The United States Supreme Court on Friday (Sep 29) agreed to decide whether state laws that seek to regulate Facebook, TikTok, X, and other social media networks violate the Constitution. According to a report by the news agency Associated Press, the justices would review laws enacted by Republican-dominated legislatures and signed by Republican governors in Florida and Texas.

Both laws aim to prevent social media companies from censoring users based on their viewpoints. The justices already agreed to decide whether public officials can block critics from commenting on their social media accounts, an issue that previously came up in a case involving then-US president Donald Trump.

The Supreme Court's announcement comes as justices continue to grapple with how laws written at the dawn of the digital age, or earlier, apply to the online world.&nbsp;

The report said that separately, the high court could consider a lower-court order limiting executive branch officials’ communications with social media companies about controversial online posts.

The new case follows conflicting rulings by two appeals courts, one of which upheld the Texas law, while the other struck down Florida’s statute. By a 5-4 vote, the justices kept the Texas law on hold while litigation over it continues, the report added.

Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett voted to grant the emergency request from two technology industry groups that challenged the law in federal court.

On the other hand, Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Elena Kagan, and Neil Gorsuch would have allowed the law to remain in effect.&nbsp;

Proponents of the laws sought to portray social media companies as generally liberal in outlook and hostile to ideas outside of that viewpoint. The tech sector warned that the laws would prevent platforms from removing extremism and hate speech.

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The United States Supreme Court on Friday (Sep 29) agreed to decide whether state laws that seek to regulate Facebook, TikTok, X, and other social media networks violate the Constitution.

The United States Supreme Court on Friday (Sep 29) agreed to decide whether state laws that seek to regulate Facebook, TikTok, X, and other social media networks violate the Constitution. According to a report by the news agency Associated Press, the justices would review laws enacted by Republican-dominated legislatures and signed by Republican governors in Florida and Texas. Both laws aim to prevent social media companies from censoring users based on their viewpoints. The justices already agreed to decide whether public officials can block critics from commenting on their social media accounts, an issue that previously came up in a case involving then-US president Donald Trump. The Supreme Court's announcement comes as justices continue to grapple with how laws written at the dawn of the digital age, or earlier, apply to the online world. The report said that separately, the high court could consider a lower-court order limiting executive branch officials’ communications with social media companies about controversial online posts. The new case follows conflicting rulings by two appeals courts, one of which upheld the Texas law, while the other struck down Florida’s statute. By a 5-4 vote, the justices kept the Texas law on hold while litigation over it continues, the report added. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett voted to grant the emergency request from two technology industry groups that challenged the law in federal court. On the other hand, Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Elena Kagan, and Neil Gorsuch would have allowed the law to remain in effect. Proponents of the laws sought to portray social media companies as generally liberal in outlook and hostile to ideas outside of that viewpoint. The tech sector warned that the laws would prevent platforms from removing extremism and hate speech. WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

US Supreme Court to decide if state laws regulating social media networks violate Constitution

Twitter&nbsp;is bringing Fleets, its&nbsp;version of Stories that lets users post ephemeral content to its social network, to India.

Fleets are a new way to start conversations from the user's&nbsp;fleeting thoughts.&nbsp;These self-disappearing tweets will vanish in 24 hours and will not have retweets, likes or public comments.&nbsp;

The feature finally brings Twitter at par with the likes of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and WhatsApp, wherein users will get to post temporary updates on their Twitter profiles, which will last only for 24 hours.&nbsp;

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/twitters-blue-bird-goes-black-to-show-solidarity-with-protestors-in-the-us-302400">Twitter’s blue bird goes black to show solidarity with protestors in the US</a>

Any replies made to Fleets on Twitter will directly appear as replies in Twitter’s direct messages tab, which suggests that Twitter’s DMs may just become a more active place in the near future.

The company says it is still testing the feature, which is also available to users in Brazil and Italy.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Ciao! Today, Fleets are expanding to Italy! 🇮🇹 Fateci sapere cosa ne pensate twittando con l’hashtag <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FleetsFeedback?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FleetsFeedback</a>! 🇮🇹🙏 <a href="https://t.co/y24qQa3mgj">pic.twitter.com/y24qQa3mgj</a>
— Kayvon Beykpour (@kayvz) <a href="https://twitter.com/kayvz/status/1263482526854606854?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 21, 2020</a></blockquote>
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The initiative is a part of the tech giant's constant endeavour to make it possible for people ''to have conversations in new ways with less pressure and more control.''

India, the world’s second-largest internet market, is a key overseas nation for several American technology companies. Twitter had about 55 million active users in India in the month of April, according to mobile insight firm App Annie and shared by an industry executive. In comparison, Facebook has over 350 million monthly active users in India, and Google reaches just as large audience.

This is the first time in several years that Twitter is timely bringing a feature to India — or doing anything noteworthy in this Asian market, where its platform has been scrutinised for not taking swift action on spread of misinformation and abusive messages.

“India is important for Twitter since it is one of our largest and fastest-growing audience markets globally. We are excited to bring the Fleets experiment to India and make it one of the first three countries in the world to experience this new product,” said Manish Maheshwari, Managing Director at Twitter India, in a statement.

“From the test in India, we’ll learn how adding a new mode of conversation changes the way Indians engage on Twitter. It’ll also be interesting to see if it further amplifies the diversity of usage by allowing people to share what they’re thinking in a way that is light-touch and light-hearted,” he added.

Twitter is bringing Fleets, its version of Stories that lets users post ephemeral content to its social network, to India. Fleets are a new way to start conversations from the user's fleeting thoughts.

Twitter is bringing Fleets, its version of Stories that lets users post ephemeral content to its social network, to India. Fleets are a new way to start conversations from the user's fleeting thoughts. These self-disappearing tweets will vanish in 24 hours and will not have retweets, likes or public comments. The feature finally brings Twitter at par with the likes of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and WhatsApp, wherein users will get to post temporary updates on their Twitter profiles, which will last only for 24 hours. Also read: Twitter’s blue bird goes black to show solidarity with protestors in the US Any replies made to Fleets on Twitter will directly appear as replies in Twitter’s direct messages tab, which suggests that Twitter’s DMs may just become a more active place in the near future. The company says it is still testing the feature, which is also available to users in Brazil and Italy. Ciao! Today, Fleets are expanding to Italy! 🇮🇹 Fateci sapere cosa ne pensate twittando con l’hashtag #FleetsFeedback! 🇮🇹🙏 pic.twitter.com/y24qQa3mgj — Kayvon Beykpour (@kayvz) May 21, 2020 × The initiative is a part of the tech giant's constant endeavour to make it possible for people ''to have conversations in new ways with less pressure and more control.'' India, the world’s second-largest internet market, is a key overseas nation for several American technology companies. Twitter had about 55 million active users in India in the month of April, according to mobile insight firm App Annie and shared by an industry executive. In comparison, Facebook has over 350 million monthly active users in India, and Google reaches just as large audience. This is the first time in several years that Twitter is timely bringing a feature to India — or doing anything noteworthy in this Asian market, where its platform has been scrutinised for not taking swift action on spread of misinformation and abusive messages. “India is important for Twitter since it is one of our largest and fastest-growing audience markets globally. We are excited to bring the Fleets experiment to India and make it one of the first three countries in the world to experience this new product,” said Manish Maheshwari, Managing Director at Twitter India, in a statement. “From the test in India, we’ll learn how adding a new mode of conversation changes the way Indians engage on Twitter. It’ll also be interesting to see if it further amplifies the diversity of usage by allowing people to share what they’re thinking in a way that is light-touch and light-hearted,” he added.

Twitter introduces Instagram-like version of stories called 'fleets' in India

Facebook users suing the world's largest social media network over a 2018 data breach say it failed to warn them about risks tied to its single sign-on tool, even though it protected its employees, a court filing on Thursday showed.

Facebook users suing the world's largest social media network over a 2018 data breach say it failed to warn them about risks tied to its single sign-on tool, even though it protected its employees, a court filing on Thursday showed. Single sign-on connects users to third-party social apps and services using their Facebook credentials. The lawsuit, which combined several legal actions, stems from Facebook Inc's worst-ever security breach in September, when hackers stole login codes - or "access tokens" - that allowed them to access nearly 29 million accounts. "Facebook knew about the access token vulnerability and failed to fix it for years, despite that knowledge," the plaintiffs said in a heavily redacted section of the filing in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco. "Even more egregiously, Facebook took steps to protect its own employees from the security risk, but not the vast majority of its users." Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Judge William Alsup told Facebook in January he was willing to allow "bone-crushing discovery" in the case to uncover how much user data was stolen. Facebook has revealed few details since initially disclosing the attack, saying only that it affected a "broad" spectrum of users without breaking down the numbers by country. The attackers took profile details such as birth dates, employers, education history, religious preference, types of devices used, pages followed and recent searches and location check-ins from 14 million users. For the other 15 million users, the breach was restricted to name and contact details. In addition, attackers could see the posts and lists of friends and groups of about 400,000 users. They did not steal personal messages or financial data and did not access users' accounts on other websites, Facebook said.

Facebook failed to warn users of known risks before 2018 breach: court filing

Facebook Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg started the second day of testimony on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, facing more questions from lawmakers about data privacy at the world`s largest social media network.

The 33-year-old internet magnate, once again wearing a dark suit instead of his usual grey T-shirt, appeared before the US&nbspHouse of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee, a day after he took questions for nearly five hours in a US&nbspSenate hearing.&nbsp

He navigated through the first hearing on Tuesday without making any further promises to support new legislation or change how the social network does business, foiling attempts by senators to pin him down.&nbsp

Investors were impressed with his initial performance. Shares in Facebook posted their biggest daily gain in nearly two years on Tuesday, closing up 4.5 percent. They were down slightly in early trading on Wednesday.&nbsp

Facebook has been consumed by turmoil for nearly a month, since it came to light that millions of users` personal information was wrongly harvested from the website by Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy that has counted US&nbspPresident

Donald Trump`s election campaign among its clients. The latest estimate of affected users is up to 87 million.&nbsp

Patience with the social network had already worn thin among users, advertisers and investors after the company said last year that Russia used Facebook for years to try to sway U.S. politics, an allegation Moscow denies.&nbsp

Lawmakers have sought assurances that Facebook can effectively police itself, and few came away from Tuesday`s hearing expressing confidence in the social network.&nbsp

"I don`t want to vote to have to regulate Facebook, but by God, I will," Republican Senator John Kennedy told Zuckerberg on Tuesday. "A lot of that depends on you."&nbsp

Zuckerberg deflected requests to support specific legislation. Pressed repeatedly by Democratic Senator Ed Markey to endorse a proposed law that would require companies to get people`s permission before sharing personal information, Zuckerberg agreed to further talks.&nbsp

"In principle, I think that that makes sense, and the details matter and I look forward to having our team work with you on fleshing that out," Zuckerberg said.&nbsp

The 33-year-old internet magnate, once again wearing a dark suit instead of his usual grey T-shirt, appeared before the U.S

Facebook Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg started the second day of testimony on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, facing more questions from lawmakers about data privacy at the world`s largest social media network. The 33-year-old internet magnate, once again wearing a dark suit instead of his usual grey T-shirt, appeared before the US&nbspHouse of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee, a day after he took questions for nearly five hours in a US&nbspSenate hearing. He navigated through the first hearing on Tuesday without making any further promises to support new legislation or change how the social network does business, foiling attempts by senators to pin him down. Investors were impressed with his initial performance. Shares in Facebook posted their biggest daily gain in nearly two years on Tuesday, closing up 4.5 percent. They were down slightly in early trading on Wednesday. Facebook has been consumed by turmoil for nearly a month, since it came to light that millions of users` personal information was wrongly harvested from the website by Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy that has counted US&nbspPresident Donald Trump`s election campaign among its clients. The latest estimate of affected users is up to 87 million. Patience with the social network had already worn thin among users, advertisers and investors after the company said last year that Russia used Facebook for years to try to sway U.S. politics, an allegation Moscow denies. Lawmakers have sought assurances that Facebook can effectively police itself, and few came away from Tuesday`s hearing expressing confidence in the social network. "I don`t want to vote to have to regulate Facebook, but by God, I will," Republican Senator John Kennedy told Zuckerberg on Tuesday. "A lot of that depends on you." Zuckerberg deflected requests to support specific legislation. Pressed repeatedly by Democratic Senator Ed Markey to endorse a proposed law that would require companies to get people`s permission before sharing personal information, Zuckerberg agreed to further talks. "In principle, I think that that makes sense, and the details matter and I look forward to having our team work with you on fleshing that out," Zuckerberg said.

Facebook CEO starts second day of US congressional hearings

Facebook Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg apologised on Wednesday for mistakes his company made in how it handled data belonging to 50 million of its users and promised tougher steps to restrict developers&#39; access to such information.

The world&#39;s largest social media network is facing growing government scrutiny in Europe and the United States about a whistleblower&#39;s allegations that London-based political consultancy Cambridge Analytica improperly accessed user information to build profiles on American voters that were later used to help elect US&nbsp;President Donald Trump in 2016.

&quot;This was a major breach of trust. I&#39;m really sorry this happened. We have a basic responsibility to protect people&#39;s data,&quot; Zuckerberg said in an interview with CNN, breaking a public silence since the scandal erupted at the weekend.

Zuckerberg said in a post on Facebook the company &quot;made mistakes, there&#39;s more to do, and we need to step up and do it.&quot;&nbsp;

He said the social network planned to conduct an investigation of thousands of apps that have used Facebook&#39;s platform, restrict developer access to data, and give members a tool that lets them to disable access to their Facebook data more easily.

His plans did not represent a big reduction of advertisers&#39; ability to use Facebook data, which is the company&#39;s lifeblood.

Zuckerberg said he was open to additional government regulation and happy to testify before the U.S. Congress if he was the right person.

&quot;I&#39;m not sure we shouldn&#39;t be regulated,&quot; he told CNN. &quot;I actually think the question is more what is the right regulation rather than yes or no, should it be regulated? ... People should know who is buying the ads that they see on Facebook.&quot;

Zuckerberg said Facebook was committed to stopping interference in the U.S. midterm election in November and elections in India and Brazil.

INVESTOR FEARS

Facebook shares pared gains on Wednesday after Zuckerberg&#39;s post, closing up 0.7 percent. The company has lost more than $45 billion of its stock market value over the past three days on investor fears that any failure by big tech firms to protect personal data could deter advertisers and users and invite tougher regulation.

Zuckerberg told the New York Times in an interview published on Wednesday he had not seen a &quot;meaningful number of people&quot; deleting their accounts over the scandal.

Facebook representatives, including Deputy Chief Privacy Officer Rob Sherman, met US&nbsp;congressional staff for nearly two hours on Wednesday and planned to continue meetings on Capitol Hill on Thursday. Facebook was unable to answer many questions, two aides who attended the briefing said.

Zuckerberg told the website Recode that fixes to protect users&#39; data would cost &quot;many millions of dollars.&quot;&nbsp;

The whistleblower who launched the scandal, Christopher Wylie, formerly of Cambridge Analytica, said on Twitter he had accepted invitations to testify before U.S. and UK lawmakers.

The German government said Facebook must explain whether the personal data of the country&#39;s 30 million users were protected from unlawful use by third parties, according to a report in the Funke group of German regional newspapers.

&#39;SCAPEGOAT&#39;

On Tuesday, the board of Cambridge Analytica suspended its Chief Executive Alexander Nix, who was caught in a secret recording boasting that his company played a decisive role in Trump&#39;s victory.

However, the academic who provided the data disputed that on Wednesday.

&quot;I think what Cambridge Analytica has tried to sell is magic, and they&#39;ve made claims that this is incredibly accurate and it tells you everything there is to tell you. But I think the reality is it&#39;s not that,&quot; psychologist Aleksandr Kogan, an academic at Cambridge University, told the BBC in an interview.

Kogan, who gathered the data by running a survey app on Facebook, also said he was being made a scapegoat by Facebook and Cambridge Analytica. Both companies have blamed Kogan for alleged data misuse.

Only 300,000 Facebook users responded to Kogan&#39;s quiz, but that gave the researcher access to those people&#39;s Facebook friends as well, who had not agreed to share information, producing details on 50 million users.

Facebook has said it subsequently made changes that prevent people from sharing data about friends and maintains that no breach occurred because the original users gave permission. Critics say that it essentially was a breach because data of unsuspecting friends were taken.

Analysts have raised concerns that the incident will reduce user engagement with Facebook, potentially lessening its clout with advertisers. Three Wall Street brokerages cut their price targets.

&quot;Investors now have to consider whether or not the company will conclude that it has grown in a manner that has proven to be untenable,&quot; said Pivotal Research Group analyst Brian Wieser.

The company has risen more than 550 percent in value in the past five years.

Zuckerberg, in his first public comments since the scandal erupted at the weekend, said in a post on Facebook that the company 'made mistakes, there's more to do, and we need to step up and do it'

Facebook Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg apologised on Wednesday for mistakes his company made in how it handled data belonging to 50 million of its users and promised tougher steps to restrict developers' access to such information. The world's largest social media network is facing growing government scrutiny in Europe and the United States about a whistleblower's allegations that London-based political consultancy Cambridge Analytica improperly accessed user information to build profiles on American voters that were later used to help elect US President Donald Trump in 2016. "This was a major breach of trust. I'm really sorry this happened. We have a basic responsibility to protect people's data," Zuckerberg said in an interview with CNN, breaking a public silence since the scandal erupted at the weekend. Zuckerberg said in a post on Facebook the company "made mistakes, there's more to do, and we need to step up and do it." He said the social network planned to conduct an investigation of thousands of apps that have used Facebook's platform, restrict developer access to data, and give members a tool that lets them to disable access to their Facebook data more easily. His plans did not represent a big reduction of advertisers' ability to use Facebook data, which is the company's lifeblood. Zuckerberg said he was open to additional government regulation and happy to testify before the U.S. Congress if he was the right person. "I'm not sure we shouldn't be regulated," he told CNN. "I actually think the question is more what is the right regulation rather than yes or no, should it be regulated? ... People should know who is buying the ads that they see on Facebook." Zuckerberg said Facebook was committed to stopping interference in the U.S. midterm election in November and elections in India and Brazil. INVESTOR FEARS Facebook shares pared gains on Wednesday after Zuckerberg's post, closing up 0.7 percent. The company has lost more than $45 billion of its stock market value over the past three days on investor fears that any failure by big tech firms to protect personal data could deter advertisers and users and invite tougher regulation. Zuckerberg told the New York Times in an interview published on Wednesday he had not seen a "meaningful number of people" deleting their accounts over the scandal. Facebook representatives, including Deputy Chief Privacy Officer Rob Sherman, met US congressional staff for nearly two hours on Wednesday and planned to continue meetings on Capitol Hill on Thursday. Facebook was unable to answer many questions, two aides who attended the briefing said. Zuckerberg told the website Recode that fixes to protect users' data would cost "many millions of dollars." The whistleblower who launched the scandal, Christopher Wylie, formerly of Cambridge Analytica, said on Twitter he had accepted invitations to testify before U.S. and UK lawmakers. The German government said Facebook must explain whether the personal data of the country's 30 million users were protected from unlawful use by third parties, according to a report in the Funke group of German regional newspapers. 'SCAPEGOAT' On Tuesday, the board of Cambridge Analytica suspended its Chief Executive Alexander Nix, who was caught in a secret recording boasting that his company played a decisive role in Trump's victory. However, the academic who provided the data disputed that on Wednesday. "I think what Cambridge Analytica has tried to sell is magic, and they've made claims that this is incredibly accurate and it tells you everything there is to tell you. But I think the reality is it's not that," psychologist Aleksandr Kogan, an academic at Cambridge University, told the BBC in an interview. Kogan, who gathered the data by running a survey app on Facebook, also said he was being made a scapegoat by Facebook and Cambridge Analytica. Both companies have blamed Kogan for alleged data misuse. Only 300,000 Facebook users responded to Kogan's quiz, but that gave the researcher access to those people's Facebook friends as well, who had not agreed to share information, producing details on 50 million users. Facebook has said it subsequently made changes that prevent people from sharing data about friends and maintains that no breach occurred because the original users gave permission. Critics say that it essentially was a breach because data of unsuspecting friends were taken. Analysts have raised concerns that the incident will reduce user engagement with Facebook, potentially lessening its clout with advertisers. Three Wall Street brokerages cut their price targets. "Investors now have to consider whether or not the company will conclude that it has grown in a manner that has proven to be untenable," said Pivotal Research Group analyst Brian Wieser. The company has risen more than 550 percent in value in the past five years.

Mark Zuckerberg apologises for Facebook mistakes with user data, vows curbs