TikTok

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FBI: Man Offered $45K for Killing of Pam Bondi

Minnesota man was arrested after TikTok user reported post

(Newser) - A Minnesota man is facing federal charges after, court documents say, offering $45,000 for the killing of Attorney General Pam Bondi in a TikTok post. According to an FBI affidavit, Tyler Avalos, 29, posted a photo of Bondi with a sniper-scope red dot on her forehead, along with a...

Fraudsters Find a Way Into Atlanta's Luxury Apartments

Social media, rising rents fuel surge in rental application scams

(Newser) - A wave of rental-application fraud is sweeping Atlanta, as rising rents and a glut of luxury apartments push desperate renters to fake their way into high-end buildings. Influencers on TikTok openly promote doctored pay stubs, fake Social Security numbers, and other fraudulent documents created using generative artificial intelligence—sometimes selling...

Teachers Are Getting Very Tired of 6 and 7
Teachers Are Getting
Very Tired of 6 and 7
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Oct 19, 2025 2:30 PM CDT

Teachers Are Getting Very Tired of 6 and 7

TIkTok trend has been surging for 6 or 7 months

(Newser) - A viral meme featuring the numbers six and seven is turning classrooms across the country into chaotic echo chambers, much to the dismay of teachers. The trend, simply called "six seven," involves students shouting the numbers and performing a signature hand gesture any time the digits appear together...

Australia Prepares for Social Media Ban on Under-16s

Government offers tips to wean kids off social media before ban kicks in

(Newser) - The Australian government has begun a public education campaign with tips on how to wean children off social media ahead of a world-first national 16-year age limit taking effect in December. Australian eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said Friday that information on her agency's website, esafety.gov.au , explained...

Zelda Williams Slams AI Deepfakes of Late Dad Robin
Robin Williams' Daughter:
'Stop Doing This to Him'
in case you missed it
Oct 11, 2025 12:30 PM CDT

Robin Williams' Daughter: 'Stop Doing This to Him'

Zelda Williams urges an end to AI deepfake videos of her late father, calling it 'Frankensteinian'

(Newser) - Robin Williams' daughter is urging people to stop sharing AI-generated videos of her late father, reports the Guardian . In a pair of pointed messages in her Instagram stories, Zelda Williams wrote: "Stop doing this to him and to me, to everyone even, full stop. It's dumb, it'...

Trump to Gen Z: You 'Owe Me Big' for Saving Tiktok

'To all of those young people of TikTok, I saved TikTok'

(Newser) - President Trump is reminding Gen Z who he thinks they should thank for TikTok. "To all of those young people of TikTok, I saved TikTok, so you owe me big," the president declared in his first TikTok post since the election. "And now, you're looking...

Young Girls Killed While 'Subway Surfing' in NYC

Deaths spark warnings as deadly trend continues

(Newser) - Two girls were found dead atop a Brooklyn-bound subway train in New York City on Saturday morning, highlighting the ongoing risks associated with so-called "subway surfing." The incident prompted renewed warnings from transit officials about the dangers of riding outside train cars, NBC News reports. According to...

TikTok Search Prompts Expose Teens to Adult Content: Report

Watchdog says algorithms steered minors to explicit material, despite safeguards

(Newser) - A new investigation claims that TikTok's search algorithms have been steering 13-year-old users toward explicit content, even when using the app's "restricted mode," which is designed to filter out inappropriate material, per CNN . The watchdog group Global Witness set up seven accounts in the UK,...

Trump Signs Order on Deal to Keep TikTok Going in US

Oracle and Silver Lake to lead new US-based entity once agreement is complete

(Newser) - President Trump on Thursday signed an executive order clearing a path for TikTok to continue operating in the US. The order follows months of uncertainty after a 2024 law required ByteDance, TikTok's Chinese parent, to divest from the app or face a US ban. Trump's order decrees...

Teens Charged After Catastrophic Car Surfing Stunts

Authorities hope the Pennsylvania cases will deter risky social media challenges

(Newser) - Two Pennsylvania teens are facing criminal charges after separate TikTok-inspired car surfing stunts left a 17-year-old dead and a young woman with irreversible injuries. The two incidents, which prosecutors say were unrelated, both occurred in Northampton County, 80 miles north of Philadelphia. In the first case, David Nagy, 17,...

TikTok Deal Will See Oracle Oversee Algorithm

Company would also have a big stake in new US-based entity

(Newser) - The ongoing tug-of-war over TikTok's fate in the US appears to be nearing a resolution, and users shouldn't need to swap apps anytime soon. After months of back-and-forth between the Trump administration and China, a preliminary agreement has emerged that will involve Oracle overseeing TikTok's algorithm,...

Abortion Advocates Warn Online Content Is Vanishing

Clinics, others say abortion-themed posts are being censored, even if they don't violate platform policy

(Newser) - Clinics, advocacy groups, and individuals who share abortion-related content online say they're seeing informational posts being taken down, even if the posts don't clearly violate platform policies. The groups, in Latin America and the US, are denouncing what they see as censorship, even in places where abortion is...

After Meeting With Xi, Trump Has News on TikTok

Trump, WH official say 'progress' has been made on deal; Trump also says he'll meet Xi next month

(Newser) - Trump talked with Chinese leader Xi Jinping by phone on Friday in a push to finalize a deal to allow TikTok to keep operating in the US. According to the Wall Street Journal , that deal was approved, with a group of investors set to take control of the company's...

Trump Extends TikTok Deadline Yet Again
Trump Gives TikTok
Another 90 Days
Sep 16, 2025 4:10 PM CDT

Trump Gives TikTok Another 90 Days

With deal reportedly close, he extends deadline for a 4th time

(Newser) - President Trump has hit pause yet again on the nationwide TikTok ban, granting the popular video-sharing app another 90-day reprieve with an executive order signed Tuesday. This marks the fourth time Trump has held off on enforcing a law that would kick TikTok out of the United States, buying more...

US, China Reach 'Framework' to Save TikTok
Trump Hints at Deal
to Save TikTok
Sep 15, 2025 8:44 AM CDT

Trump Hints at Deal to Save TikTok

References 'a company that young people in our Country very much wanted to save,' will call Xi Friday

(Newser) - It looks like the US and China are close to a deal to keep TikTok in business for American users.
  • President Trump posted on social media Monday that a meeting between US and Chinese officials went "very well" and that they reached a deal regarding "a 'certain'
...

Man Who Asked Kirk His Last Question: 'I Dropped to the Floor'

Liberal TikTokker Hunter Kozak was asking Kirk about mass shootings before shot rang out

(Newser) - The final person to talk directly to Charlie Kirk , and who witnessed the conservative activist's assassination on Wednesday at Utah Valley University, is now speaking out. The New York Times identifies Hunter Kozak, a 29-year-old liberal TikTokker, as the person who was at the mic asking Kirk the last...

Clinic Workers Fired Over 'Disrespectful' TikTok

Urgent care employees in Santa Barbara seen joking about bodily fluids left behind in exam rooms

(Newser) - A group of urgent care workers in California has lost their jobs after a viral TikTok showed them joking about patients' bodily fluids in exam rooms, reports KTLA . The since-deleted video featured photos taken in medical exam rooms at the Sansum Clinic in Santa Barbara, along with captions like...

Surefire Signs of a 'Performative Male'

From vinyl records to reading Joan Didion in cafes

(Newser) - Does this sound like you or someone you know? Picture this: a man in wired headphones sipping iced matcha and thumbing through classic feminist literature with a tote bag slung over his shoulder—maybe with a stuffed Labubu clipped to the side. If so, we're not making any allegations...

What Ban? White House Joins TikTok
White House Joins TikTok
Aug 21, 2025 6:29 AM CDT

White House Joins TikTok

Account launches month before deadline for TikTok sale

(Newser) - The White House has officially joined TikTok , launching an account even as the fate of the popular app hangs in the balance. The move comes as Bytedance, TikTok's Chinese parent company, faces a looming Sept. 17 deadline to sell the app to a US buyer or be banned...

Man Arrested After Lighting His Cigarette From Eternal Flame

French officials pursue charges after viral social media incident

(Newser) - When a man lit his cigarette from the eternal flame at Paris's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, he ignited more than just tobacco—he set off a wave of outrage and an official investigation. Now, French Veterans Minister Patricia Miralles is promising to "make an example of...

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