Parents have pushed schools to limit students’ technology use over concerns about their mental health and overall well-being. A new national survey suggests they have largely the same concerns about teens’ social media use, much of which happens outside of school. What can educators take away from the results? Overall, parents say social media hurts...Read More

COVINGTON, La. — Three Mississippi men were among 22 people arrested in an ongoing child predator operation targeting individuals accused of attempting to meet minors for sexual purposes, authorities announced. The arrests were made between January and May as part of an operation conducted by the Covington Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children Unit, the...Read More

A Massachusetts bill to ban social media use for anyone younger than 14 is gaining traction in Worcester.  According to the proposed bill, the ban would “require social media companies to implement an age verification system,” require platforms to terminate the accounts of users younger than 14, and publicly post information about these systems. Supporters...Read More

Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting...Read More

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia on Monday began enforcing rules barring millions of children younger than 16 from owning social media accounts, joining a global effort to tighten online safety protections for young users. The rules require social media platforms to implement age-verification systems and block users under 16 from creating accounts. They apply to platforms...Read More

Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting...Read More

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced the legal action, alleging that OpenAI marketed ChatGPT aggressively while concealing serious safety risks. “People are getting hurt, parents are getting deceived, and they need to pay for it,” Uthmeier told reporters. The lawsuit cites several incidents in which ChatGPT allegedly provided information to individuals who later committed violent...Read More

WINTER PARK, Fla. (CBS12) — Alan Chambers, the former president of an infamous Florida-based anti-LGBTQ conversion therapy organization, was arrested in an undercover child predator sting. Detectives said 54-year-old Chambers of Winter Park was taken into custody Tuesday following an undercover operation in which he allegedly communicated online with an undercover detective posing as a...Read More

The restrictions affect posts related to body image and mental health. Tada Images/Shutterstock Meta is experimenting with new limits on the type of content teens can interact with on Instagram. The company says that it will now attempt to restrict “repeated” exposure to posts about anxiety, weightlifting, nutrition and other content that could...Read More

In his 13 years as the Lincoln Public Schools security director, Joseph Wright saw the impact that the safety team had. He recalled one school resource officer who helped a student with behavior challenges by having lunch with them as often as he could. “For two years they had lunch together every day, and the...Read More