Dec 27 As social media guardrails fade and AI deepfakes go mainstream, experts warn of impact on elections By Ali Swenson, Christine Fernando, Associated Press The safeguards that attempted to counter the bogus claims the last time are eroding, while the tools and systems that create and spread them are only getting stronger. Continue reading
Dec 27 Social media companies made $11 billion in U.S. ad revenue from minors, Harvard study finds By Barbara Ortutay, Haleluya Hadero, Associated Press The researchers say the findings show a need for government regulation of social media since the companies that stand to make money from children who use their platforms have failed to meaningfully self-regulate. Continue reading
Dec 26 Watch 3:08 Teens reflect on how social media nearly ruined their friendship By Becky Wandel, Marie Cusick and Rawan Elbaba, Student Reporting Labs The addictive nature of social media doesn't just have parents, lawmakers and advocates worried. Last year, more than half of U.S. teens said it would be difficult to give up social media, including TikTok and YouTube. The latest episode of… Continue watching
Dec 20 Right-wing social media platform Parler plans to relaunch early 2024 By Associated Press The right-wing friendly app, which was temporarily booted offline following the Jan. 6 insurrection, has been offline since April after it was purchased by the digital media conglomerate Starboard. Continue reading
Dec 19 Meta’s Oversight Board reversed initial decisions to remove 2 videos of Israel-Hamas war By Associated Press A quasi-independent review board is recommending that Facebook parent company Meta overturn two decisions it made this fall to remove posts “informing the world about human suffering on both sides” of the Israel-Hamas war. Continue reading
Dec 18 EU investigates X over potential violations of social media law By Kelvin Chan, Associated Press The European Union has made Elon Musk’s online platform X the first tech company to face an investigation under Europe’s tough new regulations designed to clean up social media and protect people from toxic online content. Continue reading
Dec 10 Elon Musk restores conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ X account, reversing Twitter’s ban By Associated Press Elon Musk has restored the X account of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, pointing to a poll on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter that came out in favor of the Infowars host who repeatedly called the 2012 Sandy Hook… Continue reading
Nov 15 Nikki Haley walks back her demand that social media ban anonymous posters after backlash By Meg Kinnard, Associated Press Nikki Haley says anonymity online poses a "national security threat." The GOP presidential contender Tuesday called for user verification and said social media networks should reveal their algorithms. Continue reading
Oct 31 Watch 6:01 Supreme Court takes on cases involving public officials blocking social media followers By Saher Khan, Ian Couzens The Supreme Court heard arguments in two key cases about how public officials use social media. The cases explore whether two school board members in California and a city manager in Michigan violated the First Amendment by blocking constituents from… Continue watching
Oct 31 LISTEN: Supreme Court considers whether public officials can block critics on social media By Mark Sherman, Associated Press The Supreme Court is tackling the question of when public officials can block critics from commenting on their social media accounts. Continue reading