social media

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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...

NSFW Content Is Now Officially Allowed on X
NSFW Content Is Now
Officially Allowed on X
the rundown
Jun 4, 2024 1:10 AM CDT

NSFW Content Is Now Officially Allowed on X

Under certain circumstances, at least

(Newser) - Adult content is now formally allowed on X, as long as it's been consensually produced and is clearly labeled. Since being taken over by Elon Musk, the social network formerly known as Twitter has experimented with allowing NSFW ("not safe for work") communities to post adult content,...

Governor Wants Smartphones Out of Schools

New York's Hochul wants to allow only basic phones without internet access

(Newser) - Gov. Kathy Hochul said she wants a law prohibiting smartphones in New York's schools to keep children from obsessively using social media. "I have seen these addictive algorithms pull in young people, literally capture them and make them prisoners in a space where they are cut off from...

Ad Featuring Young Girl Shown to Sex Offenders on Instagram

Meta disputes 'New York Times' test as a 'manufactured experience'

(Newser) - Instagram's algorithms are putting innocent photos of children in front of men with pedophilic tendencies, the New York Times reports, offering data from its own tests as evidence. The outlet began investigating after a maker of children's jewelry who paid to advertise her products to a mostly female...

Riot Charge Against Influencer Dropped

Kai Cenat apologizes for 'huge giveaway' that caused thousands to descend on park

(Newser) - Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg's office has agreed to drop charges against a social media influencer who may have underestimated his influence. Kai Cenat was arrested last year after he announced a "huge giveaway" of computers, PlayStations, and other items at New York City's Union Square. A crowd...

Biden Makes It Official: TikTok Must Be Sold or Banned

He signs $95B war aid measure that includes provision regarding China-owned site

(Newser) - President Biden signed into law on Wednesday a $95 billion war aid measure that includes assistance for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan and that also has a provision that would force social media site TikTok to be sold or be banned in the US . The announcement marks an end to a...

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