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Social media

Graphic of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

China’s tech weapons roll in to quell demonstrations, identify protesters

Free speech

The latest demonstrations across China ended when the central government unleashed a digital arsenal that was less deadly than the tanks used to quell the 1989 protests, but just as effective. China managed to use the internet to defuse national outrage over President Xi Jinping’s strict COVID-19 policies without firing a single shot.

Facebook's Meta logo sign is seen at the company headquarters in Menlo Park, California, on Oct. 28, 2021

‘I hold Facebook directly responsible for my father’s murder’: Lawsuit alleges platform fueled violence in Ethiopia

Conflict & Justice
A view of the TikTok app logo, in Tokyo, Japan

TikTok can be a ‘dangerous tool for hatemongers,’ Kenyan govt warns ahead of elections

Social media
A screenshot of Ukrainian President and onetime actor Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a video he posted online.

Why Zelenskiy’s ‘selfie videos’ are helping Ukraine win the PR war against Russia

Ukraine
A woman sits on a bed using her phone with another woman in the hallway doing the same

The lost art of listening

Science & Technology
The app Smart Voting is displayed on an iPhone screen in Moscow, Russia

Apple, Google remove opposition app as Russian voting begins

Elections

Apple and Google have come under pressure in recent weeks, with Russian officials telling them to remove the Smart Voting app from their online stores.

Green WhatApp icon surrounded by other apps on a smart phone

WhatsApp sues Indian government over unconstitutional internet laws, privacy encroachment

Social media

India’s new measures would force WhatsApp to make messages on its platform traceable.

Teenager logs into social media app on phone

Your digital footprint can come back to haunt you, says media historian

Identity

Adolescent transgressions once confined to yearbooks are becoming immortal.

Social media icons on a window

How social media has changed society

Science & Technology

It draws us in and riles us up — but we still can’t look away.

The Facebook logo and binary cybercodes are seen in this illustration dating to Nov. 26, 2019.

Turkey passes ‘draconian’ social media legislation

Free speech

Turkey’s parliament approved a law early Wednesday that gives authorities greater power to regulate social media despite concerns of growing censorship.