives passed a bill Wednesday that would require TikTok owner ByteDance to sell the social media platform or face a total ban in the United States.The legislation now moves to the Senate, where its likelihood of passing is uncertain....

World’s biggest social media firms challenge state laws blocking them from moderating certain content or banning usersMembers of the United States supreme court expressed skepticism regarding two laws being debated in oral arguments Monday, both of which deal with how social media platforms moderate content and could have broad implications for freedom of speech online.Filed by NetChoice, an association representing the world’s largest social...

Video platform under scrutiny over potential breach of Digital Services Act in areas such as age verificationThe EU has launched a formal investigation into whether TikTok has broken online content rules including the safeguarding of children.The European Commission said it had opened official proceedings against the Chinese-owned short video platform over potential breaches of the Digital Services Act (DSA). Continue reading...

Biden’s presidential election campaign says it will continue meeting voters where they are, including on social mediaThe chair of the US Senate Intelligence Committee, a senior Democrat, said he is concerned about the decision by the campaign of president Joe Biden to join TikTok.On Sunday, Biden’s reelection campaign used the Super Bowl to kick off its new TikTok account in an effort to reach...

UMG said it will remove all songs from TikTok after it accused the social media platform of trying to ‘bully’ them into ‘a bad deal’ over music rights feesUniversal Music Group’s agreement with TikTok is set to expire in the next 24 hours after the companies failed to agree on issues including artist compensation and AI, meaning some of the world’s most popular music...

Belgium already takes a cut from Netflix and Disney and new income will support local TV productionCute cat videos, fried chicken clips and viral dances could soon help to finance Belgian TV, with the Flanders government on the verge of passing laws to force TikTok and YouTube to share revenues with local television producers.“Politically speaking, it is important in audiovisual and media services that...