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Over the past week we’ve been going through a treasure trove of nearly 6,000 pages of court filings that draw on internal emails, research and documents from major social media companies. They were released by a California court as part of ongoing multi-district litigation from more than 1,800 plaintiffs including parents and school districts. It alleges that platforms including TikTok, Meta, Google and Snapchat knowingly built addictive products that were harmful to children. Some of these documents have already been reported on, mostly those containing internal emails from Meta. But the focus on Meta has let some other companies off the hook. Some of our most alarming discoveries concern Snapchat, a platform with an especially young user base. Nearly two thirds of 13 to 17-year-olds in the UK have a Snapchat profile according to Ofcom. And the company claims it has nearly a billion monthly active users. The documents we found show that some users have deeply unhealthy relationships with the platform, specifically concerning issues of addiction, anxiety and body image. They also show that staff were well aware of this. In fact, Snapchat staff have repeatedly raised concerns about the risks to young users’ mental health posed by some

PMW rounds up the top headlines and updates from big tech platforms including Amazon, Snapchat, TikTok, OpenAI, and Google. by Reem Makari To continue enjoying this article, please sign in. You can register for free for limited further access. Want to access unlimited content? Start your free trial today. Sign In Register Limited free articles a month Free email bulletins Register now Take a 30-day free trial Get full access to all our subscriber-only content Unlock in-depth reports: the Workforce report, the Media Spend Index and the PMW Retail Playbook Read our expert opinions, special series and editorial voices Start your free trial

Snapchat has launched Winter Village, a festive AR retail experience in partnership with Chopard, Lancôme and BOSS. Throughout December, Snapchatters can explore the village's boutiques and discover new products, just as they would in real-life, before shopping one of the brand’s e-commerce sites. Chopard invites visitors into a digital reinterpretation of its boutique. Snapchatters can browse displays showcasing the Maison’s watches and jewellery, with each piece revealing its story and craftsmanship through an interactive product card. Lancôme takes people on a poetic journey through beauty and light. Inspired by the Lancôme Express and its signature soft pink aesthetic. This AR experience reimagines the luxury perfume store as a glowing train carriage floating above snowy mountains. Inside, visitors wander through a pink and gold interior where each fragrance icon is presented like a precious treasure. Selecting a product reveals the story and inspiration behind each creation. BOSS, meanwhile, is unveiling its Augmented Factory, a festive space with copper toned walls and wooden crates, animated by a central conveyor belt highlighting the latest BOSS x Steiff collection, an exclusive collaboration where BOSS’ signature elevated aesthetic meets the timeless charm of Steiff’s beloved teddy bears with the trademark ‘Button in Ear’. “The Snapchat

... Snapchat, Meta, TikTok and YouTube will have to take what the government says are "reasonable steps" to stop children under 16 from having ...

Social media platform Snapchat, which has more than 900 million monthly active users, has unveiled a festive retail experience in augmented reality (AR), designed to bring holiday shopping to life through immersive and interactive digital boutiques. The inaugural Snapchat Winter Village launches in collaboration with luxury fashion brand Boss, Swiss watchmaker and jeweller Chopard, and French beauty brand Lancôme, where each brand has created its own distinctive boutique, offering an exclusive AR experience designed in collaboration with the creative studio Atomic. Snapchat Winter Village - Boss Credits: Snapchat In a statement, Snapchat said the winter village experience offers brands a unique opportunity to reinvent their holiday shopping, targeting Gen Z and Millennial consumers by harnessing the power of Snapchat’s AR technology to deliver an immersive and engaging shopping experience by transforming “gift discovery into a moment of wonder and delight”. The Snapchat Winter Village experience runs from December 1 to 31, and will be available in the UK, the US, France, Germany, the Nordics, Benelux and the Middle East. It has been designed to allow Snapchatters the chance to explore each brand’s digital boutique and discover their products within an immersive shopping experience, just as they would in real life

Telecom department recently issued a directive that mandated that the user's subscriber identity module (SIM) used at registration must be bound to the services of web-based platforms such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, Arattai, Snapchat, Sharechat and others. According to Department of Telecom (DoT) circular, within 90 days, users will no longer be able to access these apps unless the original SIM is present in the device. This means that messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, Snapchat, ShareChat, JioChat, Arattai need to ensure that their services cannot be used unless the user has an active SIM card in their device. Making SIM binding mandatory provides a way to trace activity to a physical subscriber. Under the new rules, apps will now be required to automatically log users out every six hours and ask them to log in again through a QR code, when accessed on a device without SIM card. The rules flow from the Telecommunication Cybersecurity Amendment Rules, 2025, which introduced the Telecommunication Identifier User Entity requirement. Under the revised rules, platforms will need access to the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) stored on the SIM, requiring global services such as WhatsApp to re-engineer parts of their system for

New Delhi 5 hours ago Copy link The photo is AI generated The central government on Saturday issued a directive requiring messaging platforms like WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, Snapchat, ShareChat, Geochat, Aratai, and Josh to function only on active SIM cards in mobile devices. The government stated that this move will prevent the misuse of inactive numbers, reduce fraud and spam, and increase transparency related to user identification (KYC). According to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), messaging platforms must ensure that the app runs only when the user’s registered SIM is activated on the mobile device. If the SIM is removed or inactive, the apps will automatically stop functioning. For users who log in via web browsers, the new rule mandates that the platform must log out the user every six hours, after which login will be allowed only via QR code authentication. Also Read| Centre to mandate parental consent on social media for minors Why the rules have changed The government explained that these rules aim to prevent the misuse of closed or inactive mobile numbers, which could otherwise be exploited for fraud, fake accounts, and spam. By ensuring that messaging platforms run only on active numbers, the move also

WhatsApp 6-hour logout: A directive by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to online messaging companies like WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram will soon mean that users will no longer be able to access the applications without the SIM card with which they registered for the services on their phones. The directive will also mean that the companion web services, such as WhatsApp Web, will not be available uninterrupted to users, as they will be automatically logged out every six hours. The department has said that the directive is a way to combat rising digital fraud in the country, but many in the industry believe that it will result in erosion of users’ privacy, could pose challenges for users on international travels, and introduce potential friction points in using such services across multiple devices. Telecom companies, however, support the move, opening up yet another frontier of disagreement between them and tech companies. A senior industry executive said that such a level of SIM linkage for communication services does not happen in the same way in other countries. Here is what to know. What is going to change? The government is drawing its regulatory powers from the Telecommunication Cybersecurity Amendment Rules, 2025, which

Explosive internal files reveal big tech has long known their apps are addictive for some children. These revelations of profit-first thinking come after a study by the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health claiming social media can be as addictive as hazardous substances. And while a leading neuroscientist baulks at the word ‘addiction’ Dr. Anne-Noël Samaha says social media apps can definitely be “habit forming” and that means withdrawals when stopping. Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Arrow It all paints a concerning picture for families across Australian when, from December 10, 2025, the following platforms will be off limits for children under-16: Facebook Instagram Kick Reddit Snapchat Threads TikTok Twitch X (formerly Twitter) YouTube Social media sites caught up in the ban will have to take steps to keep young users off them. (Jono Searle/AAP PHOTOS) Credit: AAP Social media sites caught up in the ban will have to take reasonable steps to keep young users off them, or face fines of up to $49.5 million. There’s no doubt everyone’s buzzing about the ban — yet few are telling parents how to cope when their kids freak out after losing screen time. Why is

POCATELLO — An 18-year-old local man has been charged with three felony sex crimes after police say he engaged in sexual acts with a 15-year-old girl. Kenyan Andrew Metcalf, of Pocatello, was arrested Nov. 13 on charges of rape, lewd conduct with a minor, and sexual abuse of a child under 16 years of age for alleged sexual offenses that occurred during a three-week span last month, according to police and court records the Idaho State Journal obtained this week. The investigation began to unfold after one of the victim's relatives told Pocatello police on Oct. 21 the girl was having sexual relations with an adult, later identified as Metcalf, court records show. Pocatello police interviewed the victim at her school in the presence of her probation officer, during which she initially denied a sexual relationship but admitted to sneaking Metcalf into her residence late at night. Officers conducted a forensic examination of the girl's cell phone, which revealed explicit messages between her and Metcalf on Snapchat discussing sexual acts, including messages with references to sexual intercourse and other sexual contact, police said. A records check confirmed Metcalf turned 18 in May. Police obtained search warrants for both Snapchat and