Hacker News with Generative AI: Social Media

Is the TikTok Ban a Chance to Rethink the Whole Internet? (newyorker.com)
The billionaire Frank McCourt is launching a “people’s bid” to buy the app, replace its addictive algorithm, and give users greater control of their data. Is it a publicity stunt or a sincere attempt to reform the digital age?

Social Media, Data Privacy, Technology, Regulation

6 points by mitchbob 2 hours ago | 10 comments

EFF Statement on U.S. Supreme Court's Decision to Uphold TikTok Ban (eff.org)
We are deeply disappointed that the Court failed to require the strict First Amendment scrutiny required in a case like this, which would’ve led to the inescapable conclusion that the government's desire to prevent potential future harm had to be rejected as infringing millions of Americans’ constitutionally protected free speech.

Free Speech, Law, Social Media, Government

52 points by HAL3000 3 hours ago | 40 comments

We tried hard to make Devin work for us, But it didn't (twitter.com)

Social Media, Twitter, AI

20 points by amrrs 6 hours ago | 4 comments

The Slop Society (wheresyoured.at)
In the last week we've seen the emergence of the true Meta — and the true Mark Zuckerberg — as the company ended its fact-checking program, claiming that (and I quote) "fact checkers have been too politically biased and have destroyed more trust than they've created" on both Instagram and Facebook, the latter of which was shown in a study from George Washington University to, by design, "afford antivaccine content producers several means to circumvent the intent of misinformation removal

Social Media, Facebook, Misinformation, Censorship, Meta

6 points by DanAtC 7 hours ago | 0 comments

EU asks X for internal documents about algorithms as it steps up investigation (theguardian.com)
The European Commission has asked X to hand over internal documents about its algorithms, as it steps up its investigation into whether Elon Musk’s social media platform has breached EU rules on content moderation.

Social Media, Regulation, Algorithms, European Union

5 points by uxhacker 7 hours ago | 0 comments

Bluesky accounts add 10k followers per day (facts.dev)
Discover users with the most new followers added in the last day. Perfect for keeping up with most popular and widely followed accounts!

Social Media, Twitter, Data Analysis

7 points by uwemaurer 7 hours ago | 2 comments

European Union orders X to hand over algorithm documents (arstechnica.com)
Brussels has ordered Elon Musk to fully disclose recent changes made to recommendations on X, stepping up an investigation into the role of the social media platform in European politics.

Social Media, Regulation, European Union, Elon Musk, Transparency

9 points by nemoniac 10 hours ago | 0 comments

EU orders X to hand over info on recent algorithm changes (theregister.com)
The European Commission is stepping up its ongoing investigation of Elon Musk's X with a request to examine recent changes made to the platform's recommendation algorithms.

EU Regulations, Social Media, Algorithms, Transparency

10 points by thunderbong 11 hours ago | 1 comments

E.U. steps up probe into Elon Musk's X over content moderation (nbcnews.com)
The European Commission said on Friday it was stepping up its investigation into whether Elon Musk’s social media network X breached EU rules on content moderation with requests for information and an order for it to retain relevant documents.

Elon Musk, Social Media, Content Moderation, European Union, Law

8 points by rntn 13 hours ago | 0 comments

Supreme Court Backs Law Requiring TikTok to Be Sold or Banned (nytimes.com)
The Supreme Court ruled against TikTok on Friday, rejecting the social media company’s First Amendment challenge to the law that effectively bans it in the United States starting on Sunday.

Supreme Court, Social Media, TikTok, Law, First Amendment

6 points by boulos 13 hours ago | 3 comments

Supreme Court upholds TikTok ban (techcrunch.com)
The Supreme Court has upheld the law that will effectively ban TikTok on Sunday, January 19.

Supreme Court, TikTok, Law, Social Media, United States

10 points by mikece 13 hours ago | 2 comments

Influence by Design: How Meta Accepted Russian Payments Despite Sanctions (checkfirst.network)
Titled Influence by Design: Doppelgänger, Sanctions, Meta, and the Social Design Agency (SDA), the report sheds light on how Meta’s advertising infrastructure was used to run over 8,000 political ads aligned with Russian interests, even after international sanctions targeted the responsible entity: the Social Design Agency (SDA). This highlights Meta’s shortcomings at moderating paid-for content.

Social Media, Political Advertising, Sanctions, Russia, Information Warfare

5 points by amaury 14 hours ago | 0 comments

Mark Cuban is ready to fund a TikTok alternative built on Bluesky's AT Protocol (techcrunch.com)
Entrepreneur and investor Mark Cuban is ready to fund a TikTok alternative built on Bluesky’s AT Protocol, he shared in a TikTok video posted on Wednesday.

Social Media, Venture Capital, Decentralized Technologies

10 points by thunderbong 17 hours ago | 0 comments

Gamers Suspect That Elon Musk Is Faking It (forbes.com)
Elon Musk, co-founder of Tesla and SpaceX, is suspected of lying about his ability to play video games.

Elon Musk, Video Games, Gaming, Social Media

5 points by Stevvo 17 hours ago | 0 comments

College students in court case stemming from 'Catch a Predator' fad on TikTok (apnews.com)
Five Massachusetts college students appeared in court Thursday, accused of plotting to lure a man to their campus through the Tinder dating app and then seizing him as part of a “Catch a Predator” trend on TikTok (AP Video: Robert Bukaty)

Social Media, Law, Crime, College

4 points by petethomas 21 hours ago | 1 comments

Elon Musk criticizes Twitch streamer and removes their verification over dispute (twitter.com)

Social Media, Verification, Disputes, Elon Musk, Twitch

8 points by personjerry 21 hours ago | 2 comments

Migrate TikTok posts to RedNote AI agent (opencord.ai)

AI, Social Media, Content Migration, Open Source

12 points by leave3644 1 day ago | 5 comments

Weaponizing Wikipedia Against Israel (aish.com)
How the global information pipeline is being hijacked by digital jihadists.

Israel, Politics, Information Warfare, Propaganda, Social Media

12 points by xpl 1 day ago | 6 comments

Ask HN: How can X suspend paid accounts without explanation? (ycombinator.com)
Recently X suspended my account without any reason (no spam, offensive content, etc) and after charging me for the entire year upfront.

Social Media, Customer Service, Payment Issues, Account Suspensions

10 points by santa_boy 1 day ago | 12 comments

RedNote may wall off "TikTok refugees" to prevent US influence on Chinese users (arstechnica.com)
Just a few days after more than 700 million new users flooded RedNote—which Time noted is "the most apolitical social platform in China"—rumors began swirling that RedNote may soon start segregating American users and other foreign IPs from the app's Chinese users.

China, Social Media, Censorship, International Relations

9 points by LorenDB 1 day ago | 2 comments

French group encourages mass departure from Elon Musk's X platform (euronews.com)
A group of French organisations are asking the public to leave X on January 20th, the day that incoming US President Donald Trump will be inaugurated.

Social Media, Politics, France, Elon Musk

13 points by doener 1 day ago | 1 comments

Girl strangled by her own wheelchair as bus monitor texted, checked Instagram (arstechnica.com)
Cell phones are magnets for our attention, but you can, of course, face significant legal jeopardy for giving them that attention. Just ask the "safety driver" of an Uber self-driving vehicle, which hit and killed a pedestrian in Arizona in 2018. According to authorities, the driver was watching The Voice on Hulu just before the crash—and was then charged with negligent homicide.

Technology, Safety, Law, Social Media

5 points by LorenDB 1 day ago | 0 comments

Elon Musk leaks private direct messages (twitter.com)

Elon Musk, Twitter, Privacy, Leaks, Social Media

15 points by possibilistic 1 day ago | 2 comments

L2E Llama2.c in a PDF in a ZIP in a PNG in a X post / tweet (twitter.com)

Social Media, Humor

3 points by AMICABoard 1 day ago | 0 comments

Mr. Beast Offers to Buy Tik Tok (twitter.com)

Social Media, Business, Influencers

4 points by efitz 1 day ago | 6 comments

I ditched the algorithm for RSS (joeyehand.com)
I waste too much time scrolling through social media. It's bad for my health, so why do I keep doing it?

Social Media, RSS, Productivity, Health

683 points by DearNarwhal 2 days ago | 261 comments

Elon Musk crackdown on researchers who revealed he isn't Adrian Dittmann (dailydot.com)
The two researchers who helped discover the identity of Adrian Dittmann, the X user many incorrectly believed was Elon Musk, are being asked to delete more posts about the matter after initially being suspended for their reporting last week.

Social Media, Misinformation, Elon Musk

17 points by nabla9 2 days ago | 2 comments

German army deserts X as Berlin vs. Elon Musk feud rumbles on (politico.eu)
BERLIN — The German defense ministry and the Bundeswehr national army will suspend their accounts on Elon Musk’s social media platform X, citing an inability to have factual debate on the site.

Germany, Social Media, Elon Musk, Politics, Military

10 points by rbanffy 2 days ago | 1 comments

Hey I'm Yutish (ycombinator.com)
Hey guys, I'm Yutish, I'm the founder of StarCy.

Startups, Social Media, Introductions

10 points by YutishGoel 2 days ago | 1 comments

Everything you need to know about Xiaohongshu (restofworld.org)
As fears of a TikTok ban grow, Americans are turning to Xiaohongshu, which translates to “little red book.” Here’s how the lifestyle app became a global phenomenon.

Social Media, China, Lifestyle Apps

18 points by billybuckwheat 2 days ago | 12 comments