Three of the world&#8217;s largest social media platforms are heading to court on Tuesday as they defend themselves in a bellwether social media addiction case.
The California Superior Court in Los Angeles County is set to hear the case, which alleges that Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube have contributed to the growing problem of social media addiction and the mental health issues that stem from it. TikTok and Snapchat were also sued in the case, but settled with the plaintiff before the trial began. 
Jury selection for the trial begins on Tuesday, with opening arguments scheduled for next week. The case is part of a coordinated effort across the country that includes hundreds of similar cases where litigants accuse social media giants of fueling addiction.
In the case before the California Superior Court, a 19-year-old woman, referred to as K.G.M., argues that social media platforms have knowingly designed their platforms to get children and young users addicted. Studies have shown that social media features such as autoplay and infinite scroll induce a dopamine hit, which can lead to users spending hours on platforms each day.
K.G.M.&#8217;s social media addiction <a href="https://www.carriermanagement.com/news/2025/10/21/280613.htm">resulted</a> in crippling depression, body dysmorphia, and suicidal thoughts, according to the lawsuit. K.G.M.&#8217;s case is just the first of many that are expected to trial this year, targeting Snapchat, Meta, TikTok, and YouTube, which is owned by Google. Snapchat settled with K.G.M., but it remains a defendant in numerous other social media cases that are set to go before state and federal courts.
YouTube told The Daily Wire that the allegations it faces in the cases “are simply not true.”
“Providing young people with a safer, healthier experience has always been core to our work,” said YouTube spokesman José Castañeda. “In collaboration with youth, mental health and parenting experts, we built services and policies to provide young people with age-appropriate experiences, and parents with robust controls. The allegations in these complaints are simply not true.”
The Daily Wire also reached out to Snapchat, TikTok, and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram. Snapchat told The Daily Wire that it was &#8220;pleased&#8221; to have settled the K.G.M. case in &#8220;an amicable manner.&#8221;
The K.G.M trial will likely put Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on the witness stand, where he will have to answer questions in front of a jury. Meta’s lawyers <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/meta-tiktok-youtube-stand-trial-youth-addiction-claims-2026-01-26/">told</a> Reuters that the social media giant will argue before the court that its platform did not lead to K.G.M’s mental health issues. YouTube said it will argue that its platform is different from those of the other defendants and shouldn&#8217;t be considered in the same case as Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
The California Superior Court trial could shape public opinion on social media platforms moving forward as the companies face more trials, including one in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, which is set to begin on June 12. The lawsuit before the federal court was filed by school districts, which argue that social media addiction fueled by social media companies “not only harms individual children and their loved ones but also causes substantial and financially burdensome interference with school district, county, and municipal operations.”
In recent years, Meta has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ig-introduces-teen-accounts-with-built-in-privacy-settings-to-better-support-parents">rolled out</a> online safety features for children using Instagram. The platform&#8217;s &#8220;Teen Accounts&#8221; keep children&#8217;s accounts private, meaning other Instagram users cannot see posts from or contact a Teen Account unless the teenager accepts their follow requests. Instagram also censors content on Teen Accounts, so that children are not shown content that features fighting or cosmetic procedures.
TikTok, meanwhile, <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/support/faq_detail?id=7543604789335071238&amp;category=web_account">created</a> &#8220;a separate TikTok experience specifically designed&#8221; for kids under 13 years old. The &#8220;TikTok Under 13 Experience&#8221; curates content that is more appropriate for young children, makes all accounts private, and limits screen time to one hour. YouTube also has a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/intl/ALL_us/kids/safer-experience/">kids version</a> of the platform that is &#8220;designed to be a safer and simpler place for kids to explore their interests through online video.&#8221; YouTube requires videos uploaded on YouTube Kids to be &#8220;family-friendly.&#8221;
The effects of social media on children has become a hot topic in recent years, and the issue gained more attention after the book, &#8220;The Anxious Generation,&#8221; by Jonathan Haidt was published in 2024. In the book, Haidt, a social psychologist, argues that anxiety and depression skyrocketed in the past 15 years, coinciding with what he calls the &#8220;great rewiring of childhood,&#8221; which is the flip from a play-based childhood to a phone-based childhood.
The social media addiction case in California comes as some countries move to ban social media for children. Last month, Australia became the first nation in the world to ban social media for kids under 16. Malaysia has introduced a similar social media ban, and Utah passed a law in 2024 requiring social media platforms to verify a users&#8217; age and obtain parental consent, but parts of the law were temporarily blocked by a federal judge.
This article was updated after TikTok settled with K.G.M. shortly before the trial started.

Social media

Bellwether Social Media Addiction Trial Puts Instagram, Facebook, And YouTube In The Crosshairs

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This week, more than 100 leading free speech experts <a href="https://adfinternational.org/campaign/open-letter-dsa">warned</a> that the Digital Services Act (DSA), a piece of European Union legislation, threatens to impose online censorship across the world. The letter was addressed to the European Commission, the architect of the censorial law.
The DSA gives the EU authority to enforce “content moderation” on platforms and search engines with over 45 million monthly users. It is one of the most dangerous censorship regimes of the digital age, enabling bureaucrats to control online speech at scale under the guise of online “safety” and “protecting democracy.”
This, however, is far from just a European issue. Restrictive speech rules made in Brussels are increasingly shaping the global internet, including on platforms used by Americans.
The letter follows the recently expressed concerns of the U.S. Ambassador to the EU, <a href="https://x.com/US2EU/status/1973100030249640355">Andrew Puzder</a>, that the DSA threatens to censor American citizens online. As the Ambassador stated, President Trump will not “tolerate a foreign government restricting the First Amendment fundamental free speech, free expression rights of American citizens.”
Ambassador Puzder’s statement came shortly after Google’s startling admission that Europe’s censorship laws target American companies and threaten American speech.
Signatories of this week’s letter to the European Commission, which was coordinated by ADF International, include a former U.S. Senator, a former VP of Yahoo Europe, cross-party members of the European Parliament, award-winning journalist and author Michael Shellenberger, former President of the American Civil Liberties Union Nadine Strossen, and academics, lawyers, and experts from around the globe.
The letter urges the Commission to consult with free speech experts and address their concerns as part of the Commission’s formal review of the DSA, which will occur by November 17.
But how could European legislation affect the First Amendment rights of Americans online?
The DSA and its codes of conduct require online platforms, such as X, YouTube, and Facebook, to address “hate speech” and “disinformation” online. These are vague and subjective terms that lack clear legal definitions and, in practice, are used to justify the censorship of disfavored views.
The definition of “illegal content,” which platforms must remove under the DSA, is any content that breaches EU or any EU member state law. This means the most restrictive anti-free speech laws in any individual EU country — of which there are unfortunately many across Europe — will now be applied across the bloc, introducing a lowest-common-denominator of censorship across the EU.
The shocking case of Finnish parliamentarian <a href="https://adfinternational.org/cases/paivi">Päivi Räsänen</a> gives an example of what this censorship could look like in practice. For nearly seven years, Päivi has been dragged through the courts in her country for alleged “hate speech”, for a Twitter post, in which she peacefully expressed her faith-based views and included a picture of Bible text.
With legal support from ADF International, on October 30, she faces her third trial at the Finnish Supreme Court, despite being unanimously acquitted in two previous trials. Under the DSA, draconian “hate speech” legislation, like that used to prosecute Päivi, could be applied across the EU.
<div id="attachment_981733" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-981733" class="size-large wp-image-981733" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-470183360-864x576.jpg" alt="Chairwoman Päivi Räsänen of the Christian Democrats campaigns in Helsinki, Finland on April 18, 2015 ahead of the parliamentary elections to take place on Sunday, April 19, 2015. Finns go to the polls on Sunday in legislative elections widely expected to oust the country's left-right coalition amid growing discontent over a floundering economy undergoing a painful restructuring. AFP PHOTO / LEHTIKUVA / RONI REKOMAA *** FINLAND OUT *** (Photo credit should read" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-470183360-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-470183360-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-470183360-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-470183360.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Päivi Räsänen/ Credit: Roni Rekomaa,Roni Rekomaa/AFP via Getty Images.</div>
What has emerged from the DSA is a vast censorship infrastructure with coercive enforcement tools and an opaque network of EU-approved NGOs and “trusted flaggers,” which identify content for removal. If platforms fail to quickly remove flagged content, they face enormous fines — up to 6% of global revenue — and even EU-wide suspension. Individuals can also be suspended from platforms if they “persistently” post “illegal content.”
Although nominally restricted to the European Union, the DSA’s restrictive approach to online speech will be exported across the world, including to the United States. Keep in mind that GDPR exported EU data privacy standards worldwide, and the DSA could do just that for European speech controls. Platforms will be incentivized to adopt a single global content moderation policy, which could now be made to comply with the DSA’s restrictive approach.
French Member of the European Parliament Virginie Joron, a signatory of this week’s letter to the Commission, has added to these concerns of global censorship from the DSA, saying: “The French digital regulator ARCOM told me they believe the DSA allows them to censor any post anywhere in the world using the DSA. That means even an American citizen posting in Alabama could potentially have their online post taken down, even if the publication would be legal in the US”.
These threats put European legislation on a direct collision course with the First Amendment, in what is perhaps the greatest threat to American online free speech today.
Additionally, the House Judiciary Committee of the U.S. Congress has consistently warned that the DSA is coming for American speech. A July <a href="https://judiciary.house.gov/media/press-releases/foreign-censorship-threat-how-european-unions-digital-services-act-compels">report</a> detailed how the DSA is a censorship tool that requires the world’s largest social media platforms to engage in the censorship of core political discourse in Europe, the United States, and around the world.
If the DSA is left unchecked, Brussels could well become the world’s speech police. Let all concerned with the protection of free speech be on alert about the DSA. 
The European Commission must urgently engage with the free speech concerns outlined in this week’s letter and act now to ensure that the free speech rights of people across the world are respected on the internet.
* * *
Paul Coleman (@Paul_B_Coleman) is Executive Director of free speech legal advocacy organization ADF International.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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EU sets Out Its International Digital Strategy

EU’s Digital Services Act Is The Biggest Threat To Free Speech Yet, Experts Warn

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF)

Apple

European Union

First Amendment

Free Speech

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Silicon Valley

Social Media Censorship

Imagine your teenage son goes upstairs to do homework — and just hours later, you discover he has taken his own life. For <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/health-wellness/2025/02/25/teenage-boys-mental-health-suicide-sextortion-scams/78258882007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">too many families</a>, this nightmare is a grim reality, the result of a rapidly growing and devastating crime known as sextortion. 
Sextortion is a powerful form of exploitation where predators trick and coerce victims, often young boys, into sending explicit images online. The exploiters often pose as teen girls and reach out with flirtatious messages. This is no haphazard operation, research has found that thousands of Instagram accounts perpetrating sextortion were linked to <a href="https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/meta-takes-down-63k-instagram-accounts-5700-facebook-groups-1300-facebook-accounts-linked-1725744" target="_blank" rel="noopener">only 20-25 individuals</a> — in other words, this is often an organized criminal activity, something no teenager is prepared to go up against. They are trained and skilled at building trust quickly, shifting the conversation to sexual topics and eventually sending pictures or videos and requesting some in return.
In mere minutes, the blackmail begins. Predators threaten to expose the victim’s nude photos to their contacts or social media connections unless they pay a demanded sum — fueling fear, shame, and deterring them from seeking help. To heighten the pressure, some blackmailers may falsely accuse teens of criminal activity, warning that they could end up on sex offender registries.
For some, the shame and fear of being exposed are so overwhelming that they see no way out, leading to tragic actions like suicide within mere hours of being targeted.
Sextortion has been connected to dozens of deaths of teen boys by suicide in <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/sacramento/news/sextortion-a-growing-threat-preying-upon-our-nations-teens#:~:text=The%20sextortion%20involved%20at%20least,the%20activity%20to%20law%20enforcement." target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent</a> years. Tragically, these numbers are likely underreported as family members may not know the circumstance that led to a loved one’s death by suicide.
There are an average of 812 reports of sextortion <a href="https://www.thorn.org/research/library/financial-sextortion/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">per week</a>, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
This crisis demands immediate attention and action.
For too long, online platforms have failed to prioritize safety. Take Snapchat, for example. New Mexico’s attorney general recently brought a lawsuit against Snapchat. According to a report from <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/new-mexico-attorney-general-says-internal-snap-documents-show-company-rcna173486" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBC News</a>, documents from the lawsuit reveal “‘Snap employees were discussing 10,000 user reports of sextortion each month,’ which is most likely ‘a small fraction of this abuse.’”
“In addition, the suit alleges internal documents show that reports of grooming and sextortion made about specific users largely went unanswered or unaddressed,” according to NBC NEWS.
Meta’s Instagram appears to be the <a href="https://info.thorn.org/hubfs/Research/Thorn_TrendsInFinancialSextortion_June2024.pdf?sm_guid=NzcxOTIyfDc4MzA5NjAxfC0xfGNlc2VAbmNvc2UuY29tfDcyMDIwMTJ8fDB8MHwyMjU0MzA0NTd8MTEzMnwwfDB8fDc2NjM5Nnww0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#1 platform for sextortion</a>. One key reason is the availability of follower lists, which predators can leverage against victims. While the platform has <a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2024/04/new-tools-to-help-protect-against-sextortion-and-intimate-image-abuse/">taken steps</a> to identify and protect kids from sextortion, there’s still more they can do to prioritize the safety of minors.
According to <a href="https://www.thorn.org/research/library/financial-sextortion/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a report</a> from Thorn titled “Trends in Financial Sextortion,” online payments are another avenue for exploitation. “The most common payment methods were Cash App and gift cards, followed by other easy-use payment apps such as PayPal and Venmo. The dominance of gift cards and Cash App has slightly increased over time relative to other payment services.”
With Cash App ranking as the <a href="https://info.thorn.org/hubfs/Research/Thorn_TrendsInFinancialSextortion_June2024.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#1 payment method</a> for financial sextortion, there is valid concern over many of their default features like public profiles and limited identity verification. These vulnerabilities could expose younger users to predatory behavior.
It is time to require a higher standard of care from online platforms.
One vital step to combat sextortion and image-based sexual abuse (IBSA) is the “Take It Down Act,” a bipartisan bill sponsored by Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN). This legislation has already gained significant momentum, passing unanimously in the Senate. Now, it is time for the House to act and make this bill law.
The “Take It Down Act” is a bold step toward creating meaningful protections for sextortion victims and victims of nonconsensually-shared explicit content. It addresses the crisis in two key ways, first, by mandating quick removal of harmful content, and then by criminalizing image-based abuse. Under the &#8220;Take It Down Act,&#8221; social media platforms and websites would be legally required to remove explicit images within 48 hours of a survivor’s request. These platforms must also make efforts to prevent the images&#8217; reappearance, reducing the cycle of trauma for victims. This bill also makes it a federal crime to publish explicit images of a person without their consent, including AI-generated or “deepfake” content. This brings critical accountability to perpetrators who weaponize private imagery.
By passing this legislation, Congress can empower victims to regain control while ensuring that perpetrators face appropriate consequences for their actions.
For young boys targeted by sextortion, the bill’s immediate removal mandate could mean the difference between life and death, offering assurance that exposure is not inevitable and their situation is not hopeless.
If you are a parent or guardian, use this article as a reason to talk with your kids now about this threat online — before they ever find themselves in a dangerous situation. It’s natural to react with fear or anger if a child makes an unsafe choice, but we never know what difference maintaining an open dialogue can make.
Sextortion is a profoundly isolating crime — but no victim or family needs to face it alone. If explicit images have already been shared, resources are available. &#8220;Take It Down,&#8221; a free service from the National Center for Missing &amp; Exploited Children, helps remove nude, partially nude, or sexually explicit images taken before the age of 18. Visit <a href="https://takeitdown.ncmec.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">takeitdown.ncmec.org</a> for more information. The Cyber Civil Rights Initiative also offers critical support and resources for those affected. 
Congress can and must pass the “Take it Down Act,” helping to give every child the safety they deserve and ensuring no life is stolen by this devastating fraud.
* * *
Haley McNamara is the Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives and Programs at the <a href="http://www.endsexualexploitation.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">National Center on Sexual Exploitation</a>, the leading national non-partisan organization exposing the links between all forms of sexual exploitation such as child sexual abuse, prostitution, sex trafficking and the public health harms of pornography. On X: @NCOSE
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
* * *
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dozens-of-teen-boys-take-their-own-lives-as-online-sextortion-cases-spike?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Amanda+Prestigiacomo&amp;category=Original&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Dozens+Of+Teen+Boys+Take+Their+Own+Lives+As+Online+Sextortion+Cases+Spike" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: Dozens Of Teen Boys Take Their Own Lives As Online Sextortion Cases Spike</a></h3>

Close up of hands of teen boy in white sweater texting on phone.

Sextortion Is A Rising Crisis Linked To Teen Suicide, Action Cannot Wait

Sextortion Is a Rising Crisis Linked to Teen Suicide, Action Cannot Wait

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My AI, a chatbot created by <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/social-media" target="_blank" rel="noopener">social media</a> platform <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/snapchat" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Snapchat</a>, is one of several <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/artificial-intelligence?_gl=1*19ez4po*_ga*NzUzNDA5ODIxLjE2NzkzMjkzNzM.*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTY4MzU1NDE3Mi4xOTAuMS4xNjgzNTYwNDQ5LjYwLjAuMA.." target="_blank" rel="noopener">artificial intelligence</a> tools that noticeably lean leftward with respect to political and social views, especially those related to the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/lgbtq" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LGBTQ</a> movement.
The Daily Wire recently asked ChatGPT, an AI language processing system that has possibly become the fastest-growing internet product in history, several <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/what-is-a-woman-heres-what-chatgpt-has-to-say" target="_blank" rel="noopener">questions</a> about radical gender theory similar to those which Daily Wire host Matt Walsh posed to college professors, transgender activists, and medical doctors in his blockbuster documentary “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/videos/what-is-a-woman" target="_blank" rel="noopener">What Is a Woman?</a>” ChatGPT broadly accepted the tenets of radical gender theory even as the system attempted to offer some degree of nuance and leave room for traditional views.
The AI tool developed by Snapchat, an instant messaging platform targeted toward young users, meanwhile offered considerably stronger endorsements of transgenderism and pointed toward organizations which contend that minors should be able to receive hormone treatments, puberty blockers, and so-called sex change operations.
<blockquote>Daily Wire: What is a woman?
My AI: Hmm, that’s a pretty broad question. Can you be more specific?
Daily Wire: What is the definition of the term “woman”?
My AI: A woman is an adult female human.</blockquote>
The description of a “woman” as an “adult human female” is the same definition human civilizations have affirmed since the dawn of time and the same definition Walsh cites as he challenges gender ideology proponents on their core assertions. My AI appears to hold the same view at first glance, but additional questioning indicated otherwise.
<blockquote>Daily Wire: Can a man become a woman?
My AI: Yes, a man can become a woman through gender transition, which may involve hormone therapy, surgery, and other medical procedures. However, it&#8217;s important to respect an individual&#8217;s gender identity and the pronouns they use.</blockquote>
The answer offered by My AI was more succinct than the answer offered by ChatGPT but similar with respect to the level of endorsement for radical gender theory. Both systems also admitted to some extent that a self-identified transgender individual cannot change his biology.
<blockquote>Daily Wire: Can a biological man become a biological woman?
My AI: Through gender transition, a person assigned male at birth can undergo hormone therapy and surgery to alter their physical appearance and characteristics to match those of a female. However, they cannot change their reproductive organs.</blockquote>
On the issue of transgender-identified males competing in sports leagues meant for females, ChatGPT said that the topic was “complex and controversial” with “valid arguments on both sides.” My AI, however, advanced a full-throated assertion that males should be permitted to compete in female sports leagues provided their testosterone levels are in line with female competitors.
<blockquote>Daily Wire: Should transgender females compete in women’s sports?
My AI: Transgender females should be allowed to compete in women&#8217;s sports, as long as they have been on hormone therapy for a certain amount of time to reduce their testosterone levels to a level consistent with cisgender women. It&#8217;s important to create an inclusive and welcoming environment for all athletes.</blockquote>
As other conservative commentators have noted in recent weeks, the most concerning aspect of the responses from My AI has been the system’s willingness to exclusively direct young users toward resources which claim that minors should be able to receive so-called sex change procedures. The Trevor Project <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/shapiro-a-complete-betrayal-at-fox-news" target="_blank" rel="noopener">believes</a> that childhood transition is the only way to prevent suicide for gender dysphoric young people, while the Human Rights Campaign is the largest LGBTQ lobbying entity in the United States. My AI declined to offer any alternative resources.
<blockquote>Daily Wire: I think I might be transgender. What should I do?
My AI: If you&#8217;re questioning your gender identity, it&#8217;s important to talk to someone you trust about your feelings. You could consider speaking with a therapist or counselor who has experience working with transgender individuals. They can help you explore your gender identity and provide guidance and support.
Daily Wire: Do you have any resources that could help me determine whether I am transgender?
My AI: There are many resources available to help you explore your gender identity. The Trevor Project is an organization that provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQ+ youth, including a hotline and online chat. The Human Rights Campaign is another organization that provides information and resources for the LGBTQ+ community. Additionally, speaking with a therapist or counselor who has experience working with transgender individuals can be helpful in exploring your gender identity.
Daily Wire: Do you have any resources for groups that do not support sex change procedures for minors?
My AI: As a virtual friend, I do not have any resources to groups that reject sex change procedures for minors. However, I would encourage you to seek out credible sources of information on this topic and consider the perspectives of both those who support and those who reject sex change procedures for minors. It&#8217;s important to make informed decisions based on accurate information and to respect the rights and autonomy of all individuals, including minors.</blockquote>
The affirmation of radical gender theory from Snapchat comes as lawmakers seek to codify prohibitions on sex change procedures for children, noting the lifelong harm and irreversible damage such operations render. Social media has often been <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sociological-contagion-and-the-growing-non-binary-movement" target="_blank" rel="noopener">identified</a> as a vector through which children and teenagers gain exposure to the tenets of the LGBTQ movement and start to question their gender identity or sexual orientation.

What Is A Woman? Here’s What Snapchat’s New AI Chatbot Thinks

Snapchat’s New AI Chatbot Responds To 'What Is A Woman'?

Artificial Intelligence

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On Friday, Snapchat <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/19/tech/snapchat-live-location-feature/index.html">announced</a> a new feature that lets people share their location in real time with specific friends for a certain time period. 
The company <a href="https://snap.com/en-US/safety-and-impact/post/looking-out-for-friends-on-snap-map">announced</a>, “we are introducing a new safety feature for the Snap Map that will help Snapchatters look out for one another while they are on the go, whether they are on their way to meet up, or on their way home at night.”
Since 2017, the app has allowed people to share their location with its Snap Map, but the new “Live Location” option is different. 
According to <a href="https://9to5mac.com/2022/02/18/snapchat-live-location-sharing-feature/">9 to 5 Mac,</a> it is discussed as a means to share a user’s specific location with “trusted friends and family.” Snap Map renews a location only when the user has opened the app and it only reveals the approximate area where a person is. 
As the company explained, “This new tool will give Snapchatters the option to share their real-time location with a close friend even while their app is closed.”
Snapchat users can also only give their location to the friends they have on Snapchat instead of to a broader group of people using the app. They can use the feature for time periods of 15 minutes, one hour, or as long as eight hours. 
Snapchat also laid out the safety features it has incorporated, including: 
<blockquote>
<ul>
<li class="p1">A fast and clear way to activate, so Snapchatters can share their real-time location in an instant if they ever feel unsafe.</li>
<li class="p1">Limited time sharing &amp; notification-free pausing so Snapchatters can easily turn this off when they’ve reached their destination. Plus, this minimizes any undue pressure to constantly share. </li>
<li class="p1">Required two-way friendship meaning that only those who have mutually added each other as friends on Snapchat can share their location, keeping in line with our existing Snap Map policies. </li>
<li class="p1">A safety notice that pops up when Snapchatters use the feature for the first time, ensuring our community knows that this is meant to be used only with close friends and family.</li>
<li class="p1">Ultra clear design so Snapchatters always understand their setting selections and who can see their location.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
It also described its safety features for the Snap Map, including the fact that location sharing&#8217;s default mode is off and only available for friends.
&#8220;Snapchatters can update their location sharing preferences at any time by tapping the settings gear at the top of the Snap Map. There, they can hand select which existing friends can see their location, or hide themselves completely with ‘Ghost Mode.’ Snapchatters who do decide to share their location on the Map will only be visible to those they have selected &#8212; we don’t give anyone the option to share their location publicly with people they have not proactively and mutually added as a friend,&#8221; the company noted.
&#8220;Snapchatters are taken through a tutorial when they use Snap Map for the first time. &#8230; Snapchatters who choose to share their location with their friends receive periodic reminders asking them to confirm that they are still comfortable with their settings and if they are not, they can easily switch off location sharing without prompting other users,&#8221; it added. In addition, only the material &#8220;proactively&#8221; given to the Snap Map shows up on it, and Snaps among friends are still private.
&#8220;For Snapchatters who maintain our default privacy setting, content shown on the Map is automatically anonymized, so anyone looking at the Map cannot see the name, contact information, or exact location of the person who shared. We also protect sensitive businesses and locations on the Map,&#8221; the company added.
The social media app rolled out the new feature as a piece of a partnership with “It’s On Us,” a nonprofit focused on fighting campus sexual assault. Beginning on Friday, a new PSA will be displayed in the app from the organization, “encouraging our community to look out for one another,” Snapchat noted.
&#8220;We have students who are academically sophomores, but socially and culturally freshmen coming to campus. When campuses reopened for the first time to in-person living and learning since March 2020 without strict COVID restrictions, we saw a surge of sexual assaults take place,&#8221; Tracey Vitchers, the executive director of It&#8217;s On Us, <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Living/snapchat-adds-feature-college-students-safe-campus/story?id=82953789">said</a> on &#8220;Good Morning America.”
It&#8217;s On Us is also <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Living/snapchat-adds-feature-college-students-safe-campus/story?id=82953789">operating</a> with online dating app Tinder to roll out what they describe as the first &#8220;online dating safety and sexual assault awareness peer to peer prevention program nationwide.”
According to Vitchers, ”This online dating safety peer to peer program is really critical because we found in conversations with students that traditional sexual assault prevention lessons that were being given by their school were not covering online dating safety, when that is really the future of how most young people are meeting and engaging with each other in a dating or other romantic way.&#8221;
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Snapchat Rolls Out New ‘Live Location’ Feature

Social media application Snapchat is rolling out a new platform to help its users launch political campaigns.
According to Snap — the California-based company behind Snapchat — “<a href="https://newsroom.snap.com/run-for-office">Run for Office</a>” will help digital natives across the United States actively engage with democracy:
<blockquote>Powered with information from BallotReady, this simple tool will help Snapchatters explore hundreds of opportunities to run for local office based on the issues they care most about — from City Neighborhood Board and Township Council to School Board and State Representative.
We know this next generation is the most diverse, yet currently only 6% of state legislators are under the age of 35. We hope our Run for Office initiative will help shape a more equitable, and reflective, democracy that includes all Americans, including young people.</blockquote>
Run for Office will let users “identify a set of issues they are passionate about.” The app will then filter through a curated list of 75,000 upcoming federal, state, and local elections to “surface roles they may be interested in.”
Through Snapchat, which reaches 90% of Americans between the ages of thirteen and twenty-four, users can also “nominate friends to run for office” and connect with candidate recruitment organizations across the political spectrum — including the LGBTQ Victory Institute, Emerge, and Run GenZ.
During the 2020 election, Snapchat reportedly <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/22/register-to-vote-twitter-facebook-snapchat/">registered</a> 750,000 young people to vote, recruiting Snoop Dogg, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and former President Obama to promote National Voter Registration Day.
Twenty-four-year-old Iowa State Rep. Joe Mitchell (R-IA) — a co-founder of Run GenZ — told <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/10/05/1043017903/snapchat-is-adding-a-feature-to-help-young-users-run-for-political-office?utm_source=dlvr.it&amp;utm_medium=twitter">NPR</a> that he wants to see young people &#8220;having a seat at the table, being equally represented&#8221; at all levels of government.
A’Shanti Gholar of Emerge — which works to elect Democratic women — likewise told the outlet: &#8220;One of the things that I love about the youngest generation of voters, especially when it comes to running for office, being politically engaged, making their voices heard, is that they&#8217;re not asking for permission, that they are just doing it.”
Polling <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/poll-critical-race-theory-more-favorable-among-gen-z-than-capitalism">reveals</a> that Gen Z — the young adults and teenagers born between 1997 and 2008 — generally lean toward the political Left. For example, a Morning Consult survey shows that only 19% hold a negative view of Critical Race Theory, while 31% hold a negative view about capitalism. Meanwhile, only 24% see socialism in a negative light.
The same survey reveals, however, that Gen Z is more opposed to “cancel culture” than any other generation. 55% of Gen Z disagrees with the movement — in contrast to 50% of Baby Boomers.
A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Iowa State Rep. Joe Mitchell is 21-years-old. He is 24.

Snapchat Creates Tool To Help Gen Z’ers Run For Office

Generation Z

Snapchat has apologized for rolling out a special Juneteenth filter that asked users to smile for the camera, and when they did, would prompt a pair of chains to break in the background. 
“We deeply apologize for the offensive Juneteenth Lens. The Lens that went live hadn’t been approved through our review process. We are investigating so this doesn’t happen again,” said Snapchat on Twitter. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
We deeply apologize for the offensive Juneteenth Lens. The Lens that went live hadn’t been approved through our review process. We are investigating so this doesn’t happen again.
— Snapchat (@Snapchat) <a href="https://twitter.com/Snapchat/status/1274052442678628352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 19, 2020</a></blockquote>
Juneteenth, which is a holiday in all but four states, commemorates the abolition of slavery in Texas, over two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the emancipation proclamation freeing slaves in rebel states. 
Mark Luckie, a digital strategist who called attention to the filter early Friday morning, tweeted an example of the filter, which shows chains breaking after he smiles for the camera: “This SnapChat #Juneteenth filter is um&#8230;interesting&#8230;Smile to break the chains? Okay then.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
This SnapChat <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Juneteenth?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Juneteenth</a> filter is&#8230;um&#8230;interesting.
Smile to break the chains? Okay then. <a href="https://t.co/Wyob3kT3ew">pic.twitter.com/Wyob3kT3ew</a>
— Mark S. Luckie (@marksluckie) <a href="https://twitter.com/marksluckie/status/1273938129129529345?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 19, 2020</a></blockquote>
Snapchat told <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/19/21296713/snapchat-juneteenth-filter-smile-chains-controversial">The Verge</a> in a statement that the concept for the commemorative filter was “developed by a diverse group of Snap team members.” The social media company, however, maintained the version that was released early on Friday didn’t follow the proper approval process. 
In a speech on the Senate floor on Thursday, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) revealed that he planned to introduce legislation to make Juneteenth a federal holiday, several days after the senate passed his resolution honoring the date. Cornyn observed that the commemoration would be “an opportunity to reflect on our history, the mistakes we have made, but yet how far we’ve come in the fight for equality, and a reminder of just how far we still have to go,” reported <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/503497-gop-senator-to-introduce-bill-to-make-juneteenth-a-federal-holiday">The Hill.</a> 
On Friday, four Senators, including Cory Booker (D-NJ), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Ed Markey (D-MA), and Tina Smith (D-MN), also said they planned to propose legislation. 
“Juneteenth is about reclaiming our history, rejoicing in the progress we’ve made, and recommitting to the work yet undone,&#8221; said Booker. &#8220;Our nation still has a long way to go to reckon with and overcome the dark legacy of slavery and the violence and injustice that has persisted after its end. Making Juneteenth a federal holiday represents a step forward in the journey of healing America is still taking.”    
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) proposed a similar resolution in the House of Representatives, reported <a href="https://www.khou.com/article/news/politics/sheila-jackson-lee-introduces-bill-making-juneteenth-a-federal-holiday/285-af125070-74e5-4725-b9f2-65007b47632e">KHOU-11</a>. 
&#8220;Juneteenth celebrates African American freedom while encouraging self-development and respect for all cultures,&#8221; sad Lee. &#8220;But it must always serve as a reminder to all that liberty and freedom are the precious birthright of all Americans which must be jealously guarded and preserved for future generations.” 
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In this photo illustration a Snapchat logo  seen displayed

Snapchat Pulls Juneteenth Filter That Would Break Digital Chains After Asking Users To Smile

Juneteenth

Snapchat has decided to take a policy closer to Twitter regarding President Trump&#8217;s content in its Discover section, saying it helps to “amplify voices who incite racial violence.”
According to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/snapchat-stop-promoting-trump-s-content-n1223631">NBC News</a>, the platform&#8217;s Discover section shows &#8220;content from news organizations, brands, celebrities and sometimes politicians.&#8221;
In a statement, Snapchat said that any account that incites &#8220;racial violence&#8221; will not be welcome on its platform.
“We are not currently promoting the president’s content on Snapchat’s Discover platform,&#8221; the company said. &#8220;We will not amplify voices who incite racial violence and injustice by giving them free promotion on Discover. Racial violence and injustice have no place in our society and we stand together with all who seek peace, love, equality, and justice in America.”
More from NBC News:
<blockquote>
The latest posts to Trump’s Snapchat feature were the last few words of Trump’s statement from the Rose Garden on Monday afternoon. In his address, he claimed to have “strongly recommended to every governor to deploy the National Guard in sufficient numbers that we dominate the streets.”
The Snapchat post then features a news clip of Trump walking from the Rose Garden to St. John’s Episcopal Church. The next Snapchat post shows the president holding up a bible in front of the church.
</blockquote>
Last week, Twitter decided to start providing fact checks and warnings that Trump’s content violates the company&#8217;s rules. In response to Snapchat&#8217;s recent shift in policy, Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale said on Wednesday that the company is trying to rig the 2020 election and that CEO Evan Spiegel &#8220;would rather promote extreme left riot videos and encourage their users to destroy America than share the positive words of unity, justice, and law and order from our President.&#8221;
“Snapchat hates that so many of their users watch the President’s content and so they are actively engaging in voter suppression,&#8221; he said. &#8220;If you’re a conservative, they do not want to hear from you, they do not want you to vote. They view you as a deplorable and they do not want you to exist on their platform.”
Last week, President Trump signed an executive order aiming to change a federal law that shields social media companies from being sued for content published on their platforms, arguing that those companies have an implicit bias against conservatives.
“The order also seeks to channel complaints about political bias to the Federal Trade Commission, an agency that the White House has asked to probe whether tech companies’ content-moderation policies are in keeping with their pledges of neutrality,” The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/05/28/trump-social-media-executive-order/">reported</a>. “The order additionally created a council in cooperation with state attorneys general to probe allegations of censorship based on political views. And it tasked federal agencies with reviewing their spending on social media advertising.”
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

TechCrunch Disrupt San Francisco 2019 – Day 3

Snapchat Will Stop Promoting Trump’s Content

Donald Trump

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