Brand new Techish podcast episode! This week, Techish host Michael Berhane sits down with TechCrunch reporter Dominic-Madori Davis to explain why Megan Thee Stallion loves Pinterest and why it’s a respite from all the other social media noise. Listen to the episode: Listen on Spotify or Apple podcast also. Watch on YouTube:
TikTok rapper Dantreal Clark-Rainbolt, known by his stage name Trefuego, has been ordered to pay Sony Music Entertainment $802,997.23 in damages for using a copyrighted sample without permission. U.S. District Judge Mark T. Pittman delivered the ruling, saying the fine would teach him a six-figure “lesson” about “carefully selecting the materials included in his raps.” Trefuego’s Copyright Clash Trefuego’s track “90mh” became a viral sensation on TikTok, featured in over 155,000 videos and gaining more than 100 million streams on Spotify. Despite the song’s success and nearly $700,000 in earnings, the rapper’s victory was short-lived.
In a controversial incident, DBrand, a Canadian tech accessory company known for its social media persona, faced severe backlash after making a racist remark about a customer’s last name. A Joke Taken Too Far? The comment, which was intended to be humorous, was directed at Bhuwan Chitransh, a customer who had complained about the discoloration of a product he had purchased. Chitransh’s initial tweet to DBrand was about a computer skin that changed color only two months after purchase. In a response that was seen as offensive, DBrand tweeted, “Your
Nearly 60% of Black small- and mid-sized business (SMB) owners on TikTok say that the app is critical to their business’ existence, a new Oxford Economics report has found. TikTok’s Value For Small businesses Oxford Economics, in collaboration with TikTok, sought to understand the app’s economic value for local communities across the US. It surveyed 1,050 SMBs and 7,500 users in 2023 to gauge interactions and benefits derived from the app. Small and medium businesses generated $14.7 billion in revenues and supported 224,000 jobs on TikTok supported 224,000 jobs, the
AI’s inability to detect signs of depression in social media posts by Black Americans was revealed in a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). This disparity raises concerns about the implications of using AI in healthcare, especially when these models lack data from diverse racial and ethnic groups. The Study The study, conducted by researchers from Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine and its School of Engineering and Applied Science, employed an “off the shelf” AI tool to analyze language in posts from 868 volunteers. These participants, comprising equal
April Fools’ Day is known for its jokes, but in the tech world, it can be challenging to tell what’s real and what’s not, even on regular days. A lot is happening in tech, from ingenious deceits to blatant scams. We’ve got stories about everything from a Black tech pro who made up a fake assistant to earn more respect to the wrong use of AI in politics and huge money tricks in the crypto world. Here are 9 POCIT stories to check out this April Fools’ Day. 1. The
Meta Platforms Incorporated recently announced that it will enable content creators in Nigeria and Kenya to monetize their content on Instagram and Facebook starting June 2024. Monetizing Instagram Content Spearheaded by Nick Clegg, President of Global Affairs at Meta, this initiative aligns with the growing recognition of Africa’s digital potential. Meta will introduce a feature on its Instagram app in June, allowing Nigerian creators to monetize their content and earn a living using it. Creators can run ads in-stream and engage with an international audience. “Nigerian creators have global reach,” Nick Clegg, the company’s President of
US Judge Charles R. Breyer has sided with the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), dismissing a high-profile lawsuit filed by Elon Musk and his social media company, X. Musk’s Lawsuit Against CCDH Last year, Musk’s X, formerly Twitter Inc, sued the nonprofit CCDH over its report describing the extent of hate speech on the social media platform. Led by Imran Ahmed, CCDH aims to protect online human rights and civil liberties. The CCDH report said that X failed to act against 99% of 100 Blue accounts that it had
Twitch streamer and YouTuber Kai Cenat has recently committed to building a school in Lagos, Nigeria. Cenat Visits Nigeria Cenat recently visited the Makoko Children Development Foundation School and Orphanage in Lagos, where he saw the dire conditions of the students and staff. Documented on his YouTube channel, the visit highlighted the school’s sinking building, limited space, and the struggle to provide a learning environment for its 385 students. The 23-year-old principal’s plea for help to rebuild and expand the school resonated deeply with Cenat. “First of all, I want to say it’s
Created by fintech professional Viola Carmona, Tussle is the new livestream platform taking on TikTok’s Live feature with better revenue terms and fewer restrictions. Carmona’s Journey To Tussle TikTok first introduced its Live feature in 2019, enabling creators to earn through virtual gifts. However, according to AFROTECH, Carmona’s friends and creators experienced the platform’s 50/50 revenue split firsthand after often conducting near 24-hour livestreams only to receive a fraction of their due earnings. “Some of my creator friends that I built a community with, they found a lot of problems with
