VKontakte (VK)

Gabriel Monte   | Lubbock Avalanche-Journal A federal judge this week handed down a 30-year prison sentence to a 27-year-old Alabama man who admitted to coercing and blackmailing a 14-year-old Shallowater girl to sending him images of child sexual abuse. Bo Jack Kelley of Cullman, Alabama, pleaded guilty in August to a count of production of child pornography and was sentenced on Thursday by a U.S. District Judge in Lubbock to 360 months in prison. After his release, he will be on supervised release for 20 years. Kelley's charge stems from an FBI investigation after the sexually explicit videos of the girl were sent to her mother's social media account. Court documents state Kelley, using a false name, began an online relationship with the girl in 2019. The girl told him she was 14 and he told her he was 19. As the relationship developed, Kelley pressured the girl into sending him sexually explicit videos of herself. Materials posted to Snapchat typically expire after a certain period of time but can be saved using screen recording tools. Kelley also sent the girl videos of himself performing sexual acts and pictures that showed his face.In November, Kelley created another Snapchat account and told the girl to send him more explicit videos and threatened to send the…

Share This Article:President Trump’s Twitter account during the 12-hour lockout. By Chris Jennewein The online revolution centered in California’s Silicon Valley came to the rescue of democracy Wednesday by temporarily locking out President Trump from social media platforms.Support Times of San Diego's growthwith a small monthly contribution When Trump refused to quickly condemn the riot he incited at the Capitol, and later offered only mealy-mouthed calls for calm that reiterated his big lie about the election being stolen, Twitter and Facebook acted on their own. Twitter locked out the President for 12 hours. Facebook went further, making the ban indefinite, as did Snapchat. That did this to prevent Trump for possibly inciting further violence. Unlike many, perhaps most countries, media is the United States is almost entirely in private hands. We don’t have a public broadcaster like the BBC, an official newspaper like the People’s Daily, or a state news agency like ITAR-TASS. It’s entirely up to private American owners to decide how to cover the news. A lot of politicians throughout the world hate independent, privately owned media because they can’t control it. This is especially true of the new media types spawned by the creativity of Silicon Valley.…

Get the latest market trends in your inboxStay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with the Axios Markets newsletter. Sign up for free.Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everydayCatch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everydayDenver news in your inboxCatch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios DenverDes Moines news in your inboxCatch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Des MoinesMinneapolis-St. Paul news in your inboxCatch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Twin CitiesTampa Bay news in your inboxCatch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Tampa BayCharlotte news in your inboxCatch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios CharlotteMichelle Obama speaking in Tacoma, Washington, in March 2019. Photo: Jim Bennett/Getty ImagesFormer First Lady Michelle Obama urged social media companies on Thursday to permanently ban President Trump from using their platforms.Why it matters: Her call comes after Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat took action against the president's accounts after he repeated false claims of election fraud and defended his supporters who invaded the…

Snapchat was among the first apps to leverage the iPhone 12 Pro’s LiDAR Scanner for AR, but now TikTok has followed suit. The social video app confirmed today it has launched its first-ever lidar-powered effect to help its users ring in the new year. The effect features an AR ball, similar to the one that drops in Times Square on New Year’s Eve. After a countdown, the ball drops and explodes to fill the room with confetti, as well as a floating “2021” in the air. Support for LiDAR, or light detection and ranging, was introduced on the new flagship 5G iPhone models, the iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max, in the fall. The technology helps the iPhone better understand the world around you, by measuring how long it takes for light to reach an object in the space and reflect back. Along with improvements to the iPhone’s machine learning capabilities and dev frameworks, this allows for more immersive augmented reality (AR) experiences. Snapchat, an early adopter of the technology, had first used the new LiDAR Scanner to create a Lens in its app where flowers and grasses would grow in the room around you. The Lens included virtual…

A school chef allegedly raped a teenage boy and took a photograph to ensure his silence, the High Court heard today. rosecutors claimed 56-year-old Kevin Thomas Breen sexually abused the child after chatting on Snapchat and manipulating him into meeting at a derelict house. Breen, of Freughmore Road in Fintona, Co Tyrone, denies charges of rape and inciting the boy to engage in sexual activity. The alleged offences were committed on dates in September and October last year. He was arrested last month following a complaint that the teenager had been targeted by an unknown man. During police interviews the boy said he began online communication months earlier with someone who asked to be added to his Snapchat. Believing they were of similar age, he said they continued chatting for months about football and other general topics. But in September he messaged to say he was going for a walk and then noticed a man walking towards him. A Crown lawyer said the stranger approached and said: "You probably don't recognise me. I'm the one from Snapchat." The boy told police he was scared and tried to get home, but was grabbed and led to an abandoned building. It was…

Any kid with a smartphone has the ability to download apps and not all of them are safe! SEATTLE — Many of our kids were given new devices for the holidays and from smartphones to tablets, all of them have the ability to download apps.   While the most popular apps are fun and help us stay connected, they can also be used to target our kids.   Social Media Intelligence expert Dr. Steven Webb is the author of Education in a Violent World: A Practical Guide to Keeping Our Kids Safe.  As a police officer and educator, he wants parents to understand that, "Many apps not generally regarded to be part of the social media dark side can be used by pedophiles, cyberbullies, and online predators to find, contact, harass, and control our children."   It's well worth time to research these apps and see how they might be used to influence/harm your child.   5 Popular but Dangerous Apps All Parents Should be Aware of Dr. Steve Webb is the best-selling author of the book Education in a Violent World 1. SNAPCHAT - This super popular app allows users to send photos and videos that disappear after they're…

Last month, Facebook launched a wide-scale attack against Apple's coming IDFA changes, which will provide app users with more explicit information about data tracking by each app, and enable them to opt-out of such, if they choose.  Now, a new report has suggested there may be good reason for Facebook's opposition - according to data from MKM Partners, Facebook, along with Snapchat, stands to suffer the most impact from the IDFA update, with many users expected to opt-out of their data tracking due to the amount of insights that both companies take in. IDFA enables app owners to track individual user data within apps, including actions taken within the app, device info, acquisition insights, etc. Right now,  iOS users can opt-out of IDFA tracking, but the settings are not readily accessible, and require some digging to find. The update to iOS 14 will make IDFA explicitly opt-in, with a new pop-up prompt when you open each app. According to MKM's analysis, which looked at total user numbers, first-party data access and relative revenue contribution from various types of ads (which utilize different types of data tracking), Facebook and Snapchat are likely to see the biggest impact from users opting out via these…

In this special edition of Campaign’s podcast, Snapchat’s regional general manager, Ed Couchman, MGOMD CEO Natalie Bell and Lucky Generals’ co-founder, Helen Calcraft, share their views about how brands and agencies plan to accommodate the needs of the younger workforce during Covid-19. Plus, they discussed what challenges younger people faced during 2020 and how they’ve kept their enthusiasm for consumption and community. With growing uncertainty around office and social practices, these key figures in tech and media reveal their professional and personal views of what they believe will happen in the future for the younger generation.Snapchat’s first global B2B campaign, “Meet the Snapchat Generation” showcased how its users’ behaviours and values are changing the world, and the 249 million people who communicate using Snapchat are in the vanguard. Users are seen as “the most informed, tolerant, active and diverse in history”, according to Snapchat, and share the characteristics of “taking social responsibility, building community, celebrating individuality, nurturing friendships and communicating in new ways”. And during the pandemic, it’s been even more critical for users to hold onto this identity.  Please visit the Campaign-Snapchat hub for more information about the Snapchat Generation. This special episode is hosted by Campaign's media and tech editor Omar Oakes…

ShareChat, an Indian social network that added Twitter as an investor in 2019, may soon receive the backing of two more American firms. The Bangalore-based startup is in advanced stages of talks to raise money from Google and Snap, as well as several existing investors, including Twitter, three sources familiar with the matter told TechCrunch. The new financing round — a Series E — is slated to be larger than $200 million, with Google alone financing more than $100 million of it, four sources said, requesting anonymity as the talks are private. The round values ShareChat at more than $1 billion, two of the sources said. ShareChat, Google and Snap did not immediately respond to a request for comment. ShareChat has raised about $264 million to date and was valued at nearly $700 million last year. The terms of the deal could change and the talks may not materialize into an investment, the sources cautioned. Local TV channel ET Now reported last year that Google was in talks to acquire ShareChat. ShareChat’s marquee and eponymous app caters to users in 15 Indian languages and has a large following in small Indian cities and towns. Twitter and Snap, on the other…

Reality tv star, Mercy Eke has is being dragged on social media for her unwarranted post about her friendship with Nengi.READ ALSO: “She Is The Mother Of All Beefs” – Critics Condemn Tacha On Her Tweet On Bagging EnemiesMercy went nuts when social media users queried her on why she failed to wish Nengi on her birthday when she had already said they were friends. The queries sparked rage in her as she took to Snapchat to condemn the fans and Nengi.Apparently, her claim that they are friends was just for the gram as she stated emphatically in her Snapchat post that friendship is not by force and also, she is the rich b*tch the fans have always wanted Nengi to be like.Ninjas have reacted to her claims saying Nengi is much more intelligent, articulate and blessed than her. According to them, Mercy ought to give thanks to her ex-boyfriend, Ike who gave her lessons on her manner of utterances.READ ALSO: Billionaire Dangote’s Picture Is Photoshopped – Man Asserts (Photo)See image below;