Avatars will be coming to WhatsApp as well in the not too distant future

When we generally hear the word Avatar, it is the nickelodeon show or movie that comes to mind. But, there is another type of avatar as well. The avatars we are talking about are the digital 3D reconstruction of you mostly seen on social media platforms. This idea was first introduced by Snapchat under the name of Bitmojis but now they are coming to WhatsApp as well.

According to a screenshot posted by WABetainfo, this feature will let users create avatars molded in their faces, and with those avatars, users will be able to create stickers and gifs along with using them as profile pictures on their WhatsApp.

The main reason for bringing Avatar feature to WhatsApp is that the app is working to make sure that it becomes the main chatting medium for both Android and iOS alike.

With these new changes, users were able to create video calls with multiple people at a time for their work, study, or catching up. This tool is all set to make a huge impact with the most exciting feature of today’s article, the ability to have your avatar as your face on voice calls instead of keeping your camera open. But, we shouldn’t get our hopes up too high because this is still very into the future. However, there is a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel as WABetainfo has shared a screenshot that helps us to get an idea of what the new and updated chats will look like.

One point that should be noted is that this feature is still under development and no official release date for this feature has been announced yet by the parent company of WhatsApp, Meta.

Read next: WhatsApp is working on new updates for both Android and iOS
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

TikTok Forces All Political Accounts To Undergo Verification While Banning Fundraising

The US Midterms are almost here and TikTok says it’s on a political cleanup mission to better prepare for the grand event.

The company revealed this week how it will now be requiring all political accounts on the app to undergo verification. This new rule applies to politicians, political parties, and those involving governmental departments. Similarly, the company outlined today how it would ban all content whose main aim is fundraising.

TikTok and many other leading digital apps have been struggling in terms of keeping a check on political misinformation. And with the elections in November, what better time to crack down than now?

All accounts in the past were allowed to put up any content without undergoing strict surveillance. And that’s when the app was heavily criticized and forced to undergo scrutiny on the matter from American lawmakers.

In 2019, we saw the famous video-making app ban all forms of political advertising. But this is the first time that we’re hearing the addition of steps that will validate user profiles linked to the world of politics.

Any account that wishes to be verified can request it. The app will carry out a list of measures that can help confirm the profile’s identity that they feel belongs to a political party or a politician.

The company is also set to update its current policies in place in this regard, and carry out a complete ban on political fundraising. Therefore, any account that wishes to break the rules will be prevented from getting access to the app.

Additionally, such accounts would be restricted further from making use of money-making endeavors that are delineated for the app’s influencer community. So even if it's for the sake of gifting or paying others, they won’t be allowed.

So if you happen to be linked to politicians in some way, shape, or form, you might want to be aware of the company’s new practices.

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

The Real Reason Why OnePath Network’s TikTok Account Got Banned

OnePath Network is a popular content creation channel that focuses on Muslim affairs as well as topic that have a wider global appeal. They have an established presence on YouTube and their TikTok account was picking up a lot of steam, but in spite of the fact that this is the case they awoke one day to find that their TikTok account had been deleted.

The channel then created a video outlining why they feel like the ban was beneficial to them, discussing the various ways in which TikTok’s algorithm might be harmful to the content creation community and the industry as a whole. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that this ban sheds some light on the tight grip that TikTok holds over its own content. It is not uncommon to see videos that go against the narrative of the Chinese Communist Party or China in general getting taken down.

For example, videos that exposed the true nature of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine were buried by the algorithm because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up keeping the narrative that Russia was in the right alive and well. Now, in the case of OnePath Network, the reasoning behind the ban might be even more directly linked to China’s political influence and its policy decisions concerning certain members of this population.

Since OnePath Network is a Muslim oriented media channel, they obviously wanted to discuss Muslim centric issues. One of the biggest issues affecting the Muslim community is that of the treatment of the Uyghur minority in the Chinese mainland.

The Chinese government has long held the position that they are not trying to disenfranchise or harm the Muslim Uyghur community, but numerous international organizations have suggested otherwise. Indeed, independent studies that have analyzed the treatment of Uyghur Chinese people have labelled this treatment a genocide.

OnePath network made a video earlier in the year which focused entirely on the genocide of Uyghurs. This video received millions of views when it was uploaded on other platforms like Instagram and YouTube, but when it went up on TikTok it was immediately removed with the reason being supposed hate speech. It is quite unusual that one social media platform found hate speech in a video that performed so well on other platforms, and this suggests that TikTok is taking censorship to the next level.

While TikTok’s growth has been quite staggering, its status as a social media platform of choice will not be concrete until and unless it stops its censorship. The problem is that TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is notorious for collaborating with the Chinese government. That might be the only way they can continue to do business because the Chinese government is known for taking strong action against entrepreneurs who do not toe their line, with Jack Ma being a pertinent example of that.

The fact that TikTok removed a video about Uyghurs that OnePath Network posted and later banned their account cannot be a coincidence. It highlights a sinister aspect of the fastest growing social media platform in the world, and ByteDance’s supervisory board from the Chinese government would have to go.

If that doesn’t happen, TikTok’s chances at expanding at a global rate will be quite minimal. People do not want social media platforms that censor their speech, let alone censor important videos that are talking about a major human rights issue. ByteDance, and by extension TikTok, needs to become independent of the Chinese government, and it might put its future growth in to question if that doesn’t happen, especially considering the numerous other controversies surrounding the platform as of late.

Read next: TikTok’s Moderation System Accused Of Giving Preferential Treatment To Its Most Popular Users
by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Twitter Tests New Ways To Provide Better Recommendations In User Feeds

It’s no surprise that all leading social media apps are working hard toward altering their algorithms in a manner that recommends the best content on user feeds.

Taking inspiration from TikTok has really turned into a trend and everyone is doing it, with Twitter joining the bandwagon too.

The company recently went public with the decision of experimenting with different ways to better recommend content. They wish to show users more of what they prefer to obviously generate more views and engagement through the app.

This way, Twitter hopes to keep users glued to their screens for a longer period of time, just like they are to TikTok’s app. Unfortunately, Meta has not been too successful with this endeavor.

Gone are the days when we looked at social graph stats to better deduce what people like. Today, it’s all about using AI-powered technology to generate recommendations, just as can be seen by TikTok.

The company highlighted what it's doing to give users recommendations on their feeds and they’re also unleashing a unique experiment linked to providing them with more control. Remember, if users are happy then the app is happy because that’s where the money comes from.



Mentioning the update via its blog post recently, the app says these can best be seen as personalized recommendations that are entirely judged on how you behave on the app, which they call signals.

From your interests to the intriguing topics you follow, the list is endless. You’re also given the chance to engage in a lot of tweets and that is where more signals are generated. It’s also about which tweets are loved by those on your network. As a whole, this is what your recommendations end up appearing as.

Thankfully, the recommended content on this app is not as prominent as what we’re seeing on Meta’s leading apps. Twitter try to do that in 2017 but failed miserably. This is why it’s really taking some calculated steps now.

Twitter knows that its in-app algorithms aren’t fabulous and that’s why it's making these tweaks to get back in the game and give users content that they truly love and are interested in.

The platform says it also has plans to enhance its Spaces Tab because it feels that is also lacking in terms of personalization. They hope to better shape that up by adding more stations and subcategories so users can manually let the app know what they love and enjoy.

Similarly, hosts on Spaces will be told to add topics to conduct their chats.

We find that a little odd that an app is asking a user what they like or prefer instead of manually looking at app activity and letting that indicate better.

Twitter is working on making other changes like introducing an X button for tweet recommendations. This enables the content to be deleted from timelines quicker and allows you to share feedback.

We’re not sure how successful the app will be but it’s high time it gave a look to its Explore page which continues to lack in terms of personalization big time.

Read next: Twitter Launches Handy Apps On Its Toolbox Hub For A Smoother Tweeting Process

by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Single Sign-Ons are as not as safe as companies might think, report finds

The internet like everything has a dark side and for the internet, it is the dark web. On the dark web, one could find all sorts of illegal stuff for sale including stolen access data from half of the top US firms. Yes, you read that right.

According to a new report by research company BitSight, some of the top US companies whose combined market value is more than 11 trillion dollars, including more than 3,000 businesses, who, according to the report, have been the victims of at least one Single Sign-On (SSO) credential theft.

What are SSOs? Well for the people that don’t know SSO stands for Single-sign-on, which is the point that a user can log into an app or website only once. If they come back to the page regularly they would need to enter their password and log in every time. For most companies, this is the safest way of protecting user data but sometimes it can prove to not be enough. Half of the most important US companies have had their data stolen and up for sale on the dark web just this year even with security measures in place.

If you are thinking that only the big companies are affected by these attacks, then you are wrong because it is stated very clearly in the report that in June and July of this year alone, there were 1,500 fresh sets of credits available on the dark web.

According to BitSight, SSOs are the keys to the kingdom that can be used to lock the monarch out. They are called that because they can help in gaining access to multiple apps scattered throughout the database of a company or organization.

Now, let’s discuss some of the ways that these stolen credentials can be used because as said by the report, stolen SSO credentials have been used to help in more than half of the cyber-attacks in the United States.

Read next: This Research Shows Meta Apps Are Extremely Vulnerable to Cyber Attacks
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Google Chrome is getting its own root certificate stores

Encryption has become an important part of ensuring privacy. From encrypted chats to encrypted Internet connections, the concept has gone up on so many levels.

To make an encrypted Internet connection work, the web browser or software that would be linking to the Internet needs to have a record of reliable certificates that allows the exchange of a specific key to nailing down a protected Internet connection.

In this whole process, the root certificate stores play an important role by providing a list of authorities responsible for proper certification. Websites that have a certificate from such sources will be considered more reliable by the users. Based on this, the technology giant Google has stated that the company is planning to offer its stores with Google Chrome 105.

The idea of an independent root store is not a new one, and Mozilla did the same with Firefox a while back.

Previously, Chrome was dependent on the operating system of the device, which could be Apple's iOS, Android, or Windows. It may not appear like something to be worried about, but the developers behind this had to face a lot of difficulties. This is why Mozilla took the initiative way before Google Chrome.

Once this step is taken, Google will no longer be dependent on the operating system of the device and will be able to set its user policies to secure a reliable connection. Google is looking forward to working simultaneously with the CA holders to get involved with the whole web public key infrastructure process.

• Also read: Google Is Testing Out A Sidebar Feature To Be Added To Its Chrome Browser

While Google is hoping to make the certification procedure more feasible for everyone, it can also be expected that the company is trying to get a hold of the Web. Since almost every other new technology needs Google’s support to start working,

The independent root store was announced 2 years back, but at that time the idea wasn’t able to get public support. Now the company has ensured that it won’t go against the operating system policies and has now started to introduce its root stores through Chrome 105 on different operating systems.

Read next: Google Chrome Will Soon Get A New Security Enhancement That’s Similar To Microsoft Edge
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

BookTok is getting new updates to stretch its community

The famous short video platform TikTok is continuously working on features to bring its community closer than ever. One of the latest steps taken by the company in this direction was the introduction of BookTok.

BookTok is a subculture of TikTok which was announced 2 months ago, on July 17th. As the name suggests, this feature was specifically designed for TikTok users who love to read and want to share it with other book lovers. As of now, this book corner has successfully collected over 77 billion views, and the figure is expected to go further up with time.

Since the feature is doing so well, the app developers are now working on projects that can make it a more user-friendly experience for the audience. The latest feature that has been added is that the platform is now in partnership with Penguin Random House, a US-based publishing company.

In light of this partnership, TikTok rolled out a feature that lets users mention any book title from the mentioned publishing firm in their uploaded content. It will work just like how the tags work, but this feature is currently available only for US and UK users.

When a book is tagged by a user, it will be shown above the caption. And once the tag is tapped, the user will be directed towards the page which will carry all the information about that tagged book, including the genre, how long the book is, and a summary. Not only that, but if any other user also tagged the same book, they can find it on the list as well.

Another feature that is worth mentioning is that for BookTok, users won’t be obliged to save the whole video. In the previous version, the whole video had to be saved to watch it later some other time, but now, TikTok users, especially the BookTok ones, will be able to save only the title of that shared book and won’t have to go through the whole video just to recall the purpose of saving it. These saved titles can be accessed through the “to read” list, which will be available near the saved videos option.

Using the feature is as easy as it sounds. All that needs to be done is to tap the "add link" before posting a video, then search for the book the user wants to tag and tap “add” on the respective book link.

Read next: TikTok’s Moderation System Accused Of Giving Preferential Treatment To Its Most Popular Users
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World