In a bid to enhance online safety, the company said users aged 13 to 15 will soon be able to create, save and display Stories and Spotlight videos on a dedicated profile that can only be viewed by friends who have mutually accepted each other.

Their content will no longer be distributed to people outside their friends list through Spotlight.

Previously, teenagers under 16 could post videos to Spotlight, Snapchat’s short-form video feature, but the content was not linked to their profiles.

While this prevented direct contact from strangers, the posts could still be viewed by a wider audience.

Under the new system, younger teens will share content in a more private environment. Snapchat will also remove engagement metrics such as favourite counts from profiles belonging to users in this age group.

The company said the changes are designed to help teenagers express themselves creatively without the pressure that usually comes with public posting and visible performance metrics.

Snapchat outlined different levels of access based on age. Users between 13 and 15 will be limited to sharing content with mutual friends.

Those aged 16 and 17 can choose to share content more broadly, but distribution will remain restricted to friends, followers and users with mutual connections.

Adults aged 18 and above will still have full access to public profiles and wider content distribution tools.

Alongside the latest changes, Snapchat said it will maintain several existing protections for users under 16.

The platform blocks messages from people teens have not added as friends or saved in their contacts. It also limits friend requests from people users may not know and displays warning messages when it detects a teenager may be chatting with a stranger.

The company says it will continually moderate public content before recommending it to larger audiences and take action against accounts that attempt to promote inappropriate material to teenagers.

Parents will also be able to monitor aspects of their children’s activity through Snapchat’s Family Centre.

The feature allows parents and caregivers to view their teenager’s friends list, see who they have communicated with recently, apply content restrictions, disable access to the My AI chatbot, share location information and report accounts they find concerning.

The update follows a trend across social media platforms, with services such as Instagram launching additional protections and specialised account settings for younger users.

Snap’s latest feature also comes as the company focuses on mitigating the impact of social media on young people.

Earlier this year, Snap settled a lawsuit that accused it of contributing to social media addiction and is still defending similar cases in courts across the United States.

Speaking to CNBC, Snap chief executive officer, Evan Spiegel, said Snapchat has a “positive impact” on users because it helps people stay connected with friends.

He argued that the platform should not be grouped together with competitors such as TikTok and Instagram.

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Officials said the framework aims to keep Lagos safe as the state expands its digital economy and implements its smart city plans.

The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, said cyber risks are growing as more organisations move services online and rely heavily on digital systems.

He said Lagos, which is one of Africa’s busiest technology centres, now faces greater exposure to attacks targeting companies, financial services, e-commerce platforms and public institutions.

Noting figures from the National Information Technology Development Agency, Omotoso said Nigeria loses more than $500 million every year to cybercrime.

“This underscores the urgency for stronger, coordinated cybersecurity measures to protect businesses, institutions and residents,” he said.

According to the state government, the guidelines provide steps for small businesses, major companies and ministries, departments and agencies.

They include security checks to identify weak points, stronger login protection such as multi-factor authentication, regular software updates, secure data backups, staff training and phishing awareness exercises.

The framework also advises organisations to improve incident reporting and ensure they meet national legal requirements on data protection and cybercrime.

“The document reflects our proactive approach to safeguarding digital assets while enabling innovation and economic growth.

“These guidelines are not regulatory mandates but tools empowering stakeholders with actionable, context-specific recommendations,” Omotoso said.

Lagos said the new cybersecurity guidelines supports existing national laws and policies, including the Cybercrime Act 2024, the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 and the National Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy.

Officials stressed that the state guidelines are meant to complement federal regulations, not replace them.

Omotoso said a secure digital environment is necessary to encourage innovation, attract investment and maintain public trust.

He also commended the Lagos State Cybersecurity Advisory Council, chaired by Prof. Fene Osakwe, for leading work on the document.

He acknowledged support from Tubosun Alake, saying his contribution was important to delivering the project.

“A cyber secure Lagos is critical to sustaining its position as a globally competitive technology hub in the 21st century,” he said.

The state government added that it will continue reviewing the guidelines as threats change and new risks emerge, including ransomware and other advanced attacks.

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From Friday, only paid users on X can generate or edit images using the chatbot, according to responses sent by Grok to users. 

The limitation applies only to X. The separate Grok app will still allow image creation without a subscription at the time of writing.

This follows regulatory attention over the use of the feature on the platform. Images produced with the tool spread fast on X, prompting reactions from European authorities and questions about safeguards on large platforms. 

German media minister Wolfram Weimer called the trend the “industrialisation of sexual harassment”. The European Commission said the images circulating on X were unlawful, while Britain’s data regulator said it had asked the company to explain how it was complying with data protection laws.

The image-generation restriction was easy to spot, as the bot replied that the function was available only to paying subscribers when users attempted to generate or edit images with Grok on X. The same requests made through the Grok app were still accepted.

xAI, the company behind Grok, did not provide a detailed response. An automated reply to a Reuters enquiry stated: “Legacy Media Lies”. X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Elon Musk said last week that anyone using Grok to create illegal content would face the same consequences as uploading such material directly.

The post X Restricts Grok Image Generation to Paying Subscribers After Misuse appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

The update places a new feature inside the “Manage Topics” section of the app, giving people the option to increase or reduce the amount of AI-generated clips pushed to their For You feed. 

It works in the same space where users already adjust interest areas such as sports or food. TikTok says the feature is a flexible preference tool: “Manage Topics already enables people to adjust how often they see content related to over 10 categories like Dance, Sports, and Food & Drinks.”

This arrives at a time when AI-created video is becoming extremely embedded in online culture. Platforms across the industry now push synthetic media as a central product. 

Meta recently released Vibes, its AI-video feed, and OpenAI followed days later with Sora, a dedicated platform for sharing AI-generated clips. Those videos, once posted elsewhere, quickly found their way back onto TikTok. 

Many creators are now using the technology to build visuals for topics far beyond entertainment, including long-form history explainers and celebrity narratives.

From TikTok’s point of view, the new feature solves a simple problem, where some people enjoy the flood of AI content, and others don’t. Placing a slider in user settings allows both groups to customise their experience without hiding anything from the platform altogether.

The change will reach users in the coming weeks, but the adjustments do not stop there. TikTok is also moving to strengthen its labelling system for synthetic media. The company already requires creators to label realistic AI content and uses C2PA’s “Content Credentials” to embed metadata into uploads. 

As TikTok explains, “We also use a cross-industry technology called C2PA Content Credentials, which embeds metadata into content that lets us, as well as other platforms who use C2PA, know when something is AI-generated.”

The problem is that these tags can disappear when videos are downloaded, edited, or reuploaded somewhere else. To reduce that risk, TikTok is testing a new layer of protection known as “invisible watermarking”, a hidden marker that only the platform can detect. 

Over the next few weeks, the tool will appear in videos created with features like AI Editor Pro and in those uploaded with C2PA credentials.

TikTok says the watermark should make it easier to keep labels intact and track changes to content even after it leaves the app.

Alongside these tools, TikTok is putting money into public education around synthetic media. The company has launched a $2 million AI literacy fund involving more than 20 experts across several countries. 

Some of the participating organisations include Girls Who Code, which will create content focused on digital safety and understanding AI’s role online.

The company is also expanding its role in industry work, joining new committees within the Partnership on AI and continuing its involvement in the Framework for Responsible Practices for Synthetic Media.

TikTok notes that future updates will continue as standards develop. The company says it has already refined the way labels appear over the past year and will keep adjusting as more tools roll out across the industry.

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