Tech Tok: The ‘Big Ban’ theory of ‘bad’ content

India’s new IT Rules, 2021 appear to be having a major impact on social media in the country, with the compliance reports of various social media platforms saying that several lakhs of accounts from platforms like Twitter and WhatsApp were banned while search engine Google too removed over a lakh pieces of ‘bad content’ in […]

India’s new IT Rules, 2021 appear to be having a major impact on social media in the country, with the compliance reports of various social media platforms saying that several lakhs of accounts from platforms like Twitter and WhatsApp were banned while search engine Google too removed over a lakh pieces of ‘bad content’ in the last few months.

Twitter, which is fighting a legal battle with the Indian government over content blocking orders, banned 43,140 accounts of Indian users in June over violation of its guidelines. Twitter said it purged 40,982 accounts for child sexual exploitation, non-consensual nudity and similar content while 2,158 accounts were banned for promoting terrorism. In May, Twitter banned more than 46,000 accounts.

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On the other hand, popular messaging platform WhatsApp banned more than 22 lakh ‘bad’ accounts in India in June. The platform had banned over 19 lakh ‘bad’ accounts in May.

Most of the 1,11,493 pieces of bad content removed by Google, based on user complaints in June, were related to copyright violations, while other categories included trademark, court order, graphic sexual content, circumvention and others. Google, as part of its automated detection processes, also removed 528,846 accounts in the country.

In accordance with the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (IT Rules), social media platforms are mandated to publish monthly transparency reports with details of complaints received from users in India and the actions taken, as well as removal actions taken as a result of automated detection. The rules say that big digital and social media platforms, with more than 5 million users, have to publish monthly compliance reports.
New launches/features

Different OLED panel grades for iPhone 14 models

Tech giant Apple is planning to use different OLED panel grades for the upcoming iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro, media reports say.

According to TheElec, Samsung Display will be applying different grades of materials on the OLED panels it will manufacture for the upcoming iPhone 14 series depending on the model tiers. It will use its latest and most advanced material set for the higher tier iPhone 14 models, while it will use its prior generation set for the lower tier ones. The move is being made to save costs.

Samsung Display calls its material sets used on Samsung’s Galaxy and Apple’s iPhones the M series. It will use its M11 material set for the standard 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch models in the iPhone 14 series, while the two higher-tier models in the iPhone 14 series will use Samsung Display’s M12 material set. This same OLED material set is being used on Samsung’s upcoming foldable phones Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4 too.

New TWS earbuds from oraimo

oraimo, a global mobile accessories brand known for affordable TWS earbuds, has launched a new series of earbuds called ‘FreePods Pro’ and ‘FreePods 3’ in India.

The earbuds were launched on August 1 and are available for sale on Flipkart. The FreePods Pro are available at a special launch price of Rs 2,799 and come with Pro Hybrid Active Noise Cancellation, up to 45dB. FreePods Pro also have 43 hours of music playtime while fast charging gives 3 hours of playtime in 10 minutes.

FreePods 3 are priced at Rs 1,499 and are available in two colours, Matte White and Matte Black. The earbuds come with Environmental Noise Cancellation technology, Bass Boost technology, and offer 36 hours of music playback on a single charge. Along with this, FreePods 3 also come with IPX5 water and sweat resistance and have a Type-C port.

oraimo is offering a warranty of 1 year for all devices from the date of purchase.

– Dennis Marcus Mathew with agency inputs