United News of Bangladesh

Social media platforms have taken down about 4.7 million accounts identified as belonging to children in Australia since the country enforced a ban on under-16s using major platforms, officials said. Communications Minister Anika Wells said the government had proven critics wrong by compelling some of the world’s biggest tech companies to comply. “Now Australian parents can be confident their kids can have their childhoods back,” she told reporters on Friday. The figures, submitted to the government by 10 platforms, offer the first indication of the impact of the landmark law, which came into force in December amid concerns about harmful online environments for young people. The move triggered heated debate over technology use, privacy, child safety and mental health and has prompted other countries to consider similar measures. Under the law, Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Reddit, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube and Twitch can be fined up to A$49.5 million ($33.2 million) if they fail to take reasonable steps to remove accounts of Australian users under 16. Messaging services such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are exempt. Platforms can verify age by requesting identification, using third-party facial age-estimation tools, or drawing inferences from existing account data, such as how long an account has been active. Australia’s eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said about 2.5 million Australians are aged 8 to 15 and previous estimates showed 84% of 8- to 12-year-olds had social media accounts. While it is unclear how many accounts existed across the 10 platforms, she said the 4.7 million “deactivated or restricted” accounts was an encouraging sign. “We’re preventing predatory social media companies from accessing our children,” Inman Grant said, adding that the companies covered by the ban had complied and reported removal figures on time. She said enforcement would now focus on stopping children from creating new accounts or evading the restrictions.  Read more: Wikipedia turns 25, announces AI partnerships with tech giants Australian officials did not release platform-by-platform numbers. However, Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads, said it removed nearly 550,000 accounts believed to belong to under-16s by the day after the ban took effect. In a blog post, Meta criticised the policy and warned that smaller platforms not covered by the ban might not prioritise safety. The law has been widely backed by parents and child-safety advocates, though privacy groups and some youth organisations oppose it, arguing that vulnerable or geographically isolated teenagers find support online. Some young users say they have bypassed age checks with help from parents or older siblings.

US Embassy in Dhaka has alerted its Facebook followers to remain aware of fake profiles. “Stay aware of these deceptive profiles on social media! They may seem official, but they’re faker than a sunflower in the Arctic,” a post from US Embassy’s verified Facebook page today (November 07, 2023) reads. Read: US says it takes any violence leading up to election in Bangladesh ‘incredibly seriously’ The embassy also encouraged netizens not to share personal information and not to engage with requests for money if they encounter any such profile. The US Embassy also encouraged reporting the profiles on the social media platforms.

Australia plans to crack down on online advertisers targeting children by making social media platforms seek parental consent for users younger than 16 years old to join or face fines of 10 million Australian dollars ($7.5 million) under a draft law released Monday. The landmark legislation would protect Australians online and ensure that Australia’s privacy laws are appropriate in the digital age, a government statement said. Social media platforms would be required to take all reasonable steps to verify their users’ ages under a binding code for social media services, data brokers and other large online platforms operating in Australia. Read:Facebook dithered in curbing divisive user content in India The platforms would also have to give primary consideration to the best interests of children when handling their personal information, the draft legislation states. The code would also require platforms to obtain parental consent for users under the age of 16. The proposed legal changes come after former Facebook product manager Frances Haugen this month asserted that whenever there was a conflict between the public good and what benefited the company, the social media giant would choose its own interests. Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention David Coleman said the new code would lead the world in protecting children from social media companies. “In Australia, even before the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a consistent increase in signs of distress and mental ill health among young people. While the reasons for this are varied and complex, we know that social media is part of the problem,” Coleman said in a statement. Read: Amid the Capitol riot, Facebook faced its own insurrection Facebook regional director of public policy Mia Garlick said her platform had been calling for Australia’s privacy laws to evolve with new technology. “We have supported the development of international codes around young people’s data, like the U.K. Age Appropriate Design Code,” Garlick said in a statement, referring to British legislation introduced this year that requires platforms to verify users’ ages if content risks the moral, physical or mental well-being of children. “We’re reviewing the draft bill and discussion paper released today, and look forward to working with the Australian government on this further,” she added. Australia has been a prominent voice in calling for international regulation of the internet. It passed laws this year that oblige Google and Facebook to pay for journalism. Australia also defied the tech companies by creating a law that could imprison social media executives if their platforms stream violent images.

State Minister for Cultural Affairs KM Khalid said that film is an important medium of art and culture, especially in today's world that is largely regulated by social media platforms. “Film is a very timely medium of entertainment and universally admired as the most engaging and close medium for projecting life as realistically as possible through reflecting the joys-sorrows-laughter and tears, within a limited timeframe”. The State Minister made his remarks while inaugurating the 3rd Bangladesh Short film and Documentary Festival 2021 on Friday, as the chief guest at the virtual inauguration ceremony. Mentioning Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA)’s various activities in the medium of cinema, KM Khalid said, “BSA has been conducting activities with films since its inception in 1974. As part of its continuation in upholding our films through connecting the filmmakers and audiences, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy organized ‘Bangladesh Film Festival’ in 2015 and 2017, and 'Bangladesh Short Film and Documentary Festival' in 2016 and 2018, in 64 districts of the country simultaneously.” Also read: Top 5 Most Followed Athletes Across Social Media Platforms Secretary of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs Badrul Arefin, noted filmmaker Amitabh Reza Chowdhury and prominent film scholar-researcher Anupam Hayat also joined the inauguration ceremony as special guests and shared their thoughts on this special festival. Also read: The Cultural Hegemony of Social Media BSA's Director of Theatre and Film department and prominent thespian Afsana Karim Mimi delivered the welcome speech at the inauguration ceremony, which was chaired by BSA Director General Liaquat Ali Lucky. The inauguration ceremony was hosted by media personality Nabanita Chowdhury.

India’s top court on Friday asked for the government and Twitter’s response to a petition seeking greater regulation of content on social media platforms amid a debate over free speech.

2020 was like a vertigo-experience for all of us—sometimes it felt like living secluded, confined in the idea of a fictitious border at the edge of the world, and harking back to those memories we have made before the pandemic tumbled upon us.