Jun 30 French president urges parents to keep teenagers home to quell rioting spreading across France By Sylvie Corbet, John Leicester, Alex Turnbull, Associated Press Young rioters clashed with police and looted stores Friday in a fourth day of violence in France triggered by the deadly police shooting of a teen, piling more pressure on President Emmanuel Macron after he appealed to parents to keep… Continue reading
Jun 27 Meta launches new parental supervision tools for Instagram By Barbara Ortutay, Associated Press Instagram and Facebook's parent company Meta is adding some new parental supervision tools and privacy features to its platforms as social media companies face increasing scrutiny over their effects on teen mental health. Continue reading
Jun 16 Despite widespread user protest, Reddit CEO says company is ‘not negotiating’ on 3rd-party app charges By Wyatte Grantham-Philips, Associated Press After outrage erupted over plans to charge some third-party apps for data access, thousands of communities within the online discussion network went dark this week, and many organizers say their protest is not over. Continue reading
Jun 15 Twitter ranks lowest in LGBTQ safety among major social media platforms, GLADD says By Barbara Ortutay, Associated Press In its annual Social Media Safety Index, GLAAD gave Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Twitter low or failing scores, saying the platforms don’t do enough to keep their users safe. Continue reading
Jun 10 Watch 3:49 How anonymity on social media influences online behavior, harassment By Becky Wandel and Rawan Elbaba, Student Reporting Labs When Tionna Haynes was a college student, she became a target of harassment on an anonymous messaging platform after organizing racial injustice protests on campus. She spoke with student reporter Bridgette Adu-Wadier about how the design of social media platforms… Continue watching
Jun 03 Twitter’s head of trust and safety resigns after criticism from Elon Musk By Associated Press A top Twitter executive responsible for safety and content moderation has left the company, her departure coming soon after owner Elon Musk publicly complained about the platform’s handling of posts about transgender topics. Continue reading
May 23 Here are 8 tips for parents and kids on social media use — from the U.S. surgeon general By Barbara Ortutay, Associated Press The U.S. surgeon general is calling for tech companies and lawmakers to take "immediate action" to protect kids' and adolescents' mental health on social media. But after years of middling and insufficient action, parents and young people still bear most… Continue reading
May 08 From data privacy to AI, here are new rules Congress is considering for tech companies By Mary Clare Jalonick, Associated Press Most Democrats and Republicans agree that the federal government should better regulate the biggest technology companies, particularly social media platforms. But there is very little consensus on how it should be done. Continue reading
May 01 Watch 1:47 Arabic music breaks through to new audiences with help of streaming and social media By Deema Zein, Yasmeen Sami Alamiri With the use of streaming and social media apps, it seems like Arabic music is breaking through to new audiences. The PBS NewsHour's Deema Zein spoke to two experts on what this moment means for the music world and the… Continue watching
Apr 12 Arkansas governor signs bill requiring parental permission for social media By Andrew DeMillo, Associated Press Arkansas on Wednesday became the second state to restrict social media use by children, as Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders approved legislation requiring minors to get their parents' permission to create a new account. Continue reading