This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/introducing-upstream-a-lifestyle-and-culture-section-of-the-daily-wire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream,</a> The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.
***
I’m a <a href="https://x.com/GatesGarciaFL">social media influencer</a> fighting for the same clicks as everyone else. But every post I put on social media is for people who aren’t even on it. Four of them, to be exact. My kids.
In our house, homework, backyard football, theater rehearsal, and bargaining over bedtime are what trend. The kids&#8217; only “follower” is our French bulldog. They’re too young to be on social media. Thank God! But someday they’ll type my name into the internet and see the evidence I left behind. When that day comes, I hope they find something useful.
That awareness shapes every post I send into the world. I’m not running a social media account so much as I’m managing a legacy. Every father desires to leave something behind, and while I got photo albums, my kids are getting a searchable record. 
My content celebrates faith, family, and freedom — otherwise known as the “culture war.” And I’ve quickly learned how seriously people take the “war” part. Since I defend conservative ideas, some might say I cover “politics.” And social media is important because I started this platform to defend those values in public. 
But here’s the distinction. The dominant — viral — style of political social media is humiliation, sarcasm, character assassination, and outrage. The algorithm rewards these behaviors because they produce engagement. But I’m no servant to the algorithm.
I try not to play in the mud. That doesn’t mean avoiding conflict. I embrace it! But it does mean avoiding the kind of cruelty that has become the dominant style online. The internet doesn’t lack for volunteers looking to destroy others. I attack ideas, not people. I make arguments instead of insults. I try to be respectful even while being direct.
Sadly, this is rare in political discourse. Some believe if you’re not disgracing opponents, you’re not fighting hard enough. Character assassination has become a business model. But I reject that. Fighting hard doesn’t require fighting dirty. If your ideas require humiliating your adversary, you need better ideas. 
Cruelty travels faster than civility online, and thoughtful disagreement rarely goes viral. If you want attention, the easiest way to get it is to shame someone in public. But I refuse to trade my soul for clicks. And in political debates, the hostility can get ugly. I’ll spare you the vile threats in my DMs.
But the question I try to ask myself before posting isn’t whether something will win the internet for a day. It’s something simpler. Would I be proud of this if my kids read it someday? Will my content help my daughters manage a breakup? Will it help my sons stick up for the kid getting bullied at school? Will it motivate them to grow their own families and build meaningful lives that honor God and America? Kids learn how to behave by watching their parents. More is caught than taught. 
When I started my platform, I imagined a father deployed to a war zone writing letters home, the uncertainty of his return inescapable in his mind. What would he choose to leave behind? He wouldn’t spend his time penning cheap insults about people. He wouldn’t waste words chasing anger. He would try to leave something that lasts — something his children could return to years later and still recognize as true.
He would write about character: courage, faith, responsibility, and the kind of life that puts one on the path to Heaven. So that’s my model. In a strange way, every post feels like a small entry in that kind of journal. I don’t expect my children to read every word. But they could. And they might. Before I hit “send,” I try to run a few questions through my mind:
Is this truthful, fair, decent, civil, and researched?
Does it challenge ideas rather than dehumanize individuals?
Does it reflect the values I promote?
Could I defend this if my kids asked me about it at the dinner table?
The internet encourages a different set of instincts. Volume, not virtue, is rewarded. Cruelty gets mistaken for strength, anger gets mistaken for courage, and sarcasm gets mistaken for intelligence. These are illusions. 
Insulting digital strangers isn’t courageous; it’s cowardly. And I’m not raising cowards. It requires no discipline to mock someone online. It takes far more discipline to argue honestly with someone you strongly disagree with. Every parent knows the discipline of restraint. Sometimes the strongest response is the one you choose not to give.
The internet also creates another distortion. It convinces people that their audience is the internet itself: followers, impressions, trending topics. This is the scoreboard. But the real audience for most of us isn’t the crowd inside a screen. It’s the one under our roof. Our kids. Our families. The people who know us in real life.
The internet has a way of flipping those priorities upside down. People build massive public reputations while quietly damaging their private ones. They seek validation from strangers while neglecting the respect of the people closest to them. The algorithm rewards visibility, not character. But influence that costs you your character isn’t influence worth having. 
Someday, when my kids are old enough to read everything I’ve written, they’ll see the arguments I picked, the people I challenged, and the language I used to do it. I hope when that day comes, they don’t just see what their dad believed; I hope they see how he behaved.
I hope they learn that you can fight hard for what you believe without becoming someone you’re not proud of, and challenge people without hating them. You can lift up your values without tearing others down, and you can disagree with people while still recognizing their humanity. Those lessons matter far more than political points.
For now, though, I’ll focus on the influence that matters. There are only four followers I care about pressing “like” when I get home at the end of the day. And I’d rather be front-door famous than viral.
***
Gates Garcia is the host of the YouTube show and Podcast, We The People with Gates Garcia. Follow him on X and Instagram @GatesGarciaFL.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

GettyImages-1464181089

I’m A Social Media Influencer — But My Real Audience Isn’t The Internet

Social Media

Upstream

Scammers in Southeast Asia couldn&#8217;t hide behind their online profiles last week when the Royal Thai Police arrested 21 people in Bangkok as part of an international crackdown on scam centers targeting Americans.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, teamed up with the FBI, the Department of Justice&#8217;s Scam Center Strike Force, and Thai authorities to disrupt the networks. The company disabled 150,000 accounts tied to the scam operations.
In videos shared with The Daily Wire, armed Thai officers are seen going door to door, questioning individuals before placing suspects in handcuffs and taking them into custody. The arrests showcase the expanding effort by law enforcement to dismantle global cybercrime operations, a priority highlighted in a recent executive order signed by President Donald Trump.
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<div style="max-width: 728px; margin: 0 auto;"><iframe style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; max-width: 100%; width: 100%; margin: 20px auto 5px; border: 0;" src="https://player.mux.com/gKU9A021OJ8pDv2Yw027OFb2WHtKyXnCln?metadata-video-content-type=embed_video&amp;metadata-video-id=b25bf3aa-1f85-4071-8cfe-ee237d9dc962&amp;metadata-video-stream-type=on-demand&amp;metadata-video-title=2026-03-11%3A%20Social%20Media%20Scammers%20Arrested%20%232&amp;poster=https%3A%2F%2Fdailywireplus-v2.imgix.net%2Fimages%2Fembedded-videos%2F9982ada5-a318-4eb4-83a9-14d240c70f45.png&amp;autoplay=false&amp;accent-color=%23DB3D3B&amp;primary-color=%23ffffff&amp;secondary-color=%23000000" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div>
On March 6, Trump signed an executive order on &#8220;Combating Cybercrime and Fraud,&#8221; directing federal agencies to prioritize prosecutions of cyber fraud and strengthen coordination to prevent, disrupt, investigate, and dismantle scam-center networks.
&#8220;This operation is a testament to how sharing information and coordinating our efforts can make real progress in disrupting this criminal activity at its source,&#8221; said Chris Sonderby, Meta&#8217;s vice president and deputy general counsel. &#8220;Our work to combat scams is never done, and we will continue to invest in technology and partnerships to stay ahead.&#8221;
The recent operation in Asia follows a December cybercrime sting in which Meta joined the FBI, Homeland Security, the U.S. Secret Service, and other agencies to share information on scam networks. That effort resulted in the removal of 59,000 accounts from Meta platforms and six arrest warrants.
Chinese criminal groups run many scam farms operating across Southeast Asia. The region has become a hub for Chinese-linked social media scammers who have stolen tens of billions of dollars from Americans in just the past few years.
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, an independent body that provides recommendations to Congress, wrote in a 2025 <a href="https://www.uscc.gov/research/chinas-exploitation-scam-centers-southeast-asia">report</a> that “the spread of China-linked scam compounds in Southeast Asia is fueling corruption and violence, promoting human trafficking, [and] undermining the ability of governments in the region to control what happens in their territory.”
Massive scam farms have set up shop in countries such as Thailand, Myanmar, and Cambodia, the Associated Press <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/why-southeast-asias-online-scam-industry-is-so-hard-to-shut-down">reported</a>. The foreign operations often target Americans with fraudulent cryptocurrency investment schemes, fake work-from-home jobs, and “task scams,” which promise high commissions but require victims to pay upfront fees.
According to the <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/08/1140187">United Nations</a>, around 120,000 people are being forced to work for online scam farms in Myanmar, and another 100,000 people are being used as forced labor for the scam industry in Cambodia. Workers are often forced to send scam messages for 12 to 16 hours a day, according to the Associated Press.
The development of artificial intelligence has also aided social media scammers and their ability to target more Americans, <a href="https://www.uscc.gov/research/protecting-americans-china-linked-scam-centers-update-emerging-trends">according</a> to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. The commission warned that AI enables scammers to “increase the sophistication of scams,” which can “make it difficult for even the most discerning potential victims to distinguish fact from fraud.”
In addition to using global law enforcement partnerships to battle online crime, a Meta spokesman told The Daily Wire that the company has added extra security measures for its users to fight the elusive scammers. This month, Meta plans to launch an advanced AI-powered scam detection tool for Messenger, allowing users to submit suspicious messages for review.
Meta is also testing a feature that will alert users of potentially suspicious friend requests, such as those from accounts with no mutual connections. On WhatsApp, which is owned by Meta, users will receive alerts if an attempt to link their account to another device seems suspicious, a tactic scammers sometimes implement to hijack accounts.
&#8220;These operations cause real harm,&#8221; Meta said in a statement. &#8220;They upend lives, destroy trust, and are deliberately designed to avoid detection and disruption. The work to protect people against scammers is never done, and requires ongoing collaboration with partners across the tech industry and law enforcement to ensure a safer experience for everyone online.&#8221;

Thai Police arrest social media scammers

WATCH: How Facebook Teamed Up With The Trump Admin To Bust Scammers In Thailand

WATCH: Trump DOJ Teams Up With Meta, Thai Police To Bust Scammers Stealing From Americans

China

Department of Justice

Donald Trump

Facebook

scams

This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/introducing-upstream-a-lifestyle-and-culture-section-of-the-daily-wire">Upstream,</a> The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.
***
“We’re sending him to a recovery center in Bali this summer to kick his phone habit,” an exasperated mother informed me of her teenage son. I was an easy target, waiting in an empty booth for my to-go burger and fries, trying to be “in the moment” without faceplanting into Instagram. She showed me her lock screen: “Here’s a photo of him in ‘The Hot Chocolate Nutcracker’ with <a href="https://people.com/blue-ivy-carters-greatest-accomplishments-beyonce-jay-z-daughter-11880522">Blue Ivy.</a>” Intrigued by her oversharing and financial resources, I took a long sip from my wine-in-a-can and braced myself for the long haul; she clearly had more than a half-eaten order of onion rings on her plate. “He’s been kicking his dad,” she said.
I casually ordered another overpriced pinot grigio and sympathetically touched her elbow. “Like, while he’s looking at his phone?” 
As real-life proof of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0747563223003394#:~:text=The%20findings%20reveal%20that%20depression,which%20subsequently%20influences%20internalized%20aggression.">studies</a> linking smartphone addiction to aggression, this kid had completely stopped talking to his parents and had seemingly resorted to kung fu. No nearby Los Angeles-based rehab centers could snap him out of the funk, so after throwing roughly $150,000 at the problem, this mother’s only hope was to send her kid to a place 8,600 miles away from his iPhone. She hoped Indonesian fruit and flora, and perhaps a restorative bungalow over crystal blue water, could sever the electromagnetic lifeline between her sweet son’s brain and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@aibaddie23/video/7590506286890962196?lang=en">AI baddies jet-skiing with gorillas</a> on TikTok. Or whatever he was watching.
He’s not the only one. Teens self-report using social media “<a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2025/12/09/teens-social-media-and-ai-chatbots-2025/">almost constantly</a>.” Gen Z hits up <a href="https://targetinternet.com/resources/how-different-age-groups-are-using-social-media-2024/#:~:text=Instagram%2C%20TikTok%2C%20Snapchat-,Behavioural%20trends,platforms%20like%20TikTok%20and%20Instagram.">TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat</a> as trusted sources of information, while Gen Alpha is into <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kids-dont-need-more-online-monitoring-they-need-involved-dads">Roblox</a>, YouTube, WhatsApp, TikTok, and Snapchat. <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/slang/six-seven#:~:text=interjection,that%20it%20makes%20no%20sense.%E2%80%9D">Six-seven</a>, <a href="https://we-are-family.com/uk/blog-insights/rizz-suss-and-bussin-a-guide-to-gen-alphas-freshest-slang/">no cap</a>. Even though TikTok theoretically limits users to <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/safety/en/guardians-guide">no younger than</a> 13 years old, <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/media-use-and-attitudes/online-habits/living-our-lives-online">five-year-old</a> “<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-60854885">TikTots</a>” open so many accounts that they have a cute nickname.
Cautionary messaging about the negative blah blah of social media feels like a broken record, a constant drone about <a href="https://www.kidsmentalhealthfoundation.org/mental-health-resources/technology-and-social-media/social-media-and-kids">stunted brain development</a>, depression, cyberbullying, catfishing, and anxiety. But, whatever, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oo9EbArcQ1c">Mr. Beast</a> vaccinated a herd of wild giraffes with a life-saving sniper rifle from a helicopter! <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GNyw4uaAqU">Subscribe to win an iPhone</a>, smash that freakin’ bell, and shoot it into our veins! Sure, <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2024/12/12/teens-social-media-and-technology-2024/#:~:text=and%20household%20income.-,By%20gender,87%25).">girls jump on Instagram and TikTok</a> more than boys, and the reverse is true over on YouTube, which attracts <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/teens-and-social-media-fact-sheet/">90% of teens</a>, but no one’s getting out of this scot-free. Overall, kids spend an average of <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/reports-and-publications/youth-mental-health/social-media/index.html#:~:text=The%20types%20of%20use%20and,Bickham%20et%20al.%2C%202022.">3.5 hours a day</a> on their platforms of choice (and almost half of them claim they feel worse after doing it, despite the spin on healthy “<a href="https://www.massgeneralbrigham.org/en/about/newsroom/articles/kids-social-media-mental-health#:~:text=How%20can%20social%20media%20be,or%20other%20forms%20of%20media.">connection</a>”). 
So what exactly are kids watching? On the top platform <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/teens-and-social-media-fact-sheet/">YouTube</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=mr+beast">Mr. Beast</a> serves over 460 million subscribers with flashy, cashy stunts; <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRijo3ddMTht_IHyNSNXpNQ">Dude Perfect</a> brings the buddy sports; <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@alishamarievlogs">AishaMarieVlogs</a> dishes lifestyle behind the scenes; and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7_YxT-KID8kRbqZo7MyscQ">Markiplier</a> built 38.4 million subs by getting really into gaming. Over on the <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/teens-and-social-media-fact-sheet/">second most-favorited TikTok</a>, <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@charlidamelio?lang=en">Charli D’Amelio</a> rocks the choreography for 156 million followers, <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@khaby.lame">Khaby Lame</a> posts 2.6 billion likes worth of comedy gold, and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@bellapoarch?lang=en">Bella Poarch</a> dazzles 93 million followers with lip syncs. And as the bronze medalist in the popularity contest, Instagram hangs on with <a href="https://www.instagram.com/nianaguerrero/?hl=en">Niana Guerro</a>’s dance moves for 16 million fans and the curated lifestyles of <a href="https://www.instagram.com/laurenorlando88/">Lauren Orlando</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/julesleblanc/">Jules Leblanc</a>. 
While the digital apple of any teen’s eye can change in an instant, the gentle art of <a href="https://www.apa.org/topics/social-media-internet/youth-social-media-2024">mind control</a> lands the knockout punch. Going beyond the <a href="https://www.apa.org/news/apa/2022/social-media-children-teens">dope show</a> of the infinite scroll, mind-meltingly effective marketing does the real dirty work. A silly <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ne_cdGwUns8">M&amp;M’s bit on Ryan’s World</a> does more than teach colors using “yummy candy.” Kids are shown <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11010392/#:~:text=Frequency%20of%20promoted%20food%20products,SMI%20in%20Supplementary%20Table%204).">at least one ad</a> by fast food, soda, or other processed food for every post, drummed up by marketers set on funneling colorful, cartoony, music-backed <a href="https://www.ifpri.org/blog/what-are-kids-watching-online-how-digital-food-marketing-shapes-childrens-and-adolescents-diets/">content</a> directly to children.
Some kids consume more than <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12487379/#:~:text=Food%20advertising%20has%20played%20a,14%2C%2017%2C%2018%5D.">4,000 food ads</a> per year on social media. Even if you stock a MAHA kitchen full of <a href="https://realfood.gov/">real food</a>, little Leo’s still getting a daily dose of digital junk. Maybe the rise in <a href="https://abcnews.com/Health/us-child-teen-obesity-rates-reach-record-high/story?id=130441952">childhood obesity</a> has nothing to do with a surge in <a href="https://cdn.nutrition.org/article/S2475-2991(25)00004-6/fulltext">food marketing on YouTube</a> leading to children&#8217;s <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12182458/">poor eating habits </a>off-screen, but it sure isn&#8217;t helping.
Happy to cash in on comparison culture, retailers turn social media into an infinite shopping mall. Considered by some to be “<a href="https://www.mikmak.com/blog/gen-alpha-marketing-trends-toy-game#:~:text=Retailer%20Insights:%20Where%20to%20Win%20*%20TikTok,Commerce%2C%20are%20turning%20engagement%20into%20measurable%20ROI.">43 million young consumers</a>,” Gen Alpha became a cash cow for national brands, with 84% begging their parents to buy something they saw online. For anyone keeping score, in 2025, teens were shelling out for <a href="https://www.pipersandler.com/teens">Nike, On Running, e.l.f. Cosmetics, Ulta, and Sephora</a>. They had to be at least <a href="https://support.apple.com/en-us/108398">13 years old to use Apple Pay</a>, even though no one younger than <a href="https://www.capitalone.com/learn-grow/money-management/how-old-to-apply-for-credit-card/">18 can get a credit card</a>, but what’s math when it’s your parents’ money?
Considering kids can also navigate age restrictions using the age-old technique of plugging in a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn4v52ezx17o">fake birthday</a>, there’s a clear danger in underage users exploring the <a href="https://www.aap.org/en/patient-care/media-and-children/center-of-excellence-on-social-media-and-youth-mental-health/qa-portal/qa-portal-library/qa-portal-library-questions/talking-to-your-child-about-online-pornography-exposure/#:~:text=Answer%3A%20Unintentional%20exposure%20to%20pornographic,online%20in%20the%20last%20year.">darkest corners of social media</a>. With nearly <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12515835/#:~:text=Nationally%20representative%20surveys%20of%20adolescents,for%20sexual%20activities%20(17).">70% of teens</a> reporting they’ve seen explicit sexual content online, and 75% of parents claiming their kids have not, <a href="https://www.humanium.org/en/the-intrusion-of-media-sexualization-in-childhood/#:~:text=Children%20today%20are%20inundated%20with,to%20social%20media%20and%20advertisements.">sexualized marketing</a> sneaks under the radar, vaulting children into <a href="https://www.childrenandscreens.org/learn-explore/research/sexual-media-and-childhood-well-being-and-health/#:~:text=Exposure%20to%20such%20content%20is,sexually%20transmitted%20infection%20among%20adolescents.">decidedly adult behavior</a> in real life. Consumption of violent social media content only <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10177625/">compounds aggressive actions in teens</a>. And you can thank Instagram&#8217;s algorithm for working around its own <a href="https://help.instagram.com/1695974997209192">ban on illicit drugs</a> to autofill searches by teens for <a href="https://www.techtransparencyproject.org/articles/xanax-ecstasy-and-opioids-instagram-offers-drug-pipeline-kids">ecstasy, Xanax, and opioids</a>. Can’t use “<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/teens-instagram-drug-dealers-in-2-clicks-researchers-say-2021-12#:~:text=%22When%20the%20minor%20clicked%20on,services%2C%22%20the%20researchers%20said.">#MDMA</a>” or “#buyfentanyl”? Don’t let us stop you, kids. Love, Instagram. 
So do we just have to let <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@msrachelforlittles">Ms. Rachel</a> and her overalls wash us all out to A-B-sea? While there may be no turning back to non-addictive <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-old-school-gadget-making-a-quiet-comeback-in-american-homes">landlines</a> with coiled cords and rotary dials, there’s a tiny glimmer of hope. Depending on <a href="https://childmind.org/article/when-are-kids-ready-for-social-media/">maturity</a>, holding off on letting kids use social media <a href="https://www.aap.org/en/patient-care/media-and-children/center-of-excellence-on-social-media-and-youth-mental-health/qa-portal/qa-portal-library/qa-portal-library-questions/age-to-introduce-social-media/#:~:text=Strong%20parental%20relationships%20matter,about%20starting%20social%20media%20accounts!">until they’re at least 13</a> can help. Of course, while teens are <a href="https://www.research-archive.org/index.php/rars/preprint/view/1507#:~:text=Abstract,groups%20perceived%20certain%20marketing%20techniques.">more vulnerable to the social media marketing </a>complex, adults are susceptible, too. (Just scroll through my purchase history on TikTok Shop as evidence.)
Better yet, you can model the responsible behavior you want to see in your kids by <a href="https://childmind.org/article/how-using-social-media-affects-teenagers/">limiting your own phone</a> usage as you monitor theirs. Plus, as <a href="https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/ai-is-taking-over-our-social-media-feeds-but-maybe-not-how-you-expect/">AI continues to devour social media</a>, maybe we could all use a little phone-free <a href="https://www.thefp.com/p/being-human-is-cool-again">human interaction</a> … in Bali or by your nearest backyard sprinkler.
***
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Getty

What’s Quietly Shaping Kids While Parents Aren’t Watching

kids

The vast majority of Americans support a federal law requiring age verification for app downloads or access to pornographic content online, according to a <a href="https://act.americanprinciplesproject.org/p/protect-kids-online/results?access=press">poll</a> released on Thursday and shared with The Daily Wire.
The poll, conducted by Cygnal last month, shows that 83% of likely voters support an age verification law for mobile app downloads, and 81% of likely voters support age verification for pornographic sites.
House lawmakers met on Thursday to debate legislation aimed at protecting children from inappropriate online content by requiring Big Tech companies to verify that children cannot gain access to adult apps, websites, or social media platforms without their parents&#8217; consent.
Cygnal&#8217;s poll, which surveyed 1,048 likely 2026 election voters, showed broad approval for the law that also cut across party lines. Nearly 40% of those who responded to the poll described themselves as Republicans, while 35% of the respondents said they are Democrats, and 24% identified themselves as independents.
Terry Schilling, the president of the conservative advocacy group American Principles Project, said the poll shows that parents are united in pushing back against Big Tech&#8217;s reluctance to set up age verification policies for their platforms.
&#8220;Parents are fighting to protect their children, and their enemy isn’t just Big Porn but the Silicon Valley titans that profit from it. They have one advantage in an uphill fight: the American voter,&#8221; said Schilling. &#8220;A supermajority of Americans — from conservatives to independents and even many liberals — are united in their call to rein in Big Tech. For too long, parents have been alone in the fight against exploitive algorithms and apps. It&#8217;s time for Congress to step up and pass commonsense legislation that puts families first.&#8221;
On Thursday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee debated the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/1748">Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act</a> and the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/1586/text">APP Store Accountability Act</a>. The Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act would require platforms to help prevent children from accessing potentially harmful content, while the APP Store Accountability Act would force app stores to set up parental consent requirements before a child downloads an app.
&#8220;My App Store Accountability Act is simple: kids cannot consent and power belongs to parents, not Big Tech,&#8221; Republican Rep. John James of Michigan <a href="https://x.com/RepJames/status/2029024929127997786">said</a> earlier this week. &#8220;Just as how corner stores are held responsible for keeping adult &amp; addictive materials from minors, my bill holds digital app stores to the same standard.&#8221;
Half of the U.S. states already require age verification for pornography sites. The age verification laws have been enacted by mostly Republican-led states, while deep blue states have taken little to no action to ensure that users who enter pornographic websites are at least 18 years of age. After Louisiana became the first state to enact an age verification law, Pornhub&#8217;s traffic in the state dropped by around 80%, POLITICO <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/08/08/age-law-online-porn-00110148">reported</a>. After other states, such as Missouri, Virginia, and Utah, followed Louisiana&#8217;s lead, Pornhub decided to completely stop operating its website in states that passed age verification laws.
But protecting children from porn sites isn&#8217;t the only concern for  Americans.
Social media giants — including Meta, YouTube, and Snapchat — have also faced recent scrutiny over how their platforms affect children. Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube are currently on trial in a bellwether social media addiction case before the California Superior Court in Los Angeles County.
The case stems from a 20-year-old woman, referred to as K.G.M., who argues that social media platforms have knowingly designed their platforms to get children and young users addicted and that her mental health struggles began after she became addicted to social media. TikTok and Snapchat were also sued in the case, but settled with the plaintiff before the trial began.
Last month, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified in the addiction case and argued that his company has &#8220;navigated this in a reasonable way.&#8221;
In recent years, Meta has rolled out online safety features for children using Instagram. The platform’s “Teen Accounts” keep children’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.
Other countries have recently pursued more severe restrictions on children&#8217;s access to social media. In December, Australia became the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/australias-novel-social-media-ban-for-kids-sparks-debate-as-some-platforms-get-a-free-pass">first country to ban</a> children under 16 from creating accounts on many social media platforms. Malaysia has introduced a similar ban.

Where Americans Stand On Forcing Age Checks For Porn Sites

Americans Overwhelmingly Support Online Age Verification Law, Poll Finds

Children

Poll

Pornography

U.S. House of Representatives

As the conflict in the Middle East continues, social media platform X announced on Tuesday that it will suspend users from collecting ad revenue if they post &#8220;videos of armed conflict&#8221; generated by artificial intelligence without disclosing that the video is not authentic.
Nikita Bier, the head of product at the Elon Musk-owned social media platform, said X is changing its policies to crack down on users making money through X&#8217;s revenue sharing program by misleading the public during a time of war. Beginning on Tuesday, users who post AI-generated content depicting war without a disclosure will not be able to make money on their posts for 90 days, and a second violation would result in a permanent ban from the program.
&#8220;During times of war, it is critical that people have access to authentic information on the ground. With today’s AI technologies, it is trivial to create content that can mislead people,&#8221; Bier <a href="https://x.com/nikitabier/status/2028873177028555201">said</a>.
Bier said that X will rely on its public fact-checking system known as Community Notes and a post&#8217;s metadata to flag whether a video is AI-generated. X&#8217;s move does not prohibit users from posting AI-generated videos depicting war. Bier explained that if content creators want to post an AI-generated video, they should add a &#8220;Made with AI&#8221; label that X provides in its options before someone posts.
The social media company&#8217;s move was widely praised by X users who argue that the explosion of AI-generated content in recent months risks misinforming the public when major events, such as the conflict in the Middle East, take place.
Since the conflict began over the weekend, pro-Iran accounts have posted AI-generated content <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0626cqjLOSI">claiming</a> to show the USS Abraham Lincoln getting destroyed by Iranian missiles.
U.S. Central Command <a href="https://x.com/CENTCOM/status/2028124242273767557">responded</a> on Sunday to false claims that the USS Abraham Lincoln was hit by Iranian missiles.
&#8220;Iran’s IRGC claims to have struck USS Abraham Lincoln with ballistic missiles. LIE,&#8221; CENTCOM stated. &#8220;The Lincoln was not hit. The missiles launched didn’t even come close. The Lincoln continues to launch aircraft in support of CENTCOM’s relentless campaign to defend the American people by eliminating threats from the Iranian regime.&#8221;
Other pro-Iran accounts have also posted dated or manipulated footage that have exaggerated the damage caused by missiles the regime fired at Israel in recent days. At least one AI-generated <a href="https://x.com/ShaykhSulaiman/status/2028822299827151035">video</a> falsely claiming to show rockets raining down on Tel Aviv spread on X on Tuesday. As of publication, the video had not been labeled as AI by Community Notes, despite numerous users pointing out the clear signs that the video was fake, such as the identical designs of the roofs of all the buildings seen in the video.
X&#8217;s revenue sharing program allows users to collect some of the ad revenue generated from their posts if they get enough engagement. As AI tools improve, however, some users are making money off of AI-generated videos that appear to show breaking news events or global conflicts.
The U.S.-Iran conflict is not the first time AI-generated videos have duped social media users. Throughout the Ukraine-Russia war, fake videos have popped up on social media. Most recently, AI-generated videos depicted Ukrainian soldiers surrendering on the front lines.

X Will Suspend Users Who Post AI-Generated Videos Of War Without Disclosure

Artificial Intelligence

Big Tech

Iran

Israel

Middle East

U.S. Military

World

Today’s young adults, on average, now spend more than a decade navigating the ambiguous space between sexual maturity and marriage. What was once a short transitional chapter has now become an extended, and often confusing act in a person’s life.
William Shakespeare captured the drama of human development in these famous lines from “As You Like It,” penned around 1599:
<blockquote>All the world&#8217;s a stage, 
And all the men and women merely players; 
They have their exits and their entrances; 
And one man in his time plays many parts…</blockquote>
Centuries later, the theme still resonates: We all progress through life from infancy and childhood to adulthood and, if we&#8217;re lucky, old age.
But one act of that lifelong drama — what Shakespeare called the season of the “lover” — has grown significantly longer. A majority of young people today now date for over a decade before saying, “I do.”
For most of history, “sexual debut” (or losing one’s virginity) and marriage were either concurrent or chronologically very close. In the 1950s, the <a href="https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/families/marital.html">window between these events</a> was just a few short years for the average American.
Not so today. Sexual debut occurs, on average, at <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nsfg/nsfg-2022-2023-puf.htm#female">17.4 years for women and 17.6 years for men</a>, statistics that have held relatively steady over time. But the average age for first marriage is now much later: <a href="https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2025/families-and-living-arrangements.html?utm_campaign=20251202pio&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=govdelivery">28.4 years for women and 30.8 years for men</a>.
Often billed as a fun season of life, the pre-marriage single years today are marked by loneliness, confusion, and poor mental health. 
Shakespeare had it right when he described the lover:
<blockquote>Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad 
Made to his mistress&#8217; eyebrow.</blockquote>
Young adults today are indeed woeful.
Gen Z has struggled with <a href="https://www.americansurveycenter.org/research/generation-z-and-the-transformation-of-american-adolescence-how-gen-zs-formative-experiences-shape-its-politics-priorities-and-future/">feelings of loneliness</a> more than any other generation: their <a href="https://glocalities.com/reports/trend-report-polarization">despair and disillusionment</a> are growing.
At least some of this disillusionment may find its root in a confusing dating culture. To extend Shakespeare’s metaphor, one might say that we have lost the script for life. Just a few decades ago, young people knew they were expected to look for a spouse, marry, and then start a family and build a future together. Now that’s not so clear.
So, what can be done? Do we write a new script? Dig up the old one?
In an age where freedom and self-determination are highly valued, any script may seem overly prescriptive. Of course, men and women should be free to make their own choices. No two love stories are the same. And there will always be some people who choose intentional lifelong singlehood. But the absence of norms and expectations appears to create its own problems.
The overwhelming majority of today’s young adults still want to get married and have kids. In a new <a href="https://www.independentwomen.com/2026/02/17/two-truths-and-a-lie-dating/">national poll</a>, fully 80.5% of respondents (aged 18-29) were either married (18.5%) or said they hoped to get married one day (62%), and 70% said they either had kids already (24.5%) or hoped to have them (45.4%). Will they achieve these dreams?
We may not be able to replace the old script for family formation, but we can help the young adults — the lovers — who are stuck on stage, calling for a line. Changing our culture is hard, but possible.
For starters, we can be more honest about what choices and behaviors make people happiest.
More time spent single before marriage means more opportunity to gain pre-marriage sexual experience, but this isn’t a good thing. Our culture tells young adults that pornography, casual sex, and cohabitation are no big deal. Social science, however, suggests otherwise. These choices are associated with <a href="https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1142&amp;context=dignity">worse health</a>, <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7871523/">worse mental health</a>, and <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19203165/">lower marriage satisfaction</a>. Sexual inexperience is actually linked to <a href="https://ifstudies.org/blog/does-sexual-history-affect-marital-happiness">stronger, happier marriages</a>.
Pornography poses particular problems for Gen Z. We’re not talking about your dad’s Playboy magazine anymore; we’re talking about a lethal cocktail of social media, artificial intelligence, and ubiquitous internet connection. And it’s not just the guys: Young women are increasingly reading and listening to erotic literature.
A solo sex life is a cheap but easy replacement for relationships with real-life human beings. After all, fellow humans come with smelly socks, emotional baggage, and for many in Gen Z, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/young-men-women-are-taking-poll-gender-gap-staggering-new-levels-rcna202672">divergent political views</a>.
The widening political divide between young women and men both reflects — and reinforces — today’s strained dating culture. Time spent online only <a href="https://bhr.stern.nyu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/NYUCBHRFuelingTheFire_FINALONLINEREVISEDSep7.pdf">deepens political animosity</a>.
And yet, young, single people are <a href="https://pro.morningconsult.com/instant-intel/gen-z-social-media-usage">very online</a>, sometimes using the internet to look for love. Technology has made connections easier, but relationships harder. Many married couples <a href="https://www.theknot.com/content/online-dating-most-popular-way-to-meet-spouse">first met on dating apps</a>. But online dating offers a literal world of possibilities when it comes to potential “matches.” Youth of yesteryear were often constrained to high school sweethearts or college coed counterparts. This “<a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/valley-girl-brain/201802/why-dating-is-such-challenge">paradox of choice</a>” that overwhelms today’s dating men and women also undermines their satisfaction even after they commit to one another.
The influence of technology on relationships goes even deeper: Young people today are spending a lot of time on <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11284647/">social media</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/upshot/video-games-boys-young-men.html">video games</a>, and less time on <a href="https://www.americansurveycenter.org/newsletter/how-social-media-made-us-less-social/">in-person social interactions</a>, where real-life relationship skills develop. The COVID pandemic accelerated this trend, but it was <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8478850/#cdev13652-sec-0036">underway before</a> (and <a href="https://www.edweek.org/leadership/kids-screen-time-rose-during-the-pandemic-and-stayed-high-thats-a-problem/2023/02">continues after</a>).
Underdeveloped social skills are likely contributing to &#8220;approach anxiety” in today’s young men, who say they <a href="https://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/4726/1/BSC-ThesisS4637917Approach-anxietyFinal-B.pdf">don’t want to come off as “creepy</a>” when asking a girl out in real life. The #MeToo movement has also played a factor. While the effort to raise awareness about sexual misconduct has had some positive effects, <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/me-too-backlash-getting-worse_n_5cddd96de4b00e035b8ce786">it chilled many male-female interactions</a>.
Most (54.3%) young adults agree that #MeToo has made men fearful of false accusations and, therefore, less interested in dating. Gen Z still expects the man to make the first move, but mixed messages on masculinity are contributing to men’s anxiety in approaching women.
Many young people of both sexes are anxious about parenthood. Among young adults who say they don’t want kids, the most commonly-cited reason is, “I don’t think I’ll be a good parent,” outranking cost, career impact, and societal concerns. In the 18-24 age range, nearly one in three (32.3%) respondents who didn’t want kids cited this as their primary reason.
This points to something cultural — not economic or policy-oriented — about parenthood hesitancy. Perhaps our social expectations of parents have gotten unrealistically high. Perhaps our cultural messages on what makes a “good parent” or even a “good life” have become less clear.
Whatever it is that has deteriorated the confidence of young adults, it won’t be easily fixed by a new government program or subsidy. More and more pundits and institutions are <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/in_focus/4424068/heritage-foundation-right-american-family-needs-saving/">joining the bandwagon for a big-government pro-family agenda,</a> but this is ill-advised. Decisions about family formation aren’t like other consumer decisions that are more easily influenced by government intervention. They relate deeply to our conceptions of identity, morality, and meaning. They can totally change the direction of our life’s story.
“All the world’s a stage” comes from the play “As You Like It” and like most Shakespearean comedies, the final scene is — you guessed it — a wedding. Young adults today can still find their happy ending, too. But they would benefit from a culture that puts less emphasis on shallow, short-term satisfaction and more emphasis on becoming people who can build a future.
* * *
Hadley Heath Manning is a senior fellow with Independent Women and author of the new report “The Dating Decade: Hooking Up, Hanging Out, and Swiping Right.”
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Making a grand entrance into marriage

A Decade Between First Date And ‘I Do’ — What Changed?

A Decade Between First Date And 'I Do' — What Changed?

Apps

Dating

Gen Z

Marriage

Relationships

Shakespeare

Women

Germany&#8217;s ruling conservatives on Saturday passed a motion to ban social media use for under 14s and introduce more stringent digital verification checks for teenagers, building momentum for such limits in Germany and elsewhere in Europe.
At a party conference in the city of Stuttgart, Chancellor Friedrich Merz&#8217;s Christian Democratic Union also called for fines for online platforms that failed to enforce such limits, and European Union-wide harmonisation of age standards.
A growing number of countries, including Spain, Greece, France and Britain, are looking at similar social media bans or restrictions on accessing platforms like TikTok or Instagram.
It follows the example of Australia, which last year became the first country to force platforms to cut off access for children.
European nations are more broadly ratcheting up pressure on social media companies, risking a backlash from the United States. President Donald Trump has threatened tariffs and sanctions if EU countries impose new tech taxes or online regulations that hit U.S. firms.
&#8220;We call on the federal government to introduce a legal age limit of 14 for the use of social networks and to address the special need for protection in the digital sphere up to the age of 16,&#8221; said the motion that passed on Saturday.
Merz&#8217;s coalition partners the Social Democrats have also backed social media curbs for children. Pressure from both parties in the coalition makes it increasingly likely that the federal government will push for restrictions.
However, under Germany&#8217;s federal system, media regulation is a state‑level responsibility and states must negotiate with each other to agree consistent nationwide rules.
The ban could affect children like those at the Cardinal Frings Gymnasium in the city of Bonn, several of whom a day earlier were scrolling on their phones in the school grounds.
&#8220;I think it&#8217;s fair, but I think it should be up to the parents to decide whether to forbid it, not the state,&#8221; said 13-year-old Moritz, who says he only watches YouTube.
&#8220;For children under 12 it should be forbidden, but from age 12 onwards I think children can already distinguish between what is fake news and what is not.&#8221;
His classmate Emma, 13, almost exclusively uses Snapchat, but has a time limit on her phone.
A ban would be &#8220;kind of unusual, because you get used to sending your snap in the morning before school, or what my friends do, like just scrolling through Instagram or TikTok for a bit,&#8221; she said.
Ella, 12, scrolls through social media several times a day.
&#8220;So I have TikTok and Instagram myself, but I understand that it&#8217;s all addictive, and the more you scroll, the more you want to see.&#8221;
Teacher Till Franke said that for many of the children, &#8220;it would be a shock at first, because of this daily use of social media.&#8221;
But eventually, the students would get used to it, he said, &#8220;because they would find other niches where they could communicate with each other.&#8221;
(Andreas Rinke, Stephane Nitschke and Petra Wischgoll; Writing by Matthias Williams; Editing by Jan Harvey)

Top Social Media Platforms

Germany’s Ruling Party Backs Social Media Curbs For Children

Germany

Mental Health

Mark Zuckerberg made his courtroom debut in a landmark social media addiction trial, <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/social-media-trial-latest-mark-zuckerberg-to-appear-before-jury-for-first-time-13508905">positioning</a> Meta’s defense around value, not vice. 
“You should try and create something useful … and if you do, people will naturally want to use it.” He added, “To me, the north star is ensuring we&#8217;re delivering value and people are having a positive experience. If that happens, people will spend more time with social media.” 
Zuckerberg appeared before the Los Angeles Superior Court to face claims that his platforms are engineered to foster addiction.
He compared time spent on social media to other forms of entertainment, like watching TV. “TV hasn’t got better over time but social media has quite a bit.” 

The plaintiff argued that it was not because social media had “got better over time,” but that its addictiveness is what drives users to the platform. 
When challenged by the plaintiff’s attorney on whether a reasonable company would take advantage of those who use its services, Zuckerberg responded that he thought a reasonable company should try to help its people use its services. He elaborated on that point, saying the company has “evolved over time to add a lot more controls” which led to account removals when the company found users who were under thirteen. 
Zuckerberg bolstered his argument by noting that less than 1% of Instagram&#8217;s revenue comes from teenagers, emphasizing the demographic has limited purchasing power and is therefore less attractive to advertisers.  He argued that, from a business perspective, attracting teenagers is not &#8220;meaningful in the short term.&#8221;
Zuckerberg’s Meta is just one of the defendants in the case. Google and Meta are just the remaining defendants after TikTok and Snapchat settled prior to the trial. 

Snapchat told the Daily Wire that it was “pleased” to have settled the case in “an amicable manner.” Youtube, owned by Google, argues that its platform operates differently from Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat so should not be included in the same litigation. YouTube told the Daily Wire that the allegations it faces are “simply not true.” 
The case before the California Supreme Court originated when a 19-year-old woman, referred to as K.G.M. in the trial, argued that social media platforms have knowingly designed their platforms to get younger users addicted. The defense argues that Meta makes its platforms addictive to “maximize young users’ time on their platforms to drive revenue.” 
A <a href="https://www.stompoutbullying.org/blog/teens-use-average-nine-hours-media-day-while-tweens-use-six-hours">report</a> released by Common Sense Media found that teenagers spent an average of nine hours on entertainment media per day, while children aged 8-12 spend an average of six hours a day, not including time spent using media for school. 
In the coming weeks, Meta’s defense could have an influence on future social-media platform regulation depending on the outcome of the trial. 
The courtroom did not allow cameras, and even outlined a ban on glasses that could capture scenes from instead the courtroom. When returning from recess, the Judge Carolyn Kuhl <a href="https://x.com/meghanncuniff/status/2024214400266326180">said</a> if anyone has used AI glasses with facial recognition to record jurors &#8220;you must delete it or you will be held in contempt of court.&#8221;

US-TECHNOLOGY-INTERNET-CHILD-EXPLOITATION

Zuckerberg Fires Back At ‘Addiction’ Claims — Says Facebook Just Can’t Help It

addiction

Courts

Longtime Democratic strategist Dan Turrentine laid into Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) on Tuesday, saying that she was undermining her own reputation in her efforts to pivot away from gaffes at the weekend&#8217;s Munich Security Conference.
Turrentine explained on &#8220;The Huddle&#8221; that Ocasio-Cortez had built an image of herself as social-media-savvy and adept at taking her message directly to the people, so it did not look good when she turned to The New York Times for a bailout.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
🚨NEW: <a href="https://twitter.com/danturrentine?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@danturrentine</a> on AOC whining to NYT over scrutiny of her overseas gaffes🤣
&#8220;It’s now getting to the point where the cover-up is worse than the initial crime. It&#8217;s PATHETIC &amp; EMBARRASSING! This now has more &amp; more people LAUGHING AT HER within the party.&#8221;<a href="https://twitter.com/DailyCaller?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DailyCaller</a> <a href="https://t.co/TqqRu9IXZr">pic.twitter.com/TqqRu9IXZr</a>
— Jason Cohen 🇺🇸 (@JasonJournoDC) <a href="https://twitter.com/JasonJournoDC/status/2023798540179587149?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 17, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;It was a horrible idea. It’s now getting to the point where the kind of cover-up is worse than the initial crime,&#8221; Turrentine said. &#8220;Start with who she — she called the New York Times, right? We talked about how her brand is social media savvy. She’s young, she constantly is online, kind of giving and taking, and just in the game.&#8221;
&#8220;And next to [California Democratic Governor] Gavin Newsom, it’s who people said gets this modern world better than anyone else,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;To argue that basically it’s unfair that people are taking clips and sending them around in short snippets — duh! It&#8217;s pathetic and embarrassing for her to make this kind of whining argument that — when your calling card is that you&#8217;re kind of the party queen of social media.&#8221;
&#8220;I don&#8217;t understand what she was doing,&#8221; he added.
Ocasio-Cortez delivered a full weekend&#8217;s worth of gifts to her conservative critics, from a nearly incoherent response to a question about whether American troops should ever defend Taiwan to her objectively false claim that Venezuela was below the equator. She also raised eyebrows when she attempted to engage Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a battle of historical trivia — a battle in which she was unsuccessful.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
AOC mocks Marco Rubio for saying cowboys can be traced back to Spain.
Fun immutable fact: cowboys can be traced back to Spain. <a href="https://t.co/WvQXGVI2mr">pic.twitter.com/WvQXGVI2mr</a>
— Brittany Hughes (@RealBrittHughes) <a href="https://twitter.com/RealBrittHughes/status/2023199816910516344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 16, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
But Rubio was, in fact, correct in his assertions. &#8220;American&#8221; cowboys were modeled after the vaqueros — horse-mounted livestock herders from Spain&#8217;s Iberian peninsula — after Christopher Columbus brought Iberian horses to the New World in 1493. Spanish explorers and conquistadors also brought horses with them; some were traded to Native Americans, and others escaped and ran free. By 1525, horses were being bred in Mexico — but they were not, as Ocasio-Cortez suggested, native to the Americas.
When clips of her missteps began making the rounds on social media, she <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/aoc-mocked-for-global-stage-disaster-then-phones-a-friend">responded</a> by running to The New York Times for help.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

‘Pathetic And Embarrassing’: Dem Strategist Trashes AOC’s Attempt To Clean Up After Munich Gaffes

'Pathetic And Embarrassing': Dem Strategist Trashes AOC's Attempt To Clean Up After Munich Gaffes

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Congress

Munich

New York Times

Politics

What does European censorship look like, and why should Americans care? I answered that question before the <a href="https://judiciary.house.gov/committee-activity/hearings/europes-threat-american-speech-and-innovation-part-ii">U.S. House Judiciary Committee</a> this week.
The last time I <a href="https://judiciary.house.gov/committee-activity/hearings/europes-threat-american-speech-and-innovation">testified</a> before the Committee in September, I highlighted the censorship potential of the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which at the time still seemed theoretical. My message then was that this EU law controlling online speech was poised to censor lawful expression beyond Europe, including in the United States.
Many were not convinced.
But now we have moved from theory to practice. There can be no doubt now that the DSA is the tip of a massive censorship industrial complex with global implications.
I testified yesterday before the Committee that the enormous fines recently levied on X by the European Commission prove beyond all doubt that the EU means to strangle free speech by a systematic assault on US companies. This is corroborated by the Committee’s incendiary new <a href="https://judiciary.house.gov/media/press-releases/new-report-exposes-european-commission-decade-long-campaign-censor-american" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a>, which shows that American companies are already having to adopt EU content moderation policies.
The EU has a multi-pronged strategy to open a slew of investigations, to add more and more regulations, to impose crippling fines, and, ultimately, to either break up or ban companies such as X, which are pro-free-speech.
Free speech is such a threat to European elites that they intend to either cripple X with fines and investigations or force them to bend the knee at the altar of censorship. I hope X stands strong because we need free speech in Europe more than ever.
But it goes deeper; this censorship campaign is not just aimed at destroying free speech in Europe, it’s about imposing European Union speech laws globally.
Make no mistake, Europe’s draconian speech laws are being imposed across the world via global content moderation rules.
The EU’s obsession with eliminating free speech means that they are deploying a global campaign to ensure that all speech online bans “illegal content” and “prevents systemic risk” to the “discourse”.
And the costs are borne by real people, like my client Päivi Räsänen, a longtime Finnish parliamentarian, who has spent more than six years criminally prosecuted for peacefully expressing her Christian beliefs in a 2019 Bible verse tweet. Räsänen also testified alongside me before the Committee on her ordeal, as she awaits a verdict from Finland’s Supreme Court for “hate speech” charges under the national law for “war crimes and crimes against humanity”. Of course, “hate speech” has no meaning except speech that European elites hate.
This is what European censorship looks like in practice: the process itself becomes the punishment, designed to chill speech, exhaust dissenters, and warn others to stay silent. And if this is what happens to a sitting parliamentarian in a Western democracy, Americans should have no illusion that either American companies or their citizens will be spared if these censorship regimes are allowed to normalize globally.
* * *
Lorcán Price is an Irish barrister and legal counsel for 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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How Europe Plans To Strangle American Free Speech

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Police raided the Paris offices of Elon Musk&#8217;s social media company X on Tuesday amid a wide-ranging probe into allegations that X has allowed sexually explicit deepfakes on its platform and has abused its algorithms.
The Paris prosecutor&#8217;s office sent a cybercrime unit to X&#8217;s offices and summoned Musk and former X CEO Linda Yaccarino to appear for a hearing in Paris on April 20, Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/paris-prosecutors-cybercrime-unit-searches-french-office-musks-x-2026-02-03/">reported</a>. France&#8217;s investigation into X began last year with the European country looking into alleged bias in the social media platform&#8217;s algorithms. That investigation has now expanded as prosecutors in Paris are investigating allegations that pornographic deepfakes, including child pornography, and Holocaust denialism have been allowed to spread on X.
Prosecutors are also seeking to interview X managers to gain more information into the platform&#8217;s operations, NBC News <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/world/europe/france-paris-prosecutors-x-office-elon-musk-sexual-deepfakes-holocaust-rcna257202">reported</a>. The European Union&#8217;s law enforcement agency Europol also commented on the raid, saying it involved &#8220;a range of suspected criminal offenses linked to the functioning and use of the platform, including the dissemination of illegal content and other forms of online criminal activity.&#8221;
X&#8217;s artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok, has been criticized for allowing users to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-chatbot-diaries-how-ai-sex-is-getting-mainstreamed">generate</a> sexually explicit images and videos. The chatbot also allows users to upload images to alter or to make into videos. Musk&#8217;s platform warns users against &#8220;depicting likenesses of persons in a pornographic manner.&#8221;
Musk has not commented on the Paris raid directly, but the X owner shared multiple posts from other X users who slammed France over the raid. Musk also shared a House Judiciary GOP <a href="https://x.com/JudiciaryGOP/status/2018683758006665352">report</a> on Tuesday, which found that the European Union began pressuring American social media companies to censor political posts that it opposed as early as 2015. House Judiciary GOP <a href="https://x.com/JudiciaryGOP/status/2018683797630276083">said</a> that in the past ten years, the European Union &#8220;successfully pressured social media platforms to censor true information in the United States; Targeted U.S. political content for censorship; and Interfered in elections across Europe.&#8221;
The raid on X&#8217;s offices in Paris comes as European countries continue to pressure American social media companies to crack down on certain posts. In December, the European Union <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/engaging-in-censorship-european-union-hits-elon-musks-x-with-massive-fine-draws-white-house-ire">fined</a> X $140 million under its expansive internet accountability regulations. The European Union accused X of failing to meet advertising transparency requirements in violation of the Digital Services Act, which was put into place to clamp down on what the bloc views as illegal content and misinformation on social media.
Europe&#8217;s actions have also drawn criticism from President Trump and his administration. After the European Union fined X, Trump told reporters that &#8220;Europe has to be very careful.&#8221;
&#8220;They’re doing a lot of things. … Europe is going in some bad directions. It’s very bad for the people,&#8221; he added.
In December, the State Department announced that it would bar some of the people involved in Europe&#8217;s tech censorship effort from entering the United States.
&#8220;For far too long, ideologues in Europe have led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to punish American viewpoints they oppose. The Trump Administration will no longer tolerate these egregious acts of extraterritorial censorship,&#8221; Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.

Elon Musk, X

French Police Raid X’s Paris Offices As Part Of Investigation Into Elon Musk’s Social Media Company

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