ZeroHour
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TikTok

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The push to stop algorithms controlling social media feeds has begun

Australia's draft Digital Duty of Care would let users over 16 opt out of algorithmic social media feeds, with penalties up to AU$109.2 million.

Australia released draft legislation for a Digital Duty of Care that includes a 'My Feed, My Way' measure allowing users over 16 to switch off algorithmically curated feeds, with platforms required to offer the choice. The proposal also obliges digital services, including social media, games, apps, and AI chatbots, to protect under-18s from harmful content and design features. Non-compliance penalties reach AU$109.2 million (US$78.6 million), and the eSafety Commissioner would gain removal-notice powers for nudify apps and sites. The bill is expected in Parliament before Christmas and follows Australia's under-16 social media ban and Meta's US settlement over teen feeds.

Malwarebytes Labs · 6d agoOther

StreamRat Android malware spreads through Meta and TikTok ads

Malwarebytes reports StreamRat Android banking trojan spread via Meta and TikTok ads reaching roughly 570,000 users, mostly in Spain.

Malwarebytes researchers uncovered a malicious advertising campaign on Meta and TikTok promoting a fake free TV-streaming service that delivered the StreamRat Android banking trojan and infostealer. The ads, aimed at Spanish-speaking users with most victims in Spain, reached approximately 570,000 Meta users in a campaign running June 11 through July 3, 2026. The download site detected Android devices and the referral source, then coached users through sideloading steps including enabling installs from unknown sources. StreamRat can monitor the screen, capture typed credentials, display fake login screens, and give attackers remote control, including black-screen and fake Android update overlays.

Malwarebytes Labs · 12d agoMalware in the wild

I’ve been deepfaked: What do I do?

ESET outlines steps for deepfake victims: preserving evidence, using platform reporting tools, and legal remedies like the US TAKE IT DOWN Act and StopNCII.org.

ESET published a how-to guide for people who discover deepfakes of themselves, covering evidence preservation, platform-specific reporting on Google, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and X, and escalation to publishers or data protection regulators. It notes the US TAKE IT DOWN Act criminalizes non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII) and requires 48-hour takedowns, while UK and EU laws add creation offenses and GDPR Article 17 erasure rights. Services like StopNCII.org and TakeItDown.NCMEC.org hash images so participating platforms such as Meta, TikTok, Reddit, and X can find and remove matching copies.

ESET WeLiveSecurity · 13d agoAI safety & security

AgenticGen: Reward-Guided Agentic Video Generation for Advertising

AgenticGen applies DPO and GRPO reward-guided reasoning to ad video generation, improving TikTok CTR 2.72%, CVR 2.63%, and Advv 9.61%.

AgenticGen decomposes advertising video generation into two trainable reasoning stages, strategy selection and draft generation, supervised by online business feedback. It learns a performance-based reward from accumulated online feedback plus a rubric-based reward aligned with human quality standards, then optimizes policies with DPO followed by GRPO using process and outcome rewards. Online A/B experiments in the TikTok advertising system show CTR up 2.72%, CVR up 2.63%, and Advv up 9.61% over an SFT baseline.

Hugging Face daily papers · 16d agoAI research

Meta to Pay Up to $18B Over Teen Social Media Use

Meta agreed to pay up to $18 billion and cap teen Facebook and Instagram use at two hours daily, settling child-safety lawsuits from most US states.

Meta settled claims that it deliberately designed Facebook and Instagram to addict children, ending a federal trial as Instagram head Adam Mosseri began testifying and Mark Zuckerberg was expected to testify. Of roughly $16.7 billion for 47 states and territories, $12.7 billion is guaranteed and $5 billion is contingent on Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube adopting similar teen protections. The deal also resolved state privacy claims tied to Cambridge Analytica for an additional $459 million, while New Mexico (a $567 million ruling) and Florida opted out of the settlement.

Security Affairs · 19d agoPolicy & legal

An Open Letter to TikTok and YouTube to Join Us in Supporting Teens

Meta announced an agreement with bipartisan state attorneys general and asked TikTok and YouTube to adopt similar teen-safety measures.

Meta says it reached an agreement with a bipartisan group of state attorneys general on measures to empower parents and support teens. The company published an open letter urging TikTok and YouTube to join the initiative. The story concerns social media platform policy rather than cybersecurity or AI.

Meta Newsroom · 20d agoOther

Our Agreement With Bipartisan Attorneys General: Calling on TikTok and YouTube to Join Us in Supporting Teens

Meta finalized an agreement with 51 US state and territorial attorneys general on teen-safety commitments, urging TikTok and YouTube to join.

Meta announced an agreement with a bipartisan group of 51 attorneys general across US states, territories, and the District of Columbia. The initiative builds on Meta's efforts to empower parents and support teens, with an open letter calling on TikTok and YouTube to participate. The topic is social media platform policy rather than cybersecurity or AI.

Meta Newsroom · 20d agoOther

New Zealand to pursue social media ban for children under 16

New Zealand's Prime Minister proposed a law banning social media for under-16s, with fines up to 10% of global revenue and an online safety regulator.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said his party will introduce legislation barring under-16s from high-risk platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Facebook, requiring age verification via facial age estimation, digital ID or formal IDs, and penalties up to 10% of global revenue. The bill would mandate ongoing risk monitoring by platforms popular with children, cover emerging tech including AI companions, and create an online safety regulator within the Department of Internal Affairs. It faces political opposition and follows similar moves in Australia, several European countries, Turkey, Brazil, Indonesia and Canada.

The Record · 22d agoOther

TikTok Settles U.S. Child Privacy Case for $400 Million

TikTok will pay $400 million to settle U.S. DOJ/FTC claims that it violated COPPA by collecting data from children under 13.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced a $400 million settlement with TikTok and ByteDance resolving a 2024 lawsuit over violations of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). TikTok will pay $300 million immediately and $100 million upon entry of an order vacating a prior consent decree against its predecessor Musical.ly; it is one of the largest recoveries ever obtained in a COPPA case. The DOJ and FTC, filing in California, alleged TikTok knowingly allowed children under 13 to create accounts and illegally collected data via Kids Mode. TikTok was previously fined €345 million by Ireland's Data Protection Commission in 2023 for GDPR breaches involving children's data.

Security Affairs · 22d agoPolicy & legal

TikTok Agrees to $400 Million Settlement in U.S. Child Privacy Lawsuit

TikTok agrees to pay $400 million to settle a DOJ child-privacy lawsuit alleging COPPA violations including collecting data from children under 13.

The DOJ announced that ByteDance-owned TikTok will pay $400 million to settle a 2024 lawsuit alleging massive-scale invasions of children's privacy. TikTok pays $300 million immediately and $100 million upon vacating the prior Musical.ly consent decree. The complaint alleged children under 13 could create accounts, data was collected in Kids Mode, and parental deletion requests went unheeded. DOJ called it one of the largest recoveries ever under COPPA, following TikTok's 2023 €345 million GDPR fine.

The Hacker News · 24d agoPolicy & legal

Senators press TikTok over withholding of safety features for some users

Sens. Blackburn and Blumenthal demand TikTok explain why safety features were withheld from about 10% of users, following a teenager's suicide.

Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Richard Blumenthal sent a letter demanding answers from TikTok after a Bloomberg report showed the company withheld algorithmic safety changes from a control group of about 10% of users, including 16-year-old Chase Nasca, who died by suicide in February 2022. An internal review found the teen viewed more than 7,500 videos in his final two weeks, 73% with themes of sadness or personal struggles. The senators tied the case to the Kids Online Safety Act, which advanced out of the Senate Commerce Committee on August 5, and set a September 1 deadline for responses.

The Record · 26d agoPolicy & legal