Amazon.com said on Monday that a cloud computing unit at its data center in northern Virginia had largely contained fallout from a widespread internet outage that caused global turmoil among thousands of sites, including some of the web&#8217;s most popular apps like Snapchat and Reddit.
Amazon said it had addressed the underlying issue and was close to a resolution, but some users were still complaining of lingering difficulties using services such as digital wallet Venmo and video calling site Zoom. The disruption knocked workers from London to Tokyo offline and halted others from conducting normal everyday tasks like paying hairdressers or changing their airline tickets.
It was the largest internet disruption since last year&#8217;s CrowdStrike malfunction hobbled technology systems in hospitals, banks and airports, highlighting the vulnerability of the world&#8217;s interconnected technologies. It was at least the third time in five years that AWS&#8217;s northern Virginia cluster, known as US-EAST-1, contributed to a major internet meltdown.
Amazon did not address a request for more clarity about why that particular data center keeps being impacted, instead pointing to an online statement that said the matter had been &#8220;fully mitigated.&#8221; The problems stemmed from what is known as the Domain Name System, or DNS, which prevented applications from finding the correct address for AWS&#8217;s DynamoDB API, a cloud database relied upon to store user information and other critical data.
After hours of disruptions, many applications were gradually coming back online in the afternoon in the U.S. But AWS acknowledged that elevated errors were still affecting several services.
There were &#8220;tons of broken internal services still now as individual resolution and repair occurring,&#8221; read language from an internal problem ticket describing the outage and reviewed by Reuters.
Lambda, one of AWS&#8217;s computing services, was experiencing errors due to issues with an internal subsystem, AWS had said earlier. &#8220;We are taking steps to recover this internal Lambda system,&#8221; it said.
Earlier, AWS said the root cause of the outage was an underlying subsystem that monitors the health of its network load balancers used to distribute traffic across several servers.
The issue, AWS said, originated from within the &#8220;EC2 internal network.&#8221;
EC2 refers to Amazon&#8217;s &#8220;Elastic Compute Cloud&#8221; service, which provides on-demand cloud capacity within AWS. Businesses use EC2 to run virtual servers to develop, launch and host applications.
AWS had said earlier in the day it was seeing signs of recovery for EC2 use at a few data centers.
It was taking similar measures at the remaining locations and expects the problems to subside, AWS added, without providing a specific timeline.
While some apps like Reddit and Roblox had largely stabilized, according to outage tracking website Downdetector, others, including Snapchat and Duolingo, were showing a resurgence in issues seen earlier in the day.
Ken Birman, a computer science professor at Cornell University, said software developers need to build better fault tolerance into their code. He said AWS provides tools developers can use to protect themselves in the event of a problem at one of any of its sprawling network of data centers, and developers can also create backups with other cloud providers.
&#8220;When people cut costs and cut corners to try to get an application up, and then forget that they skipped that last step and didn&#8217;t really protect against an outage, those companies are the ones who really ought to be scrutinized later,&#8221; Birman told Reuters.
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AWS provides computing power, data storage and other digital services to companies, governments and individuals and is the world&#8217;s largest cloud provider, followed by Microsoft&#8217;s Azure and Alphabet&#8217;s Google Cloud.
Disruptions to its servers can cause outages across websites and platforms &#8211; ranging from food delivery apps to gaming platforms and airline systems &#8211; that rely on its cloud infrastructure.
AWS said on its status page that Monday&#8217;s outage originated at its US-EAST-1 location in northern Virginia, its oldest and largest for web services. The site suffered outages in 2021 and 2020.
According to documentation on the AWS website, the US-EAST-1 site is often the default region for many AWS services.
The problem highlights how interconnected everyday digital services have become and their reliance on a small number of global cloud providers, with one glitch wreaking havoc on business and day-to-day life, experts and academics said.
&#8220;This outage once again highlights the dependency we have on relatively fragile infrastructures,&#8221; said Jake Moore, global cybersecurity advisor at European cybersecurity firm ESET.
In Britain, Lloyd Bank, Bank of Scotland, and telecom service providers Vodafone and BT were all hit, according to Downdetector&#8217;s UK website, as was UK tax, payments and customs authority HMRC&#8217;s website.
&#8220;The main reason for this issue is that all these big companies have relied on just one service,&#8221; said Nishanth Sastry, director of research at the University of Surrey&#8217;s Department of Computer Science.
Ookla, which owns Downdetector, said over 4 million users reported issues due to the incident.
&#8220;For major businesses, hours of cloud downtime translate to millions in lost productivity and revenue,&#8221; said Ryan Griffin, U.S. cyber practice leader at insurance broker McGill and Partners.
Wall Street was largely unfazed, sending Amazon shares 1.6% higher to $216.48.
Ookla said at least a thousand companies were affected by the outage.
Snapchat last had over 7,500 reports on Downdetector, lower than the peak of more than 22,000 but still higher than the 4,000 outage instances at around 7:00 a.m. ET.
Artificial intelligence startup Perplexity, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and trading app Robinhood all experienced platform disruptions and attributed them to AWS.
Amazon&#8217;s own services, including its shopping website, Prime Video and Alexa, were also hit, although Downdetector last showed a decrease in severity.
Fortnite, owned by Epic Games; Clash Royale and Clash of Clans were among the gaming platforms affected. Uber rival Lyft was also knocked down in the United States.
In a post on X, Signal President Meredith Whittaker confirmed the messaging app was hit by the outage as well, though billionaire Elon Musk, who owns X, said his platform continued to work.
(Reporting by Shubham Kalia, Devika Nair, Ananya Palyekar and Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by James Pearson, Jaspreet Singh and Arsheeya Bajwa; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty, Joe Bavier, Richard Chang and David Gregorio)

Amazon Web Services

Amazon Web Services Nears Recovery After Major Outage Disrupts Apps, Services Worldwide

Amazon

Business

Cybersecurity

General

Internet

World

Afghanistan went under a “total internet blackout” beginning on Monday as the Taliban seeks to stop “immoral activities” by cutting off the country’s access to the rest of the world.
Internet and phone services have been disrupted for the 43 million people living in the Middle Eastern country, as people living outside Afghanistan are concerned about contacting family members and coworkers still in the country, CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/29/asia/internet-blackout-afghanistan-latam-intl">reported</a>. Multiple flights scheduled to land in Kabul on Tuesday morning were also canceled, and the Taliban’s leadership has yet to address the issue.
NetBlocks, a watchdog group that monitors internet outages around the world, <a href="https://x.com/netblocks/status/1972679896729014371">said</a> on Monday that Afghanistan “is now in the midst of a total internet blackout as Taliban authorities move to implement morality measures, with multiple networks disconnected through the morning in a stepwise manner; telephone services are currently also impacted.”
In an update on Tuesday morning, NetBlocks added, “It has now been 24 hours since #Afghanistan imposed a national internet blackout, cutting off residents from the rest of the world; the ongoing measure marks the Taliban’s return to conservative values it espoused a quarter of a century ago, limiting basic freedoms.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
⚠️ Update: It has now been 24 hours since <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Afghanistan?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Afghanistan</a> imposed a national internet blackout, cutting off residents from the rest of the world; the ongoing measure marks the Taliban&#8217;s return to conservative values it espoused a quarter of a century ago limiting basic freedoms <a href="https://t.co/8g04yEi4Ht">pic.twitter.com/8g04yEi4Ht</a>
— NetBlocks (@netblocks) <a href="https://twitter.com/netblocks/status/1973000138961600660?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 30, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
A Taliban official reportedly spoke to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/09/30/afghanistan-internet-blackout-taliban/">The Washington Post</a> on the condition of anonymity, saying that the internet shutdown had been discussed by the terror group for a week. The official added that the country could not survive without the internet and that “everything is at standstill at the moment.”
The Taliban’s move is the most severe action the regime has taken to cut off the country from the outside world since taking over in 2021. Taliban officials hinted at the tactic earlier this month, saying that it wanted “to prevent immoral activities,” according to CNN. Haji Zaid, the governor of northern Balkh province, said that an “alternative system will be established within the country for essential needs.”
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Along with disrupting communication between family members and colleagues, the internet shutdown also threatens to further hide the Taliban’s continued human rights abuses. Multiple American citizens who were held hostage by the Taliban were recently released, but at least one Afghan-American — <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/kidnap/mahmood-shah-habibi">Mahmood Habibi</a> — is believed to still be in Taliban custody.
Since the Taliban took over the country following the United States’ withdrawal in 2021, the regime has also cracked down on women’s rights, banning girls from receiving secondary and higher education and forcing women out of jobs throughout the country.
“The silence online without Afghan voices from inside Afghanistan is deafening,” <a href="https://x.com/Mariamistan/status/1972729013354537017">said</a> Mariam Solaimankhil, who was a member of the Afghan government that was overthrown by the Taliban. “My heart hurts — our people are being cut off, and the world is left in darkness without them.”
Solaimankhil <a href="https://x.com/Mariamistan/status/1972712174595535242">called</a> on SpaceX owner Elon Musk to provide internet access to the country through his Starlink satellites. Starlink is currently exploring the expansion of its internet access to many countries in the Middle East, including Iran, Iraq, and Pakistan. However, there are no plans to provide service in Afghanistan, according to the company’s <a href="https://www.starlink.com/us/map?srsltid=AfmBOophrEog49L2FZMyb22Xb-CyY7MZXJmnyMT311mJ1J3HCS9vChQ4">availability map</a>.
“Starlink is the only way to break the chains of Taliban censorship,” she said. “This is the time where you stand on the right side of history.”

Afghanistan

Taliban Cuts Internet To Stop ‘Immoral Activities,’ Severs Afghanistan’s Connection To Outside World

Global Politics

Middle East

Taliban

Wikipedia’s editors’ forum filled with infighting Wednesday over the appropriate way to refer to a transgender-identifying shooter who killed two children at a Minneapolis Catholic school.
Soon after Robin Westman attacked Annunciation Catholic School’s church in Minneapolis on Wednesday morning, a small band of Wikipedia editors began to police the online encyclopedia’s article on the shooting, according to <a href="https://www.piratewires.com/p/wikipedia-editors-cant-decide-if?f=home">Pirate Wires</a>.
The changes started with an editor identified as SuperPianoMan9167 swapping all instances where the shooter was referred to as a male for female terms. The editor also deleted all instances that referred to Westman’s birth name, Robert, arguing that to bring up the name Westman used before he began to identify as female is “deadnaming” and against Wikipedia policy.
“Wikipedia does not include someone&#8217;s birth name, even if it is sourced, unless they were notable under that name; to do otherwise is deadnaming,” SuperPianoMan9167 wrote. The anonymous editor said the risk of deadnaming applies to the shooter’s pronouns, as well.
The edits received pushback.
“[The birth name] is in the headline of arguably the most famous and reputable newspaper in the world [<a href="https://www.thetimes.com/us/news-today/article/robert-westman-trans-name-change-manifesto-mary-family-bfhps6kkf">The Times</a>]. To expunge it from WP is so absurd as to warrant invoking <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:IGNORE">WP:IGNORE</a>,” an editor identified as Ergo Sum said, referring to Wikipedia’s stance that any rule that “prevents you from improving or maintaining Wikipedia” in a certain circumstance should be ignored.
Editors tried to argue that they were making principled arguments around Wikipedia policy that should not be understood as expressing sympathy for a transgender-identifying mass shooter.
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“It doesn&#8217;t matter how insensitive it is (trust me, I think she was a terrible human being); it’s Wikipedia’s job to get the facts straight. If she identified as a female, then that&#8217;s what what [sic] Wikipedia should reflect, no matter how disgusting of a person someone is,” an editor identified as EF5 wrote.
As of this writing, Wikipedia’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annunciation_Catholic_Church_shooting">article</a> on the shooting does not mention the shooter’s birth name, Robert, and exclusively uses female pronouns to refer to the shooter. There is only one mention of Westman as “transgender.”
Another topic of debate stemmed from the FBI’s decision to investigate the shooting as a hate crime.
“I get the antisemitism part, but last I checked, Catholics are not a protected minority, or even just a minority for that matter, so the ‘hate crime’ classification does not apply,” an editor that goes by the online name 46.97.170.26 said.
An editor identified as Unknown Template responded: “The FBI classes hate crimes against any identifiable group, including, shock horror, even Christians and *gasp* white people.”
Unknown Template and others who argued in favor of the hate crime designation appear to have won that argument. The article mentions that the FBI is investigating the shooting as an &#8220;act of domestic terrorism and an anti-Catholic hate crime.”
Westman attacked Annunciation Catholic School on Wednesday morning as students and staff attended mass in the school’s church. Westman fired through the church’s windows from the parking lot, killing two students and injuring 17 others. Westman later turned his gun on himself, according to police.
Westman catalogued his extensive hate against Catholics, Jews, Donald Trump, and himself in writings, pictures, and videos. In one entry, Westman <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/wish-i-never-brain-washed-myself-minnesota-school-shooter-said-he-was-tired-of-being-trans?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=18&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=%E2%80%98Wish+I+Never+Brain-Washed+Myself%E2%80%99%3A+Minnesota+School+Shooter+Said+He+Was+%E2%80%98Tired+Of+Being+Trans%E2%80%99">wrote</a> that he came to regret his transgender identity.
“I only keep [long hair] because it is pretty much my last shred of being trans. I am tired of being trans, I wish I never brain-washed myself,” Westman wrote.
“I can’t cut my hair now as it would be [an] embarrassing defeat, and it might be a concerning change of character that could get me reported,” he continued. “It just always gets in my way. I will probably chop it on the day of the attack.”

Wikipedia

Heated Debate Breaks Out In Wikipedia Editors’ Forum Over Trans-Identifying Shooter’s Pronouns

Annunciation Catholic School

Crime

Minnesota

School Shooting

U.S.

The footage was striking: plumes of smoke rising over Iran’s nuclear facilities, the culmination of years of brinkmanship and intelligence coups. With one sweeping air campaign, the United States <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/media-fail-iranian-foreign-minister-admits-fordow-was-seriously-and-heavily-damaged?author=Hank+Berrien&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Media+Fail%3A+Iranian+Foreign+Minister+Admits+Fordow+Was+%E2%80%98Seriously+And+Heavily+Damaged%E2%80%99">sent a message</a>: the Islamic Republic will not be permitted to cross the nuclear threshold.
Yet as the dust settles, it would be a profound mistake to assume the threat has been neutralized. If anything, Iran’s nuclear humiliation may accelerate a transition that has been quietly underway for years — from ambitions of atomic deterrence to mastery of digital disruption.
Even as diplomats trumpet the ceasefire, cybersecurity professionals are aware of the dangers that still exist. In 2025, a nation doesn’t need fissile material to cripple its adversaries, it only needs a cadre of skilled operators, a menu of stolen exploits, and a willingness to play dirty in the world’s most critical networks.
Iran’s embrace of cyber operations is hardly a new development. In a 2012 cyberattack U.S. intelligence<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/24/business/global/cyberattack-on-saudi-oil-firm-disquiets-us.html"> attributed</a> to Iran, the <a href="https://www.cfr.org/cyber-operations/compromise-saudi-aramco-and-rasgas">Shamoon virus</a> wiped tens of thousands of computers inside Saudi Aramco, a major Saudi Arabian oil company, reducing corporate IT to smoking rubble — digitally speaking. Since then, Tehran’s capabilities have matured steadily.
Today, Iran’s cyber forces are well-trained and highly motivated. And given the loss of their nuclear infrastructure, they now possess ample incentive to reassert influence through other means. Cyber warfare is attractive precisely because it offers an asymmetrical advantage: the power to disrupt, humiliate, and retaliate without risking a direct military clash.
Recall how Russia, which has historically <a href="https://cybersecuritynews.com/researchers-uncovered-on-how-russia-leverages-private-companies/amp/">dominated the cybersphere</a>, has waged its campaign in Ukraine. Moscow hasn’t relied solely on tanks and artillery. It has unleashed waves of digital attacks against Ukraine’s power grids, satellite networks, and banking systems. Behind these campaigns, notorious criminal groups — like <a href="https://www.enigmasoftware.com/contiransomware-removal/">Conti</a> and <a href="https://www.enigmasoftware.com/blackbastaransomware-removal/">BlackBasta</a> — have operated with state blessing, extorting ransoms and leaking sensitive data.
This blurred line between espionage, sabotage, and organized crime has become a model for authoritarian states under pressure. Iran, facing international isolation and domestic discontent, has every reason to follow it.
The average person might imagine cyber warfare as a distant, abstract threat — some arcane business best left to <a href="https://www.rivitmedia.com/topics/it-cybersecurity-best-practices/">IT departments</a>. That illusion is exactly what adversaries count on.
Consider Zero-Day vulnerabilities: flaws in software that even the developers don’t yet know exist. These hidden back doors can be sold on dark markets for astronomical sums. And once a hostile operator has them, no firewall or antivirus can offer much protection.
Or take Remote Access Trojans, like <a href="https://www.spywareremove.com/removechaosrat.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chaos RAT</a> — a malicious tool that can lodge itself in a network and sit there, undetected, for months. The malware can exfiltrate sensitive data, delete backups, or simply wait for a signal to unleash chaos.
Iran’s cyber units have both the motive and the skill to deploy such capabilities against Western targets — especially at a moment when the regime needs to prove it can still inflict pain.
To understand the scale of the risk, look no further than China’s Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) groups, like <a href="https://www.cyclonis.com/remove-silver-fox-apt/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Silver Fox</a>. These teams excel at patient infiltration — building footholds in networks over years.
While Iran does not yet possess the same breadth of resources or global reach as Beijing, the playbook is there for the taking. Iranian operators have already borrowed tools and techniques from Russian and Chinese counterparts. They can acquire Zero-Days from the same vendors. They can lease infrastructure from the same criminal marketplaces.
In this sense, the global cyber threat landscape resembles a dark ecosystem: a place where alliances are fluid, tradecraft is shared, and almost anything is for sale.
Much has been made of the recent ceasefire between Israel and Iran. Certainly, it has brought a measure of short-term calm. But it’s worth stating the obvious: no ceasefire agreement binds a nation’s hackers.
Cyber operations are deniable by design. Tehran can escalate these attacks while maintaining plausible deniability. If a power grid goes down or a hospital network is encrypted, Iranian officials will simply shrug and claim ignorance — or suggest that Western companies should improve their “cyber hygiene.”
Indeed, it’s likely that in the coming months, Iran will test the boundaries of what it can accomplish in cyberspace without provoking another round of airstrikes. And unless Western governments are prepared, these tests may prove costly.
The United States remains unmatched in conventional military capability. But cyber defense has never been America’s comparative advantage. While agencies like the <a href="https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/news">Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)</a> have made enormous progress, much of the nation’s critical infrastructure — power stations, water systems, hospitals — remains vulnerable.
Decades of underinvestment, legacy software, and fragmented security practices have created an expansive attack surface. A determined adversary doesn’t need to destroy a city to sow panic. It just needs to flip a switch in the right control system — or quietly siphon data for blackmail and extortion.
This paradox — dominance in kinetic warfare, vulnerability in cyber — demands a strategic recalibration. As Iran pivots further into digital conflict, the costs of ignoring this imbalance will only grow.
America cannot afford to treat cybersecurity as an afterthought, an IT budget line item tucked behind more visible defense priorities. It must become a central pillar of national security strategy.
That means investing in modern detection systems powered by artificial intelligence. It means developing real deterrence — making clear that cyber aggression will incur meaningful consequences. And it means supporting public-private partnerships to protect industries that have become part of the national nervous system.
Iran’s nuclear setback is undeniably significant but no bomb can erase the knowledge Tehran has acquired about hacking adversaries. No missile strike can neutralize an ideology that prizes asymmetrical warfare.
The coming months will test the West’s capacity for vigilance. Iran’s leaders face enormous pressure to prove they remain formidable. And while their nuclear ambitions are now smoldering ruins, their cyber capabilities remain intact — and perhaps emboldened.
Policymakers should remember: the decisive battles of the 21st century may not begin with the roar of jets over a desert. They may start in the silent corridors of a server farm, where an invisible adversary is already laying traps.
In that theater, the rules are different — and the consequences no less severe.
* * *
Julio Rivera is a business and political strategist, cybersecurity researcher, founder of <a href="https://www.itfunk.org/">ItFunk.Org</a>, and a political commentator and columnist. His writing, which is focused on cybersecurity and politics, is regularly published by many of the largest news organizations in the world.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Interior of big modern server room. 3d rendering illustration

From Missiles To Malware: Iran’s Potential Pivot To Digital Warfare

Computer

Cyberattack

Iran

President Trump

Technology

After the tyrannical Iranian regime turned off the internet in Iran — effectively preventing the Iranian people from knowing the damage caused to the regime by Israel’s military strikes and thus emboldening them to challenge the regime — free speech advocate Elon Musk confirmed he had turned on Starlink, allowing the Iranian people access to the Internet.
Musk responded to Fox News host and radio host Mark Levin, who noted, “Elon Musk can put the final nail in the coffin of the Iranian regime by providing Star link internet to the Iranian people! Iran cut off all internet so that the people cannot organize a coup and communicate.”
“The beams are on,” Musk succinctly responded.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The beams are on
&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1933727111485026581?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 14, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Iranian dissidents have cheered the Israeli strikes on Iran and criticized the regime for its war with Israel. Iranian scholar and filmmaker Faezeh Alavi, who saw her event “From Conflict to Connection: Israelis and Iranians in Dialogue,” at King&#8217;s College canceled in February after anti-Israel activists protested, responded to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu saying to the Iranian people, “Our fight is not with you. Our fight is with the brutal dictatorship that has oppressed you for 46 years” by posting on X: “Bibi is spot on. We are sharing the same enemy. The Islamic Republic&#8217;s nuclear program must be stopped; otherwise, a nuclear war would start by this regime soon, and Iranian people would lose ANY chance of freeing Iran. Many world leaders also owe Israel for protecting them from this threat.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Bibi is spot on. We are sharing the same enemy.
The Islamic Republic&#39;s nuclear program must be stopped; otherwise, a nuclear war would start by this regime soon, and Iranian people would lose ANY chance of freeing Iran.
Many world leaders also owe Israel for protecting them… <a href="https://t.co/MMNPIKGzax">pic.twitter.com/MMNPIKGzax</a>
&mdash; Faezeh Alavi (@SFaeze_Alavi) <a href="https://twitter.com/SFaeze_Alavi/status/1933330701371273390?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 13, 2025</a></blockquote>
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“Only the deaths of Khamenei, his son Mojtaba, and Pazakhian will shorten the path to victory over the despotic regime of the jihadists in Tehran. After that, there will be no alternative leadership left — not even within the Revolutionary Guards. Otherwise, Iranians and Israelis are in for a very long period of suffering,” Professor Afshin Ellian wrote.
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רק מותם של ח&#39;אמנאי, בנו מוג&#39;תבא ופזשכיאן יקצר את הדרך לניצחון על המשטר הדספוטי של הג&#39;יהאדיסטים בטהראן. לאחר מכן לא תישאר שום הנהגה חלופית — אפילו לא בתוך משמרות המהפכה. אחרת, צפויה לאיראנים ולישראלים תקופה מאוד ארוכה של סבל.
&mdash; Afshin Ellian (@AfshinEllian1) <a href="https://twitter.com/AfshinEllian1/status/1934195470827426065?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 15, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Exiled Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi <a href="https://www.jns.org/iranian-opposition-calls-to-overthrow-the-mullahs/">urged</a> Iranians “to overthrow the Islamic Republic through street protests and nationwide strikes,” adding, “Ali Khamenei, the foolish leader of the anti-Iranian regime of the Islamic Republic, has once again embroiled Iran in a war; a war that is not [against] Iran and the Iranian nation, but [against] the Islamic Republic and Khamenei.”
Famed Iranian dissident Masih Alinejad wrote on X, “The Islamic Republic&#8217;s insistence on continuing confrontation with Israel is based on illusions, ideological slogans, and unrealistic calculations, and it has no result other than the destruction of our Iran. A disaster whose costs will not only be political, but also human and security. And what&#8217;s even more bitter is that these costs will be paid with the lives of people who have no role or authority in these decision-making. How long will the Iranian people have to pay the price for a war that was neither their choice nor their benefit?”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
اصرار جمهوری اسلامی بر تداوم تقابل‌جویانه با اسرائیل، بر اساس توهمات و‌ شعارهای ایدئولوژیک و محاسبات غیرواقع‌بینانه است و بس و هیچ نتیجه‌ای ندارد جز ویرانی ایران ما.
فاجعه‌ای که هزینه‌های آن نه صرفاً سیاسی، بلکه انسانی و امنیتی خواهد بود. و نکته‌ی تلخ‌تر آن‌که، این هزینه‌ها از… <a href="https://t.co/6EmVZz84pn">pic.twitter.com/6EmVZz84pn</a>
&mdash; Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlinejadMasih/status/1934045733138698438?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 15, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Elon Musk

‘The Beams Are On’: Iran Axes Internet, Musk Turns On Starlink To Allow Iranian Dissidents Access

'The Beams Are On': Iran Axes Internet, Musk Turns On Starlink To Allow Iranian Dissidents Access

Mark Levin

Starlink

On the surface, Victoria Sinis is indistinguishable from so many other marketing professionals.
Young, vivacious, and personable, the twenty-something Australian seems like she does PR for a cosmetics company or a trendy tech startup.
But Sinis’ job was something else entirely. For eight months, she trolled social media sites for girls who seemed underage or “barely legal,” and coaxed them into posting explicit content on OnlyFans.
The job was easier than it may seem. All she had to do was lie.
“If we had approached them with the truth and said, ‘Hey, do you want to sign up to do porn? We’ll take 20% of your income. You’re probably not going to earn a lot. You&#8217;re going to have to do some really extreme things. You&#8217;d be like, ‘No!’” Sinis told The Daily Wire.
Instead, she and the other recruiters messaged potential porn performers about their positive “vibe,” and invited them to lavish parties on yachts or fly them in to stay at villas in exotic locales.
Recruiters “show girls this lifestyle, and then say, ‘Would you like to be an OnlyFans creator and maximize your earnings?’” Sinis says.
While influencers parade high-rise apartments and luxury vacations on social media, the average OnlyFans creator earns about $180 a month.
“There’s a cultural myth that you can just sell feet pics and buy a Mercedes,” Sinis says. “But it’s a full-time job for very little return. We had girls post 20 videos a day across five accounts. We had SEO experts, lighting setups, even script templates.”
Sinnis worked at an OnlyFans agency, one of thousands of such companies that have sprung up to exploit both performers and their customers, who believe they’re purchasing access to these women.
While precise statistics are hard to come by, it has been estimated that there are roughly 3,000-5,000 such small agencies globally, and around 300-500 larger, <a href="https://www.creditdonkey.com/best-onlyfans-agency.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">more established agencies</a> with significant client rosters and operations. Along with the 20% they pay to OnlyFans, managed performers also have to fork over a hefty commission of their usually meager earnings to them.
The existence of these agencies reveals the demand for adult content on OnlyFans, which was launched in 2016 with the promise that it would allow celebrities and influencers to monetize their content by selling it directly to fans.
At first, OnlyFans did not allow “not safe for work” content. But the platform lifted that prohibition in 2017, and the adult performers began flocking to the site. As COVID lockdowns fueled digital consumption in 2020, that trend only grew.
Today, it&#8217;s estimated that between <a href="https://social-rise.com/blog/onlyfans-statistics">70% and 80%</a> of OnlyFans’ 3 million creators are considered “not safe for work.”
Sinis joined her agency shortly after graduating with a marketing degree. She’d been working in hospitality, but when some friends approached her to join their company, she thought it seemed harmless. And she enjoyed working with her clients, women her agency euphemistically called “content creators,” many of whom she describes as funny and sweet.
As a recruiter, Sinis was tasked with convincing young women who had already built up a following posting risqué photos on Instagram or TikTok to take it one step further to overt “sex work.”
Her employer had a very specific target in mind.
“We recruited based on how young [the women] looked,” Sinis told The Daily Wire. Because girls who looked like they could plausibly be labeled “teen,” “fresh 18,” or “barely legal” made the most money, she and her fellow recruiters cold-messaged girls who looked underage or newly-adult and dazzled them with promises of potential wealth.
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TikTok channels like The BOP House (short for Baddies on Point), which features a host of OnlyFans girls living in an L.A. mansion, boasting of their seven- and eight-figure earnings, have helped make the pitch easy. Convinced that they can earn massive incomes selling their bodies, some young tween and teen girls, Sinis says, are already filming pornographic content to prove their “experience” to OnlyFans recruiters, hopeful they might one day occupy the digital successor to Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Mansion.
What recruiters don’t mention: these girls won’t make much at all, unless they’re willing to film the most explicit and extreme content.
At Sinis’ agency, creators were asked what “level” of content they were comfortable filming. The scale ran from posing in lingerie (Level 1) to “everything but anal” (Level 4), and finally, violent sex and other hardcore acts (Level 5).
“Very quickly, we dropped Level 1 because it didn’t make money,” she says. That meant all the girls they recruited pretty much started at Level 2 — implied nudity. The recruiter’s job was to convince the women to advance through the levels.
“It isn’t, ‘You must do this,’” Sinis explains. “It’s more subtle than that. We would say things to the girls like, ‘This custom request for some explicit performance is worth $500. Are you sure you want to pass that up?’”
“We call it consent but really we were slowly wearing the women down. When a girl would say no to a custom video, and then get offered $1,000, we would continue to push them with, ‘Hey, we’re just checking in. Totally up to you though.’ But it’s not. It’s coercion.”
Some custom requests weren’t even sexual — just dark. One man, for instance, wanted a fake video of a man hanging off a ledge while a woman stepped on his fingers. These darker requests were what finally caused Sinis to question the work she was doing.
“When virtual sadism doesn’t cut it, what’s next — real violence?” she asks. “We are feeding violent, sexualized fantasies. And then we’re surprised when those fantasies spill into the real world.”
After visiting a church service one weekend and thinking of all the women she helped bring into porn, she tendered her resignation.
“I was crying every day, unable to open my laptop when I got to work,” she says. “I kept asking my coworkers, &#8216;Do you think it’s okay, what we do?&#8217;”
What they do is feed delusions — not just to the women they recruit, but to the men who subscribe.
OnlyFans’ appeal is that, unlike other pornographic websites, it allows subscribers to have a seeming personal interaction with performers. But subscribers who “chat” with performers often aren’t interacting with the women on screen.
“We hired chatters, cheap labor from the Philippines, who worked 12- to 16-hour days pretending to be these women,” Sinis says. These workers are given scripts and trained in the “girlfriend experience,” keeping men emotionally tethered, often believing they have genuine relationships with the creators.
“It plays on male loneliness, on their emotional vulnerability,” Sinis tells The Daily Wire. “We exploited men for profit just as much as we did the women performing.” This included training the “chatters” on upselling custom requests.
Sinis believes these men, often married or isolated, aren’t paying for explicit content so much as the sense of intimacy and validation it gives them.
“I had a guy tell me he thought he had a real connection. I had to break it to him: it’s all scripted. You&#8217;re talking to a stranger, quite possibly another man, on another continent.”
Nowhere are these false relationships more harmful than with young men. Children, on average, first see pornography at age 12, though some are exposed to explicit content as young as seven. Studies show that rising pornography consumption is fueling an epidemic of emotional withdrawal, and causing a sharp drop in dating and relationships among Gen Z males.
“I met a 13-year-old boy in Georgia who broke down in tears telling me he watches porn and no one knows,” Sinis recalled. “The shame, the secrecy — it’s soul-crushing.”
Since leaving the industry, Sinis has begun to consider how we might roll back the damage that porn is doing to society. As someone who’s been on the inside, her prescription for change isn’t limited to legislation, though she supports age verification laws like those passed in Utah.
Instead, she advocates for cultural revolution: equipping parents, educating children early, and building a counter-narrative that emphasizes the importance of marriage, family, and faith.
“We need to stop shaming young men and women, and start attacking the real enemy: the $97 billion porn industry that’s consuming them both,” she says.
“This world has light and darkness,” Sinis said. “And OnlyFans feeds the darkness.&#8221;

OF Blue – Elordi – They Regret Posting on ‘OnlyFans’

A Former OnlyFans Recruiter Reveals The Dark World Of Amateur Pornography

Human Trafficking

OnlyFans

Pornography

Social Media

Americans are more depressed than ever. An online-obsessed world has trapped us in lonely, soul-draining bubbles — stripping away real relationships and community. And, in many cases, the more online we’ve become in our jobs and our personal lives, the harder it’s been for us to maintain a healthy lifestyle. 
Depression in the United States hit an all-time high, according to a Gallup <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/505745/depression-rates-reach-new-highs.aspx#:~:text=Clinical%20depression%20had%20been%20slowly,an%20estimated%2044%20million%20people.">survey</a> published in 2023. A big reason for the recent spike was the COVID-19 pandemic, which Gallup wrote brought mandated isolation and quarantine along with major changes to jobs, churches, and families. 
Depression is no joke, and it can be overwhelming to figure out how to tackle it. But researchers are discovering that a way to decrease depression is to increase protein intake. According to a <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00207/full">study</a> by The Catholic University of Korea and the California Institute of Technology published in 2020, “When the proportion of calories intake by protein increased by 10%, the prevalence of depression was significantly reduced …” 
“Subsequent analysis showed that the low protein intake groups had significantly higher risk for depression than the normal protein intake groups in both the United States and South Korea,” the study’s authors added. 
In a world that’s left us disconnected, <a href="https://responsibleman.com/products/the-theodore-premium-protein?selling_plan=691870892397">the all-new Theodore Premium Protein</a> from ResponsibleMan is intended to reconnect you to strength and to health. Whether you’re a fitness warrior or just breaking free from the couch, this is your battle cry. 
Theodore is built for men who demand more from their protein — more strength, more recovery, more resilience. Developed in partnership with Progenex, this premium hydrolyzed whey protein isolate is designed for maximum absorption and fast muscle repair. Packed with essential growth factors, it fuels your body efficiently without unnecessary fillers.
With zero added sugar and a smooth, naturally rich taste, Theodore is the protein you’ll actually look forward to drinking
Rip open Theodore protein and charge into a healthy life. One shake, one breakthrough. Grab Theodore now and unleash the beast within!
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
ResponsibleMan shares common ownership with The Daily Wire.

Depression

From Isolation To Strength: Protein Could Be The Key To Fighting America’s Depression Crisis

study

A federal appeals court on Thursday struck down the Biden administration-backed “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/net-neutrality" target="_blank" rel="noopener">net neutrality</a>” regulations implemented last year by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). 
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals <a href="https://www.opn.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/25a0002p-06.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ruled</a> 3-0 against the FCC’s recent order that said Broadband Internet Service Providers must follow net neutrality rules because they are a &#8220;telecommunications service.” Net neutrality rules block broadband providers from varying speeds or blocking connections to third-party websites
In a 26-page decision, Judge Richard Griffin wrote that the FCC “lacks the statutory authority to impose its desired net-neutrality policies” because broadband providers offer an “information service” and are not a telecommunications service under federal law. 
Griffin said that because broadband providers are an information service they are not “not subject to common-carrier regulations.”
“For the reasons that follow, we hold that Broadband Internet Service Providers offer an information service and that mobile broadband is a private mobile service,” he wrote. “Therefore, the FCC exceeded its statutory authority by issuing the Safeguarding Order.”
The court&#8217;s decision came after the FCC reinstated “net neutrality” policies in April 2024, which several broadband providers challenged. 
In response, Democratic FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel called for Congress to implement net neutrality regulations. 
“Consumers across the country have told us again and again that they want an internet that is fast, open, and fair,” Rosenworcel said. “With this decision it is clear that Congress now needs to heed their call, take up the charge for net neutrality, and put open internet principles in federal law.”
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, whom President-elect Donald Trump has selected as the next chair of the commission, praised the court&#8217;s decision, calling it a &#8220;win&#8221; for the country. He said the regulations were part of the Biden administration’s work “to expand the government’s control over every feature of the Internet ecosystem.”
“I am pleased that the appellate court invalidated President Biden’s Internet power grab by striking down these unlawful Title II regulations,” he <a href="https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-408580A1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. “But the work to unwind the Biden Administration’s regulatory overreach will continue. I welcome the chance to advance a policy agenda that will deliver great results for the American people.”

US-CRIME-ATTACK

Federal Court Blocks Biden Administration’s ‘Net Neutrality’ Rules

Biden Administration

Courts

Net Neutrality

Two undersea internet cables appear to have been severed in Europe this week as officials warn of potential Russian sabotage against Western infrastructure as it looks for an advantage in its war against Ukraine.
A nearly 750-mile cable connecting Germany and Finland, which just joined NATO last year, stopped working during the early morning hours on Monday.
&#8220;We are deeply concerned about the severed undersea cable connecting Finland and Germany in the Baltic Sea,&#8221; the two countries <a href="https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/en/newsroom/news/-/2685132">said</a> in a joint statement. &#8220;The fact that such an incident immediately raises suspicions of intentional damage speaks volumes about the volatility of our times.&#8221;
The countries said that an investigation was already underway and warned that Europe&#8217;s security was &#8220;not only under threat from Russia‘s war of aggression against Ukraine, but also from hybrid warfare by malicious actors.&#8221;
&#8220;Safeguarding our shared critical infrastructure is vital to our security and the resilience of our societies,&#8221; they added.
A 135-mile undersea internet cable stopped working on Sunday that connected Lithuania and Sweden, which just joined NATO earlier this year.
Lithuania&#8217;s Telia Lietuva Chief Technology Officer Andrius Šemeškevičius said: “The cable was cut on Sunday morning, at around 10:00.&#8221;
Carl-Oskar Bohlin, Sweden&#8217;s minister of civil defence, <a href="https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/2416006/undersea-cable-between-lithuania-and-sweden-damaged-telia">told</a> the media on Monday that it was critical that authorities quickly learn why the two cables were no longer working.
There was no official indication that sabotage was to blame as investigators still worked to locate the exact area where the cables were cut.
However, given the rugged design of the cables, human activity was almost certainly to blame for the damage, experts said. The fact that two separate cables were damaged in the span of less than 24 hours — each of which connected two different NATO members — raised fears of sabotage.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/western-intel-officials-russia-behind-arson-attack-at-german-factory">Western Intel Officials: Russia Behind Arson Attack At German Factory</a>

RUSSIA-ATTACK-SHOOTING

Two Undersea Internet Cables Severed Amid Fears Of Russian Sabotage: Reports

NATO

Russia

Ukraine

Unless you&#8217;re a denizen of the internet with at least a little bit of interest in cryptocurrency, you likely haven&#8217;t heard of Web3 yet.
If you&#8217;re not a cryptocurrency person, I can feel your eye rolls from here. &#8220;Crypto again, here we go!&#8221; Yes, I know. Bitcoin has been around forever.
That&#8217;s not what I&#8217;m talking about though.
Web3 is an idea for the future of the internet where the entire web is built on blockchains, decentralizing it and putting control back into the hands of the people rather than Big Tech companies. The term Web3 — or Web 3.0 — began floating around in 2013 and refers to the next phase of the World Wide Web after Web 2.0, the age of interactive websites that started around 2004, and the original Web, which consisted of lots of read-only websites.
So what would a blockchain internet look like? What is a blockchain anyway?
A blockchain is a chain or “ledger” of digital data that is decentralized, meaning it is spread across many different computers, often even across different countries.
The big attraction of the blockchain is that it does not need a centralized administrator like a server in a specific location. Google&#8217;s servers are located in Oregon, Arizona, Texas, and several other places. When Google decides to do something, users can&#8217;t stop the company because it controls the servers.
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amiracist.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1724361346607000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1ZhyOQfEkxcMH_D1Ago3CQ">Tickets for “Am I Racist?” are on sale NOW! Buy here for a theater near you.</a>
Big Tech&#8217;s outsized control over internet traffic has long been a bipartisan concern. Republicans and Democrats in Congress have <a href="https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-graham-unveil-bipartisan-bill-to-rein-in-big-tech" target="_blank" rel="noopener">teamed</a> up on bills to reign in giants like Google, Apple, and Facebook.
Online censorship, misinformation, and election interference concerns marred the last few presidential elections. Data breaches have exposed people&#8217;s personal and financial information. Meanwhile, Big Tech companies gobble up revenue and buy out their competitors, making it nearly impossible to challenge them in the free market.
Blockchain technology could potentially solve some of the problems Big Tech poses, but so far, it hasn&#8217;t quite figured out how to achieve that higher purpose.
Unlike the Big Tech corporations, blockchains are run by the community. Each time someone adds something to the blockchain, the ledger data is updated on each “node,” each computer using the blockchain. A majority of users agree to verify the changes, and the blockchain keeps going. Each “block” on the blockchain contains the new data, a timestamp, and information about the previous block, so every addition to the blockchain is permanent and cannot be reversed without changing every single block after it.
There&#8217;s no third party needed (think traditional banks), and there&#8217;s no CEO in a corner office somewhere calling the shots. This is new and exciting because it means the builders and users of blockchains can record things on the blockchain (like financial transactions) without the fear that their additions could be easily erased or changed.
All of this also means that hacking a blockchain is extremely difficult because you would have to control at least 51% of the computers using the blockchain.
Today, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB, and Solana are the most popular uses of blockchain technology. NFTs — non-fungible tokens, essentially digital collector&#8217;s art — are also traded furiously on blockchains. There are also more gimmicky trends like video games built on blockchains that reward people with cryptocurrency.
However, Web3 enthusiasts have a grander idea for the future of blockchains where they are about more than just making money or goofing off — they could someday be used for just about everything we already do on the internet and more.
Social media platforms can be built on top of blockchains. People have already <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/5-blockchain-based-social-media-platforms-to-know" target="_blank" rel="noopener">done</a> this. Banking on blockchains can be more efficient, secure, and transparent without the expensive fees. Stablecoins (cryptocurrencies like USD Coin, which is always redeemable for the same amount in dollars) are working on doing this now.
There are likely things blockchains can do that we haven&#8217;t even thought of yet because our current internet isn&#8217;t able to do them.
Web3 is still a pretty hazy idea. Yes, blockchains exist and cryptocurrency is everywhere now, but for now, we&#8217;ll just have to wait and see if the grander vision for this technology pans out.
&#8220;Blockchains are at the computing frontier, as PCs were in the 1980s, the internet was in the 1990s, and mobile phones were in the 2010s,&#8221; writes venture capital tech investor Chris Dixon in his book on Web3 published this year, &#8220;Read Write Own: Building The Next Era Of The Internet.&#8221;
&#8220;People look back today on classic moments in computing and wonder what it was like to be there,&#8221; Dixon writes. &#8220;You are here now. These are the good old days.&#8221;
If you&#8217;re not hearing about Web3 now, you will be soon. Now you&#8217;re in the know.

(Getty Images)

What Is Web3 And Why Should You Care?

Big Tech

Bitcoin

Cryptocurrency

Economy

Readers Pass

On Tuesday, the Democrat-led <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/u-s-senate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Senate</a> passed <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/1409/text" target="_blank" rel="noopener">legislation</a> that seeks to shore up protections for children on the internet. In a bipartisan display, 91 senators <a href="https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1182/vote_118_2_00221.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">voted in favor</a> of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Action (COPPA) 2.0. Three senators opposed the bills while six members did not cast votes.
&#8220;The Senate kept its promise to parents and passed the Kids Online Safety Act &#8216;KOSA&#8217; and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act &#8216;COPPA 2.0,'&#8221; Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) <a href="https://x.com/SenSchumer/status/1818331404247167100" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a post to X. &#8220;The most important update to federal laws protecting kids on the internet in decades The House must pass them now.&#8221;
KOSA would &#8220;require platforms to enable the strongest privacy settings by default, force platforms to prevent and mitigate specific dangers to minors, provide parents and educators new controls to help protect children, and require independent audits and research into social media companies,&#8221; according to a <a href="https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/2024/7/blackburn-blumenthal-celebrate-senate-passage-of-the-bipartisan-kids-online-safety-act" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a> from the office of Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), who introduced the bill alongside Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT).
Blackburn&#8217;s website <a href="https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/kosa-33db52ce-5d69-11ee-8c99" target="_blank" rel="noopener">features a breakdown of the bill</a> that further states it would create &#8220;a duty for online platforms to prevent and mitigate specific dangers to minors, including promotion of suicide, eating disorders, substance abuse, sexual exploitation, and advertisements for certain illegal products (e.g. tobacco and alcohol).&#8221; It also says KOSA would require &#8220;social media platforms to provide minors with options to protect their information, disable addictive product features, and opt out of personalized algorithmic recommendations.&#8221;
The press release noted that Blackburn and Blumenthal &#8220;first introduced the Kids Online Safety Act in February 2022 following reporting by the Wall Street Journal and after spearheading a series of five subcommittee hearings with social media companies and advocates on the repeated failures by tech giants to protect kids on their platforms.&#8221;
A <a href="https://www.cassidy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cassidy-applauds-the-senate-passage-of-his-childrens-online-privacy-legislation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a> from the office of Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) said COPPA 2.0, which Cassidy and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) unveiled to update the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/105th-congress/senate-bill/2326#:~:text=Children's%20Online%20Privacy%20Protection%20Act%20of%201998%20%2D%20Directs%20the%20Federal,age%2016%2C%20including%20by%20obtaining" target="_blank" rel="noopener">original COPPA bill</a> from 1998 that directed the Federal Trade Commission to enforce online privacy for minors, would &#8220;[b]uild on COPPA by prohibiting internet companies from collecting personal information from users who are 13 to 16 years old without their consent&#8221; and &#8220;[b]an targeted advertising to children and teens.&#8221;
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COPPA 2.0 would also &#8220;[r]evise COPPA’s &#8216;actual knowledge&#8217; standard to close the loophole that allows covered platforms to ignore kids and teens on their site; Create an &#8216;Eraser Button&#8217; by requiring companies to permit users to eliminate personal information from a child or teen when technologically feasible; and Establish data minimization rules to prohibit the excessive collection of children and teens’ data,&#8221; the press release added.
Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT), Rand Paul (R-KY), and Ron Wyden (D-OR) comprised the trio who rejected the legislation. They each <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4800884-senate-approves-bills-online-children/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">offered explanations</a> for opposing KOSA in particular, raising concerns over free speech and censorship.
&#8220;Government mandates and censorship will not protect children online,&#8221; Paul <a href="https://x.com/RandPaul/status/1818319329349214480" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said in a post to X</a>, adding, &#8220;The internet may pose new problems but there is an age old solution to this issue. Free minds &amp; parental guidance are the best means to protect our children online.&#8221; In a <a href="https://x.com/SenMikeLee/status/1818341290808865015" target="_blank" rel="noopener">post to X</a> of his own, Lee said he was &#8220;proud to have introduced the SCREEN Act, which would require pornographic websites to adopt real age-verification for visitors,&#8221; but &#8220;it was blocked from consideration and did not receive a vote&#8221; when he offered the legislation as an amendment to KOSA.
Wyden <a href="https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/wyden-statement-on-the-kids-online-safety-act" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> he feared KOSA &#8220;could be used to sue services that offer privacy-enhancing technologies like encryption or anonymity features that are essential to young people’s ability to communicate securely and privately without being spied on by predators online&#8221; and took &#8220;seriously concerns voiced by the American Civil Liberties Union, Fight for the Future, and LGBTQ+ teens and advocates that a future MAGA administration could still use this bill to pressure companies to censor gay, trans and reproductive health information.&#8221;
The bills now head to the GOP-controlled House, which is in recess for the remainder of the summer. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) <a href="https://x.com/emrwilkins/status/1815761203861262448?t=E37Sh7ZAmjwO31rQ93FWB" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly told CNBC</a> earlier this month that he loved &#8220;the idea&#8221; behind them. &#8220;We&#8217;ll be looking at the details of the exact legislation, but I suspect it&#8217;ll have a lot of support,&#8221; he added.
President Joe Biden urged the House to quickly pass KOSA. &#8220;While my Administration has taken important steps to address the harms of social media and online platforms, we need action by Congress to protect our kids online and hold Big Tech accountable for the national experiment they are running on our children for profit,&#8221; he said in a <a href="https://x.com/cristina_corujo/status/1818372732565786653" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>.

The Dome of the U.S. Capitol

Senate Approves Child Online Safety Legislation

Children

Congress

U.S. Senate

Teens and kids are not the only ones glued to their social media feeds anymore — the vast majority of adults spend time scrolling too.
Data released earlier this year shows that a majority of American adults use some kind of social media, but their habits and preferred platforms are different from younger users.
YouTube and Facebook are both about two decades old now, but they remain the top two platforms among adults.
YouTube is by far the most widely used platform among adults as well as teens. About eight in 10 American adults, 83%, say they have used the video-sharing platform at some point, according to recent <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2024/01/31/americans-social-media-use/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">data</a> from the Pew Research Center, which polled more than 5,700 adults between May and September last year.
<div id="attachment_707565" style="width: 347px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-707565" class="size-large wp-image-707565" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/PI_2024.01.31_Social-Media-use_00_01-337x576.webp" alt="" width="337" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/PI_2024.01.31_Social-Media-use_00_01-337x576.webp 337w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/PI_2024.01.31_Social-Media-use_00_01-175x300.webp 175w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/PI_2024.01.31_Social-Media-use_00_01.webp 620w" sizes=" (max-width: 337px) 100vw, 337px" />Pew Research.</div>
Facebook is not far behind with a majority of U.S. adults, 68%, saying they use it. By contrast, teens have fled Facebook over the past decade as their parents, relatives, teachers, and other adults have joined. In 2022, only 32% of teens <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2022/08/10/teens-social-media-and-technology-2022/#The-social-media-landscape-has-shifted" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> they had ever used Facebook, down from 71% in 2015.
Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, has attracted about half of adults with 47% saying they use the image-based platform.
<div id="attachment_707569" style="width: 840px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-707569" class="size-large wp-image-707569" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/PJ_2022.08.10_teens-and-tech_0-08-830x576.webp" alt="" width="830" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/PJ_2022.08.10_teens-and-tech_0-08-830x576.webp 830w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/PJ_2022.08.10_teens-and-tech_0-08-300x208.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/PJ_2022.08.10_teens-and-tech_0-08-768x533.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/PJ_2022.08.10_teens-and-tech_0-08.webp 1280w" sizes=" (max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px" />Pew Research.</div>
About a fifth of adults say they use Twitter, which was recently renamed X and is known for fast-moving discourse especially relating to politics and pop culture. A fifth also say they use Reddit, known for its hyper-specific communities and sometimes NSFW content.
Of course, TikTok has exploded in popularity in recent years, especially among teens and kids, but a third of adults have flocked to the video-sharing platform as well.
TikTok has seen a 12-point spike in adult users since 2021, while the percentages of adults who use YouTube and Facebook, the most popular platforms, have stayed about the same since 2021.
However, about half of TikTok&#8217;s adult users are observers only, meaning they have never posted a video themselves. This includes younger adults aged 18 to 34 — only half have ever posted a video.
Because of this, the vast majority of TikTok&#8217;s content is created by a small share of users. The top 25% of adults on TikTok produce 98% of that group&#8217;s publicly available videos.
The typical adult TikTok user has also left their &#8220;bio&#8221; blank on their account.
More people are now getting their news from TikTok too. Last year, about 14% of adults said they got news regularly from TikTok, more than four times the 3% who said so in 2020.
TikTok&#8217;s pivot to a news source echoes Twitter&#8217;s evolution, which has become many people&#8217;s go-to source for up-to-the-minute news updates.
Communities geared towards adult users, such as parenting content and even X-rated content, have popped up on many of the platforms popular with adults.
Meanwhile among teens, YouTube is the most popular platform with 95% of teens <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2022/08/10/teens-social-media-and-technology-2022/#The-social-media-landscape-has-shifted" target="_blank" rel="noopener">saying</a> in 2022 that they use it, followed by TikTok with 67% of teens, Instagram with 62%, and then Snapchat, an app used to send disappearing photos and messages, with 59%.
Teen girls are more likely to use Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat, while teen boys are more likely to use Reddit and Twitch, a self-streaming platform often used by video gamers.
The average social media user is also not just on one platform but uses an eye-popping six or seven platforms every month.
Overall, we&#8217;re all scrolling more. Across the globe last year, about 4.9 billion people <a href="https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/social-media-statistics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">used</a> social media, and that number continues to climb.

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