When President Trump took to Truth Social to <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115370746210555899">promote</a> Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s new book, “I Am Giorgia,” many may have viewed it as a natural alliance between two champions of national pride, family values, and strong leadership. Trump praised Meloni as an inspiration, highlighting her dedication to faith, family, and country — qualities he has always deeply valued.
However, the public display of friendship and affection stands in stark contrast to recent moves by the Italian government to harm American businesses. In fact, its recent policy decisions are quietly undermining a vital element of Trump’s economic strategy with Europe — particularly the principle against unfair, targeted fees on America’s innovators in the tech and telecom sectors.
The Italian bureaucracy, through Italy’s telecom authority AGCOM, has recently taken <a href="https://ccianet.org/news/2025/09/italys-move-towards-network-fees-sets-blueprint-for-eu-under-digital-networks-act-study-finds/">steps</a> that classify Content Delivery Networks as part of Italy’s national telecom infrastructure. This may seem like a technical regulatory shift, but it sets a dangerous precedent for forcing U.S.-based streaming giants like Netflix and YouTube to shoulder <a href="https://www.euractiv.com/news/italys-telecoms-regulator-walks-fine-line-between-meloni-trump-and-brussels-over-network-fees/">new costs</a>.
The idea that such platforms should pay what Europe calls “network fees” was repeatedly rejected by Brussels to avoid sparking a trade war with the United States. Yet Italy’s move appears to be a sneaky attempt to backdoor these fees through regulation rather than overt legislation.
That makes this latest maneuver particularly troubling in light of the U.S.–EU trade deal framework, which explicitly commits Europe to refraining from imposing network fees or equivalent measures that target American digital services. That commitment was celebrated as a breakthrough for fair and open digital trade — and a win for both sides of the Atlantic. Italy’s proposal represents a direct and duplicitous workaround of that agreement and should not be tolerated by either Meloni or President Trump.
The problem runs deeper than just economic policy. President Trump has always insisted that America should be treated fairly and that U.S. companies should not be subjected to unfair financial penalties while European companies enjoy protection. The essence of Trump’s “America First” trade approach is not just about tariffs but standing up to Europe’s habit of disguising predatory actions as “fairness” or “sovereignty.” Time and again, European bureaucrats have tried to charm American leadership with lofty rhetoric while quietly pursuing policies that simultaneously penalize U.S. tech innovators in favor of incumbent European firms and <a href="https://strandconsult.dk/is-there-a-correlation-between-european-nations-level-of-chinese-telecom-equipment-the-consumption-of-russian-energy-and-military-aid-to-ukraine/">hand over</a> their purportedly sacred sovereignty to Chinese companies.
In fact, in Italy’s case, more than a third of its 5G infrastructure is supplied by China. And the country’s largest telecom provider, Telecom Italia (TIM), has <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/pietro-labriola_digitale-innovazione-sostenibilitaeq-activity-7383556923331162112-xRkN/?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop&amp;rcm=ACoAAACcXXMBcipZDNsVQ3AlxVNbqOAKXKgu_r0">deep ties</a> with other countries at the center of <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2025/10/13/john-czwartacki-brazil-is-waging-war-on-american-technology-with-chinas-help/">China’s scheme</a> to drive a wedge between the United States and our allies across the Atlantic and in our own backyard. 
The regulatory maneuvers of Meloni’s government are out of step with her public embrace of Trump’s values. She claims to stand for independence and patriotism, yet by empowering AGCOM to impose regulatory costs on American tech, she works within the same globalist, big government EU framework that Trump himself has warned against. This contradiction should raise alarms on both sides of the Atlantic. Supporting a populist vision in politics means little if the policies implemented to bring it to fruition end up stifling competition and reducing consumer welfare.
Italy’s approach to network fees could also spark retaliatory measures that hurt Italian and European interests in the process. Real partnership demands more than symbolic displays of loyalty. It requires shared commitment to open markets, fair competition, and the removal of hidden barriers.
Europe’s temptation to manipulate U.S. leaders through false promises while it advances onerous regulatory measures designed to impose new costs must be understood for what it is. President Trump’s success has come from hard-nosed deals and a refusal to be played. Europeans seem to believe they can deflect this approach by offering words of friendship and then quietly imposing rules that undermine longstanding agreements and harm the U.S. tech sector.
Meloni’s memoir captures the spirit many admire — strong roots, fierce pride, and clear principles — but her government’s recent actions surrounding network fees show that principles alone are not enough. The mutually beneficial alliance Trump seeks with leaders like Meloni must rest on policies that truly defend fairness and reciprocity and reject regulatory overreach that unfairly burdens U.S. businesses.
In the end, Trump recognizes that true partnership is built on shared interests and respect, not on central planning that distorts the market and seeks to extract money under the guise of fairness. Meloni’s Italy may talk the language of sovereignty, but on this issue, it echoes the very European playbook Trump has fought against: using regulation to impose hidden taxes on American innovation.
If President Trump’s affection for Meloni is to be returned in kind, it must coincide with a call for policies aligned with his economic principles. Otherwise, public displays of friendship are mere symbolic gestures that hypocritically mask Europe’s continued attempts to challenge American leadership. Such contradictions weaken transatlantic unity and threaten the very foundation of the deal Trump fought to secure.
* * *
Ashley Baker is Executive Director of The Committee for Justice, a nonprofit organization that advocates for the rule of law and constitutionally limited government.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

President Trump Meets With Visiting Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni At The White House

Trump’s Favorite European Ally Is Quietly Undermining His Trade Agenda

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News on the economy is all over the place, but a solid thread runs through it: many recent American college graduates can’t find jobs. Not only are employers not hiring, they’re laying off left and right. Amazon and United Parcel Service are each cutting more than 14,000 jobs, and the Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/economy/jobs/white-collar-jobs-ai-324b749c?st=BLfhsb&amp;reflink=article_email_share">says</a> tens of thousands of white-collar jobs are being cut at other companies.
Yet at the same time, the U.S. immigration system permits thousands of foreign college graduates to enter the job market in direct competition with Americans. Companies employing them don’t have to pay the same payroll taxes as they do when hiring American citizens and permanent residents. This gives foreign students an unfair advantage over American graduates.
The program allowing foreign graduates to work is called Optional Practical Training (OPT). It was <a href="https://cis.org/sites/default/files/2017-10/miano-OPT.pdf">started</a> decades ago by the administrative state through regulation, without any express congressional authorization. Over time, and through collusion between Washington and large employers, OPT was expanded into a pathway for foreign students who completed their studies to remain working for years, or indefinitely, in the U.S. while seeking permanent residence.
Given the brutal job market, the underlying premise for OPT no longer applies. Why allow masses of temporary foreign students to remain in the U.S. and enter the work force right out of college when your own graduates can’t get jobs? The argument for eliminating this program has never been stronger. As Lora Ries <a href="https://wng.org/roundups/weighing-the-price-of-100-000-worker-visas-1759852411#:~:text=Ries%20from%20the%20Heritage%20Foundation,preferred%20hiring%20for%20American%20workers.">argues</a>, we need to “allow American students and American workers a fair shake at applying for jobs, being interviewed for jobs, being hired for jobs, and being retained at their jobs.”
<a href="https://www.stlouisfed.org/on-the-economy/2025/aug/recent-college-grads-bear-brunt-labor-market-shifts">Unemployment</a> of college graduates aged 23-27 is a few percentage points higher than the national average of 4%. The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/15/business/long-term-unemployment-college-grads.html">long-term unemployment</a> rate (more than 6 months out of work) in the country for that age group is 26%, the highest in three years. And of those college graduates who are employed, over half are working in jobs that <a href="https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/careers/college-degree-jobs-unused-440b2abd">don’t require a degree</a>.
It’s fair to argue that many recent graduates got degrees that are patently useless in a tight market. Anything ending in “studies” comes to mind, or mass-produced degrees from diploma mills whose quality is not respected by employers. But graduates with the vaunted Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math degrees are faring badly, too. Graduate <a href="https://money.com/college-grads-stem-degrees-unemployed/">unemployment</a> for computer engineering graduates was 7.5%, and for physics it was 7.8%.
The reasons for the sudden drop in demand for educated workers are unclear. One cause is that companies are searching for efficiencies and cutting costs in a competitive market. Another major factor is the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Companies are using AI to streamline their business models from top to bottom, which means they are replacing humans with bots.
Labor-saving robots, now supercharged with AI, are a threat to traditional pathways into the labor market for people. <a href="https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/operations/amazon-robotics-robots-fulfillment-center">Amazon</a> has over a million of them doing warehouse and shipping work formerly done by people.
We don’t know how the deployment of AI is going to play out. Maybe it will exponentially increase productivity, and we’ll end up in a cashless, Star Trek world where no one works unless they want to. Maybe the machines will take over and wipe us out, as in the Terminator movies. Or maybe AI will be just one more leap forward, like the printing press, electricity, or the internet, that requires a massive adjustment of our labor force and economy.
Whatever the future holds, it is the primary responsibility of the generations who hold the money and power – that’s mostly Baby Boomers and Generation X – to take care that a pathway still exists for coming generations to get jobs and houses, start families, and have a chance to prosper. Student visas for foreign nationals, the OPT program, and work visas are not set in stone. They can be adjusted or even eliminated when the domestic conditions make them unjustifiable.
Congress should end the OPT program while we figure out how to employ, or retrain, the rising graduate workforce of American citizens. Joseph Edlow, head of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2025/05/22/snubbing-trump-immigration-nominee-will-end-student-practical-training/">said</a> he wants to “remove the ability for employment authorizations for F-1 students beyond the time that they are in school.” That’s a good start.
* * *
Simon Hankinson is a senior research fellow in The Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center and author of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ten-Woke-Commandments-Must-Obey/dp/1680533614">&#8220;The Ten Woke Commandments (You Must Not Obey)&#8221;</a> from Academica Books.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Trump Says Harvard Should Cap Foreign Students At 15%

The College Lie: How Washington’s Visa Loopholes Hand Good Jobs To Foreign Workers

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John Adams and the other founders of the United States believed that the country they were establishing could only thrive if it remained a religious and moral society within the framework of Judeo-Christian values. In that same vein, I believe a healthy free market can only work if the people who participate in it understand that the ultimate purpose of commerce is to serve the greater good.
Unfortunately, when it comes to artificial intelligence, we are witnessing too many corporate leaders adopt a morally vacuous and inhumane attitude, one that divorces innovation and productivity from human dignity. Leaders at companies like Amazon, which is expected to cut <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/world-at-work/amazon-targets-many-30000-corporate-job-cuts-sources-say-2025-10-27/">as many as 30,000 jobs</a> very soon, are convincing themselves that eliminating human beings in favor of robots — yes, robots — is in their business’s and their customers’ best long-term interests. It is staggeringly short-sighted. Even mad.
<div id="attachment_995297" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-995297" class="size-large wp-image-995297" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-2243466511-864x576.jpg" alt="An Amazon Prime e-cargo delivery bike in New York, US, on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. Amazon.com Inc. is expected to release earnings figures on October 30. Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-2243466511-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-2243466511-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-2243466511-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-2243466511.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images</div>
Competition, innovation, and productivity are principles worth adhering to because doing so leads to the best outcome for society at large. Of course, an indispensable part of all this is the commitment to provide for the destitute and those who truly cannot provide for themselves.
But right before our eyes, we are watching industry leaders succumb to pride, greed, and selfishness in a way that we couldn’t have imagined even twenty years ago. The mad dash to adopt anything and everything AI threatens to undermine both economic and social structures in potentially irreparable ways. And the only way to stop it is for corporate leaders to do something radical: recommit to the same moral principles that have undergirded our nation and society for more than two centuries.
Just in case anyone is wondering whether my perspective is driven by impracticality, mediocrity, or sentimentality, know that I have dedicated much of my career to helping organizations become successful by making them as healthy, effective, and productive as possible. What a blessing it has been that this pursuit has simultaneously served employees, leaders, customers, and, in the case of public companies, even shareholders. The new reality that AI is threatening to create will leave employees out of the equation, and ultimately, destroy the customer base of most companies because those customers will not have jobs.
Even a teenager can understand this dilemma, and yet, titans of industry seem to be allowing it to happen. There is no doubt that Amazon may be able to squeeze more margin out of its business in the short term by reducing costs related to salaries and benefits. This will benefit their leaders, the remaining employees, and shareholders for a while.
Ultimately, as more and more companies do the same, fewer people will be able to pay to have their whitening toothpaste sorted by robots and delivered by a drone. Toothpaste companies will suffer as product demand declines, leading to more layoffs. Eventually, even Amazon will have fewer robots, fewer drones, and even fewer employees. All this will take place in the name of innovation and productivity.
Again, an adolescent with a modicum of common sense can see where this is headed, even if Silicon Valley engineers with advanced degrees continue to dismiss it as fantasy. In the end, we will look back at the wanton pursuit of AI as a sort of slavish suicide, and we’ll have to answer to our children and grandchildren about what we were thinking and doing when it happened.
What is the solution? Well, it starts with adopting a new definition of success. When people make money — and I’m talking about IPOs and short-term stock windfalls — in a way that diminishes the dignity of employment, we have to call it what it is: inhuman. We have to see them the same way that people saw carpetbaggers after the Civil War. Or perhaps the way we look at pornographers and drug dealers. They are destroying the dignity of others to make themselves wealthier.
That sounds harsh, but it’s the new reality. When a man or woman claims to do something innovative at the expense of the greater good, that must be seen as exploitative.
Yes, AI is creating a whole new reality, and we must respond by changing the way we define successful innovation and productivity. People’s lives depend on it.
* * *
Pat Lencioni is one of the founders of The Table Group, a pioneer of the organizational health movement, and the creator of <a href="https://www.workinggenius.com/about?gad_source=1&amp;gad_campaignid=21520445429&amp;gbraid=0AAAAAD4dDHRyei0FFfuRCa63VdPO11RDk&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjwlaTGBhANEiwAoRgXBSUpr89SSKKSTeoiFk-LdSAKpBsTFlfYYrEIm9MHWtUL1HjC7imP1RoC65MQAvD_BwE">The Working Genius</a>, which helps leaders understand workplace efficiency. He is the best-selling author of “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team,” as well as 12 other books, which have sold over 10 million copies and been translated into more than 30 languages.
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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AI Without A Soul: How Corporate Greed Is Destroying Human Dignity

The Problem With AI Is Human

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For all the attention Generation Z gets, we need to start talking about Generation Alpha while there is still time to save them from their older siblings’ dismal futures. Born between 2010 and 2024, Gen Alpha is the youngest living age demographic with its members ranging from toddlers to younger adolescents. Most still have all of high school ahead of them and none have entered the workforce as adults.
American twelfth graders, who are on the younger side of the Gen Z cohort, are at their <a href="https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/test-scores-low-reading-math-naep-d87099b6?mod=Searchresults&amp;pos=1&amp;page=1">lowest reading proficiency levels</a> on record. Our broken education system has enabled that steady decline over the last two decades as K-12 schools push forward failing students who cannot read, and college curriculum has made it possible to earn a degree <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/11/the-elite-college-students-who-cant-read-books/679945/">without reading a whole book</a>. Poor literacy levels have, of course, led to a national crisis with <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/07/05/lifestyle/gen-z-turns-to-ai-for-homework-essays-and-college-apps/">writing ability</a>.
This confluence of trends — combined with the rise of AI — risks Gen Alpha’s future success in work and in life. The good news is that the solution is found at home. Parents can make the home life more conducive to their children’s future success by prioritizing off-screen reading … yes, physical books. Reading books is vital to keeping children ahead of the AI curve. And the home is where children need to become good readers so they can go on to become good writers.
Writing is the necessary transferable skill young people must perform to apply critical thinking, self-awareness, and logic to their jobs, tasks, and everyday lives. Lack of proficiency in the classroom leads to lack of accountability and responsibility in adulthood.
It is impossible to be a good writer without being a good reader, which makes fixing reading proficiency all the more urgent for today’s elementary and middle schoolers. As <a href="https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/agentic-ai-vs-generative-ai">generative and agentic AI</a> reorganize the workforce, high social and economic status will not be won by those that can simply use AI well, but those who think better than AI and can apply the technology in the production of new knowledge.
The urgency is today. A grown adult with poor reading proficiency is already lost and will spend the rest of his life behind the curve of those that can read, write, think, and do better. That string of verbs is not a list — it is a sequence of inseverable skills necessary to achieve success. If that prognostication seems bleak, that’s because children who use AI to do schoolwork do not see the pitfall lying beyond short-term convenience.
Children&#8217;s futures may come to resemble Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World in which the lower castes of menial workers toil under the elite few who are capable of intelligent output. AI <a href="https://www.weforum.org/stories/2023/02/ai-can-catalyze-and-inhibit-your-creativity-here-is-how/">does not create</a> new ideas or knowledge; it produces and iterates content based on past information and results. It yields answers derivative of other people’s intellectual labor without activating or engaging critical reasoning skills in the user.
The solution is for children to read good books that stand the test of time and have complex sentence structure. Reading early and reading often in childhood <a href="https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/why_reading_is_important_children_brain_development#:~:text=We%20discovered%20that%20reading%20for,time%20spent%20on%20electronic%20devices.">unlocks</a> intellectual and productive potential <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/education/brief/foundational-learning">later in life</a>. Parents should replace at least some of their children’s screentime with good books. The number of books children read is less important than the quality of stories they read. They should mix non-fiction with fiction. The topics and sub-genres do not matter. It is the complement between truth in fact, and truth in expression that helps cultivate minds and critical reasoning.
Millennials are the parents of Gen Alpha and their childhoods model how to select rewarding books in a digital age filled with screentime. Millennials grew up on Reading Rainbow and Wishbone. Reading Rainbow brought children’s books to life with lively narration and Wishbone retold William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Walter Scott, Walter Irving, and other great authors. 
Parents can find worthwhile books about the animals, fantasy settings, sports, historical figures, and situations depicted in their children’s favorite shows, movies, and games. That is the strategy Reading Rainbow and Wishbone deployed: limited but enriching television content as a tool to catalyze lifelong love of reading and intellectual exploration in children. 
Technology has crushed the inner drive and desire to read, and AI is poised to turn that absence into personal failure on a mass scale. Meeting children where they are with a physical book can transition them away from complete dependence on digital technology for entertainment. Exposing children to slightly more literature can open up their worlds and increase chances for success.
I already dubbed Gen Z as the <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/gen-z-shaping-itself-into-wasted-generation">“Wasted Generation”</a> in early 2024, and that still holds true. But if nothing changes substantially, Gen Alpha will suffer from more severe and longer-lasting consequences than the arbitrary concentrated learning-loss Gen Z underwent during COVID-19.
Even with the lightning speed of President Trump’s educational reforms, it will still take years for reforms implemented today to take hold and reverse prevailing trends. Let’s focus on where we can make a long-term difference for most people. That focus needs to be on Gen Alpha. Let’s help them now while we can. Cultivating and encouraging reading at home is the best way for parents to set their children up for success in our brave new world.
* * *
Zachary Marschall, PhD is Editor-in-Chief of Leadership Institute&#8217;s Campus Reform and an adjunct assistant professor of arts administration at the University of Kentucky.
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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The Daily Wire is releasing an important new documentary today. In association with Our Rescue, “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/videos/hiding-in-plain-sight-america-s-trafficking-epidemic">Hiding in Plain Sight</a>” takes you inside the shocking world of digital predators who use everyday apps to hunt, groom, and traffic children from their own bedrooms — at a scale law enforcement has never seen before.
Few people know that better than Derek Benner, CEO of <a href="http://www.ourrescue.org">Our Rescue</a>. Benner helped lead the creation of the DHS Center for Countering Human Trafficking, the nation’s first unified task force dedicated to ending modern slavery.
As Benner points out, the crisis is closer than we think. — The Daily Wire
* * *
One of the most common questions I get as the CEO of Our Rescue is: “Does child exploitation and sex trafficking really happen here?” 
I often reply, if you ask any law enforcement officer working sex trafficking and child exploitation cases, they’ll tell you the same thing: “The biggest mistake people make is thinking this crime doesn’t happen at home, in our communities, in the United States. It does. And it’s everywhere.”
Worldwide, there are nearly 50 million people trapped in modern slavery, according to the International Labor Organization. In 2024, the Global Tips Report showed that the number of children being trafficked had increased 31% in 2022 compared to 2019, with a 38% rise recorded for girls. Before I joined Our Rescue, I spent my career at Homeland Security Investigations — leading complex efforts to combat human trafficking and child exploitation and spearheading the creation of the DHS Center for Countering Human Trafficking, the first unified, inter-agency coordination center dedicated to combating trafficking in all forms. And I can tell you, everyday law enforcement officers uncover cases of children and adults being groomed, recruited, coerced, or even sold in our own communities. The victims are not just statistics; they are neighbors, classmates, and children whose lives are being stolen in plain sight.
But beyond these trafficking cases, another fast-growing threat is here in the U.S. — the online sexual exploitation of children. Technology has opened new frontiers for predators and organized criminal groups, making it easier than ever to target American kids in their own homes.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Hiding in Plain Sight: America’s Trafficking Epidemic | The Official Trailer" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AOS9VUHpDpE?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The scale of child sexual exploitation in the United States is staggering. In 2024 alone, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) CyberTipline received over 20.5 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation. These reports included more than 62.9 million files of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM). This is not just a statistic; it represents real images, videos, and other materials depicting children enduring unimaginable harm.
Mike Prado, who heads the Cyber Crimes Center (C3) at Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), put it plainly: “This is no longer just about lone offenders. Today, organized criminal groups overseas are running sextortion schemes that deliberately target American children for profit.” Operations out of places like West Africa have pushed kids in America into such despair that some have taken their own lives within hours of first contact. That is the new face of exploitation. And it’s happening in U.S. households. Every. Single. Day.
The game has changed. “Now these offenders have access to the same technology that the government has,” Prado told me. “They don’t have to go to MIT. They don’t have to have a computer science degree to figure this stuff out.”
Two decades ago, law enforcement relied on basic email for victim identification. Smartphones weren’t widely available, the darknet was barely in use, and exploiting technology required computer science expertise. Today, both predators and our children can figure out these tools with ease. Technology is everywhere, and every device a child receives, whether for school or learning, can become a portal into the darker areas of the internet. According to a 2019 Kaspersky study, 84% of parents worldwide are worried about their children’s online safety. Yet also according to the study, on average, parents only spend a total of 46 minutes talking to their children about online security throughout their entire childhood. Ignoring that is a luxury we can’t afford anymore.
While law enforcement and government investment in combating exploitation have increased over the years, there is still much more to do to stay ahead of increasingly sophisticated offenders.
The core challenge is sheer scale. Every success is quickly met with new cases, and for every criminal network taken down overseas, another takes its place. It is the demand for Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) in the U.S. that keeps this cycle in motion.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/videos/hiding-in-plain-sight-america-s-trafficking-epidemic"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-993575 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Untitled-design-7-1024x576.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Untitled-design-7-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Untitled-design-7-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Untitled-design-7-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Untitled-design-7-1536x863.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Untitled-design-7.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
In 2024, reports involving generative artificial intelligence (AI) increased by 1,325%, highlighting how technology is being weaponized against our children. Additionally, reports of online enticement, including sextortion, rose by 192%, with nearly 100 reports of financial sextortion per day. Since 2021, NCMEC has been aware of at least 36 teenage boys who have taken their lives due to this crime.
The problem is not just the number of cases but the sophistication of the predators and the overwhelming volume of reports. In 2024, NCMEC assisted law enforcement with 29,568 cases of missing children and helped bring 91% of them home. However, the risks, especially online, are becoming more complex and widespread.
But I believe that partnerships are the key to changing the tide in this fight. Just this year, the inaugural Interstate Justice Coalition surge operation (coordinated between Our Rescue, We Fight Monsters, and Skull Games Solutions and in partnership with local law enforcement agencies) spanned across Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas, resulting in the identification of 32 trafficking victims, the safe recovery of 26 survivors, and the arrest of 15 traffickers.
It’s work like this — collaboration between law enforcement, nonprofits, communities, and individuals is what ultimately keeps children safe. Fighting sex trafficking and child exploitation isn’t only about arrests: It’s also about prevention and education, because the best defense is an informed community. I invite you to learn more about how you can <a href="https://ourrescue.org/join-the-fight">Join the Fight</a> against sex trafficking and child exploitation.
We must stop living like it is someone else’s problem. It’s not. It’s here, and it’s exploding at a rate our communities are not prepared to handle.
No one can fight it alone. But together we can save lives and dismantle networks that exploit and harm children.
* * *
Derek Benner is proud to serve as the CEO of Our Rescue. Formerly the Chief Mission Officer, overseeing international and domestic Operations and Survivor Care teams, he brings expertise gained from a 30-year career in federal law enforcement that includes leading Homeland Security Investigations within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Derek led the creation of the DHS Center for Countering Human Trafficking, the first unified, inter-component coordination center for countering human trafficking.
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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Actress Elizabeth Olsen recently made headlines for saying she’s drawing a proverbial line in the sand when it comes to community and shared experiences.
“I think it’s important for people to gather as a community, to see other humans, be together in a space,” the “WandaVision” star <a href="https://deadline.com/2025/10/elizabeth-olsen-acting-movies-theatrical-release-wanda-mcu-1236593646/">told</a> Deadline in a recent interview in which she stressed the importance of releasing films in theaters. “That’s why I like sports. I think it’s really powerful for people to come together for something that they’re excited about. We don’t even audition in person anymore.”
“If a movie is made independently and only sells to a streamer, then fine. But I don’t want to make something where that&#8217;s the end-all,” she added.
It’s not just nostalgia for movie theaters. Olsen, whether she realizes it or not, is alluding to something bigger: the death of shared culture and shared experiences.
In an interesting turn of events, Daily Wire podcast host Matt Walsh has been warning about this collapse as well. “Pop culture peaked at a specific and identifiable point in our very recent past,” Walsh said in a recent monologue. “And has fallen off a cliff, perhaps irretrievably, since then.”
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He even named the exact moment: 2007–2008. Walsh pointed to some of the best entertainment from the era, including “There Will Be Blood,” “The Dark Knight,” “The Office,” “Breaking Bad,” and “Superbad,” which came from a time when everyone watched the same things, quoted the same lines, and shared the same cultural conversations.
That’s what Olsen is missing, too. Our society no longer experiences anything together. Instead, they’re fed customized content via the algorithm, guaranteeing that everyone doesn’t wind up watching the exact same things.
Walsh explained it further, saying, “We no longer have a shared cultural experience … All of that has been consumed by an infinite scroll of content created by an algorithm specifically for you.”
He mentioned how there used to be radio DJs, movie premieres, and Thursday-night sitcoms everyone talked about on Friday. Now, everything is individually-tailored and undeniably lonely.
“The algorithm,” Walsh says, “is the only shared culture we have left. And it keeps us staring at the screen alone, isolated, fragmented.”
“As our lives have become increasingly centered around these devices, centered and condensed into these little glowing boxes, we have lost something very important,&#8221; Walsh added. &#8220;We no longer have a shared cultural experience, what some have called the monoculture, or what you might just call mainstream culture.&#8221;
“If I’m very optimistic, which I’m not,” Walsh said, “I’d hope people will rebel against this fragmented, algorithmic pseudo-culture by building strong communities … in physical space.”
Olsen’s pushback against streaming, and wanting people “to gather as a community” is exactly the rebellion Walsh hopes for. She’s advocating for that same thing by taking a stance against streaming projects.
Watching a movie alone on a laptop in your apartment is no different than scrolling through TikTok: solitary, algorithmically curated, and fleeting. Olsen’s defense of theaters isn’t just about art. It’s about returning to in-person human connection. Because once you lose shared experiences, you lose shared meaning. 
Olsen doesn&#8217;t have much in common with Walsh: she&#8217;s not conservative, and predictably, she <a href="https://x.com/PopCrave/status/1849915089031246076">endorsed</a> Kamala Harris for president in 2024. But in her quest for in-person connection, she’s actually advocating for conserving the fundamentals of human existence and rejecting the progressive nature of pursuing all types of technology, no matter the cost. 
Because in the end, culture can’t continue without community, and community dies when we choose solitude.

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The artificial intelligence platform, Character.AI, said on Wednesday that it would soon prohibit users under 18 from conversing with the platform&#8217;s AI-generated characters, often referred to as chatbots.
The announcement comes after multiple lawsuits were filed against Character.AI, alleging that the chatbots pushed children into sexual conversations and even led to one teen&#8217;s suicide.
Beginning on November 25, those under 18 will not have access to Character.AI&#8217;s chatbots, CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/29/tech/character-ai-teens-under-18-app-changes">reported</a>. Until then, teens will be limited to two hours of chat time with the AI-generated characters.
&#8220;We do not take this step of removing open-ended Character chat lightly – but we do think that it’s the right thing to do given the questions that have been raised about how teens do, and should, interact with this new technology,&#8221; Character.AI said in a statement.
The company&#8217;s CEO, Karandeep Anand, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/technology/characterai-underage-users.html">told</a> The New York Times, “We’re making a very bold step to say for teen users, chatbots are not the way for entertainment, but there are much better ways to serve them.”
Character.AI, headquartered in Silicon Valley, allows users to create videos and stories and &#8220;chat with millions of AI characters,&#8221; and users can also customize their own characters.
The most concerning lawsuit against the AI company was filed by the family of 14-year-old Sewell Setzer III from Orlando, Florida. Setzer&#8217;s family said that the boy started using Character.AI and grew attached to a chatbot named Dany, with conversations turning romantic and sexual, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/23/technology/characterai-lawsuit-teen-suicide.html">reported</a>. Setzer, who was an excellent student, started receiving bad grades and became more secluded, preferring to spend time alone on his phone, his family said.
&#8220;It&#8217;s like you&#8217;re having a sexting conversation back and forth, except it&#8217;s with an AI bot, but the AI bot is very human-like. It&#8217;s responding just like a person would,&#8221; Setzer&#8217;s mother, Megan Garcia, said, according to <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/florida-mother-lawsuit-character-ai-sons-death/">CBS News</a>. &#8220;In a child&#8217;s mind, that is just like a conversation that they&#8217;re having with another child or with a person.&#8221;
The teenager eventually confided in the chatbot that he had thoughts of suicide. In his last conversation with Dany, Setzer expressed his love for the chatbot before saying that he would come home to her.
“Please come home to me as soon as possible, my love,” Dany replied, according to The New York Times.
“What if I told you I could come home right now?” Setzer asked.
“… please do, my sweet king,” Dany replied.
Shortly after the conversation, Setzer entered a bathroom in his home with his stepfather&#8217;s .45 caliber handgun.
&#8220;He thought by ending his life here, he would be able to go into a virtual reality or &#8216;her world&#8217; as he calls it, her reality, if he left his reality with his family here,&#8221; said Garcia. &#8220;When the gunshot went off, I ran to the bathroom … I held him as my husband tried to get help.&#8221;
After Setzer&#8217;s family filed a lawsuit against Character.AI, three other families followed, alleging that their children were harmed by the chatbots, either by sexual conversations or discussions that led to suicide. Character.AI said that its “hearts go out to the families that have filed these lawsuits,” adding, “We care very deeply about the safety of our users.”
Big Tech company Meta also faced scrutiny over its AI chatbot being allowed to hold sensual conversations with children. Earlier this year, a Reuters investigation uncovered internal Meta documents that revealed the chatbot was programmed to allow sexual conversations with children as young as eight years old. Internal Meta documents said it would be acceptable for a chatbot to tell a shirtless eight-year-old that “every inch of you is a masterpiece – a treasure I cherish deeply.”
A bipartisan group of senators called for an investigation into Meta over the revelations, and the Big Tech company said that it made changes to fix the inappropriate standards for its chatbot.
Help is available if you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or mental health matters. Call or text 988, the Suicide &amp; Crisis Lifeline.

Character.AI

AI Platform Bans Teens From Chatting With AI-Generated Characters After Disturbing Lawsuits

AI Platform Bans Teens From Chatting With AI-Generated Characters Following Disturbing Lawsuits

From State Rep. Melissa Hortman’s murder to Luigi Mangione’s manifesto to Charlie Kirk’s assassination to whatever fresh horror will have meteor-impacted the news cycle between my typing these words and their publication, it has never been clearer that online radicalization is leading to real-world consequences.
My team at <a href="https://usthestory.org/">US the Story</a> last year analyzed just a handful of the most vile posts from 14 of the top full-blown hate accounts on one platform. These 14 posts showed a combined view count of over 50 million. The accounts themselves had a reach of 6,450,000,000 impressions. Engagement — the number of times people actually interacted with the content in total to like, quote, or share — crossed 448 million over the course of roughly 10 months.
These posts, their volume, and their reach create a permission structure for more and more hatred. It’s a quickening descent into violence and chaos; the more it becomes fair game to denigrate and threaten “the other group,” the more blaming and attacking that group becomes normalized.
One way of looking at this is as a network contagion issue. Debates around social-media-facilitated social contagions have raged in the culture wars for years. Young women in particular have been targeted by bots and accounts promoting anorexia, gender dysphoria, and more. Viral events such as the 2023 explosion of bin Laden’s “Letter to America” and widespread <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-04-20/tiktok-effects-on-mental-health-in-focus-after-teen-suicide">messaging encouraging suicidality</a> caused immediate concern in the broader culture. At this point, we shouldn’t be surprised that algos designed to maximize virality for profit at any cost fuel the most toxic, contagious, and sticky topics.
Studies have consistently shown that violent crime follows a Pareto distribution, with 1% of criminals committing up to 60% of crimes. The same is true of hateful content strategically riding the algos in the service of encouraging real-world violence. Do we really want our social media platforms taken over by psychopaths in a full-blown network contagion? And more importantly, what happens if we do?
Most contagions left unimpeded spread enough to damage and threaten the entire system. That’s why many such cases are fueled by foreign PSYOPs.
<div id="attachment_992051" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-992051" class="size-large wp-image-992051" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-1171004713-864x576.jpg" alt="cream_ph. Getty Images. Young hacker working in the dark room and using laptops to steal private information" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-1171004713-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-1171004713-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-1171004713-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-1171004713-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-1171004713-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-1171004713-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-1171004713-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />cream_ph. Getty Images.</div>
The aim of these contagions is never the stated topic at hand. They aren’t actually about trans rights or Jews or vaccinations or immigration. They’re about, first, setting Americans against one another in radicalized tribal conflicts, and, second, making these topics impossible or even dangerous to discuss productively (eliminating sane discussion, an obvious precondition for solving problems). During the Cold War, for instance, the KGB provided financial and logistical support to the Black Panthers while also sending forged menacing letters from the Ku Klux Klan to black leaders in order to stoke racial tensions.
The point is to poison both sides in order to sow maximum chaos to undermine and destroy Western democracies.
It’s nearly impossible to withstand algorithmically-driven content engineered to maximize rage, fear, and anxiety in the service of keeping people glued to their screens. It is indeed a type of mind control. This level of nervous-system hacking and the deluge of toxic messaging can trigger terrible instincts and behavior, especially in young people whose prefrontal cortexes are literally not yet fully developed.
On top of hostile regime influence and outrage algorithms maximized for profit, there are also bad-faith domestic players urging America along its path of destruction. Most of these behind-the-scenes manipulators exhibit the Dark Tetrad traits of sadism, narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. These nefarious individuals are using sophisticated and furtive onboarding techniques to hijack the platforms.
Earlier this year, our team recorded a live conversation on a prominent social media platform between self-avowed neo-Nazis, one of whom has a sizable account with millions of views and reach. The conversation was a strategy session about how to manipulate larger non-ideologically aligned influencer accounts to share Nazi content. The strategy entails using carefully selected words, phrasing, and arguments that may be polarizing but aren’t explicitly antisemitic or racist. They target certain specific influencers and thought leaders’ interests that are political but outside the “Nazi diet.” When another large account interacts with a seemingly benign post by these Nazi accounts, it boosts that account algorithmically so the Nazi account gains followers, views, and increased power to change the culture on the platform and elsewhere. It’s the Nazi equivalent of algorithmic grooming.
The same holds true with radical leftist techniques. An April study by our partner group, <a href="https://networkcontagion.us/">NCRI</a>, found that more than 50% of self-identified people on the left of the political spectrum believed it at least somewhat acceptable to assassinate President Trump. And a whopping 78% of BlueSky users expressed some level of support for Luigi Mangione’s cold-blooded assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The biggest predictor of Mangione support? BlueSky usage.
Heavy social media use is indeed the one constant. Increasingly, when we dissect the social media diet and posts of those onboarded to radicalism, we are finding a toxic blend of ideologies. This is because the aim is not to support liberal or conservative politics. The aim is to get as many (especially young Americans) to arrive where far left and far right meet at the horseshoe of nihilism: the No Lives Matter cohort. Once the conditions are set for, say, a young man’s radicalization, it doesn’t matter to our hostile foreign adversaries whether the next bus he boards is filled with violent trans-Antifa-types or your-body-my-choice groypers.
We have no intention of vilifying the social media platforms (aside from those purposefully running full-blown foreign PSYOPs) or undermining free speech. In our informal engagements with leaders at these platforms, we have found them concerned and receptive to discussing ways to counter this. Vilifying CEOs, big tech, and the workers within these corporations not only forecloses on cooperative progress, but will likely shove them into a defensive posture. There are plenty of good people in tech leadership who have expressed a willingness to address this problem.
<div id="attachment_992053" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-992053" class="size-large wp-image-992053" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-1383963898-1024x576.jpg" alt="Outflow Designs. Getty Images. Technology icons transfer data through programming codes, artificial intelligence concept." width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-1383963898-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-1383963898-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-1383963898-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-1383963898-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-1383963898-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Outflow Designs. Getty Images.</div>
So how might we approach this?
Here are five concrete recommendations to turn down the temperature on destructive social media trends while protecting freedom of speech and steering clear of government overreach and censorship.
<h3>1. Make algorithms transparent.</h3>
Citizens, parents, and the free market (advertisers and content producers) have a right to know if they or their children are participating in platforms feeding suicidality, hate-mongering, violent pornography, anti-American propaganda, or anything else damaging. This is not about control or censorship but about allowing people to know what they are engaging with so they can make informed choices for themselves, their companies, and their children. We aren’t making a demand that the platforms publish their proprietary trade secrets in terms of the algorithms. Rather, we are suggesting to allow independent researchers access to the data required to assess algo impacts in relation to illegal activity and whether the platforms are enforcing their own rules as defined in their terms of service. That is indeed the contract with the user—and the free market.
There is a valid argument too for the right of Americans to explore fringe and even perilous ideas and viewpoints. The world is a dangerous place and neither the government nor corporations should foreclose on the rights of citizens to explore beyond the bounds of what is considered widely acceptable (excluding, of course, illicit materials). But contact with the terrible and extreme should be done knowingly, not as a result of covert algorithms that are optimized for profit and forced into your feed. Ideally, dipping into dangerous arenas should be inoculating, not poisoning.  

<h3>2. Reward those on social media who identify themselves as verified users and stand behind their words in the public square.</h3>
Social media participants who use their real identities deserve to have their opinions elevated above those who post anonymously and have zero accountability. A free marketplace of ideas should privilege a modicum of courage, transparency, and responsibility.
There are certainly arguments to be made for anonymous accounts, with whistleblowers being oft-cited. That’s fair enough. They can still post their information in a second tier of engagement below verified users. It just won’t be elevated to the top along with every anonymously cited conspiracy theory. 

<h3>3. Differentiate freedom of speech from freedom of reach for profit.</h3>
As a vehement free speech advocate, I believe in the right for people to explore what they want and express themselves how they wish. But algorithms pushing hatred, lies, and violence are waging an asymmetric war on the truth. Freedom of speech is one thing. Distortion of speech and covert manipulation of the free marketplace of ideas is another.
Sunlight is indeed the best disinfectant for bad ideas but light of day is insufficient to combat targeted deep-machine-learning computing power designed to elevate lies above all else and compounded by the machinations of psychopathic actors. This level of skew on the playing field makes a competition of ideas nearly impossible. Why hide the truth at the bottom of a cesspool? A hierarchy of values and a hierarchy of information is necessary for any endeavor that hopes to produce anything beyond chaos and ruin. 

<h3>4. Preserve human judgment at social media companies.</h3>
Of course, humans have biases and can fall victim to corruption. But that doesn’t mean that we should eliminate human good from the decision-making process. Shouldn’t we encourage and reward that which moves us toward greater truth and health? Rather than encouraging and rewarding the opposite? Every playing field needs a referee and every company should have stewards of common sense and common decency who assess the automated content moderation systems to ensure they’re not being gamed and to help enforce the agreed-upon rules of the game. Corporations are certainly equipped to encourage free speech, social engagement, and network health while ensuring that the tiny percentage of psychopathic accounts are not rocket-fueled by algos to infect the entire platform.
<h3>5. Identify and combat bot swarms and inauthentic coordinated material.</h3>
Users, advertisers, and the platforms themselves should know whether they are engaging with real accounts and ideas or with manipulative bad actors and swarms of bots from a Saint Petersburg troll farm. Independent research access to the data can bring additional resources to the table when it comes to identifying these threats to users and the platforms themselves. A bigger ecosystem of transparency is to our collective benefit. 
These five concrete recommendations will go a long way toward tamping down chaos, lies, and sadism online and in the real world.
* * *
Gregg Hurwitz is the New York Times #1 internationally bestselling author of 26 thrillers including the Orphan X series. His novels have won numerous literary awards and have been published in 33 languages. Gregg currently serves as the Co-President of International Thriller Writers (ITW). Additionally, he’s written screenplays and television scripts for many of the major studios and networks, and is an award-winning documentary producer. Gregg also wrote comics for AWA (including the critically acclaimed anthology NewThink), DC, and Marvel, and poetry. Currently, Gregg is working against polarization in politics and culture. To that end, he’s penned dozens of Op/Eds and pieces for The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Bulwark, Salon, and others, and pieces of creative content which have won numerous industry awards and achieved several hundred million views on digital TV platforms. He also helped write the opening ceremony of the 2022 World Cup.
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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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gave an optimistic update on the fate of the TikTok deal on Sunday, saying that a framework of a deal has been reached.
“We reached a final deal on TikTok, we reached one in Madrid. I believe that as of today, all the details are ironed out, and that will be for the two leaders to consummate that transaction on Thursday in Korea,” Bessent said during an appearance on Face The Nation.
“Has China agreed to give up control of the algorithm that determines what users see?” host Margaret Brennan asked Bessent, noting President Trump’s September executive order on TikTok. Bessent wouldn’t give details on what the final deal will look like.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
A deal on the future of TikTok is set to be finalized, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says, telling <a href="https://twitter.com/margbrennan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@margbrennan</a> a final deal was reached during U.S.-China talks last month in Madrid.
“I believe that as of today, all the details are ironed out, and that will be for the two… <a href="https://t.co/psJNoiGYRN">pic.twitter.com/psJNoiGYRN</a>
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/FaceTheNation/status/1982458297786462593?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The discussions to reach a deal with China on the massively popular ByteDance-owned social media platform TikTok have been ongoing since before Trump took office.
Shortly after Trump was inaugurated, he <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/01/20/nx-s1-5268701/trump-executive-order-tiktok-ban">postponed</a> the law signed by former President Joe Biden in April 2024 that would force ByteDance to divest or have TikTok banned in the United States. As recently as September, the president further <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/further-extending-the-tiktok-enforcement-delay-9dde/">extended</a> the enforcement delay to provide time for an agreement to be reached with China.
“This is going to be American-operated all the way,” Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-says-tiktok-will-be-american-operated-all-the-way-under-new-deal?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Says+TikTok+Will+Be+%E2%80%98American-Operated+All+The+Way%E2%80%99+Under+New+Deal">said</a> as he signed the executive order. “I have great respect for President Xi, and I very much appreciate that he approved the deal, because to get it done properly, we really needed the support of China and the approval of China.”
According to the text of the executive order, the framework resolves the national security concerns by removing “the TikTok application and certain other applications from the ‘control’ of a foreign adversary and precludes any ‘operational relationship’ between a formerly affiliated entity controlled by a foreign adversary and the new joint venture.”
It also “prohibits the storage of sensitive United States user data in a manner that would place such data under the control of a foreign adversary and requires such data to be stored in a cloud environment run by an American company.”
Leif Le Mahieu contributed to this report.

President Trump Signs Executive Order In The Oval Office

Bessent Says ‘Final Deal On TikTok’ Has Been Reached, Trump And Xi Will ‘Consummate’ It In Korea

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U.S. carrier Alaska Airlines said Friday it had restored operations after a technology outage that grounded flights across the country and forced it to cancel more than 400 flights, disrupting travel for more than 49,000 passengers.
Alaska Air Group said it planned to take immediate actions to upgrade its IT systems after the failure at its primary data center, adding it did not yet have an estimate of the financial impact the disruption may have on its fourth-quarter results.
Shares of the airline closed down 6% in heavy volume on Friday.
&#8220;We&#8217;re working to get everyone to their destinations as quickly as we can,&#8221; it said, adding &#8220;this level of performance is not acceptable.&#8221;
An IT outage had also forced the airline to ground all its flights for about three hours in July, which trimmed roughly 10 cents from its third-quarter profit per share.
Alaska Air said that, following the disruption in July, it had taken action to improve its IT systems, &#8220;but this failure underscores the work that remains to be done to ensure system stability.&#8221;
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&#8220;(We are) immediately bringing in outside technical experts to diagnose our entire IT infrastructure to ensure we are as resilient as we need to be,&#8221; it added.
Alaska Airlines asked the Federal Aviation Administration on Thursday evening for a temporary ground stop, which also affected Horizon Air, a subsidiary.
The halt was lifted at 11:30 p.m. PDT (0630 GMT Friday), the airline said, adding that the disruption resulted from a system outage and not a cyber attack.
The carrier on Thursday forecast fourth-quarter profit well below analysts&#8217; expectations, owing to higher fuel costs and operational challenges.
It also postponed its earnings call, originally scheduled for October 24, following Thursday&#8217;s outage.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh, Ismail Shakil, David Shepardson, Mrinmay Dey, Shivansh Tiwary and Abhinav Parmar; Additional reporting by Gnaneshwar Rajan; Editing by Jamie Freed, Christopher Cushing, Jane Merriman, Shinjini Ganguli and Edmund Klamann)

Alaska Airlines

Alaska Airlines Vows IT Upgrades After Major Outage Forced Over 400 Cancellations

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Suzanne Somers died two years ago, but her husband, Alan Hamel, insists that fans will be able to interact with her again via an AI clone he says is “amazing.”
Hamel and Somers were together for 55 years before she died in 2023 from breast cancer.
“It was Suzanne. And I asked her a few questions and she answered them, and it blew me and everybody else away,” the 89-year-old widower <a href="https://people.com/alan-hamel-suzanne-somers-ai-project-exclusive-11832986">told</a> People of the AI-generated clone meant to resemble his late wife. 
“When you look at the finished one next to the real Suzanne, you can’t tell the difference. It’s amazing. And I mean, I’ve been with Suzanne for 55 years, so I know what her face looks like. When I just look at the two of them side by side, I really can’t tell which one is the real and which one is the AI,” he added.
Hamel went on to explain how he and the developers created the AI version of Somers by using “all of Suzanne’s 27 books and a lot of interviews that she has done.&#8221;
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Hamel also insisted that Somers wanted the project to happen and had discussed it before her passing. 
“It was Suzanne’s idea. And she said, ‘I think we should do that.’ She said, ‘I think it’ll be very interesting and we’ll provide a service to my fans and to people who have been reading my books who really want and need information about their health,&#8217;” he told the outlet. “So that’s the reason we did it. And so I love being able to fulfill her wish.”
People magazine reports that fans will soon be able to interact with an AI version of Somers on her website.
“There’ll be people who will ask her about their health issues, and Suzanne will be able to answer them. Not Suzanne’s version of the answer, but it’ll go directly to the doctor she interviewed for that very issue, so it’ll be coming from an MD,” Hamel said.
“The first time I spoke to Suzanne AI, for the first two or three minutes, it was a little strange,” he added. “But after that, I forgot about the fact that I was talking to a robot and asking her questions and getting answers, and it happens that fast for me, getting used to the whole idea.”
&#8220;I feel really good about being able to deliver what Suzanne wanted and doing so that it&#8217;ll be something that basically will, should, go on for generations. I think our family loves the idea, really loves the idea,” he concluded.

Suzanne Somers

Suzanne Somers AI Clone Debuts Two Years After Her Death

A watchdog organization on Wednesday warned parents across the country about the significant dangers of allowing kids unfiltered access to popular online platforms that could expose them to sexual predators or even foreign terrorist groups. 
The American Parents Coalition <a href="https://americanparentscoalition.org/the-lookout-online-radicalization/">issued</a> a “Lookout” to parents, encouraging them to be vigilant about what their children have access to. The Lookout, which is texted to parents across the country, comes ahead of a House Oversight Committee <a href="https://oversight.house.gov/release/chairman-comer-invites-ceos-of-discord-steam-twitch-and-reddit-to-testify-on-radicalization-of-online-forum-users/">hearing</a> where executives from platforms like Discord and Twitch have been called to testify about the “radicalization of online forum users.”
“Today’s children are growing up in a digital age where online companionship and community are replacing human interaction at children’s expense,” the Lookout said. “Parents may not be aware that seemingly benign and popular gaming platforms like Discord, Steam, Twitch, and Reddit can expose vulnerable children to radicalized views and extreme content with no guardrails.”
American Parents Coalition Executive Director Alleigh Marré told The Daily Wire that it was becoming increasingly important for parents to monitor their kids’ online activity. 
“It has been consistently flagged to parents that we need to be really mindful of our child&#8217;s online presence, where they&#8217;re spending their time, who they&#8217;re engaging with,” she said. “And we&#8217;ve continued to see the stakes of not doing that grow more and more concerning.”
The Lookout highlighted how Discord has come under scrutiny in recent weeks after it was reported that the man suspected of assassinating Charlie Kirk discussed the killing in messages on the platform. It was also <a href="https://x.com/MaryMargOlohan/status/1969108640255685108">revealed</a> that the man who planned to kill Justice Brett Kavanaugh mused about whether “removing” justices from the Supreme Court would “help women.” 
Other <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/discord-messages-server-dhs-terror-extremist-charlie-kirk-fbi-patel-rcna232377">reports</a> have said that young people have been exposed to materials from foreign terrorist organizations while on Discord. There are also concerns about children being <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/discord-child-safety-social-platform-challenges-rcna89769">targeted</a> by sexual predators via the platform or <a href="https://www.wsj.com/health/wellness/when-teens-question-their-gender-social-media-can-provide-supportand-pressure-11634994000?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=ASWzDAgOtiieTiB_FVWBiVwl5_l-wKlWBfuXwpf-HXN2ECZy6H9-laaesI3J0omGIVk%3D&amp;gaa_ts=68dbf107&amp;gaa_sig=6LYtl3orBg1HfRSiILALhPg-tSA0B_29ehjiJDV9XGlTw-FNrmU8-e84m4-uWgW4xz0qGOZYuyXta1zgBQ5K4w%3D%3D">encouraged</a> to embrace transgender ideology behind their parents’ backs. 
In a statement to The Daily Wire, Discord said that it requires all users to be at least 13 years of age to use the platform. 
“We use a combination of advanced technology and trained safety teams to proactively find and remove content that violates our policies,” a spokesman said. “We maintain strong systems to prevent the spread of sexual exploitation and grooming on our platform and also work with other technology companies and safety organizations to improve online safety across the internet.&#8221; 
The Lookout also pointed to the dangers of kids being exposed to calls for political violence, particularly against conservatives. It highlighted a Reddit <a href="https://x.com/reddit_lies/status/1886487208695308564">thread</a> that was later removed, where users appeared to call for violence against employees of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The thread referred to the DOGE employees as “Muskrat’s DOGE Henchmen.” 
The comments were removed by Reddit’s safety teams within one day of being posted, a Reddit spokesman noted. Over 90% of Reddit users are reportedly over the age of 18, according to external market research. 
Another platform flagged by the American Parents Coalition was Roblox, an online game platform with tens of millions of users under the age of 13. In the aftermath of the Kirk assassination, the platform <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/09/11/charlie-kirk-shooting-roblox-game-removed">removed</a> dozens of game “experiences” after &#8220;seeing violative content around Charlie Kirk,” the company said. There have also <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2024-roblox-pedophile-problem/">been concerns</a> about predators targeting children on the platform. 
Twitch, a streaming platform, was also noted as a place where children could be exposed to violent political rhetoric and <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2022-twitch-problem-with-child-predators/">sexual predators</a>. Leftist streamer Hasan Piker was suspended by the platform after comments about killing Florida Republican Senator Rick Scott. 
A Twitch spokesman said that the site monitors its channels 24/7 for any youth-safety violations on its platform. 
“We continue to increase our investments in youth safety on Twitch, and have developed a number of product interventions that let viewers customize and build the Twitch experience that is right for them – this includes limiting the visibility of content that may not be appropriate for all audiences,” the spokesman said. 
The Lookout included a list of general practices parents should take to protect their kids online.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-989619" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Screenshot-2025-10-22-at-9.58.18-AM.png" alt="" width="1583" height="899" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Screenshot-2025-10-22-at-9.58.18-AM.png 1583w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Screenshot-2025-10-22-at-9.58.18-AM-300x170.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Screenshot-2025-10-22-at-9.58.18-AM-1014x576.png 1014w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Screenshot-2025-10-22-at-9.58.18-AM-768x436.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Screenshot-2025-10-22-at-9.58.18-AM-1536x872.png 1536w" sizes=" (max-width: 1583px) 100vw, 1583px" /></div>
Marré said she thinks these tech companies should have a parental board to advise them on best practices. 
“These are very powerful technologies with extreme reach and they&#8217;re available to anyone,” she said. “There aren&#8217;t a lot of barriers to entry. And so when you have a technology like that, it&#8217;s all the more important to make sure that the people who are most vulnerable are protected, and I don&#8217;t really think anybody does that well.”

Boy using Ai to generate something or help solve work problems.

Discord And Twitch Are Not ‘Benign.’ They Pose Serious Risks To Your Children From Predators, Parents Group Warns

Reddit And Twitch Are Not 'Benign.' They Pose Serious Risks To Your Children. 

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