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PCMag editors select and review products independently. If you buy through affiliate links, we may earn commissions, which help support our testing. Learn more. The decision was taken due to 'overwhelming evidence we are being put at risk when using social media.' British cosmetics company Lush has decided to close a number of its social media accounts across the 48 countries it operates in.The decision is a reaction to the "serious effects" Lush believes social media platforms are having on mental health. As Jack Constantine, chief digital officer and product inventor at Lush, told the BBC:" do need to start listening to the reality of how they're impacting people's mental health and the damage that they're causing through their craving for the algorithm to be able to constantly generate content regardless of whether it's good for the users or not."Mark Constantine, co-founder of Lush, also explained the decision to remove the company from certain platforms:"I've spent all my life avoiding putting harmful ingredients in my products. There is now overwhelming evidence we are being put at risk when using social media. I'm not willing to expose my customers to this harm, so it's time to take it out…

MEXICO CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mediabrands Content Studio (MBCS) and Rufus, Mediabrands exclusive agency for Amazon, are proud to announce the launch of a groundbreaking new branded content Snapchat lens, mARadona: the Homage of the Century, (Lens)–in honor of Amazon Prime Video’s new series, Maradona: Blessed Dream. The cutting-edge Lens, which was created as a tribute to Diego Maradona’s “Goal of the Century” marks the first time Snapchat has ever used body tracking next-generation augmented reality technology, a musical soundtrack, and a recorded voiceover in Latin America. The history-making Lens allows Snapchatters to physically simulate and experience the sights and sounds of “El Diez” as he scored his legendary goal at Azteca Stadium in 1986. As Snapchatters attempt to recreate the athlete’s signature gestures, Snapchat’s augmented reality body tracking technology reads participants’ body movements using “anchors” that identify and confirm that players have adopted the correct leg, torso, arm, and head positioning. As people attempt to beat the clock and advance, the Lens plays Argentine singer, Rodrigo’s, original recording of “La mano de Dios” (The Hand of God), a song written in honor of Maradona. When a fan mirrors all of Maradona’s original “giro, pique, finta, toque, and Barrilete cósmico” steps, they earn…

by: Kiah Armstrong Posted: Nov 23, 2021 / 06:16 PM MST / Updated: Nov 24, 2021 / 07:43 AM MST BERLIN GERMANY – NOVEMBER 28: Shoppers wait to enter a Lush cosmetics store with a Christmas theme on Black Friday weekend during the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic on November 28, 2020 in Berlin, Germany. Christmas season has begun muted in Germany as lockdown measures stay in place and are due to become even stricter in many regions in Germany beginning in December. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images) (ABC4) – Popular UK-based cosmetics brand Lush announced on Monday that it will be deactivating some of its social media accounts in an effort to address mental health challenges that consumers face daily. The company is taking a stand and will deactivate its Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Snapchat accounts beginning Nov. 26, across all 48 countries that it operates in. The accounts will remain deactivated until the platforms take action to provide a “safer environment for users.” In a news release, the company explains that the serious effects of social media are barely being acknowledged, comparing the situation to how issues surrounding climate change have been ignored for decades. The company…

Lush has announced it is closing its accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok until the social media sites do a better job of protecting users from harmful content.The campaigning beauty retailer said it had “had enough” after the allegations of the Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, who claims the company puts profit ahead of the public good.The Lush chief digital officer, Jack Constantine, said the company would not ask customers to “meet us down a dark and dangerous alleyway”, adding that some social media platforms were “beginning to feel like places no one should be encouraged to go … Something has to change.”Constantine said the company spent a lot of time inventing products to help people to unwind and look after themselves. Social media platforms had become the antithesis of this, he argued, with algorithms designed to “keep people scrolling and stop them from switching off and relaxing”.The Poole-based retailer, best known for its fragrant soaps and bath bombs, has run campaigns over the years linked to social causes, with subjects ranging from the targeting of activists by undercover police officers to preventing the extinction of hen harriers.“When it gets to a point that our customers’ wellbeing is being put…

From November 26, 2021, Lush will close all brand, retail and people accounts on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Snapchat and invest in “new ways to connect” ​with consumers,​ building up “better communication channels elsewhere”​, the company said. The policy would be rolled out across all 48 countries where the cosmetics major operated.Lush said that, for now, it would maintain its presence on Twitter, YouTube and Pinterest.In a company statement, Lush said information from “courageous whistleblowers”​ had outlined “known harms”​ young people were exposed to due to current algorithms and loose regulation of social media, strengthening its decision to come off select platforms.“We hope that platforms will introduce strong best practice guidelines, and we hope that international regulation will be passed into law. But we can’t wait,”​ the company said.Social media the ‘antithesis’ of relaxation and switching off​Jack Constantine, chief data officer and product inventor at Lush, said: “As an inventor of bath bombs, I pour all my efforts into creating products that help people switch off, relax and pay attention to their social wellbeing. Social media platforms have become the antithesis of this aim, with algorithms designed to keep people scrolling and stop them from switching off and relaxing.”​Mark Constantine…

Going dark on Nov. 26 to compel social channels to provide a safer mental health environment for users. 11.22.21 Lush Cosmetics says effective Nov. 26, 2021, it will deactivate its Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Snapchat accounts in an effort to address consumers' mental health challenges. The beauty company says its global presence across these platforms will remain off until the platforms take action to provide a safer environment for users. This new policy is rolling out across all 48 countries where Lush operates.     In the same way that evidence against climate change was ignored and belittled for decades, concerns about the serious effects of social media are barely being acknowledged.  Lush has decided to address these serious issues now and to start by changing its own practices rather than waiting until others notice that there is actually a real problem, it said in a statement.   Lush on Instagram The brand will remain on YouTube and Twitter. Lush says it has tried to stop its use of social media in the past. Having previously attempted this in 2019 with Lush's UK channels, the brand says its resolve has been strengthened by all the latest information from courageous whistleblowers, which clearly lays out the…

A teenager has been jailed for four years after admitting to raping a 12-year-old girl. William Lee Cooper was 17-years-old when he was introduced to his victim on Snapchat, Bolton Crown Court heard. The pair spoke and met up at Atherton railway station on December 7 2017, prosecution barrister Adam Lodge told the court. READ MORE : Man charged with murder as 60-year-old killed near Printworks is named The victim had been with friends on that occasion and Cooper, of Briscoe Lane, Newton Heath, kissed her on the head when they eventually parted ways. He asked the girl if they could meet up again and they did on December 11. They went to a field close to a primary school in Atherton and Cooper asked the girl if she wanted to sit on him, as the ground was wet. She eventually stood up and Cooper told her to sit back down. Mr Lodge told the court that Cooper gave her a love bite on her neck - at which point she told him to stop. He threw her phone out of reach, pinned her down, ripped her leggings and raped her. The girl said that the attack lasted up to…

WhatsApp Desktop had a certain bug after a recent update. Photo: file  If you are a WhatsApp Desktop user and are unable to log in to the messaging app due to the recent multi-device update, you should uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp Desktop to fix the problem. The issue started because of a glitch which surfaced after the recent multi-device update, WABetaInfo informed on Twitter. WABetaInfo is an independent portal that keeps tabs on the developments of the Meta-owned messaging application. "This is due to a server-side update to improve multi-device and security notifications when a device list is updated," the website said."You can back up your chat history and reinstall WhatsApp to test if it works now."WABetaInfo further said WhatsApp has released a new Universal Windows Platform app. Some users are experiencing issues when scrolling a conversation and the problem may be caused by the AMD processor a user must be using. "But it might be a coincidence," it added.Some features on the Universal Windows Platform app are still missing, like status updates, archived chats, stickers and dark mode, the website said, adding that the company is already working on it.

SOCIAL MEDIA |21 November, 2021 Creates new AR music lenses making it easier for Snapchatters to express themselves    Press ReleaseMiddle East : With the aim to transform the way Gen Z listens to and discovers new music, Snap Inc. has established a new partnership with Sony Music Entertainment to include their artists’ music into Snapchat’s Sounds library.With over 200 million Snapchatters engaging with augmented reality every day, Snapchat is expanding the music experience on the app by adding Sounds into its AR Lenses available in the Lens Carousel and experimenting with new formats.Rolling out soon, Sound Lenses will feature a pre-selected song embedded into the Lens, a Lens that transforms pictures of anyone to appear as if they are singing a song, and Cameo Sound Lenses that apply visual effects to put you and a friend as the stars of your own animated music video. To find Lenses with Sounds, look for Lenses that have a musical note icon on the Lens icon.These new Sound Lenses will make for a more immersive music experience, and open a proven and powerful way for artists to share music on Snapchat.Dennis Kooker, President, Global Digital Business, Sony Music Entertainment, said “We are…

A New Jersey man pleaded guilty this week to interstate travel with intent to engage in a sexual act with a minor, announced Acting United States Attorney Saima Mohsin. Mohsin was joined in the announcement by James C. Harris, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations field offices in Michigan and Ohio. Jose Ricardo Gomez, 39, of Manalapan, New Jersey, pleaded guilty on November 17, 2021, to one count of interstate travel with intent to engage in a sexual act with a minor before United States Magistrate Judge Patricia Morris. Gomez will be sentenced in February 2022. According to court documents, in or about July and August 2020, Gomez used his phone and the internet to knowingly persuade, induce, entice and coerce a 13-year-old minor and a 14-year-old minor to engage in sexual activity for which he could be charged with criminal sexual conduct in the third degree under Michigan state law. Gomez communicated with the minors via Snapchat and traveled to Michigan from New Jersey. He met them at a hotel in Houghton Lake, Michigan, where he sexually abused the two minors on several occasions during that time. He provided alcohol to the victims before the abuse.…