Creator IShowSpeed sued after punching, choking viral humanoid Rizzbot.

Longtime Slashdot reader sinij shares a report from the BBC: Do you find yourself getting increasingly irate while scrolling through your social media feed? If so, you may be falling victim to rage bait, which Oxford University Press has named its word or phrase of the year. It is a term that describes manipulative tactics used to drive engagement online, with usage of it increasing threefold in the last 12 months, according to the dictionary publisher. Rage bait beat two other shortlisted terms -- aura farming and biohack -- to win the title. The list of words is intended to reflect some of the moods and conversations that have shaped 2025. "Fundamental problem with social media as a system is that it exploits people's emotional thinking," comments sinij. "Cute cat videos on one end and rage bait on another end of the same spectrum. I suspect future societies will be teaching disassociation techniques in junior school."

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The EC is taking issue with the fact that X, the social network formerly known as Twitter, has been allowing anyone to buy a "blue checkmark," the platform's long-standing symbol that a user has been verified to be who they are claiming to be.

The new support hub will connect users to security tools, account recovery options, and an AI assistant.

While TikTok is already known for its recommendation algorithm, which is able to target users with highly personalized content, the addition of a Nearby Feed gives it the ability to display even more relevant content to its users.

The proposal reflects the overall lack of interest in products like Meta's social virtual reality platform, Horizon Worlds.

After last year's flop, Spotify Wrapped engagement is up 19% and shares were up 41%, the company says.

Every year, Google releases a report highlighting the top trending searches, offering a snapshot of what captured our collective curiosity, spanning pop culture, entertainment, internet trends, and news events. Gemini wasn’t the only AI chatbot to make the list, as DeepSeek ranked seventh among the year’s trending searches.

Three years ago, the idea of a YouTuber with a $1.5 billion valuation left some onlookers incredulous -- but Beast Industries ended up raising at a $5 billion valuation last year. Now we're asking a bigger question: Would you buy stock in a 27-year-old named Jimmy?

The Google Photos Recap will use Gemini's AI to find your memorable moments throughout the year, and adds new metrics, like a 'selfie' count.

Three Austrian nuns in their 80s who escaped a care home and reclaimed their old convent are refusing the church's offer to stay because it requires them to quit Instagram, stop speaking to the press, and avoid legal counsel -- conditions they call a gag order. Their standoff with church authorities has now escalated to the Vatican as the nuns continue posting to their 185,000 followers. NPR reports: Before the church authorities moved the nuns into care almost two years ago, the local abbey and Archdiocese of Salzburg acquired the convent. The sisters say they were not aware they were signing away what they understood to be their lifelong right to remain in the cloister. On Friday, their superior, Provost Markus Grasl from Reichersberg Abbey, announced that the sisters can stay. But his offer comes with conditions: The nuns must cease all social media activities, stop talking to the press and forgo seeking legal advice. The nuns have rejected the proposal, and now Grasl has called on the Vatican to intercede. In a statement released Friday, the nuns said the provost's offer is nothing short of a gag order. Speaking via Instagram, Sister Regina said, "We can't agree to this deal. Without the media, we'd have been silenced." Sister Bernadette told Instagram followers: "We need to resolve this but any agreement we reach must be in accordance with God's will and shaped by human reason." [...] The provost's proposed agreement -- which NPR has seen -- also bans laypeople from entering the cloisters, including the sisters' helpers, many of whom they've known for decades and on whom the nuns now depend for help. Speaking to NPR on Monday, the provost's spokesperson, crisis PR manager Harald Schiffl, said that the provost does not understand why the nuns reject his offer and that, in response, he has requested the Vatican authorities responsible for religious orders to step in. The Vatican has not commented on the situation. So while they await news from Rome, the sisters continue to follow the papal Instagram account. Schiffl says the terms relating to the nuns' social media use are reasonable: "The abbey wishes to discontinue the sisters' social media accounts because what they show has very little to do with real religious life."

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27 million people live in Australia. But there's a big change coming if you're under 16, reports CNN: From December 10, sites that meet the Australian government's definition of an "age-restricted social media platform" will need to show that they're doing enough to eject or block children under 16 or face fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars ($32 million). The list includes Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Reddit, Threads, TikTok, Twitch, X, and YouTube... Meta says it'll start deactivating accounts and blocking new Facebook, Instagram and Threads accounts from December 4. Under-16s are being encouraged to download their content. Snap says users can deactivate their accounts for up to three years, or until they turn 16... There's another sting in the ban, too, coming at the end of the Australian school year before the summer break in the southern hemisphere. For eight weeks, there'll be no school, no teachers — and no scrolling. For millions of children, it could be the first school break they spend in years without the company of time-killing social media algorithms, or an easy way to contact their friends. Even for parents who support the ban, it could be a very long summer. "There's every chance that bans will spread..." the article argues. "Other countries around the world are taking notes as Australia explores new territory that some say mirrors safety evolutions of years past — the dawning realization that maybe cars need safety belts, and that perhaps cigarettes should come with some kind of health warning." And according to the Associated Press, Malaysia "has also announced plans to ban social media accounts for children under 16 starting in 2026." But CNN reports few teenagers in Australia knew about its impending ban on social media, judging by a show of hands at one high school auditorium. Teenagers in the audience had two questions. "Can you get your account back when you turn 16?" "What if I lie about my age?"

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Platforms including Meta and TikTok will be held liable for financial fraud for the first time under new rules agreed by EU lawmakers in the early hours of Thursday. From a report: The Parliament and Council agreed on the package of rules after eight hours of negotiations to strengthen safeguards against payment fraud. The deal adds another layer of EU regulatory risk for U.S. tech giants, which have lobbied the White House to confront Brussels' anti-monopoly and content moderation rules. [...] Social media has become rife with financial scams, and MEPs pushed hard to hold both Big Tech and banks liable during legislative negotiations. EU governments, meanwhile, believed banks should be held responsible if their safeguards aren't strong enough. As a compromise, lawmakers agreed that banks should reimburse victims if a scammer, impersonating the bank, swindles them out of their money, or if payments are processed without consent.

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Facebook users can protect their privacy in Groups using a new nicknames feature.

The country's communications minister Fahmi Fadzil said the administration is considering systems for implementing age restrictions on social media sites.

The interview began with Baszucki describing the feature, which will require all users to submit a face scan if they want to access Roblox’s messaging features. But by the time he was asked about a report claiming the company had prioritized growth over safety, Baszucki seemed to tire of the topic.

While X’s new “About this account” feature includes information about when a user joined and how they downloaded the app, geographic location is getting the most attention by far.

X is still used by 21% of U.S. adults, Pew found, only down from 23% in 2021, despite increased competition from Meta, startups, and decentralized social media.

The feature will show where users are based, how they're connected to X, and how many times they've changed their username.

Phictly helps fans find niche clubs for their favorite books, shows, and movies, offering intimate, spoiler-safe communities with flexible pacing and tracker tools.