Digital

The Supreme Court seemed wary Monday of imposing harsh limits on how federal officials communicate with social media platforms about content moderation decisions. Sharply questioning both sides, the justices sought to determine when it is appropriate for the government to encourage the platforms to remove controversial content — if ever.

After making an initial announcement in November, YouTube is officially rolling out a new set of rules around synthetic media. To enforce a sense of transparency around what users are seeing on the video-sharing app, YouTube is now requiring creators to publicly disclose when they upload synthetic content, including generative AI, that they have altered or created to be realistic in any way.

The justices must distinguish between persuading social media sites to take down posts, which is permitted, and coercing them, which violates the First Amendment.

Legal battle would force courts to weigh the government’s national security objectives against the First Amendment rights of TikTok and its users.

The former Apple and Hulu Executive is tapped to lead the new joint venture from Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery.

Startup Netskrt says its fringe delivery networks could help broaden access to live sports streaming.

A majority of the FCC on Thursday voted to redefine broadband as speeds of at least 100 megabits per second for downloads — a fourfold increase from the current standard of 25 Mbps, which was set nine years ago. The new benchmark for upload speeds is 20 Mbps — nearly seven times faster than the current 3 Mbps standard. The FCC also set a long-term goal of 1 Gbps for downloads and 500 Mbps for uploads.

Netflix debuted the sixth season of Love Is Blind on Valentine’s Day, and the show captured a lot of viewers’ hearts — or at least their eyes. The dating show easily led Nielsen’s original streaming series rankings for Feb. 12-18, drawing 907 million minutes of viewing time in the United States. It also finished third overall, behind library shows Bluey (1.17 billion minutes on Disney+) and Young Sheldon (1 billion on Netflix and Max). Those two swapped spots from the previous week.

NBCUniversal said it is working with Google and LiveRamp to deliver more effective personalized commercials on connected TV. NBCU is implementing Google’s Display & Video 360 Publisher Advertiser Identity Reconciliation (PAIR) system, which lets it make its own first-party data more compatible with data from clients. NBCU would be the first major CTV provider using PAIR live later this quarter.

Dozens of popular figures on the app have traveled to Washington to urge lawmakers to oppose a bill that could result in the platform being blocked in the United States.

Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says he wants to pull together a group of investors to buy TikTok. Mnuchin, who also has connections to Hollywood, announced his plans on CNBC Thursday morning.

Closed ecosystems benefit; smaller publishers face daunting and costly challenges.

With shows like Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building showing up on Disney’s ABC, legacy media companies are finding that exposure on TV networks can help expand the audience for their streaming series — and avoid leaving money on the table.

Even though legislation is moving forward, the video social media app isn’t disappearing from smartphones any time soon.

Initial distributors are Pluto TV, Samsung TV Plus, Xumo Play, Vizio WatchFree Plus, Sling Freestream and Plex.

House passage of the bill is only the first step. The Senate would also need to pass the measure for it to become law, and lawmakers in that chamber indicated it would undergo a thorough review. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he’ll have to consult with relevant committee chairs to determine the bill’s path.

The Taliban-run government is fostering a thriving community of YouTube influencers and video bloggers in Afghanistan, seeking to shape a positive narrative about the country by rewarding those who have welcome viewpoints with access to stories that can draw millions of views online.

The House plans to vote on Wednesday on a bill that would force TikTok’s Chinese parent to sell the popular social media app.

Two Amazon Prime Video users claim the company violated a federal video privacy law by allegedly sharing information about their online video viewing with other Amazon-affiliated companies, and with outside businesses. In a class-action complaint, Virginia resident Meredith Beagle and Louisiana resident Jordan Guerrero allege that Amazon Services regularly discloses personally identifiable information to its parent company, Amazon Inc., “for audience measurement purposes, marketing purposes, market research purposes, advertising purposes, and other data collection and analysis purposes.”

A new sports-based pay TV service formed by Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery could represent a new revenue stream for TV stations allowed to participate as content providers. “We have confirmation from [Fox] and Disney that this will operate like a virtual multichannel video programming distributor (vMVPD) – which is to say that our Fox affiliates and our ABC affiliates will have the opportunity to opt-in and both be carried and get paid,” said Nexstar President-COO Michael Biard on Tuesday. “If that happens and they target cord-nevers and they get the thing off the ground – and all those things happen – then we welcome it.”

The Associated Press is launching an e-commerce site called AP Buyline, powered by Taboola. It’s part of a broader effort by the AP to diversify its business by adding more consumer revenue. The company, which has historically made most of its money from licensing its content to other media organizations, redid its website last year to boost consumer traffic and advertising revenue.

After eight and a half years as SVP drama series at HBO, Nora Skinner is going to Netflix where she will be VP in the streamer’s drama series team. Based at Netflix’s Los Angeles headquarters, Skinner, a former film producer and executive, will start at the end of May, reporting to Jinny Howe, Netflix’s VP of drama series.