social media

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'Slap a Teacher' Challenge Pulls in More Victims

But TikTok insists the challenge didn't originate on its platform

(Newser) - Teachers' groups , local authorities , and law enforcement continue to warn against the newest supposed TikTok challenge— one that involves hitting teachers —but the social media platform is now saying it doesn't think the dare originated on TikTok. Teachers in Missouri and South Carolina are among those who'...

Russian Court Tells Bailiffs to Collect Facebook's Fines

Issue is illegal content, including notices for unsanctioned protests

(Newser) - A Moscow court has ruled to enforce the collection of fines from Facebook for breaching Russian laws on illegal content, officials said Thursday. The Tagansky District Court in Russia's capital ordered bailiffs to collect 26 million rubles—over $361,000—after Facebook failed to pay the fines, court officials...

Latest TikTok Challenge Sees Teachers Assaulted

Connecticut AG says platform must reform

(Newser) - TikTok users have been compelled to set themselves on fire and choke themselves until they pass out or die . Now, the trend of dangerous social media challenges continues with a new call to abuse teachers. "Educators beware!" the California Teachers Association warned Tuesday, noting a challenge spreading on...

Whistleblower Tells Senate Facebook Is Dishonest

Former project manager at the social media giant says its practices are dangerous

(Newser) - Facebook isn’t to be trusted. That’s the main point whistleblower Frances Haugen made to the Senate Tuesday. Haugen said the social media giant knows the potential harm of its products but prioritizes profits over safety, Politico reports. One of her chief concerns was the company’s failure to...

It&#39;s a Huge Milestone for TikTok
It's a Huge Milestone for TikTok
Sep 28, 2021 11:19 AM CDT

It's a Huge Milestone for TikTok

App reaches 1 billion monthly active users, for 45% growth since July 2020

(Newser) - TikTok is celebrating a huge accomplishment: recruiting one in 7.5 people on the planet to tune in to its videos each month. The company announced it had reached 1 billion monthly active users in a Monday blog post , while Chief Operating Officer Vanessa Pappas thanked users in—what else?—...

Judge: Sheriff Can't Force Teen to Remove COVID Post

Deputy threatened arrests over Instagram post early in the pandemic

(Newser) - Amyiah Cohoon didn't intend to scare anyone or end up in the middle of a First Amendment court case. But after she posted three updates about her bout with COVID on social media, a sheriff's deputy showed up at her family home and told the 16-year-old to take...

Facebook Pauses Instagram Kids Amid Criticism

Exec Adam Mosseri defends the idea, says it will surface eventually

(Newser) - Instagram is putting a hold on the development of Instagram Kids, geared toward children under 13, so it can address concerns about the vulnerability of younger users. Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, wrote in a blog post Monday that a delay will give the company time to “work...

Instagram Chief Faces Backlash Over His Cars Comparison

Adam Mosseri acknowledges social media has dangers, but he says cars do, too

(Newser) - The head of Instagram appeared on a podcast to defend the app and parent company Facebook after a series of critical articles in the Wall Street Journal. But Adam Mosseri appears to have only made things worse by drawing a comparison between the dangers of social media and of driving....

Tennis Stars Describe 'Never Ending' Abuse

Americans Shelby Rogers, Sloane Stephens speak out

(Newser) - It's not just Naomi Osaka who's making clear the various pressures placed on athletes at the US Open : American Shelby Rogers on Monday said she was preparing to receive "nine million death threats" on social media following her fourth-round loss to Britain's Emma Raducanu. Rogers was...

Doctors Across the US: Please Don't Do Milk Crate Challenge

Viral videos show people wiping out while trying to ascend towers of milk crates

(Newser) - If you were wondering if August might come to a close without a stupid , silly , or downright dangerous social-media-driven fad making the rounds, put those fears to rest—the "milk crate challenge" is here. And it's a combination of all three (stupid, silly, and dangerous), with some platforms...

Before She Was Swept Away, She Went Live on Facebook

Linda Almond's body was recovered Sunday after home caved in

(Newser) - One of at least 22 victims killed in Tennessee flooding described her terror in a Facebook Live video moments before she was swept away. "We're being flooded right now," Linda Almond announced in a 70-second video filmed from her son's home in Waverly just before 10:...

Facebook's Report on Most Viewed Posts Has Some Surprises

Most viewed domain was an obscure Green Bay Packers site

(Newser) - In what it calls an effort to provide greater transparency, Facebook has released its first Widely Viewed Content report—but the company's critics say they've been left with more questions than answers. The report, which lists the 20 posts, pages, links, and domains seen by the most US...

Afghans Face Dilemma on Covering Up Digital Lives

Many fear Taliban will find evidence of cooperation with Americans

(Newser) - Afghans who worked with US troops or contractors in the past 20 years—or did anything that might displease the Taliban—are facing difficult decisions about covering up the paper and digital trails that could incriminate them. Destroying records of US employment would seem to make sense, except that they'...

YouTube Dumps Rand Paul for a Week Over Mask Misinfo

GOP senator calls his weeklong booting a 'badge of honor'

(Newser) - Marjorie Taylor Greene isn't the only Republican lawmaker who's temporarily lost social media privileges . On Tuesday, the same day that Twitter placed the Georgia congresswoman on a seven-day break for posting misinformation on the COVID vaccine, GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky received his own weeklong suspension from...

ISIS Posts Beheadings, Propaganda on Pro-Trump Site
ISIS Posts Pour Into Trump Site
Aug 2, 2021 6:55 PM CDT

ISIS Posts Pour Into Trump Site

GETTR now contains violent memes, including some of beheadings

(Newser) - Promised to be a free-speech social media option for Trump supporters, GETTR is proving popular with ISIS. The month-old site already has jihadi-related material such as posts calling for violence against the West, videos of beheadings, and memes of former President Trump being executed while dressed as a Guantanamo Bay...

4th Child's Death Blamed on TikTok Challenge

Latest is a 12-year-old boy in Oklahoma

(Newser) - A 12-year-old boy has died in Oklahoma after reportedly taking part in a TikTok challenge in which participants choke themselves until they pass out. Police officers were called just before midnight Monday to an apartment building in Bethany, where they found the boy unconscious and not breathing, with ligature marks...

Biden to Facebook: You're Not Killing People

President clarifies comments, renews call to stamp out misinformation

(Newser) - President Biden was pretty ticked at Facebook . Then Facebook got pretty ticked at Biden . Now Biden wants everyone to just get along—and work together to stop the antivaccine misinformation campaign. After saying Facebook and other social media giants that give platforms to antivaxxers are "killing people," CNBC...

Biden Is Onto Something With 'They're Killing People'

Kara Swisher writes that social media isn't exactly killing people, but it still deserves blame

(Newser) - There was no nuance, no hedging in President Biden's answer Friday when he was asked if he had anything to say to social media companies in the face of the worsening pandemic. "They're killing people," Biden said. He added, "The only pandemic we have is...

Biden Says Social Media is 'Killing People'

President slammed tech firms for not doing enough to combat vaccine misinformation

(Newser) - The president has come out swinging at big tech companies he says aren't doing enough to combat vaccine misinformation on social media platforms. “They’re killing people. The only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated," Biden told reporters at the White House on Friday, per The ...

Twitter Is Killing Off Its Disappearing 'Fleets'

Self-destructing tweets never caught on

(Newser) - Twitter is disappearing its disappearing tweets, called fleets, after they didn't catch on. The company began testing tweets that vanish after 24 hours last March in Brazil. Fleets were designed to allay the concerns of new users who might be turned off by the public and permanent nature of...

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