Technology

Google has published its first transparency report under the new Information Technology (IT) Rules 2021 (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code). Google received a total of 27,762 complaints for the month of April, and the number of removals stood at 59,350. according to the report. The search giant removes any content which violates its community guidelines, product policies, or local legal requirement.

The new IT rules require significant social media intermediaries (SSMIs) such as Google, Facebook, etc to publish a monthly report on the action taken on user complaints that they have received. The rules were notified in February 2021, and came into effect from May.

Twitter’s interim resident grievance officer for India has stepped down, leaving the micro-blogging site without a grievance official as mandated by the new IT rules to address complaints from Indian subscribers, according to a source.

The source said that Dharmendra Chatur, who was recently appointed as interim resident grievance officer for India by Twitter, has quit from the post. The social media company’s website no longer displays his name, as required under Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021. Twitter declined to comment on the development.

New Delhi: Facebook-owned instant messaging app WhatsApp has launched a new sticker pack in India to commemorate this year’s Father’s Day. The sticker pack, named “Papa Mere Papa," has got its name from a popular Bollywood song. The sticker pack was initially rolled out for India and Indonesia but has now been launched across the globe. The sticker pack has been launched just in time for this year’s Father’s Day that falls on Sunday, 20 June. Users who want to with their father’s on the special day can make use of the new WhatsApp stickers.

The new “Papa Mere Papa" collection features a brown man with spectacles and a moustache - a typical stereotypical image of an Indian father - doing several things like hugging their kid, flying kites with them, and even one where the “Papa" is dressed as a superhero - to signify the fact that many consider their father’s their superhero. Users can simply update their WhatsApp app to get access to the special Father’s Day stickers. The sticker pack is available for both iOS and Android users.

New Delhi: We all know the dinosaur-jump game on Google Chrome that appears when there is no internet - it’s a great way to kill some time and procrastinate, as we wait for connections to get restored and go back to surfing the internet. However, most of us don’t know that there is a similar tool on Microsoft Edge that is built specifically for killing time. It’s called Surf. The browser game challenges players to surf as far as possible without colliding with obstacles or falling prey to a sea monster. The game has now received a host of updates with the latest early-access build for Edge.

New Delhi: The tiny red hearts that appear under Instagram photos of kids, kittens and sandwiches can be a source of stress for many users, an insidious way of measuring self-worth and popularity. Now Facebook says it's going to test out again an option for users to hide those like counts to see if it can reduce the pressure of being on social media.

Instagram, which Facebook owns, will soon allow a small group of random users to decide whether or not they want to see the number of likes their posts and those of others receive. The social media giant says it's also exploring the feature for Facebook. Comments will still be available for people who chose to hide likes they just won't see whether it was 2, 20 or 20,000 people who liked their posts.