social media

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Australia's Social Media Move Is for the 'Worried Sick' Parents

Proposed law meant to counter online harms includes no exemption for parental consent

(Newser) - Australia is proposing "world-leading" legislation to ban children under 16 from social media. "This one is for the mums and dads," who, "like me, are worried sick about the safety of our kids online," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said at a Thursday press conference, referencing...

Their Children Died by Suicide. They're Suing TikTok

French parents say platform promoted suicide, self-harm, eating disorders

(Newser) - TikTok is being sued by seven families in France, including two that lost children to suicide. The joint lawsuit alleges that the platform's algorithm exposed teens to videos promoting suicide, self-harm, and eating disorders, CNN reports. The lawsuit is separate from a criminal complaint filed against TikTok last year...

Meta Shuts Down Student Who Tracks Jets
Plane-Tracking Student
Just Got 'Zucked'
in case you missed it
Oct 27, 2024 7:10 AM CDT

Plane-Tracking Student Just Got 'Zucked'

Jack Sweeney, who's annoyed stars by keeping tabs on their jets, says Meta suspended accounts

(Newser) - Elon Musk and Taylor Swift have long been irked by the antics of Jack Sweeney, the college student who tracks the jets of celebrities (including Musk, Swift, Kim Kardashian, Jeff Bezos, and Donald Trump, among others) and posts their locations online. Now, Meta has jumped into the fray, according...

TikTok Docs Show Fast Addiction, Stripping Teens: Reports

Latest reveals come out of redacted sections of Kentucky complaint seen by NPR, KPR

(Newser) - Last week, more than a dozen states and the District of Columbia sued TikTok , claiming the social media platform is addictive for children. Now, a deeper dive into the "TikTok documents," which show just how much TikTok knew about the app's effects on kids and teens, revealed...

X Complies With Brazil Judge's Demands

Platform can now be reinstated after a nationwide shutdown of more than a month

(Newser) - The Brazilian Supreme Court's Justice Alexandre de Moraes on Tuesday authorized the restoration of social media platform X´s service in Brazil, over a month after its nationwide shutdown , according to a statement posted on the court's website.
  • Elon Musk's X was blocked on Aug. 30 in
...

States Sue TikTok, Claiming It's Addictive for Kids

More than a dozen AGs go after social media platform, saying it's damaging to mental health

(Newser) - More than a dozen states and the District of Columbia filed lawsuits against TikTok on Tuesday, alleging the popular short-form video app is harming youth mental health by designing its platform to be addictive to kids. The lawsuits stem from a national investigation into TikTok, launched in March 2022 by...

CIA Is Openly Recruiting Informants on Social Media

Anyone interested in North Korea, China, or Iran?

(Newser) - The CIA says it was successful in recruiting Russian informants following the invasion of Ukraine. Now, "we want to make sure individuals in other authoritarian regimes know that we're open for business," a rep said Wednesday as the agency put out a call for informants in China,...

X Got 67M Hate Reports, Penalized 2K Accounts
X Got 67M Hate Reports,
Penalized 2K Accounts
THE RUNDOWN
Sep 25, 2024 1:06 PM CDT

X Got 67M Hate Reports, Penalized 2K Accounts

Platform's first transparency report under owner Elon Musk released Wednesday

(Newser) - Before Elon Musk took over Twitter, the platform released a transparency report every six months. Only now, two years after Musk's October 2022 takeover, has the platform now known as X released its first such report under its billionaire owner. At 15 pages, Wednesday's Global Transparency Report is...

2 Women Who Started Springfield Rumors Speak Out

'I'm not sure I'm the most credible source,' one says; another: 'I hate myself for making that post'

(Newser) - Threats against Springfield have prompted intervention from the state's governor after the dissemination by Donald Trump , JD Vance , and others of an unsubstantiated allegation that Haitian immigrants are abducting and eating pets there. Now, two women involved in jump-starting that rumor are speaking out, with one saying she never...

Irked Sheriff Posts 11-Year-Old's Mugshot

Florida's Mike Chitwood is sick of false school-shooting threats

(Newser) - A Florida sheriff fed up with a spate of false school-shooting threats is trying a new tactic to get through to students and their parents: He's posting the mugshot of any offender on social media. Law enforcement officials across the country have seen a wave of school shooting hoaxes...

New Scourge in Deaths of Minors: Pills Bought Online

AP investigation finds that minors are dying of fentanyl overdoses linked to tainted pills

(Newser) - Fentanyl overdoses have become a leading cause of death for minors in the last five years or so, even as overall drug use has dropped slightly. And social media, where tainted, fake prescription drugs can be obtained with just a few clicks, is a big part of the problem, the...

Australia Plans to Ban Kids From Social Media

Nation will test an age minimum for accounts

(Newser) - Some Aussie kids may soon see their social media use curtailed, with the announcement that lawmakers Down Under are planning to introduce an age minimum for those who want to check out Instagram, Snapchat, and the like. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday that his government would be test-driving...

Girls Go Into 'Trance' Online, Buy Harmful Skin-Care Products

Dermatologists decry hawking of anti-aging items by social media influencers

(Newser) - When she was in fifth grade, Scarlett Goddard Strahan started to worry about getting wrinkles. By the time she turned 10, Scarlett and her friends were spending hours on TikTok and YouTube watching influencers tout products for achieving today's beauty aesthetic: a dewy, "glowy," flawless complexion. Scarlett,...

Musk's Feud With Brazil Enters Threat Territory

Nation's high court gives him 24 hours to appoint a legal rep to avoid seeing X suspended there

(Newser) - The clock is ticking for Elon Musk, at least as it pertains to keeping his X social media platform functioning in Brazil. That's because the South American nation's Supreme Court has given the billionaire 24 hours to appoint a legal representative for X in Brazil, or risk seeing...

Zuckerberg: We Stifled COVID Info at White House's Request

Meta CEO alleges White House turned up heat on his teams to take down certain items on COVID

(Newser) - During the height of the pandemic, Meta scrubbed tens of millions of items on Facebook and Instagram that it said pushed misinformation on COVID-19, vaccinations, and the like, with warnings placed on nearly 200 million more pieces of content. Now, the company's CEO is saying that the Biden administration...

Supreme Court Punts on Social Media Speech Rights

SCOTUS returns cases in Texas and Florida claiming that users were being censored

(Newser) - The Supreme Court on Monday kept a hold on efforts in Texas and Florida to limit how Facebook, TikTok, X, YouTube, and other social media platforms regulate content posted by their users. The justices returned the cases to lower courts in challenges from trade associations for the companies, reports the...

Biden Administration Scores a Supreme Court Win

White House may continue to urge social media companies to take down posts

(Newser) - The remainder of the week will be big in terms of Supreme Court decisions, and Wednesday brought what CNN calls "a technical if important election-year victory" for the Biden administration. In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court said the White House may continue to push social media companies to...

Teen Boys Are Fixating on Their Jawlines

Facial-fitness gum and mewing are trends boys are chewing on

(Newser) - How social media affects girls' self-image has long been a topic of concern, but now teenage boys seem to be squarely targeted by a trend that focuses above the neckline—specifically at their jaws. And per the Cut , many are turning to an expensive chewing gum that claims to exercise...

Surgeon General Wants Warnings on Social Media

Vivek Murthy says online platforms pose risks for kids, teens; he wants Congress to act

(Newser) - The US surgeon general has called on Congress to require warning labels on social media platforms, similar to those now mandatory on packs of cigarettes. In a Monday opinion piece in the New York Times , Dr. Vivek Murthy said that social media is a contributing factor in the mental health...

Alex Jones: 'Infowars Is a Sinking Ship'

Sandy Hook families are also now going after the conspiracy theorist's social media accounts

(Newser) - Alex Jones has ceased fighting the liquidation of his assets to pay Sandy Hook families after he spread conspiracy theories about the 2012 school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, that killed 26. Included in that liquidation is Jones' stake in his Infowars web program, but the families are now going after...

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