<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/new-zealand-mosque-shootings-kill-49-in-what-pm-calls-terrorist-attack-203560">New Zealand mosque shootings kill 49 in what PM calls 'terrorist attack'</a>

At least one gunman killed 49 people and wounded more than 40 during Friday prayers at two New Zealand mosques in the country's worst ever mass shooting, which Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern condemned as terrorism.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/islamic-world-reacts-with-disgust-at-new-zealand-mosque-attacks-203532">Islamic world reacts with disgust at New Zealand mosque attacks</a>

Political and Islamic leaders expressed their disgust at the deadly shooting at two mosques in New Zealand on Friday, with some citing rising "Islamophobia" as being responsible.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/france-freezes-jem-chief-masood-azhars-assets-will-also-take-up-his-listing-with-eu-203478">France freezes JeM chief Masood Azhar's assets, will also take up his listing with EU</a>

France has decided to freeze the assets of Masood Azhar, chief of the terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed which claimed the responsibility for the Pulwama terror attack that killed more than 40 CRPF personnel on February 14.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/social-media-platforms-say-they-are-taking-measures-to-remove-nz-shooting-content-203539">Social media platforms say they are removing New Zealand shooting content</a>

Social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter said on Friday they are taking measures to take down content involving mass shootings at two New Zealand mosques that killed at least 49 people and wounded more than 20 others.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/india-had-global-support-says-sushma-swaraj-on-masood-azhar-listing-203563">India had global support, says Sushma Swaraj on Masood Azhar listing&nbsp;</a>

A day after China blocked the listing of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar under United Nations terror list and opposition Congress lashed out at Centre, India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday in series of tweets claimed India got support from the global community for the move.

New Zealand mosque shootings kill 49 in what PM calls 'terrorist attack' At least one gunman killed 49 people and wounded more than 40 during Friday prayers at two New Zealand mosques in the country's worst ever mass shooting, which Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern condemned as terrorism.

New Zealand mosque shootings kill 49 in what PM calls 'terrorist attack' At least one gunman killed 49 people and wounded more than 40 during Friday prayers at two New Zealand mosques in the country's worst ever mass shooting, which Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern condemned as terrorism. Islamic world reacts with disgust at New Zealand mosque attacks Political and Islamic leaders expressed their disgust at the deadly shooting at two mosques in New Zealand on Friday, with some citing rising "Islamophobia" as being responsible. France freezes JeM chief Masood Azhar's assets, will also take up his listing with EU France has decided to freeze the assets of Masood Azhar, chief of the terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed which claimed the responsibility for the Pulwama terror attack that killed more than 40 CRPF personnel on February 14. Social media platforms say they are removing New Zealand shooting content Social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter said on Friday they are taking measures to take down content involving mass shootings at two New Zealand mosques that killed at least 49 people and wounded more than 20 others. India had global support, says Sushma Swaraj on Masood Azhar listing A day after China blocked the listing of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar under United Nations terror list and opposition Congress lashed out at Centre, India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday in series of tweets claimed India got support from the global community for the move.

News brief: Big stories of the day

2019 Lok Sabha polls: Social media dos and don'ts for parties, candidates

In a bid to make smooth voting at polling booths and strengthen the polling process of every constituency the <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/2019-lok-sabha-elections-check-when-your-state-ut-goes-to-the-polls-202410">election commission</a> has introduced a few new rules and regulations for the first time in upcoming <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/lok-sabha-polls-to-stretch-out-for-over-a-month-from-april-11-to-may-19-results-on-may-23-202404">Lok Sabha elections 2019.</a>

Some of these initiatives have already been used in past Assembly elections in different states but this is is the first time they are being used in Lok Sabha Elections.

Here's a look at the new facilities and rules introduced for Lok Sabha elections 2019:

cVigil Election Commission App to stop violations of model code

By using this app, citizens can immediately report on incidents of misconduct within minutes of having witnessed them and without having to rush to the office of the returning officer to lodge a complaint.

Close watch on political parties’ social media content

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora has said that the EC will watch out for any content aimed at destroying the electoral process.&nbsp;

Social media giants like- Facebook, Twitter and Google have said that they will work with the Election Commission in tandem to curb any sort of hate speech or misuse of content related to polling.

The EC has also asked Google, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to verify all the political advertisements coming from various political parties. The CEC also informed that a grievance officer has also been appointed to take complaints related to these advertisements on all social media platforms.

Candidate photo on EVMs

For the first time, the poll panel will introduce candidates’ photos on the voting machines, in addition to the party name and symbol. &nbsp;&nbsp;

All EVMs to have photo ballot labels, apart from symbol and candidate name in Braille. 
&nbsp; 
VVPAT machines at all polling stations

Voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) is a machine which dispenses a slip with the symbol of the party for which a person has voted for. The slip appears on a small window for seven seconds and then drops in a box. But the voter cannot take it home.''

Photo voter slip won't be used as standalone ID for voting

The Election Commission has said that a photo voter slip shall no longer be used as a standalone identification document during elections, and a voter will have to carry any of the twelve approved identity cards to the polling station. &nbsp;

The 12 documents accepted for identification include -- Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC), passport, Aadhar card, driving licence, service identity cards with photographs issued to employees by central/state government, PSUs, public limited companies, passbooks issued by bank or post office, PAN card and smart card issued by the Registrar General of India under National Populations Register. &nbsp;

Income tax returns for five years, declaration of foreign assets, PAN mandatory for candidates

The government has made it mandatory for candidates to declare their income tax returns of the last five years, details of foreign assets and Permanent Account Number (PAN).&nbsp;

All women- managed polling stations in every constituency

To ensure more participation of women in the electoral process, the Election Commission has made special arrangements in the form of "all women managed polling stations" in all constituencies of the country.

The entire polling staff, including the police and security personnel, in such centres, shall be women.

Braille voter slips and photo ballot labels

Visually impaired and blind voters will be provided with braille voter slips in the Lok Sabha elections due this summer.

Braille is a script with raised dots that can be read with the fingers by people who are blind or who have low vision.

GPS tracking of voting machines

The poll panel has decided to fit GPS devices to the vehicles carrying them, facilitating end-to-end monitoring of their movement through mobile tracking.

Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System

Electronically transmitted postal ballots (ETPBS) system would be used for the first time to facilitate hassle-free voting.

Criminal antecedents of candidates in media

The Supreme Court on September 25, 2018, held that all candidates will have to declare their criminal antecedents to the Election Commission before contesting an election, saying criminalisation of politics in the largest democracy is "unsettling".

(With inputs from agencies)

In a bid to make smooth voting at polling booths and strengthen the polling process of every constituency the election commission has introduced a few new rules and regulations for the first time in upcoming Lok Sabha elections 2019.

In a bid to make smooth voting at polling booths and strengthen the polling process of every constituency the election commission has introduced a few new rules and regulations for the first time in upcoming Lok Sabha elections 2019. Some of these initiatives have already been used in past Assembly elections in different states but this is is the first time they are being used in Lok Sabha Elections. Here's a look at the new facilities and rules introduced for Lok Sabha elections 2019: cVigil Election Commission App to stop violations of model code By using this app, citizens can immediately report on incidents of misconduct within minutes of having witnessed them and without having to rush to the office of the returning officer to lodge a complaint. Close watch on political parties’ social media content Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora has said that the EC will watch out for any content aimed at destroying the electoral process. Social media giants like- Facebook, Twitter and Google have said that they will work with the Election Commission in tandem to curb any sort of hate speech or misuse of content related to polling. The EC has also asked Google, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to verify all the political advertisements coming from various political parties. The CEC also informed that a grievance officer has also been appointed to take complaints related to these advertisements on all social media platforms. Candidate photo on EVMs For the first time, the poll panel will introduce candidates’ photos on the voting machines, in addition to the party name and symbol. All EVMs to have photo ballot labels, apart from symbol and candidate name in Braille. VVPAT machines at all polling stations Voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) is a machine which dispenses a slip with the symbol of the party for which a person has voted for. The slip appears on a small window for seven seconds and then drops in a box. But the voter cannot take it home.'' Photo voter slip won't be used as standalone ID for voting The Election Commission has said that a photo voter slip shall no longer be used as a standalone identification document during elections, and a voter will have to carry any of the twelve approved identity cards to the polling station. The 12 documents accepted for identification include -- Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC), passport, Aadhar card, driving licence, service identity cards with photographs issued to employees by central/state government, PSUs, public limited companies, passbooks issued by bank or post office, PAN card and smart card issued by the Registrar General of India under National Populations Register. Income tax returns for five years, declaration of foreign assets, PAN mandatory for candidates The government has made it mandatory for candidates to declare their income tax returns of the last five years, details of foreign assets and Permanent Account Number (PAN). All women- managed polling stations in every constituency To ensure more participation of women in the electoral process, the Election Commission has made special arrangements in the form of "all women managed polling stations" in all constituencies of the country. The entire polling staff, including the police and security personnel, in such centres, shall be women. Braille voter slips and photo ballot labels Visually impaired and blind voters will be provided with braille voter slips in the Lok Sabha elections due this summer. Braille is a script with raised dots that can be read with the fingers by people who are blind or who have low vision. GPS tracking of voting machines The poll panel has decided to fit GPS devices to the vehicles carrying them, facilitating end-to-end monitoring of their movement through mobile tracking. Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System Electronically transmitted postal ballots (ETPBS) system would be used for the first time to facilitate hassle-free voting. Criminal antecedents of candidates in media The Supreme Court on September 25, 2018, held that all candidates will have to declare their criminal antecedents to the Election Commission before contesting an election, saying criminalisation of politics in the largest democracy is "unsettling". (With inputs from agencies)

Lok Sabha elections 2019: From social media monitoring to GPS tracking of EVMs, things Election Commission introduced for the first time

Social media firms and foreign investors must do more to ensure they support human rights in Myanmar, UN Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee said on Tuesday, suggesting Facebook was failing to treat parties to the country's conflict even-handedly.

Myanmar has been trying to attract foreign investors and divert attention from 730,000 Rohingya Muslims who have fled the country since 2017. A UN inquiry blamed the exodus on a military campaign with "genocidal intent", which the government denies.

Facebook said this month it had banned four insurgent groups fighting Myanmar's military after it was criticised for not doing enough to block content fuelling the conflict. Lee said she was concerned that Facebook had not banned Myanmar's army and allied armed groups as well.

"Contrary to achieving the stated aim of decreasing tensions, this selective banning may contribute to feelings of inequality by ethnic minorities," Lee said in a report she will present to the UN Human Rights Council on March 11.

"Public institutions linked to the military, its supporters, extremist religious groups and members of the government continue to proliferate hate speech and misinformation on Facebook."

Investigations

The company said it had taken steps to ban "hate figures, hate organisations and military officials" from Facebook in Myanmar. Its investigations were ongoing and not limited to the four groups it had blacklisted.

"We don't want anyone to use Facebook to incite or promote violence, no matter who they are," it said in a statement.

Lee's report did not detail the steps taken by other social media firms. But it aims to ensure platforms "including Facebook and Twitter" respect human rights and do due diligence to "fully understand the Myanmar context and act responsibly".

Twitter, which prohibits account holders from expressing hate or making threats of violence towards a person or group, declined to comment specifically on Myanmar.

Myanmar denies allegations of mass killings and rape and says its military offensive was a legitimate response to an insurgent threat and that it is welcoming the refugees back.

The government has refused to let Lee in and rejected a request to visit in January, saying her reports invariably lacked impartiality.

Last week Kyaw Tin, Myanmar's Minister for International Cooperation, told the council human rights must be understood in historical and cultural contexts and regretted the world's focus on Rakhine State, from where the Rohingya fled.

Lee's report also examined Myanmar's mining industry.

"Unchecked extraction" of resources brought militarisation and associated abuses such as rape and forced labour, it said.

Fresh sanctions should be considered on two military-run conglomerates, the Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (UMEHL) and Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), Lee said.

Social media firms and foreign investors must do more to ensure they support human rights in Myanmar, UN Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee said on Tuesday, suggesting Facebook was failing to treat parties to the country's conflict even-handedly.

Social media firms and foreign investors must do more to ensure they support human rights in Myanmar, UN Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee said on Tuesday, suggesting Facebook was failing to treat parties to the country's conflict even-handedly. Myanmar has been trying to attract foreign investors and divert attention from 730,000 Rohingya Muslims who have fled the country since 2017. A UN inquiry blamed the exodus on a military campaign with "genocidal intent", which the government denies. Facebook said this month it had banned four insurgent groups fighting Myanmar's military after it was criticised for not doing enough to block content fuelling the conflict. Lee said she was concerned that Facebook had not banned Myanmar's army and allied armed groups as well. "Contrary to achieving the stated aim of decreasing tensions, this selective banning may contribute to feelings of inequality by ethnic minorities," Lee said in a report she will present to the UN Human Rights Council on March 11. "Public institutions linked to the military, its supporters, extremist religious groups and members of the government continue to proliferate hate speech and misinformation on Facebook." Investigations The company said it had taken steps to ban "hate figures, hate organisations and military officials" from Facebook in Myanmar. Its investigations were ongoing and not limited to the four groups it had blacklisted. "We don't want anyone to use Facebook to incite or promote violence, no matter who they are," it said in a statement. Lee's report did not detail the steps taken by other social media firms. But it aims to ensure platforms "including Facebook and Twitter" respect human rights and do due diligence to "fully understand the Myanmar context and act responsibly". Twitter, which prohibits account holders from expressing hate or making threats of violence towards a person or group, declined to comment specifically on Myanmar. Myanmar denies allegations of mass killings and rape and says its military offensive was a legitimate response to an insurgent threat and that it is welcoming the refugees back. The government has refused to let Lee in and rejected a request to visit in January, saying her reports invariably lacked impartiality. Last week Kyaw Tin, Myanmar's Minister for International Cooperation, told the council human rights must be understood in historical and cultural contexts and regretted the world's focus on Rakhine State, from where the Rohingya fled. Lee's report also examined Myanmar's mining industry. "Unchecked extraction" of resources brought militarisation and associated abuses such as rape and forced labour, it said. Fresh sanctions should be considered on two military-run conglomerates, the Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (UMEHL) and Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), Lee said.

United Nations urges social media, investors to promote human rights in Myanmar

Facebook has banned political advertisements from outside Indonesia ahead of the country's presidential poll, just weeks after being heavily criticised by the European Union for not doing enough to counter election meddling.

The world's biggest social network said it was temporarily restricting any paid material from advertisers based outside the Southeast Asian nation that related to politicians, parties or attempts to encourage voter suppression.

"We want to make it harder to interfere with elections on the platform, and easier for people to make their voices legitimately heard in the political process," Facebook said in a statement, adding the new policy will be effective Tuesday.

EU officials blasted the company earlier this year for not doing enough to scrutinise advertising on its site in the run-up to European Union elections in May.

In response, the company unveiled new tools and rules that would require a wide range of political ads linked to the elections to be specifically authorised and tagged with a clear "paid for by" disclaimer.

The US firm first began looking into its influence on elections after revelations of Russian influence campaigns during the 2016 US election.

But the social media giant has been accused of being too slow to act by some leaders.

Facebook said it would use a combination of automated and human intervention to remove offending ads relating to Indonesia.

Indonesia is battling its own wave of online hate speech, as conservative groups exploit social media to spread lies and target minorities.

Authorities are worried inflammatory material posted online could crack open social and religious fault lines in the world's largest Muslim-majority country ahead of presidential elections in April.

Facebook said in February it removed hundreds of accounts and pages linked to Indonesian cyber group Saracen that has been accused of spreading hate speech and fake news.

Facebook has a fact-checking partnership with AFP in multiple countries.

Facebook has banned political advertisements from outside Indonesia ahead of the country's presidential poll, just weeks after being heavily criticised by the European Union for not doing enough to counter election meddling.

Facebook has banned political advertisements from outside Indonesia ahead of the country's presidential poll, just weeks after being heavily criticised by the European Union for not doing enough to counter election meddling. The world's biggest social network said it was temporarily restricting any paid material from advertisers based outside the Southeast Asian nation that related to politicians, parties or attempts to encourage voter suppression. "We want to make it harder to interfere with elections on the platform, and easier for people to make their voices legitimately heard in the political process," Facebook said in a statement, adding the new policy will be effective Tuesday. EU officials blasted the company earlier this year for not doing enough to scrutinise advertising on its site in the run-up to European Union elections in May. In response, the company unveiled new tools and rules that would require a wide range of political ads linked to the elections to be specifically authorised and tagged with a clear "paid for by" disclaimer. The US firm first began looking into its influence on elections after revelations of Russian influence campaigns during the 2016 US election. But the social media giant has been accused of being too slow to act by some leaders. Facebook said it would use a combination of automated and human intervention to remove offending ads relating to Indonesia. Indonesia is battling its own wave of online hate speech, as conservative groups exploit social media to spread lies and target minorities. Authorities are worried inflammatory material posted online could crack open social and religious fault lines in the world's largest Muslim-majority country ahead of presidential elections in April. Facebook said in February it removed hundreds of accounts and pages linked to Indonesian cyber group Saracen that has been accused of spreading hate speech and fake news. Facebook has a fact-checking partnership with AFP in multiple countries.

Facebook to restrict foreign political advertising ahead of Indonesia poll

200 new Emojis to be released in 2019

Pakistani intelligence agencies are using fake Facebook profiles with names of Indian women in an attempt to honey trap Indian defence forces'&nbsp;personnel, prompting authorities here to send out an alert.

The alert was sent out after one such Facebook profile was detected, from which friend requests are being sent.

"After inputs were received from our personnel about a Facebook profile (Facebook ID name deliberately withheld) using the name of an Indian woman and sending friend requests to military personnel, a thorough check was carried out and found that it was confirmed Pakistani Intelligence Operative and the profile was also created there only," defence intelligence sources told ANI.

"After this, a warning has been issued to defence forces'&nbsp;personnel to be alert about this profile to avoid falling in their trap," they said.

In the recent past, there have several cases where intelligence operatives using fake social media profiles honey-trapped Army personnel and passed on sensitive secret information to them.

Recently, an Army jawan was arrested after he was found to be in touch with a suspected ISI spy using the profile name of 'Anika Chopra'&nbsp;on Facebook and were chatting regularly on the social media and exchanging details and information about the jawam's armoured unit and its movement.

The Army is now tracking multiple accounts of officers and jawans to probe if the Pakistani spy account was in touch with other personnel also to get information from them, the sources said.

A Group Captain of the Indian Air Force was apprehended by the counter-intelligence units of the Army, Air Force and the Intelligence Bureau for sharing information about transport aircraft operations as he was posted in the Air Headquarters here.

A BrahMos employee was also caught where the Pakistani spy had used the same modus-operandi to trap the official.

Sources in the defence intelligence agencies say that there are several Facebook profiles which have been identified and have been deactivated by the operators but a large number of new profiles are created by the enemy intelligence operatives to extract information from Indian personnel.

The three services also keep issuing advisories to their personnel against posting any military-related pictures on their social media profiles to avoid attracting attention of such spies and those found violating the norms also get punished.

Recently, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat had also warned his personnel against falling in the social media trap of the enemy.

"Soldiers have been told not to accept social media friend requests with names of film stars. These could be honey traps. We are taking this very seriously and cannot allow security to be compromised through social media. For those (soldiers) who are not reporting the matter, the punishment is heavy," he had stated.&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

Pakistani intelligence agencies are using fake Facebook profiles with names of Indian women in an attempt to honey trap Indian defence forces' personnel, prompting authorities here to send out an alert.

Pakistani intelligence agencies are using fake Facebook profiles with names of Indian women in an attempt to honey trap Indian defence forces' personnel, prompting authorities here to send out an alert. The alert was sent out after one such Facebook profile was detected, from which friend requests are being sent. "After inputs were received from our personnel about a Facebook profile (Facebook ID name deliberately withheld) using the name of an Indian woman and sending friend requests to military personnel, a thorough check was carried out and found that it was confirmed Pakistani Intelligence Operative and the profile was also created there only," defence intelligence sources told ANI. "After this, a warning has been issued to defence forces' personnel to be alert about this profile to avoid falling in their trap," they said. In the recent past, there have several cases where intelligence operatives using fake social media profiles honey-trapped Army personnel and passed on sensitive secret information to them. Recently, an Army jawan was arrested after he was found to be in touch with a suspected ISI spy using the profile name of 'Anika Chopra' on Facebook and were chatting regularly on the social media and exchanging details and information about the jawam's armoured unit and its movement. The Army is now tracking multiple accounts of officers and jawans to probe if the Pakistani spy account was in touch with other personnel also to get information from them, the sources said. A Group Captain of the Indian Air Force was apprehended by the counter-intelligence units of the Army, Air Force and the Intelligence Bureau for sharing information about transport aircraft operations as he was posted in the Air Headquarters here. A BrahMos employee was also caught where the Pakistani spy had used the same modus-operandi to trap the official. Sources in the defence intelligence agencies say that there are several Facebook profiles which have been identified and have been deactivated by the operators but a large number of new profiles are created by the enemy intelligence operatives to extract information from Indian personnel. The three services also keep issuing advisories to their personnel against posting any military-related pictures on their social media profiles to avoid attracting attention of such spies and those found violating the norms also get punished. Recently, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat had also warned his personnel against falling in the social media trap of the enemy. "Soldiers have been told not to accept social media friend requests with names of film stars. These could be honey traps. We are taking this very seriously and cannot allow security to be compromised through social media. For those (soldiers) who are not reporting the matter, the punishment is heavy," he had stated.

Defence personnel alerted against Pak spy on Facebook

An Indian parliamentary panel has summoned representatives of Facebook Inc, its messaging services WhatsApp and photo-sharing app Instagram to appear before it early next month and discuss how to safeguard citizens' rights on social media.

Social media in the world's largest democracy have become a hotbed for circulation of fake political news and tech firms face intense scrutiny ahead of a general election due before May, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will seek a second term.

In a circular late on Thursday, the parliamentary committee on information technology, chaired by Anurag Thakur, said it would hear the views of officials from Facebook and its units on March 6.

The subject would be "safeguarding citizens' rights on social or online news media platforms," it added.

It was not immediately clear whether the panel had asked Indian or global executives of the three firms to appear.

Facebook declined to comment, while WhatsApp and Instagram did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The panel has previously summoned social network Twitter Inc's Chief Executive Jack Dorsey to appear on Monday to discuss the same topic.

"These are issues for all Internet services globally," Twitter said on Friday, adding that Colin Crowell, its global vice president of public policy, is to meet the panel on Monday.

Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter have overhauled policies to boost transparency ahead of the general election and rein in misinformation.

Alphabet Inc's Google this week launched a programme to train journalists in areas such as online verification and fact checking before the polls. 
&nbsp;

An Indian parliamentary panel has summoned representatives of Facebook Inc, its messaging services WhatsApp and photo-sharing app Instagram to appear before it early next month and discuss how to safeguard citizens' rights on social media.

An Indian parliamentary panel has summoned representatives of Facebook Inc, its messaging services WhatsApp and photo-sharing app Instagram to appear before it early next month and discuss how to safeguard citizens' rights on social media. Social media in the world's largest democracy have become a hotbed for circulation of fake political news and tech firms face intense scrutiny ahead of a general election due before May, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will seek a second term. In a circular late on Thursday, the parliamentary committee on information technology, chaired by Anurag Thakur, said it would hear the views of officials from Facebook and its units on March 6. The subject would be "safeguarding citizens' rights on social or online news media platforms," it added. It was not immediately clear whether the panel had asked Indian or global executives of the three firms to appear. Facebook declined to comment, while WhatsApp and Instagram did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The panel has previously summoned social network Twitter Inc's Chief Executive Jack Dorsey to appear on Monday to discuss the same topic. "These are issues for all Internet services globally," Twitter said on Friday, adding that Colin Crowell, its global vice president of public policy, is to meet the panel on Monday. Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter have overhauled policies to boost transparency ahead of the general election and rein in misinformation. Alphabet Inc's Google this week launched a programme to train journalists in areas such as online verification and fact checking before the polls.

Indian lawmakers summon Facebook officials over citizens' rights protection

People can now file a complaint with the Department of Telecom (DoT) against offensive messages received on WhatsApp, an official said Friday.

The victim just needs to furnish a screenshot of the message along with the mobile number and e-mail it to ccaddn-dot@nic.In.

"If anyone is receiving abusive/offensive/death threats/vulgar whatsapp messages, please send screen shots of the message along with the mobile numbers at ccaddn-dot@nic.in

"We will take it up with the telecom operators and police heads for necessary action," DoT Controller Communications Ashish Joshi tweeted.

The move comes following many public figures, including journalists, complaining of receiving abusive and threatening messages.

The DoT, in an order on February 19, had said that licence conditions bar carriage of objectionable, obscene or unauthorised content in any form on the network.

The order directed all telecom service providers to take immediate action against their customers for sending such messages as it is also a violation of customer declaration in the customer application form.

People can now file a complaint with the Department of Telecom (DoT) against offensive messages received on WhatsApp, an official said Friday. The victim just needs to furnish a screenshot of the message along with the mobile number and e-mail it to ccaddn-dot@nic.

People can now file a complaint with the Department of Telecom (DoT) against offensive messages received on WhatsApp, an official said Friday. The victim just needs to furnish a screenshot of the message along with the mobile number and e-mail it to ccaddn-dot@nic.In. "If anyone is receiving abusive/offensive/death threats/vulgar whatsapp messages, please send screen shots of the message along with the mobile numbers at ccaddn-dot@nic.in "We will take it up with the telecom operators and police heads for necessary action," DoT Controller Communications Ashish Joshi tweeted. The move comes following many public figures, including journalists, complaining of receiving abusive and threatening messages. The DoT, in an order on February 19, had said that licence conditions bar carriage of objectionable, obscene or unauthorised content in any form on the network. The order directed all telecom service providers to take immediate action against their customers for sending such messages as it is also a violation of customer declaration in the customer application form.

Now, register complaint with DoT against offensive WhatsApp messages

Twitter on Tuesday rolled out tools in Europe which will make it easier for voters to identify political campaign ads tied to crucial European Parliament elections in May amidst fears of Russian disinformation campaigns and threats of regulatory action.

Social networks such as Twitter and Facebook have come under pressure to do more to combat fake news and the spread of extremism and propaganda online. The European Union is concerned about Russia's role. Russia has repeatedly denied any such actions.

Twitter said its political campaigning ads policy, introduced during the US&nbsp;midterm elections, will also be launched in India and Australia, both of which are also heading to the polls.

In essence, it means that anyone can view ads put on Twitter endorsing a party or a candidate on its Ads Transparency Center, with details on billing information, ad spending and demographic targeting data. The ads will be available indefinitely.

A visual label and disclaimer information on promoted content will allow users to identify political campaign ads and who paid for them.

"Our political campaigning ads policy is being expanded to cover #EUElections2019, providing the general public with an additional layer of insight into who is running a political campaign ad on Twitter," the company said in a blog post.

It said candidates or organisations will have to go through a certification process with proof of identity before they can run political campaigning ads on its site. This policy will kick off on March 11.

Twitter on Tuesday rolled out tools in Europe which will make it easier for voters to identify political campaign ads tied to crucial European Parliament elections in May amidst fears of Russian disinformation campaigns and threats of regulatory action.

Twitter on Tuesday rolled out tools in Europe which will make it easier for voters to identify political campaign ads tied to crucial European Parliament elections in May amidst fears of Russian disinformation campaigns and threats of regulatory action. Social networks such as Twitter and Facebook have come under pressure to do more to combat fake news and the spread of extremism and propaganda online. The European Union is concerned about Russia's role. Russia has repeatedly denied any such actions. Twitter said its political campaigning ads policy, introduced during the US midterm elections, will also be launched in India and Australia, both of which are also heading to the polls. In essence, it means that anyone can view ads put on Twitter endorsing a party or a candidate on its Ads Transparency Center, with details on billing information, ad spending and demographic targeting data. The ads will be available indefinitely. A visual label and disclaimer information on promoted content will allow users to identify political campaign ads and who paid for them. "Our political campaigning ads policy is being expanded to cover #EUElections2019, providing the general public with an additional layer of insight into who is running a political campaign ad on Twitter," the company said in a blog post. It said candidates or organisations will have to go through a certification process with proof of identity before they can run political campaigning ads on its site. This policy will kick off on March 11.

Twitter launches political ad tracking tools in Europe ahead of key EU polls

The Nepal government led by K P Sharma Oli has introduced a bill in Parliament having provisions of harsh punishment for people for posting anti-government contents on social media, amid protest by opposition Nepali Congress.

In the bill, related to the management and regulation of information technology, the government has prescribed a fine up to Rs 1.5 million and/or five years imprisonment for individuals who post or propagate online contents deemed "objectionable" by the authorities or character assassination or an attack on national sovereignty.

Nepali Congress leader and former Information and Communication Minister Minendra Rijal said that the government should not criminalise acts of publishing news or posting message in social media by imposing harsh punishment.&nbsp;

"The bill registered by the government in the Parliament indicates that the communist government is moving towards authoritarian rule," he said at an interaction programme on "Shrinkage of democracy in Nepal" organised by "Campaign for Democracy".

The Nepal Communist Party-led government having two third majority cannot impose authoritarian rule in the country by introducing laws to curtain press freedom and freedom of thought, said senior advocate Dinesh Tripathi.&nbsp;

Oli government is trying to prove that it can do whatever it likes through two third majority vote, which goes against democracy, he added.&nbsp;

Meanwhile, following an objection by the Nepal Communist Party-led government, noted folk singer Pashupati Sharma has removed his song on corruption from social media site Youtube.

Sharma posted the song "Lutna sake loot", speaks about corruption, social anomalies and luxurious life adopted by the powerful people in the country, on

Youtube on Friday, the day when the Oli government, having two-third&nbsp;majority in Parliament, completed its one year term in the office.

The song was removed reportedly following threat to the singer by the ruling Nepal Communist Party cadres.

The song, shared by hundreds of thousands of people within 48 hours, continued to attract support from people even after it was removed from Youtube.

It also criticises President Bidya Bhandari's office for making alleged purchase of goods worth Rs 1.5 billion, alleged indulgence of government staff in corruption and alleged difficulties being faced by the common people due to the corruption in the government.&nbsp;

The Nepal government led by K P Sharma Oli has introduced a bill in Parliament having provisions of harsh punishment for people for posting anti-government contents on social media, amid protest by opposition Nepali Congress.

The Nepal government led by K P Sharma Oli has introduced a bill in Parliament having provisions of harsh punishment for people for posting anti-government contents on social media, amid protest by opposition Nepali Congress. In the bill, related to the management and regulation of information technology, the government has prescribed a fine up to Rs 1.5 million and/or five years imprisonment for individuals who post or propagate online contents deemed "objectionable" by the authorities or character assassination or an attack on national sovereignty. Nepali Congress leader and former Information and Communication Minister Minendra Rijal said that the government should not criminalise acts of publishing news or posting message in social media by imposing harsh punishment. "The bill registered by the government in the Parliament indicates that the communist government is moving towards authoritarian rule," he said at an interaction programme on "Shrinkage of democracy in Nepal" organised by "Campaign for Democracy". The Nepal Communist Party-led government having two third majority cannot impose authoritarian rule in the country by introducing laws to curtain press freedom and freedom of thought, said senior advocate Dinesh Tripathi. Oli government is trying to prove that it can do whatever it likes through two third majority vote, which goes against democracy, he added. Meanwhile, following an objection by the Nepal Communist Party-led government, noted folk singer Pashupati Sharma has removed his song on corruption from social media site Youtube. Sharma posted the song "Lutna sake loot", speaks about corruption, social anomalies and luxurious life adopted by the powerful people in the country, on Youtube on Friday, the day when the Oli government, having two-third majority in Parliament, completed its one year term in the office. The song was removed reportedly following threat to the singer by the ruling Nepal Communist Party cadres. The song, shared by hundreds of thousands of people within 48 hours, continued to attract support from people even after it was removed from Youtube. It also criticises President Bidya Bhandari's office for making alleged purchase of goods worth Rs 1.5 billion, alleged indulgence of government staff in corruption and alleged difficulties being faced by the common people due to the corruption in the government.

Bill introduced by Nepal PM proposes five years of jail for posting anti-government content on social media

The Nepal government led by KP Oli has come under severe criticism from national and international media organisations for floating a proposal to bring harsh laws to punish people for posting anti-government contents on social media.

In the proposed bill related to the management and regulation of information technology, the government has prescribed a fine up to Rs 1.5 million and/or five years imprisonment for individuals who post online contents deemed by the authorities as character assassination or an attack on national sovereignty.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliated Nepal Press Union have strongly criticised the proposal, terming it as "improper".&nbsp;

In a statement issued on Friday, the IFJ called on the government to hold consultations with stakeholders before bringing such legislation.

In a separate statement, the Nepal Press Union outrightly criticised the draft bill stating that the steps to control the social networking sites through law have borne out of the regressive mindset.&nbsp;

"The steps the government was taking is trying to restrict the freedom of expression guaranteed by the constitution," the statement said, adding, "By trying to restrict the use of social networks, where the highest degree of freedom of expression is being practised, the government is attacking the roots of democracy. The intent and character of the government have been evident through such decisions taken by the communist government."

The Nepal Press Union has called on all the stakeholders to fight with determination against this effort of the KP Oli led government.

The IFJ said the proposed law forwarded by the government is a blatant attempt to control and muzzle freedom of expression on social media.&nbsp;

The government's move to bring harsh laws against the social media comes at a time when people are posting in social media contents with severe criticism of President Bidya Bhandari's office for acquiring millions of dollar worth luxurious vehicles and failure of Prime Minister Oli to deliver services as per his past commitments.

The proposed legislation, which will be tabled by the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology, also states that the citizens can only use those networking sites that are registered with the Department of Information of the government.&nbsp;

The Nepal government led by KP Oli has come under severe criticism from national and international media organisations for floating a proposal to bring harsh laws to punish people for posting anti-government contents on social media.

The Nepal government led by KP Oli has come under severe criticism from national and international media organisations for floating a proposal to bring harsh laws to punish people for posting anti-government contents on social media. In the proposed bill related to the management and regulation of information technology, the government has prescribed a fine up to Rs 1.5 million and/or five years imprisonment for individuals who post online contents deemed by the authorities as character assassination or an attack on national sovereignty. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliated Nepal Press Union have strongly criticised the proposal, terming it as "improper". In a statement issued on Friday, the IFJ called on the government to hold consultations with stakeholders before bringing such legislation. In a separate statement, the Nepal Press Union outrightly criticised the draft bill stating that the steps to control the social networking sites through law have borne out of the regressive mindset. "The steps the government was taking is trying to restrict the freedom of expression guaranteed by the constitution," the statement said, adding, "By trying to restrict the use of social networks, where the highest degree of freedom of expression is being practised, the government is attacking the roots of democracy. The intent and character of the government have been evident through such decisions taken by the communist government." The Nepal Press Union has called on all the stakeholders to fight with determination against this effort of the KP Oli led government. The IFJ said the proposed law forwarded by the government is a blatant attempt to control and muzzle freedom of expression on social media. The government's move to bring harsh laws against the social media comes at a time when people are posting in social media contents with severe criticism of President Bidya Bhandari's office for acquiring millions of dollar worth luxurious vehicles and failure of Prime Minister Oli to deliver services as per his past commitments. The proposed legislation, which will be tabled by the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology, also states that the citizens can only use those networking sites that are registered with the Department of Information of the government.

Media bodies criticise Nepal's punishment proposal for posting anti-government content on social media

Fighting "fake" news, wrestling with social media, and deploying an intern army -- the <a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/afghan-taliban-announce-talks-with-us-in-pakistan-197349">Taliban's sprawling propaganda</a> machine embraces modernity even as the group vows to enforce Islamist controls on journalists if it returns to power.

Notorious for banning TV and radio under its iron-fisted 1996-2001 regime, the militants have proven surprisingly deft at adapting to the ever-changing nature of modern media.

The Taliban's official spokesman now tweets real-time updates about battlefield operations and its media arm stays in direct contact with journalists on a range of messaging apps.

"Media is considered one side of the struggle," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP via Whatsapp.

"We are not against modern technology," a senior Taliban source with links to the insurgents' media wing told AFP.

"This is the need of the hour and using it is not against Islamic shariah."

But the source admits his team struggles at times to control their own narrative.

High-profile interviews have taken place without the media wing's knowledge, sparking hurried denials along with confusion over the identity of the interviewee and whether he can really claim to speak for the Taliban.

Unverified leaks to media outlets from alleged Taliban sources are frequent.

Fake or unauthorised accounts sprout often on social media, while their official Facebook pages and Twitter handles are regularly banned only to be restarted under another name.

Even the official spokesman, Mujahid, is widely believed to be not one man but a moniker used by the information wing to issue statements.

The operation can be dizzying, admits the Taliban source.

Truth greater than fiction&nbsp;

The increasingly refined production has not gone unnoticed, with NATO regularly briefing top officials on Taliban content.&nbsp;

"It gives us an idea of what the group is thinking about that day," said Colonel Knut Peters, spokesman for NATO's Resolute Support mission in Kabul.

The casualty figures they release are often wildly exaggerated, but the group has been known to describe their operations more accurately, with fewer outlandish battlefield claims.

"The Taliban have discovered that truth has a greater impact than fiction," said Graeme Smith, a consultant for International Crisis Group.

Journalists said insurgents are also often more responsive than the government.

"When a journalist was killed in Farah province, (a few) weeks back, I wrote to the Taliban spokesman, and I got the reply in minutes," said A. Mujeeb Khalvatgar, the director of an Afghan media support group, who said he is still waiting for a statement from the president's office.&nbsp;

Information remains difficult to verify, however. Pakistani senior journalist Tahir Khan, who showed AFP a stream of messages, photos and voice notes from the Taliban on his mobile phone, said the information was "not usually correct".

But in a campaign like this, the battle for the truth might not matter. "This war... one major factor is psychological propaganda," he added.

Its value is demonstrated by how high the media operation goes.

The Taliban leadership gives orders to a handful of high-ranking militants responsible for the group's media strategy, the militant source said.

They work across five different language services -- Pashto, Dari, English, Urdu and Arabic -- with dozens of volunteers who produce multimedia content.

Print magazines target rural audiences without mobile phones, while slick propaganda videos and songs reach the illiterate.

The army of interns include journalism school students, along with IT experts who monitor the latest trends, the source claimed.

"They are servants of God, volunteers," he said.

Code of conduct&nbsp;

The Islamists maintained strict control over media during their brutal rule. Most foreign journalists fled the country, while Afghan reporters often worked undercover for fear of being violently harassed or accused of spying.

In the 17 years since the US invasion, Afghanistan's media has flourished.

But their success has made them targets, starting in 2016, when the Taliban killed seven employees of popular TV channel Tolo -- the first major attack on Afghan media since 2001.

Journalists have faced killings, attacks and abductions. In 2018 Afghanistan was ranked the most dangerous country for journalists in the world.

"Now (the Taliban are) using media a lot. It doesn't mean they believe in freedom of expression," said Khalvatgar.

"It means that they know how to use the media... as a propaganda tool, not as a right of the people."

Meanwhile, unprecedented talks between the Taliban and Washington have sparked fears of a potential US exit and a possible return to power for the insurgents.

The Taliban source said the group has no wish to shutter Afghan outlets -- but journalists would have to comply with an unspecified "code of conduct" in line with Islamic shariah.

Female anchors, common in Afghanistan today, would not be allowed on camera.&nbsp;

"It's better that they stay at home or join some other respectable profession," said the Taliban source.

But foreign media would be welcomed, he claimed, unlike in the past.

"We sheltered Osama [bin Laden] and provided him all our respect because he was our guest," he said.&nbsp;

"Everyone who comes from any other country will be our guest."

Fighting "fake" news, wrestling with social media, and deploying an intern army -- the Taliban's sprawling propaganda machine embraces modernity even as the group vows to enforce Islamist controls on journalists if it returns to power.

Fighting "fake" news, wrestling with social media, and deploying an intern army -- the Taliban's sprawling propaganda machine embraces modernity even as the group vows to enforce Islamist controls on journalists if it returns to power. Notorious for banning TV and radio under its iron-fisted 1996-2001 regime, the militants have proven surprisingly deft at adapting to the ever-changing nature of modern media. The Taliban's official spokesman now tweets real-time updates about battlefield operations and its media arm stays in direct contact with journalists on a range of messaging apps. "Media is considered one side of the struggle," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP via Whatsapp. "We are not against modern technology," a senior Taliban source with links to the insurgents' media wing told AFP. "This is the need of the hour and using it is not against Islamic shariah." But the source admits his team struggles at times to control their own narrative. High-profile interviews have taken place without the media wing's knowledge, sparking hurried denials along with confusion over the identity of the interviewee and whether he can really claim to speak for the Taliban. Unverified leaks to media outlets from alleged Taliban sources are frequent. Fake or unauthorised accounts sprout often on social media, while their official Facebook pages and Twitter handles are regularly banned only to be restarted under another name. Even the official spokesman, Mujahid, is widely believed to be not one man but a moniker used by the information wing to issue statements. The operation can be dizzying, admits the Taliban source. Truth greater than fiction The increasingly refined production has not gone unnoticed, with NATO regularly briefing top officials on Taliban content. "It gives us an idea of what the group is thinking about that day," said Colonel Knut Peters, spokesman for NATO's Resolute Support mission in Kabul. The casualty figures they release are often wildly exaggerated, but the group has been known to describe their operations more accurately, with fewer outlandish battlefield claims. "The Taliban have discovered that truth has a greater impact than fiction," said Graeme Smith, a consultant for International Crisis Group. Journalists said insurgents are also often more responsive than the government. "When a journalist was killed in Farah province, (a few) weeks back, I wrote to the Taliban spokesman, and I got the reply in minutes," said A. Mujeeb Khalvatgar, the director of an Afghan media support group, who said he is still waiting for a statement from the president's office. Information remains difficult to verify, however. Pakistani senior journalist Tahir Khan, who showed AFP a stream of messages, photos and voice notes from the Taliban on his mobile phone, said the information was "not usually correct". But in a campaign like this, the battle for the truth might not matter. "This war... one major factor is psychological propaganda," he added. Its value is demonstrated by how high the media operation goes. The Taliban leadership gives orders to a handful of high-ranking militants responsible for the group's media strategy, the militant source said. They work across five different language services -- Pashto, Dari, English, Urdu and Arabic -- with dozens of volunteers who produce multimedia content. Print magazines target rural audiences without mobile phones, while slick propaganda videos and songs reach the illiterate. The army of interns include journalism school students, along with IT experts who monitor the latest trends, the source claimed. "They are servants of God, volunteers," he said. Code of conduct The Islamists maintained strict control over media during their brutal rule. Most foreign journalists fled the country, while Afghan reporters often worked undercover for fear of being violently harassed or accused of spying. In the 17 years since the US invasion, Afghanistan's media has flourished. But their success has made them targets, starting in 2016, when the Taliban killed seven employees of popular TV channel Tolo -- the first major attack on Afghan media since 2001. Journalists have faced killings, attacks and abductions. In 2018 Afghanistan was ranked the most dangerous country for journalists in the world. "Now (the Taliban are) using media a lot. It doesn't mean they believe in freedom of expression," said Khalvatgar. "It means that they know how to use the media... as a propaganda tool, not as a right of the people." Meanwhile, unprecedented talks between the Taliban and Washington have sparked fears of a potential US exit and a possible return to power for the insurgents. The Taliban source said the group has no wish to shutter Afghan outlets -- but journalists would have to comply with an unspecified "code of conduct" in line with Islamic shariah. Female anchors, common in Afghanistan today, would not be allowed on camera. "It's better that they stay at home or join some other respectable profession," said the Taliban source. But foreign media would be welcomed, he claimed, unlike in the past. "We sheltered Osama [bin Laden] and provided him all our respect because he was our guest," he said. "Everyone who comes from any other country will be our guest."

Taliban confront fake news and social media in propaganda war

Pakistani authorities Wednesday vowed to carry out a "massive" crackdown targeting <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/pakistan-using-social-media-to-radicalise-kashmiri-youths-jk-police-chief-193786">hate speech and extremism on social media,</a> as a minister boasted arrests have already been made.&nbsp;

Officials in Pakistan are frequently accused of muzzling the media and targeting individuals critical of the country’s powerful military establishment and have blocked hundreds of websites and social media accounts over the years.

Information minister Fawad Chaudhry announced the government was setting up a new enforcement arm to regulate social media during a speech in the capital Islamabad.

"We made some arrests last week and by the will of Allah we are launching a massive crackdown against social media users spreading hate speech and violence," he said.

Self-censorship in the South Asia nation is widely believed to be rife at traditional news outlets.

"Our problem is that digital media is overtaking formal media so it is important for us to regulate this," Chaudhry added, saying: "Informal media is a greater problem than formal media.”

The announcement comes days after authorities arrested a journalist for allegedly posting defamatory content on social media.&nbsp;

And on Tuesday an opinion piece in the International New York Times criticising Pakistan's powerful army was censored by its local publisher and replaced by a blank space.

Activists and bloggers frequently report receiving warnings from Facebook and Twitter for posting unlawful content.

Local media also complained about pressure in the run-up to a general election in July to self-censor in favour of the eventual victor, cricketer-turned-prime-minister Imran Khan.

The Committee to Protect Journalists said the army had "quietly but effectively, set restrictions on reporting" in a report released September last year.

Pakistani authorities Wednesday vowed to carry out a "massive" crackdown targeting hate speech and extremism on social media, as a minister boasted arrests have already been made.

Pakistani authorities Wednesday vowed to carry out a "massive" crackdown targeting hate speech and extremism on social media, as a minister boasted arrests have already been made. Officials in Pakistan are frequently accused of muzzling the media and targeting individuals critical of the country’s powerful military establishment and have blocked hundreds of websites and social media accounts over the years. Information minister Fawad Chaudhry announced the government was setting up a new enforcement arm to regulate social media during a speech in the capital Islamabad. "We made some arrests last week and by the will of Allah we are launching a massive crackdown against social media users spreading hate speech and violence," he said. Self-censorship in the South Asia nation is widely believed to be rife at traditional news outlets. "Our problem is that digital media is overtaking formal media so it is important for us to regulate this," Chaudhry added, saying: "Informal media is a greater problem than formal media.” The announcement comes days after authorities arrested a journalist for allegedly posting defamatory content on social media. And on Tuesday an opinion piece in the International New York Times criticising Pakistan's powerful army was censored by its local publisher and replaced by a blank space. Activists and bloggers frequently report receiving warnings from Facebook and Twitter for posting unlawful content. Local media also complained about pressure in the run-up to a general election in July to self-censor in favour of the eventual victor, cricketer-turned-prime-minister Imran Khan. The Committee to Protect Journalists said the army had "quietly but effectively, set restrictions on reporting" in a report released September last year.

Pakistan announces 'massive' social media crackdown

A former boxer who became a hero to some of France's <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/french-yellow-vests-clash-with-police-in-nantes-during-their-weekly-demonstrations-196293">"yellow vest" protesters</a> after being filmed punching police officers during a demonstration in Paris goes on trial Wednesday on charges that carry up to seven years in jail.

Christophe Dettinger, 37, an ex-national light-heavyweight champion, was caught on camera on January 5 throwing a flurry of punches at an officer during clashes on a footbridge over the river Seine near parliament.

The footage, which was played repeatedly on TV and social media, also showed the 1.9-meter (6.3-foot) tall Dettinger kicking another officer on the ground.&nbsp;

The scene caused widespread outrage, with the government describing it as a prime example of the violence that has characterised the yellow vest demonstrations since they began in November.

One of the injured officers was treated in hospital for his injuries.

Dettinger, nicknamed "The Gypsy From Massy" during his days in the ring in reference to the town south of Paris where he began his career, turned himself in two days after the incident and has been in custody ever since.

Some French people have hailed him as a hero for taking on the police.&nbsp;

&nbsp;An angry 'ordinary citizen'&nbsp;

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/demonstrator-loses-hand-at-paris-yellow-vest-march-196297">The yellow vest movement </a>— so-named after the luminous safety vests worn by the activists — started over fuel tax hikes and quickly grew into a broader rebellion against the economic policies and leadership style of President Emmanuel Macron.

The number of people taking part in weekly protests has fallen significantly since the start of the year, but the heat has still not gone out of the movement, with the demonstrations regularly ending in rioting.

Six people were arrested on Tuesday suspicion of having used a forklift truck to ram open the doors leading to the office of government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux, on the same day as Dettinger's attack on the police.

On Friday, a leading figure of the yellow vest movement, 33-year-old truck driver Eric Drouet, will also be tried on charges of illegally organising a demonstration in Paris.

He faces up to six months in prison if convicted.

Since the start of the protests, 1,796 people have been sentenced in court, mainly for the destruction of public property and attacks on the police.

Another 1,422 are still awaiting trial, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe told parliament on Tuesday.

In a video posted on YouTube a day after his outburst, Dettinger described himself as an "ordinary citizen" acting out of anger with what he called the repressive tactics of the police.

At his first court appearance the married father-of-three, who has no previous convictions, apologised for his actions. &nbsp;

His case has elicited widespread sympathy among the yellow vests and their supporters, with an online fundraising drive bringing in more than 117,000 euros ($134,000) towards his legal costs before being shut down.

In another sign of support, street artists painted two giant black-and-white portraits of the boxer, one showing him punching the policemen, on a wall in northern Paris.

Some yellow vests argue that Dettinger's punches were just retribution for the police, who have been criticised for their liberal use of rubber bullets and stun grenades which have left dozens seriously injured.

But the police have also drawn sympathy, with a fund for the injured officers garnering over a million euros in donations.

Around 10,000 people taking part in a rally in Paris last month to condemn "yellow vest" violence, during which the police were applauded. 
&nbsp;

A former boxer who became a hero to some of France's "yellow vest" protesters after being filmed punching police officers during a demonstration in Paris goes on trial Wednesday on charges that carry up to seven years in jail.

A former boxer who became a hero to some of France's "yellow vest" protesters after being filmed punching police officers during a demonstration in Paris goes on trial Wednesday on charges that carry up to seven years in jail. Christophe Dettinger, 37, an ex-national light-heavyweight champion, was caught on camera on January 5 throwing a flurry of punches at an officer during clashes on a footbridge over the river Seine near parliament. The footage, which was played repeatedly on TV and social media, also showed the 1.9-meter (6.3-foot) tall Dettinger kicking another officer on the ground. The scene caused widespread outrage, with the government describing it as a prime example of the violence that has characterised the yellow vest demonstrations since they began in November. One of the injured officers was treated in hospital for his injuries. Dettinger, nicknamed "The Gypsy From Massy" during his days in the ring in reference to the town south of Paris where he began his career, turned himself in two days after the incident and has been in custody ever since. Some French people have hailed him as a hero for taking on the police. An angry 'ordinary citizen' The yellow vest movement — so-named after the luminous safety vests worn by the activists — started over fuel tax hikes and quickly grew into a broader rebellion against the economic policies and leadership style of President Emmanuel Macron. The number of people taking part in weekly protests has fallen significantly since the start of the year, but the heat has still not gone out of the movement, with the demonstrations regularly ending in rioting. Six people were arrested on Tuesday suspicion of having used a forklift truck to ram open the doors leading to the office of government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux, on the same day as Dettinger's attack on the police. On Friday, a leading figure of the yellow vest movement, 33-year-old truck driver Eric Drouet, will also be tried on charges of illegally organising a demonstration in Paris. He faces up to six months in prison if convicted. Since the start of the protests, 1,796 people have been sentenced in court, mainly for the destruction of public property and attacks on the police. Another 1,422 are still awaiting trial, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe told parliament on Tuesday. In a video posted on YouTube a day after his outburst, Dettinger described himself as an "ordinary citizen" acting out of anger with what he called the repressive tactics of the police. At his first court appearance the married father-of-three, who has no previous convictions, apologised for his actions. His case has elicited widespread sympathy among the yellow vests and their supporters, with an online fundraising drive bringing in more than 117,000 euros ($134,000) towards his legal costs before being shut down. In another sign of support, street artists painted two giant black-and-white portraits of the boxer, one showing him punching the policemen, on a wall in northern Paris. Some yellow vests argue that Dettinger's punches were just retribution for the police, who have been criticised for their liberal use of rubber bullets and stun grenades which have left dozens seriously injured. But the police have also drawn sympathy, with a fund for the injured officers garnering over a million euros in donations. Around 10,000 people taking part in a rally in Paris last month to condemn "yellow vest" violence, during which the police were applauded.

French 'yellow vest' boxer on trial for punching police

Russian lawmakers backed <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/kremlin-cracking-down-on-internet-to-muzzle-critics-say-experts-129128">tighter internet controls</a> on Tuesday to defend against foreign meddling in draft legislation that critics warn could disrupt Russia's internet and be used to stifle dissent.

The legislation, which some Russian media have likened to an online "iron curtain," passed its first of three readings in the 450-seat lower chamber of parliament.

The bill seeks to route Russian web traffic and data through points controlled by state authorities and proposes building a national Domain Name System to allow the internet to continue functioning even if the country is cut off from foreign infrastructure.

The legislation was drafted in response to what its authors describe as an aggressive new US&nbsp;national cyber-security strategy passed last year.

The Agora human rights group said earlier this month that the legislation was one of several new bills drafted in December that "seriously threaten internet freedom".

The Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs has said the bill poses more of a risk to the functioning of the Russian internet segment than the alleged threats from foreign countries that the bill seeks to counter.

The bill also proposes installing network equipment that would be able to identify the source of web traffic and also block banned content.

The legislation, which can still be amended, but which is expected to pass, is part of a drive by officials to increase Russian "sovereignty" over its internet segment.

Russia has introduced tougher internet laws in the last five years, requiring search engines to delete some search results, messaging services to share encryption keys with security services and social networks to store Russian users' personal data on servers within the country.

The bill faces two more votes in the lower chamber before it is voted on in the upper house of parliament and then signed into law by President Vladimir Putin.

Russian lawmakers backed tighter internet controls on Tuesday to defend against foreign meddling in draft legislation that critics warn could disrupt Russia's internet and be used to stifle dissent.

Russian lawmakers backed tighter internet controls on Tuesday to defend against foreign meddling in draft legislation that critics warn could disrupt Russia's internet and be used to stifle dissent. The legislation, which some Russian media have likened to an online "iron curtain," passed its first of three readings in the 450-seat lower chamber of parliament. The bill seeks to route Russian web traffic and data through points controlled by state authorities and proposes building a national Domain Name System to allow the internet to continue functioning even if the country is cut off from foreign infrastructure. The legislation was drafted in response to what its authors describe as an aggressive new US national cyber-security strategy passed last year. The Agora human rights group said earlier this month that the legislation was one of several new bills drafted in December that "seriously threaten internet freedom". The Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs has said the bill poses more of a risk to the functioning of the Russian internet segment than the alleged threats from foreign countries that the bill seeks to counter. The bill also proposes installing network equipment that would be able to identify the source of web traffic and also block banned content. The legislation, which can still be amended, but which is expected to pass, is part of a drive by officials to increase Russian "sovereignty" over its internet segment. Russia has introduced tougher internet laws in the last five years, requiring search engines to delete some search results, messaging services to share encryption keys with security services and social networks to store Russian users' personal data on servers within the country. The bill faces two more votes in the lower chamber before it is voted on in the upper house of parliament and then signed into law by President Vladimir Putin.

Russian lawmakers back bill on 'sovereign' Internet

Instagram 'em all: Must-snap locations testing Hong Kong's patience

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra&nbsp;on Monday joined Twitter and garnered a massive response with tens of thousands following her on the social media platform within hours.

Her logging on to Twitter with the account @priyankagandhi came on the day of <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/watch-priyanka-gandhi-vadra-begins-roadshow-in-lucknow-196634">her maiden visit to Uttar Pradesh as an AICC general secretary</a>.

"Smt Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is now on Twitter. You may follow her at @priyankagandhi," a tweet from the Congress' official Twitter handle said.

She didn't post a tweet but followed seven people, including her brother and party chief Rahul Gandhi as well as party leaders Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sachin Pilot, Ashok Gehlot Randeep Singh Surjewala, Ahmed Patel and the Congress's official account.

<img alt="Priyanka gandhi profile" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="2c6dd391-348c-4944-8f01-e2a1af5d3347" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/Priyanka%20gandhi%20profile.JPG" />

Over 57,000 people followed her within hours of her joining the microblogging site.

Priyanka Gandhi (47) and Scindia (48) took charge as AICC general secretary UP East and UP west respectively last week.

Congress seems to have learnt its lessons from 2014 and has been scaling up its operations on social media platforms to challenge the BJP on a front which has been the saffron party's forte.

Rahul Gandhi has also been using Twitter for his attacks on the government and analysts credit his aggressive social media campaign for a turnaround of his image among the people.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday joined Twitter and garnered a massive response with tens of thousands following her on the social media platform within hours.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday joined Twitter and garnered a massive response with tens of thousands following her on the social media platform within hours. Her logging on to Twitter with the account @priyankagandhi came on the day of her maiden visit to Uttar Pradesh as an AICC general secretary. "Smt Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is now on Twitter. You may follow her at @priyankagandhi," a tweet from the Congress' official Twitter handle said. She didn't post a tweet but followed seven people, including her brother and party chief Rahul Gandhi as well as party leaders Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sachin Pilot, Ashok Gehlot Randeep Singh Surjewala, Ahmed Patel and the Congress's official account. Over 57,000 people followed her within hours of her joining the microblogging site. Priyanka Gandhi (47) and Scindia (48) took charge as AICC general secretary UP East and UP west respectively last week. Congress seems to have learnt its lessons from 2014 and has been scaling up its operations on social media platforms to challenge the BJP on a front which has been the saffron party's forte. Rahul Gandhi has also been using Twitter for his attacks on the government and analysts credit his aggressive social media campaign for a turnaround of his image among the people.

Priyanka Gandhi makes Twitter debut, gets thousands of followers in a few hours

The BJP Saturday warned Twitter of "repercussions" after the social network company's CEO and top officials <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/twitter-ceo-and-senior-officials-refuse-to-appear-before-parliamentary-committee-196223">declined to appear before the parliamentary committee</a> on information technology, saying no agency has the right to disrespect institutions of the country.

The parliamentary panel had summoned Twitter CEO and officials over the issue of safeguarding citizens' rights on social media platforms.

"In any country, no agency has the right to disrespect the institutions of that country. In this situation, if Twitter is disrespecting the established institution of Parliament, then there are repercussions," BJP spokesperson and New Delhi MP Meenakshi Lekhi told reporters.

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Anurag Thakur, Chairman of Parliamentary IT Committee on Twitter CEO&amp;senior officials of the company have refused to appear before Parliamentary Committee on IT on Feb 11: We've taken a serious note of Twitter’s reply. We'll discuss that on Monday (11.02) &amp; take further action <a href="https://t.co/wXgl0xj0v0">pic.twitter.com/wXgl0xj0v0</a>
— ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1094236129170141184?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 9, 2019</a></blockquote>
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"There are repercussions because in any democratic country, institutions need to be respected by the world powers. If there is any violation of any sort, then there are repercussions to those violations...The institutions need to be respected," she said.

The parliamentary committee, headed by BJP MP Anurag Thakur, had issued a summon to Twitter via an official letter on February 1.

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Piyush Goel on 'Twitter CEO&amp;senior officials refusing to appear before Parliamentary Committee on IT:Chairman of RS&amp;Speaker of LS will decide on what will be the action in such cases when somebody refuses to submit before parliamentary committee,govt doesn’t take decisions on it. <a href="https://t.co/tYcn0rNVlK">pic.twitter.com/tYcn0rNVlK</a>
— ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1094197366742122496?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 9, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Its meeting was scheduled for February 7, but was later postponed to February 11 to allow the Twitter CEO and senior officials more time to make themselves available, sources in the panel said.

Twitter cited "short notice of the hearing" as the reason, despite being given 10 days to travel, the sources said.&nbsp;

The BJP Saturday warned Twitter of "repercussions" after the social network company's CEO and top officials declined to appear before the parliamentary committee on information technology, saying no agency has the right to disrespect institutions of the country.

The BJP Saturday warned Twitter of "repercussions" after the social network company's CEO and top officials declined to appear before the parliamentary committee on information technology, saying no agency has the right to disrespect institutions of the country. The parliamentary panel had summoned Twitter CEO and officials over the issue of safeguarding citizens' rights on social media platforms. "In any country, no agency has the right to disrespect the institutions of that country. In this situation, if Twitter is disrespecting the established institution of Parliament, then there are repercussions," BJP spokesperson and New Delhi MP Meenakshi Lekhi told reporters. Anurag Thakur, Chairman of Parliamentary IT Committee on Twitter CEO&senior officials of the company have refused to appear before Parliamentary Committee on IT on Feb 11: We've taken a serious note of Twitter’s reply. We'll discuss that on Monday (11.02) & take further action pic.twitter.com/wXgl0xj0v0 — ANI (@ANI) February 9, 2019 × "There are repercussions because in any democratic country, institutions need to be respected by the world powers. If there is any violation of any sort, then there are repercussions to those violations...The institutions need to be respected," she said. The parliamentary committee, headed by BJP MP Anurag Thakur, had issued a summon to Twitter via an official letter on February 1. Piyush Goel on 'Twitter CEO&senior officials refusing to appear before Parliamentary Committee on IT:Chairman of RS&Speaker of LS will decide on what will be the action in such cases when somebody refuses to submit before parliamentary committee,govt doesn’t take decisions on it. pic.twitter.com/tYcn0rNVlK — ANI (@ANI) February 9, 2019 × Its meeting was scheduled for February 7, but was later postponed to February 11 to allow the Twitter CEO and senior officials more time to make themselves available, sources in the panel said. Twitter cited "short notice of the hearing" as the reason, despite being given 10 days to travel, the sources said.

There will be 'repercussions': BJP warns Twitter for declining to appear before Parliamentary Committee

Twitter CEO and senior officials of the company have refused to <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/parliamentary-committee-calls-officials-of-government-twitter-to-discuss-citizens-rights-on-social-media-195435">appear before the Parliamentary Committee</a> on Information Technology on February 11, citing “short notice” of the hearing.

The Committee had called Twitter via an official letter on February 1 to discuss issues concerning the use of social media.

The letter sent to Twitter by the Parliamentary Committee stated,&nbsp;"It may be noted that the Head of the Organisation has to appear before the Committee", sources said.

It further stated that "He/She may be accompanied by another representative," the sources added.&nbsp;

The Committee has also called officials of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) for the meeting.

The Committee meeting was scheduled to be held on February 7 and later postponed to February 11 to allow the Twitter CEO and senior officials more time to make themselves available, the sources said.

Twitter cited "short notice of the hearing" as their reason despite being given 10 days to travel, they added.

The Committee received a letter on February 7 from Vijaya Gadde, Twitters global lead for Legal, Policy, Trust&nbsp;and&nbsp;Safety stating that "No one who engages publicly for

Twitter India makes enforcement decisions with respect to our rules for content or accounts in India."

Deputing a junior employee to represent Twitter at the Parliamentary IT Committee has not gone down well with Indian lawmakers especially since they have no decision making authority as stated in the Twitter letter by Gadde.

“The lack of seriousness and disregard shown by Twitter to India's Parliament is not new. Social Media Tech CEO's have evaded answers and tried to avoid Parliamentary hearings in Singapore and the US Congress previously,” a source noted.

This comes at a time when there are growing concerns about&nbsp;safeguarding&nbsp;citizens data privacy and election interference through social media platforms.&nbsp;

Twitter CEO and senior officials of the company have refused to appear before the Parliamentary Committee on Information Technology on February 11, citing “short notice” of the hearing.

Twitter CEO and senior officials of the company have refused to appear before the Parliamentary Committee on Information Technology on February 11, citing “short notice” of the hearing. The Committee had called Twitter via an official letter on February 1 to discuss issues concerning the use of social media. The letter sent to Twitter by the Parliamentary Committee stated, "It may be noted that the Head of the Organisation has to appear before the Committee", sources said. It further stated that "He/She may be accompanied by another representative," the sources added. The Committee has also called officials of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) for the meeting. The Committee meeting was scheduled to be held on February 7 and later postponed to February 11 to allow the Twitter CEO and senior officials more time to make themselves available, the sources said. Twitter cited "short notice of the hearing" as their reason despite being given 10 days to travel, they added. The Committee received a letter on February 7 from Vijaya Gadde, Twitters global lead for Legal, Policy, Trust and Safety stating that "No one who engages publicly for Twitter India makes enforcement decisions with respect to our rules for content or accounts in India." Deputing a junior employee to represent Twitter at the Parliamentary IT Committee has not gone down well with Indian lawmakers especially since they have no decision making authority as stated in the Twitter letter by Gadde. “The lack of seriousness and disregard shown by Twitter to India's Parliament is not new. Social Media Tech CEO's have evaded answers and tried to avoid Parliamentary hearings in Singapore and the US Congress previously,” a source noted. This comes at a time when there are growing concerns about safeguarding citizens data privacy and election interference through social media platforms.

Twitter CEO and senior officials refuse to appear before Parliamentary Committee

The United States social media company Twitter reported a record quarterly revenue and its first full year of profitability Thursday, signs the company's efforts to promote healthy discourse on the platform appear to be paying off, according to a report from the Dow Jones Newswires made available to EFE.&nbsp;

The company also for the first time disclosed its number of daily users: 126 million, a figure Twitter said was up 1.6 per cent from the previous quarter.&nbsp;

The figure makes it easier to compare Twitter with its social-media peers Facebook and Snap, which have 1.52 billion and 186 million daily users, respectively.&nbsp;

Twitter said it measures its number of daily users differently than other companies because it counts only users who can view ads.&nbsp;

Revenue rose 24 per cent to $908.8 million in the fourth quarter, typically the heaviest spending period for advertisers, up from $731.6 million a year earlier. Those results topped analysts' projections of $867 million, according to FactSet.&nbsp;

Even so, Twitter's stock slid nearly 11 per cent in morning trading as investors homed in on the company's declining numbers of monthly users and its revenue forecast for the current quarter.&nbsp;

Twitter said its number of monthly users, the metric it has released for years, fell 1.5 per cent to 321 million from three months ago. Twitter has struggled for years with little to no momentum in building up its user base. It plans to stop disclosing monthly users after the current quarter.&nbsp;

Chief Executive Jack Dorsey said last year the company's priority was to reduce the amount of abuse that occurs on the platform. Although those efforts sometimes result in closing the accounts of bad actors, other users tend to spend more time on Twitter when there is less harassment. Marketers also say they are in favour of the changes because they don't like advertising alongside negative content.&nbsp;

Dorsey told analysts Thursday that the company needs to keep up efforts to minimize bad behaviour, something he sees as a growth initiative.&nbsp;

"We have to make Twitter more conversational," he said.&nbsp;

Twitter projected a sequential decline in revenue in the first quarter to between $715 million and $775 million. While that would be up from $665 million a year earlier, the range's midpoint of $745 million sits below the $764.93 million analysts had pencilled, according to Refinitiv.&nbsp;

Doing away with the monthly user number could suggest Twitter doesn't like the trends it is seeing in that area, raising questions about how it will grow daily users from a shrinking pool, said Colin Sebastian, an analyst at R.W. Baird.&nbsp;

He also pointed to higher expenses Twitter is facing in 2019 as it combats abuse, adds new features and digests its growing headcount. Twitter, which grew its employee number about 16 per cent last year, said it expects operating expenses up about 20 per cent in 2019.&nbsp;

Those costs could weigh on margins, Sebastian said.&nbsp;

Twitter's profit in the fourth quarter increased to $255.3 million, or 33 cents a share, from $91.1 million, or 12 cents a share, a year earlier, added the Dow Jones report supplied to EFE.&nbsp;

Robust spending in the online advertising industry also drove both Facebook's record quarterly profit and Snap's record quarterly revenue.

The United States social media company Twitter reported a record quarterly revenue and its first full year of profitability Thursday, signs the company's efforts to promote healthy discourse on the platform appear to be paying off, according to a report from the Dow Jones Newswires made available to EFE.

The United States social media company Twitter reported a record quarterly revenue and its first full year of profitability Thursday, signs the company's efforts to promote healthy discourse on the platform appear to be paying off, according to a report from the Dow Jones Newswires made available to EFE. The company also for the first time disclosed its number of daily users: 126 million, a figure Twitter said was up 1.6 per cent from the previous quarter. The figure makes it easier to compare Twitter with its social-media peers Facebook and Snap, which have 1.52 billion and 186 million daily users, respectively. Twitter said it measures its number of daily users differently than other companies because it counts only users who can view ads. Revenue rose 24 per cent to $908.8 million in the fourth quarter, typically the heaviest spending period for advertisers, up from $731.6 million a year earlier. Those results topped analysts' projections of $867 million, according to FactSet. Even so, Twitter's stock slid nearly 11 per cent in morning trading as investors homed in on the company's declining numbers of monthly users and its revenue forecast for the current quarter. Twitter said its number of monthly users, the metric it has released for years, fell 1.5 per cent to 321 million from three months ago. Twitter has struggled for years with little to no momentum in building up its user base. It plans to stop disclosing monthly users after the current quarter. Chief Executive Jack Dorsey said last year the company's priority was to reduce the amount of abuse that occurs on the platform. Although those efforts sometimes result in closing the accounts of bad actors, other users tend to spend more time on Twitter when there is less harassment. Marketers also say they are in favour of the changes because they don't like advertising alongside negative content. Dorsey told analysts Thursday that the company needs to keep up efforts to minimize bad behaviour, something he sees as a growth initiative. "We have to make Twitter more conversational," he said. Twitter projected a sequential decline in revenue in the first quarter to between $715 million and $775 million. While that would be up from $665 million a year earlier, the range's midpoint of $745 million sits below the $764.93 million analysts had pencilled, according to Refinitiv. Doing away with the monthly user number could suggest Twitter doesn't like the trends it is seeing in that area, raising questions about how it will grow daily users from a shrinking pool, said Colin Sebastian, an analyst at R.W. Baird. He also pointed to higher expenses Twitter is facing in 2019 as it combats abuse, adds new features and digests its growing headcount. Twitter, which grew its employee number about 16 per cent last year, said it expects operating expenses up about 20 per cent in 2019. Those costs could weigh on margins, Sebastian said. Twitter's profit in the fourth quarter increased to $255.3 million, or 33 cents a share, from $91.1 million, or 12 cents a share, a year earlier, added the Dow Jones report supplied to EFE. Robust spending in the online advertising industry also drove both Facebook's record quarterly profit and Snap's record quarterly revenue.

Twitter's push to reduce abuse pays off with revenue jump

Parliamentary Committee on Information Technology has called officials of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) and Twitter to a meeting on February 11 to discuss issues concerning the&nbsp;use of social media.

The meeting of the Committee, headed by BJP leader&nbsp;Anurag Thakur, will examine the issue of ‘Safeguarding citizens’ rights on social/online news media platforms’.

Officials of the MEITY and&nbsp;Twitter have been asked to present their views on it, Thakur said.

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The Parliamentary Commitee on Information Technology will examine the issue: 
 
SAFEGUARDING CITIZENS RIGHTS ON SOCIAL/ONLINE NEWS MEDIA PLATFORMS 
 
MEITY &amp; TWITTER will present their views. 
 
You can tweet/email your views: 
comit@sansad.nic.in <a href="https://t.co/bDYoSv5OHd">pic.twitter.com/bDYoSv5OHd</a>
— Anurag Thakur (@ianuragthakur) <a href="https://twitter.com/ianuragthakur/status/1092769666907455488?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 5, 2019</a></blockquote>
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The meeting will give an opportunity to the members of the Committee to ask the officials of the government and Twitter about ways in which misuse of social platforms could be curbed.

The development comes against the backdrop of concerns over <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/centre-directs-whatsapp-to-come-out-with-effective-solutions-against-spread-of-fake-news-195319">misuse of social media platforms</a>, including through the use of foul and filthy language. &nbsp;

Parliamentary Committee on Information Technology has called officials of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) and Twitter to a meeting on February 11 to discuss issues concerning the use of social media.

Parliamentary Committee on Information Technology has called officials of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) and Twitter to a meeting on February 11 to discuss issues concerning the use of social media. The meeting of the Committee, headed by BJP leader Anurag Thakur, will examine the issue of ‘Safeguarding citizens’ rights on social/online news media platforms’. Officials of the MEITY and Twitter have been asked to present their views on it, Thakur said. The Parliamentary Commitee on Information Technology will examine the issue: SAFEGUARDING CITIZENS RIGHTS ON SOCIAL/ONLINE NEWS MEDIA PLATFORMS MEITY & TWITTER will present their views. You can tweet/email your views: comit@sansad.nic.in pic.twitter.com/bDYoSv5OHd — Anurag Thakur (@ianuragthakur) February 5, 2019 × The meeting will give an opportunity to the members of the Committee to ask the officials of the government and Twitter about ways in which misuse of social platforms could be curbed. The development comes against the backdrop of concerns over misuse of social media platforms, including through the use of foul and filthy language.

Parliamentary Committee calls officials of government, Twitter to discuss citizens' rights on social media

In the wake of the spread of fake news, the Centre has directed the messaging platform WhatsApp to come out with effective solutions that can bring in accountability and facilitate enforcement of law against dissemination of wrong information.

Union Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir said in Lok Sabha that the government has taken note of reports about the spread of fake news, misinformation or disinformation on Internet, particularly using WhatsApp platform.

"Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology issued notices to WhatsApp conveying that they need to come out with effective solutions that can bring in accountability and facilitate enforcement of the law in addition to labelling forwards and weeding out fake news," he said in written reply to a question.

Ahir said WhatsApp has conveyed that a number of steps have been taken by it to address the issue of fake news propagated using the platform.

"Meetings with law enforcement agencies and intermediaries are held on a regular basis to strengthen the coordination framework for better enforcement of the law," he said.&nbsp;

In the wake of the spread of fake news, the Centre has directed the messaging platform WhatsApp to come out with effective solutions that can bring in accountability and facilitate enforcement of law against dissemination of wrong information.

In the wake of the spread of fake news, the Centre has directed the messaging platform WhatsApp to come out with effective solutions that can bring in accountability and facilitate enforcement of law against dissemination of wrong information. Union Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir said in Lok Sabha that the government has taken note of reports about the spread of fake news, misinformation or disinformation on Internet, particularly using WhatsApp platform. "Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology issued notices to WhatsApp conveying that they need to come out with effective solutions that can bring in accountability and facilitate enforcement of the law in addition to labelling forwards and weeding out fake news," he said in written reply to a question. Ahir said WhatsApp has conveyed that a number of steps have been taken by it to address the issue of fake news propagated using the platform. "Meetings with law enforcement agencies and intermediaries are held on a regular basis to strengthen the coordination framework for better enforcement of the law," he said.

Centre directs WhatsApp to come out with effective solutions against spread of fake news

For the first time, the Assam Finance Department will use social media as an additional platform to inform and engage citizens on the state's 2019-20 budget.

A decision to this effect was taken by the department as social media is an effective tool to gauge public mood, acquire feedback and also to engage citizens for the forthcoming budget, a spokesman of the department said Monday.

The budget will be presented by state Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in the Assembly on February 6.

The use of social media for seeking people's participation and inputs in the budget is also one of the first of its kind experiment in the country and has been very effective so far, the spokesman said.

In 11 days, the department has reached out to more than 1.6 lakh people by posting 200 feeds on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram in 11 days, he said.

The use of this dynamic medium, in addition to other traditional means, has been inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of 'Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas' and also in keeping with the commitment to adhere to the principles of participatory governance, he said.

One of the key objectives of the social media campaign outreach strategy has been to create a bonding with the vibrant pool of youngsters and many other tech-savvy people of Assam, the spokesman said.

The state government's budget app, called Assam Budget, is also a unique initiative towards a 'Digital India'.&nbsp;

For the first time, the Assam Finance Department will use social media as an additional platform to inform and engage citizens on the state's 2019-20 budget. A decision to this effect was taken by the department as social media is an effective tool to gauge public mood, acquire feedback and also to engage citizens for the forthcoming budget, a spokesman of the department said Monday.

For the first time, the Assam Finance Department will use social media as an additional platform to inform and engage citizens on the state's 2019-20 budget. A decision to this effect was taken by the department as social media is an effective tool to gauge public mood, acquire feedback and also to engage citizens for the forthcoming budget, a spokesman of the department said Monday. The budget will be presented by state Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in the Assembly on February 6. The use of social media for seeking people's participation and inputs in the budget is also one of the first of its kind experiment in the country and has been very effective so far, the spokesman said. In 11 days, the department has reached out to more than 1.6 lakh people by posting 200 feeds on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram in 11 days, he said. The use of this dynamic medium, in addition to other traditional means, has been inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of 'Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas' and also in keeping with the commitment to adhere to the principles of participatory governance, he said. One of the key objectives of the social media campaign outreach strategy has been to create a bonding with the vibrant pool of youngsters and many other tech-savvy people of Assam, the spokesman said. The state government's budget app, called Assam Budget, is also a unique initiative towards a 'Digital India'.

In first, Assam finance department to use social media for state budget

2004 to 2019: Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook turns 15

Your privacy on Facebook and Twitter may be at risk even if you have never been on social media or have deleted your account, a study suggests.

Individual choice has long been considered a bedrock principle of online privacy, said scientists from the University of Vermont in the US and the University of Adelaide in Australia.

However, the study shows that if a person leaves a social media platform -- or never joined -- the online posts and words of their friends still provide about 95 per cent of the "potential predictive accuracy," even without any of that person's data.

Published in the journal Nature Human Behavior, the study gathered more than thirty million public posts on Twitter from 13,905 users.

With this data, the researchers showed that information within the Twitter messages from eight or nine of a person's contacts make it possible to predict that person's later tweets as accurately as if they were looking directly at that person's own Twitter feed.

"Looked at from the other direction, when you sign up for Facebook or another social media platform, you think you're giving up your information, but you're giving up your friends' information too!" said James Bagrow from the University of Vermont.

The research raises profound questions about the fundamental nature of privacy -- and how, in a highly networked society, a person's choices and identity are embedded in that network.

The study shows that, at least in theory, a company, government or other actor can accurately profile a person -- think political party, favourite products, religious commitments -- from their friends, even if they have never been on social media or delete their account.

"There's no place to hide in a social network," said Lewis Mitchell, formerly a researcher at the University of Vermont and now a senior lecturer at the University of Adelaide in Australia.

How information moves on social media platforms, like Facebook and Twitter, has become a powerful factor in protest movements, national elections, and the rise and fall of commercial brands, researchers said.

People on these platforms reveal massive amounts of information about&nbsp; 
themselves -- and their friends, they said.

However, scientists have not known if there is a fundamental limit to how much predictability is contained within this tidal wave of data.

The scientists used their analysis of Twitter writings to show that there is a mathematical upper limit on how much predictive information a social network can hold.

However, it makes little difference if the person being profiled, or whose behaviour is being predicted, is on or off that network when their friends are on the network, researchers said.&nbsp;

Your privacy on Facebook and Twitter may be at risk even if you have never been on social media or have deleted your account, a study suggests. Individual choice has long been considered a bedrock principle of online privacy, said scientists from the University of Vermont in the US and the University of Adelaide in Australia.

Your privacy on Facebook and Twitter may be at risk even if you have never been on social media or have deleted your account, a study suggests. Individual choice has long been considered a bedrock principle of online privacy, said scientists from the University of Vermont in the US and the University of Adelaide in Australia. However, the study shows that if a person leaves a social media platform -- or never joined -- the online posts and words of their friends still provide about 95 per cent of the "potential predictive accuracy," even without any of that person's data. Published in the journal Nature Human Behavior, the study gathered more than thirty million public posts on Twitter from 13,905 users. With this data, the researchers showed that information within the Twitter messages from eight or nine of a person's contacts make it possible to predict that person's later tweets as accurately as if they were looking directly at that person's own Twitter feed. "Looked at from the other direction, when you sign up for Facebook or another social media platform, you think you're giving up your information, but you're giving up your friends' information too!" said James Bagrow from the University of Vermont. The research raises profound questions about the fundamental nature of privacy -- and how, in a highly networked society, a person's choices and identity are embedded in that network. The study shows that, at least in theory, a company, government or other actor can accurately profile a person -- think political party, favourite products, religious commitments -- from their friends, even if they have never been on social media or delete their account. "There's no place to hide in a social network," said Lewis Mitchell, formerly a researcher at the University of Vermont and now a senior lecturer at the University of Adelaide in Australia. How information moves on social media platforms, like Facebook and Twitter, has become a powerful factor in protest movements, national elections, and the rise and fall of commercial brands, researchers said. People on these platforms reveal massive amounts of information about themselves -- and their friends, they said. However, scientists have not known if there is a fundamental limit to how much predictability is contained within this tidal wave of data. The scientists used their analysis of Twitter writings to show that there is a mathematical upper limit on how much predictive information a social network can hold. However, it makes little difference if the person being profiled, or whose behaviour is being predicted, is on or off that network when their friends are on the network, researchers said.

Never been on social media? Your privacy may still be at risk, says study

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/those-stopped-from-looting-public-money-are-forming-mahagathbandhan-pm-modi-191517">Prime Minister Narendra Modi</a> on Sunday said the country had transformed from among the "fragile five" nations to the world's fastest-growing economy.

He was addressing the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) booth-level workers through video-conferencing and was speaking against the backdrop of the "#5yearchallenge" currently trending on social media platforms.

"Earlier, Indian governments used to remain in national and international headlines for scams. Nowadays, there is no discussion on scams, but on new schemes," Modi said, adding that the country had moved from scams to schemes in the last five years.

Five years ago, the world saw India as a nation from where news about scams, electricity shortage and financial crises emanated, the prime minister said.

This perspective, he added, had changed and the world now viewed the country with "vishwas" (belief and trust).

Touching on the topic of Maoist violence, Modi said the menace was once overpowering but now, had been contained and restricted to very few districts.

He added that the bravery of security forces and people's support over the last five years had ensured that the nation had won the battle against&nbsp; 
Maoist violence.

Five years ago, there used to be headlines that the country did not have enough toilets, causing embarrassment to women, Modi said.

Now, nine crore toilets had been constructed and sanitation coverage in the country had gone up from 38 per cent (when the National Democratic Alliance came to power in 2014) to 98 per cent, he added.

There was a time when 70 crore Indians had to go without electricity due to the failure of the northern (power) grid, he said, adding that today, several crore households had received electricity connection.

The prime minister said the country's economy, which had once faced the challenge of high inflation and low growth, was now witnessing a low inflation and high growth -- a transformation that had happened over the last four-and-a-half years.&nbsp;

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the country had transformed from among the "fragile five" nations to the world's fastest-growing economy. He was addressing the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) booth-level workers through video-conferencing and was speaking against the backdrop of the "#5yearchallenge" currently trending on social media platforms.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the country had transformed from among the "fragile five" nations to the world's fastest-growing economy. He was addressing the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) booth-level workers through video-conferencing and was speaking against the backdrop of the "#5yearchallenge" currently trending on social media platforms. "Earlier, Indian governments used to remain in national and international headlines for scams. Nowadays, there is no discussion on scams, but on new schemes," Modi said, adding that the country had moved from scams to schemes in the last five years. Five years ago, the world saw India as a nation from where news about scams, electricity shortage and financial crises emanated, the prime minister said. This perspective, he added, had changed and the world now viewed the country with "vishwas" (belief and trust). Touching on the topic of Maoist violence, Modi said the menace was once overpowering but now, had been contained and restricted to very few districts. He added that the bravery of security forces and people's support over the last five years had ensured that the nation had won the battle against Maoist violence. Five years ago, there used to be headlines that the country did not have enough toilets, causing embarrassment to women, Modi said. Now, nine crore toilets had been constructed and sanitation coverage in the country had gone up from 38 per cent (when the National Democratic Alliance came to power in 2014) to 98 per cent, he added. There was a time when 70 crore Indians had to go without electricity due to the failure of the northern (power) grid, he said, adding that today, several crore households had received electricity connection. The prime minister said the country's economy, which had once faced the challenge of high inflation and low growth, was now witnessing a low inflation and high growth -- a transformation that had happened over the last four-and-a-half years.

Once 'fragile', Indian economy now world's fastest-growing: PM Modi

<a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.wionews.com/world/singapore-warns-malaysia-as-maritime-tensions-flare-190206&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=0ahUKEwiCz_S_kPLfAhUJfn0KHeIzBBQQFggFMAA&amp;client=internal-uds-cse&amp;cx=006054055338965708568:09spwrlibei&amp;usg=AOvVaw0Bt_FgmO8BcLf5PsGxadP2">Malaysia</a>'s government will alter an elementary-school textbook which suggested girls should dress modestly to prevent sexual assault, authorities said Wednesday, after it sparked widespread anger.

Social media exploded with outrage after images circulated of a section of the book, which is used by nine-year-olds, entitled "Saving one's modesty". 
It featured a series of pictures of a fictional girl called Amira, whose parents advise her to protect "the modesty of her sexual organs" by wearing the correct attire.

They also tell her to keep the door of her room closed when changing clothes, and to avoid spending time in quiet locations alone.

If she fails in her efforts to prevent an assault, Amira would bring shame to her family, be shunned by her friends and face emotional problems, the book said.

Activists said the book was teaching children from a young age that female victims of sex attacks only had themselves to blame.

"We are appalled," said Meera Samanther, vice president of rights group Women's Aid Organisation.

"The educational material sexualises nine-year-old girls, teaches them to be ashamed of their bodies, and shifts the blame from the perpetrator to the survivor of sexual assault."&nbsp;

Following the outcry, the education ministry said the controversial section of the book would be covered over using stickers.

It is not the first time authorities in Muslim-majority Malaysia have been accused of taking a poor approach to issues of gender or sexuality.

The health ministry was criticised in 2017 for offering cash prizes for the best videos explaining how to "prevent" homosexuality.&nbsp;

The competition was amended following an outcry.

Malaysia's government will alter an elementary-school textbook which suggested girls should dress modestly to prevent sexual assault, authorities said Wednesday, after it sparked widespread anger.

Malaysia's government will alter an elementary-school textbook which suggested girls should dress modestly to prevent sexual assault, authorities said Wednesday, after it sparked widespread anger. Social media exploded with outrage after images circulated of a section of the book, which is used by nine-year-olds, entitled "Saving one's modesty". It featured a series of pictures of a fictional girl called Amira, whose parents advise her to protect "the modesty of her sexual organs" by wearing the correct attire. They also tell her to keep the door of her room closed when changing clothes, and to avoid spending time in quiet locations alone. If she fails in her efforts to prevent an assault, Amira would bring shame to her family, be shunned by her friends and face emotional problems, the book said. Activists said the book was teaching children from a young age that female victims of sex attacks only had themselves to blame. "We are appalled," said Meera Samanther, vice president of rights group Women's Aid Organisation. "The educational material sexualises nine-year-old girls, teaches them to be ashamed of their bodies, and shifts the blame from the perpetrator to the survivor of sexual assault." Following the outcry, the education ministry said the controversial section of the book would be covered over using stickers. It is not the first time authorities in Muslim-majority Malaysia have been accused of taking a poor approach to issues of gender or sexuality. The health ministry was criticised in 2017 for offering cash prizes for the best videos explaining how to "prevent" homosexuality. The competition was amended following an outcry.

Anger at Malaysia's elementary-school textbook telling girls to 'protect sex organs'

The harassment of Indian diplomats continues unabated this year as well. The latest incident is an attempt to hack the social media accounts of Indian High Commission diplomats posted in Islamabad. In one such incident, attempts were made to hack the social media account of a second secretary in Islamabad. Fake profile similar to that of the diplomat's relatives was created to hack the account.

In another incident, a second secretary stationed at the Indian mission received an email from Facebook notifying repeated attempts made to log into his Facebook account.

India sent a note verbale regarding the issue to Pakistan's foreign office on January 10 saying, "such incidents of aggressive surveillance, violation of privacy and harassment amount to a breach of the understanding reached between Pakistan foreign secretary and the High Commissioner of India on 27th March 2018."

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Sources:High Commission of India in Pakistan writes to Pak govt over attempts made to hack social media accounts of senior Indian diplomats.High commissioner&amp; Dy high commissioner being closely followed&amp;aggressively watched by a Pak security official during a wedding in Islamabad <a href="https://t.co/UqR7Fs0evQ">pic.twitter.com/UqR7Fs0evQ</a>
— ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1084791158776053760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 14, 2019</a></blockquote>
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<a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/indian-diplomats-harassed-after-being-questioned-on-road-now-electricity-cut-for-4-hours-in-peak-winter-187521">Indian diplomats in Islamabad have been facing harassment</a> since the end of 2018. On December 4, 2018, the Indian High Commissioner and Deputy High Commissioner were closely followed and aggressively watched by Pakistani security officials during a wedding reception at Serena Hotel, Islamabad.&nbsp;

<table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width: 500px;">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>A Timeline of Harassment</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Dec 4</td>
			<td>Indian HC, Deputy aggressively kept watch on</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Dec 10</td>
			<td>Someone tries to barge into diplomat's house</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Dec 21&nbsp;</td>
			<td>Diplomats questioned on road in Peshawar</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Dec 25</td>
			<td>Electricity cut to diplomat's house&nbsp;</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

&nbsp;

On December 10, someone tried to barge into the house of an Indian diplomat. On December 21, the Indian High Commission team was questioned on a road in Peshawar. On Christmas, the electricity was cut to the house of an Indian diplomat.&nbsp;

WION was the first to report the harassment of Indian diplomats in Pakistan. Earlier in 2018, Indian and Pakistani diplomats in Islamabad and New Delhi had reported incidents of harassment and an understanding was reached in March 2018 to avoid such occurrences with both sides coming out with an official statement.&nbsp;

The functioning of the diplomatic missions between India and Pakistan is governed by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961 and the bilateral Code of Conduct, 1992.

The 1992 code of conduct clearly says the safety and security of the premises of diplomatic personnel, their families shall be respected and protected and any intrusive and aggressive surveillance shall not be allowed.

The harassment of Indian diplomats continues unabated this year as well. The latest incident is an attempt to hack the social media accounts of Indian High Commission diplomats posted in Islamabad.

The harassment of Indian diplomats continues unabated this year as well. The latest incident is an attempt to hack the social media accounts of Indian High Commission diplomats posted in Islamabad. In one such incident, attempts were made to hack the social media account of a second secretary in Islamabad. Fake profile similar to that of the diplomat's relatives was created to hack the account. In another incident, a second secretary stationed at the Indian mission received an email from Facebook notifying repeated attempts made to log into his Facebook account. India sent a note verbale regarding the issue to Pakistan's foreign office on January 10 saying, "such incidents of aggressive surveillance, violation of privacy and harassment amount to a breach of the understanding reached between Pakistan foreign secretary and the High Commissioner of India on 27th March 2018." Sources:High Commission of India in Pakistan writes to Pak govt over attempts made to hack social media accounts of senior Indian diplomats.High commissioner& Dy high commissioner being closely followed&aggressively watched by a Pak security official during a wedding in Islamabad pic.twitter.com/UqR7Fs0evQ — ANI (@ANI) January 14, 2019 × Indian diplomats in Islamabad have been facing harassment since the end of 2018. On December 4, 2018, the Indian High Commissioner and Deputy High Commissioner were closely followed and aggressively watched by Pakistani security officials during a wedding reception at Serena Hotel, Islamabad. A Timeline of Harassment Dec 4 Indian HC, Deputy aggressively kept watch on Dec 10 Someone tries to barge into diplomat's house Dec 21 Diplomats questioned on road in Peshawar Dec 25 Electricity cut to diplomat's house On December 10, someone tried to barge into the house of an Indian diplomat. On December 21, the Indian High Commission team was questioned on a road in Peshawar. On Christmas, the electricity was cut to the house of an Indian diplomat. WION was the first to report the harassment of Indian diplomats in Pakistan. Earlier in 2018, Indian and Pakistani diplomats in Islamabad and New Delhi had reported incidents of harassment and an understanding was reached in March 2018 to avoid such occurrences with both sides coming out with an official statement. The functioning of the diplomatic missions between India and Pakistan is governed by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961 and the bilateral Code of Conduct, 1992. The 1992 code of conduct clearly says the safety and security of the premises of diplomatic personnel, their families shall be respected and protected and any intrusive and aggressive surveillance shall not be allowed.

Attempts made to hack diplomats' social media accounts, India takes up matter with Pak

Too much of social media such as Facebook makes people envious and creates bad mood that can accumulate over time into a general dissatisfaction with life, claims a new book.

Online social networks have made it easier to stay in touch with friends and family around the world, but a worrying factor is that they can easily become a "den of comparisons," says Ashesh Mukherjee in his book "The Internet Trap".

Mukherjee, a professor of marketing at the McGill University in Canada, says as social animals, people are hardwired to compare themselves with others, with the social media magnifying this "inherent aspect" of human nature.

With people now using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Periscope and YouTube to interact, he says compared to face-to-face communication, online communication prompts users to talk more about unusual and desirable products they own, citing research findings.

"This is because online communication is usually in written form while face to face communication is in oral form. Writing gives people the time to construct and refine what they want to say and, during this time, the self-enhancement motive drives people to come up with interesting things to post.

"And once people start posting interesting information, others are likely to follow suit in a bid to keep up with the Joneses. This creates an arms race of one-upmanship, leading to ever more upward comparisons on the Internet," he says.

Mukherjee says he co-conducted a study in 2014 to analyse the psychological effects of "upward social comparisons" where participants were asked to browse social media such as Facebook and some other website, like CNN, for some time and then fill up a questionnaire measuring emotions such as pride, anger, joy, and envy.

"Of all the emotions measured, I found that envy was the most strongly associated with browsing social networks such as Facebook. Since envy is created by upward social comparisons, this study suggests that browsing social networks often makes us envious," he says in the book published by Rupa.

Envy could be either good or bad as on the positive side it can motivate people to work hard to advance their social standing, says Mukherjee, whose researches have focussed on marketing communications, word-of-mouth, online behaviour, and pro-social behaviour, among others.

"On the other hand, people experiencing envy are often ashamed and spend their mental energy trying to conceal their feelings from others," he says, adding that expanding mental energy "reduces self-control, which often leads to decisions we regret later."

"Another negative effect of envy is that it creates a bad mood that can accumulate over time into a general dissatisfaction with life," Mukherjee says.

Analysing the perils of comparisons on social, he cites another study of his to say that a vast majority of the pictures posted on Facebook were of people having a "good time".

In fact, he says, people even risk life and limb in pursuit of the perfect picture to post on social media as it has been reported that 57 people have been killed in India since 2014 while taking dangerous selfies on top of buildings, on train tracks, and on the beach.

"These 'selfie deaths' are a testament to the power of the social image: people like to show off, and social media has given us a bigger stage and a brighter spotlight than ever before to flaunt our stuff," Mukherjee says.

In "The Internet Trap", Mukherjee uses the latest research in consumer psychology to highlight the pros and cons of a more internet-dependent lifestyle and offers solutions to online problems including privacy issues.&nbsp;

Too much of social media such as Facebook makes people envious and creates bad mood that can accumulate over time into a general dissatisfaction with life, claims a new book.

Too much of social media such as Facebook makes people envious and creates bad mood that can accumulate over time into a general dissatisfaction with life, claims a new book. Online social networks have made it easier to stay in touch with friends and family around the world, but a worrying factor is that they can easily become a "den of comparisons," says Ashesh Mukherjee in his book "The Internet Trap". Mukherjee, a professor of marketing at the McGill University in Canada, says as social animals, people are hardwired to compare themselves with others, with the social media magnifying this "inherent aspect" of human nature. With people now using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Periscope and YouTube to interact, he says compared to face-to-face communication, online communication prompts users to talk more about unusual and desirable products they own, citing research findings. "This is because online communication is usually in written form while face to face communication is in oral form. Writing gives people the time to construct and refine what they want to say and, during this time, the self-enhancement motive drives people to come up with interesting things to post. "And once people start posting interesting information, others are likely to follow suit in a bid to keep up with the Joneses. This creates an arms race of one-upmanship, leading to ever more upward comparisons on the Internet," he says. Mukherjee says he co-conducted a study in 2014 to analyse the psychological effects of "upward social comparisons" where participants were asked to browse social media such as Facebook and some other website, like CNN, for some time and then fill up a questionnaire measuring emotions such as pride, anger, joy, and envy. "Of all the emotions measured, I found that envy was the most strongly associated with browsing social networks such as Facebook. Since envy is created by upward social comparisons, this study suggests that browsing social networks often makes us envious," he says in the book published by Rupa. Envy could be either good or bad as on the positive side it can motivate people to work hard to advance their social standing, says Mukherjee, whose researches have focussed on marketing communications, word-of-mouth, online behaviour, and pro-social behaviour, among others. "On the other hand, people experiencing envy are often ashamed and spend their mental energy trying to conceal their feelings from others," he says, adding that expanding mental energy "reduces self-control, which often leads to decisions we regret later." "Another negative effect of envy is that it creates a bad mood that can accumulate over time into a general dissatisfaction with life," Mukherjee says. Analysing the perils of comparisons on social, he cites another study of his to say that a vast majority of the pictures posted on Facebook were of people having a "good time". In fact, he says, people even risk life and limb in pursuit of the perfect picture to post on social media as it has been reported that 57 people have been killed in India since 2014 while taking dangerous selfies on top of buildings, on train tracks, and on the beach. "These 'selfie deaths' are a testament to the power of the social image: people like to show off, and social media has given us a bigger stage and a brighter spotlight than ever before to flaunt our stuff," Mukherjee says. In "The Internet Trap", Mukherjee uses the latest research in consumer psychology to highlight the pros and cons of a more internet-dependent lifestyle and offers solutions to online problems including privacy issues.

Social media makes us envious, leads to dissatisfaction with life, says book

Global social media and technology giants are gearing up to fight sweeping new rules proposed by the Indian government that would require them to actively regulate content in one of the world's biggest Internet markets, sources close to the matter told Reuters.

The rules, proposed by the Information Technology ministry on Christmas Eve, would compel platforms such as Facebook, its messaging service WhatsApp and Twitter to remove unlawful content, such as anything that affected the "sovereignty and integrity of India". This had to be done within 24 hours, the rules propose.

The proposal, which caught many holidaying industry executives off guard, is open for public comment until January 31. It will then be adopted as law, with or without changes.

The move comes ahead of India's national election due by May and amid rising worries that activists could misuse social media, especially the WhatsApp messaging service, to spread fake news and sway voters.

Industry executives and civil rights activists say the rules smack of censorship and could be used by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to increase surveillance and crack down on dissent. Social media firms have long battled efforts by governments around the world to hold them responsible for what users post on their platforms.

US and India lobby groups, representing Facebook and other companies, have sought legal opinions from law firms on the impact of the federal proposal, and have started working on drafting objections to be filed with the IT ministry, four sources in the sector said.

"The companies can't take this lying down. We are all concerned, it's fundamental to how these platforms are governed," said an executive at a global social media company.

An estimated half a billion people in India have access to the Internet. Facebook has about 300 million users in the country and WhatsApp has more than 200 million. Tens of millions of Indians use Twitter.

The new rules, the sources said, would put privacy of users at risk and raise costs by requiring onerous round-the-clock monitoring of online content.

Internet firm Mozilla Corp said last week the proposal was a "blunt and disproportionate" solution to the problem of harmful content online, and one which could lead to over-censorship and "chill free expression".

The IT ministry has said the proposal was aimed at only making social media safer. "This is not an effort to curb freedom of speech, or (impose) censorship," Gopalakrishnan S., a joint secretary at India's IT ministry said on Saturday when the ministry ran a #SaferSocialMedia campaign on Twitter.

Facebook and WhatsApp declined to comment.

A Twitter spokesperson said the company continues to engage with the IT Ministry and civil society on the proposed rules.

"This will be like a sword hanging on technology companies," said Nikhil Narendran, a partner specializing in technology law at Indian law firm Trilegal.

Tight regulations

Such regulations are not unique to India. Vietnam has asked tech companies to open local offices and store data domestically, while Australia's parliament has passed a bill to force companies to give police access to encrypted data. Germany requires social media companies to remove illegal hate speech within 24 hours or face fines.

Nevertheless, the proposal would further strain relations between India and global technology firms. They have been at odds since last year due to federal proposals requiring them to store more user data locally to better assist legal investigations.

The new rules, called "intermediary guidelines", also propose requiring companies with more than 5 million users in India to have a local office and a nodal officer for "24x7 coordination with law enforcement".

When asked by a government agency or through a court order, companies should within 24 hours "remove or disable access" to "unlawful" content, they stipulate.

The rules also mandate companies to reveal the origin of a message when asked, which if enforced would deal a blow to WhatsApp which boasts of end-to-end encryption to protect user privacy. WhatsApp has battled criticism after fake messages about child kidnap gangs on its platform sparked mob lynchings in India last year.

"You have created a monster, you should have the ability to control the monster," a senior government official said, referring to WhatsApp.

"We remain flexible in principle (to suggestions), but we definitely want them to be more accountable, especially the big companies," the official said.

Global social media and technology giants are gearing up to fight sweeping new rules proposed by the Indian government that would require them to actively regulate content in one of the world's biggest Internet markets, sources close to the matter told Reuters.

Global social media and technology giants are gearing up to fight sweeping new rules proposed by the Indian government that would require them to actively regulate content in one of the world's biggest Internet markets, sources close to the matter told Reuters. The rules, proposed by the Information Technology ministry on Christmas Eve, would compel platforms such as Facebook, its messaging service WhatsApp and Twitter to remove unlawful content, such as anything that affected the "sovereignty and integrity of India". This had to be done within 24 hours, the rules propose. The proposal, which caught many holidaying industry executives off guard, is open for public comment until January 31. It will then be adopted as law, with or without changes. The move comes ahead of India's national election due by May and amid rising worries that activists could misuse social media, especially the WhatsApp messaging service, to spread fake news and sway voters. Industry executives and civil rights activists say the rules smack of censorship and could be used by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to increase surveillance and crack down on dissent. Social media firms have long battled efforts by governments around the world to hold them responsible for what users post on their platforms. US and India lobby groups, representing Facebook and other companies, have sought legal opinions from law firms on the impact of the federal proposal, and have started working on drafting objections to be filed with the IT ministry, four sources in the sector said. "The companies can't take this lying down. We are all concerned, it's fundamental to how these platforms are governed," said an executive at a global social media company. An estimated half a billion people in India have access to the Internet. Facebook has about 300 million users in the country and WhatsApp has more than 200 million. Tens of millions of Indians use Twitter. The new rules, the sources said, would put privacy of users at risk and raise costs by requiring onerous round-the-clock monitoring of online content. Internet firm Mozilla Corp said last week the proposal was a "blunt and disproportionate" solution to the problem of harmful content online, and one which could lead to over-censorship and "chill free expression". The IT ministry has said the proposal was aimed at only making social media safer. "This is not an effort to curb freedom of speech, or (impose) censorship," Gopalakrishnan S., a joint secretary at India's IT ministry said on Saturday when the ministry ran a #SaferSocialMedia campaign on Twitter. Facebook and WhatsApp declined to comment. A Twitter spokesperson said the company continues to engage with the IT Ministry and civil society on the proposed rules. "This will be like a sword hanging on technology companies," said Nikhil Narendran, a partner specializing in technology law at Indian law firm Trilegal. Tight regulations Such regulations are not unique to India. Vietnam has asked tech companies to open local offices and store data domestically, while Australia's parliament has passed a bill to force companies to give police access to encrypted data. Germany requires social media companies to remove illegal hate speech within 24 hours or face fines. Nevertheless, the proposal would further strain relations between India and global technology firms. They have been at odds since last year due to federal proposals requiring them to store more user data locally to better assist legal investigations. The new rules, called "intermediary guidelines", also propose requiring companies with more than 5 million users in India to have a local office and a nodal officer for "24x7 coordination with law enforcement". When asked by a government agency or through a court order, companies should within 24 hours "remove or disable access" to "unlawful" content, they stipulate. The rules also mandate companies to reveal the origin of a message when asked, which if enforced would deal a blow to WhatsApp which boasts of end-to-end encryption to protect user privacy. WhatsApp has battled criticism after fake messages about child kidnap gangs on its platform sparked mob lynchings in India last year. "You have created a monster, you should have the ability to control the monster," a senior government official said, referring to WhatsApp. "We remain flexible in principle (to suggestions), but we definitely want them to be more accountable, especially the big companies," the official said.

Social media giants plan push-back on India's new regulations: Sources

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