Tag: Social media

From Russia, Elaborate Tales of Fake Journalists

A young man calling himself Mohamed al-Alawi appeared in a YouTube video in August. He described himself as an investigative journalist in Egypt with a big scoop: The mother-in-law of Ukraine’s president had purchased a villa near Angelina Jolie’s in El Gouna, a resort town on the Red Sea. The story, it turned out, was […]

Read More

The Internet Is a Wasteland, So Give Kids Better Places to Go

In January, I had the odd experience of nodding along with Senator Lindsey Graham, who can usually be relied on to be wrong, as he berated supervillain Mark Zuckerberg, head of Facebook’s parent company, Meta, about the effect its products have on kids. “You have blood on your hands,” said Graham. That evening, I moderated […]

Read More

What Elon Musk Said in Testy Interview on Don Lemon’s New Show

It was raw and occasionally tense. The former television anchor Don Lemon’s wide-ranging, testy interview with Elon Musk was released online on Monday morning, touching upon topics including politics, particularly the billionaire’s recent meeting with former President Donald J. Trump; Mr. Musk’s reported drug use; hate speech on X, the social media platform formerly known […]

Read More

Mike Pence Rues the Day

Gail Collins: Bret, I feel obligated to start out by asking you — TikTok? Potential foreign agent? Bret Stephens: I think of TikTok in two ways. First, as a gigantic vacuum cleaner of personal data — possibly including your location — that goes directly from the unsuspecting eyes, thumbs and minds of its 170 million […]

Read More

White House’s Efforts to Combat Misinformation Face Supreme Court Test

The Supreme Court will hear arguments on Monday on whether the Biden administration violated the First Amendment in combating what it said was misinformation on social media platforms. It is the latest in an extraordinary series of cases this term requiring the justices to assess the meaning of free speech in the internet era. The […]

Read More

The Department of Homeland Security Is Embracing A.I.

The Department of Homeland Security has seen the opportunities and risks of artificial intelligence firsthand. It found a trafficking victim years later using an A.I. tool that conjured an image of the child a decade older. But it has also been tricked into investigations by deep fake images created by A.I. Now, the department is […]

Read More

Elon Musk to Open Source Grok Chatbot in Latest AI War Escalation

Elon Musk released the raw computer code behind his version of an artificial intelligence chatbot on Sunday, an escalation by one of the world’s richest men in a battle to control the future of A.I. Grok, which is designed to give snarky replies styled after the science-fiction novel “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” is […]

Read More

Khanna Explains Opposition to TikTok Bill While Senators Signal Openness

Representative Ro Khanna, the California Democrat representing Silicon Valley, laid out his case against a sweeping ban of the social media platform TikTok on Sunday after opposing legislation that overwhelmingly passed the House last week, saying the bill would be ineffective. The legislation passed the House, 352 to 65, on Wednesday, with Mr. Khanna among […]

Read More

Banning TikTok: Here’s Everything We Know About The Bill To Kill Social Media Giant In The U.S.

NewsOne Featured Video Source: NurPhoto / Getty TikTokers should beware of a new bill that advanced in the U.S. House of Representatives last week and could result in the social media platform being banned in the nation. U.S. lawmakers are cracking down on one of the most beloved social media apps and one of the […]

Read More

How Trump’s Allies Are Winning the War Over Disinformation

In the wake of the riot on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6, 2021, a groundswell built in Washington to rein in the onslaught of lies that had fueled the assault on the peaceful transfer of power. Social media companies suspended Donald J. Trump, then the president, and many of his allies from the platforms they […]

Read More

Dating Apps Like Hinge, Tinder and Bumble Are Getting Worse

“The golden age of dating apps is over,” a friend told me at a bar on Super Bowl Sunday. As we waited for our drinks, she and another friend swiped through Bumble and Hinge, hunting for new faces and likes. Across the bar were two young men: phones out, apps open, clearly doing the exact […]

Read More

Beauty Stores Like Sephora Draw Teens Driven by Social Media

Impelled in large part by TikTok to seek beauty products meant for adults, younger customers — teenagers and even preadolescents — are proving to be a mixed blessing for retailers like Sephora and Ulta. Retail analysts say that as the beauty stores attract a new generation of shoppers, they will need to make sure that […]

Read More

How To Recognize Health Misinformation on Social Media

The Supreme Court will hear arguments on Monday in a case that involves the Biden administration’s efforts to communicate with social media sites about posts officials believed made false or misleading claims about Covid-19 vaccines and the pandemic. While the case primarily focuses on a debate around free speech, it also spotlights the potential harms […]

Read More

TikTok Bill’s Progress Slows in the Senate

After a bill that would force TikTok’s Chinese parent company to sell the app or face a nationwide ban sailed through the House at breakneck speed this week, its progress has slowed in the Senate. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader who determines what legislation gets a vote, has not decided whether […]

Read More

Supreme Court Sets Rules for Blocking Citizens From Officials’ Accounts

The Supreme Court, in a pair of unanimous decisions on Friday, added some clarity to a vexing constitutional puzzle: how to decide when elected officials violate the First Amendment by blocking people from their social media accounts. Justice Amy Coney Barrett, writing for the court in the lead case, said two things are required before […]

Read More

Aspen’s Slopes Draw Skiers and Influencers to the Colorado Town

The influencers were not in Aspen to ski. In their Barbie-pink ski suits and matching Moon Boots, they rode the Silver Queen gondola to the top of the mountain, smiling and jumping for their cameras and social media feeds. Soon they would get back on the gondola and ride down, perhaps to pose for more […]

Read More

What China Is Saying About the TikTok Furor in Washington

This is not the first time that China has seen a frenzy over TikTok consume Washington. In 2020, former President Donald J. Trump issued an executive order that would have forced TikTok’s Chinese owners to sell the popular app. But Beijing foiled a takeover bid by American buyers by slapping curbs on technology exports. Last […]

Read More

Russia Strengthens Its Internet Controls in Critical Year for Putin

Russia is ratcheting up its internet censorship ahead of elections this weekend that are all but assured to give President Vladimir V. Putin another six years in power, further shrinking one of the last remaining spaces for political activism, independent information and free speech. The Russian authorities have intensified a crackdown against digital tools used […]

Read More

TikTok Is Its Own Worst Enemy

I was really rooting for TikTok. In 2020, when the Trump administration first tried to force TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, to sell the app or risk having it shut down, I argued that banning TikTok in the United States would do more harm than good. Why? Partly because TikTok seemed like a convenient scapegoat for […]

Read More

Possible TikTok Sale Has Wall St. Abuzz as Mnuchin Discusses Deal

TikTok is one of the most popular and largest social media apps around the globe — with great brand recognition and loyal users. It may also be one of the hardest to sell. That’s the conundrum facing TikTok as Washington lawmakers push a bill that would force the app’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell […]

Read More

Ulterior Motive Much? Shady Trumper Has Plans to Buy TikTok

Trump has, in recent months, made several nods to his support of Russia. Last month, he used the legacy of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny to his own benefit while refusing to condemn Putin for his murder, likening his own criminal trials for fraud and rape to the attempted poisonings of Navalny, who fought for […]

Read More

The House Vote to Force Tik Tok’s Sale Is a Mistake

America is politically polarized. But there is an issue on which both sides agree: We need more privacy and TikTok should not be banned. A record 72 percent of Americans want “more government regulation” of what companies can do with their data, according to an October report from Pew Research Center. And only 31 percent […]

Read More

TikTok Turns to Creators to Fight Possible Ban

Facing a possible ban in the United States, TikTok has scrambled to deploy perhaps its most powerful weapon: its creators. The hugely popular video service began recruiting dozens of creators at the end of last week, asking them to travel to Washington to fight a bill being debated in Congress. Under the proposal, TikTok’s Chinese […]

Read More

TikTok’s Security Threats Go Beyond the Scope of House Legislation

In a capital where Republicans and Democrats agree on virtually nothing, it was notable when the House overwhelmingly declared on Wednesday that TikTok poses such a grave risk to national security that it must be forced to sell its U.S. operations to a non-Chinese owner. But that glosses over the deeper TikTok security problem, which […]

Read More

What Happens Next With the TikTok Ban Bill

What happens next with TikTok? The video social media app isn’t disappearing from smartphones any time soon. The legislative process is still in its early stages after the House’s passage of a bill mandating a sale by the app’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, or be banned. Next, the bill is heading to a skeptical Senate, after […]

Read More

Why a Sale of TikTok Would Not Be Easy

Legislation that could eventually mandate a sale of TikTok is moving forward. But any kind of divestiture by its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, is likely to prove challenging. The House on Wednesday approved the bill to ban TikTok unless ByteDance sells the app to a buyer the government signs off on. The bill would still […]

Read More

After Testy Interview With Elon Musk, Don Lemon Says His Deal With X Is Canceled

In the wake of a testy interview with Elon Musk, the former television anchor Don Lemon’s deal for a new talk show on X combusted just days before it was scheduled to air. Mr. Musk called off Mr. Lemon’s partnership with X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, the day after filming an […]

Read More

House Passes Bill to Force TikTok Sale From Chinese Owner or Ban the App

The House on Wednesday passed a bill with broad bipartisan support that would force TikTok’s Chinese owner to sell the hugely popular video app or be banned in the United States. The move escalates a showdown between Beijing and Washington over the control of technologies that could affect national security, free speech and the social […]

Read More

China Condemns U.S. Proposal to Force the Sale of TikTok

China on Wednesday condemned U.S. lawmakers’ push to force the Chinese parent company of TikTok to sell the popular short video platform. In Washington, House lawmakers were expected to vote on a bill later in the day that would require the Chinese internet company ByteDance to cut ties with TikTok or face a nationwide ban. […]

Read More

A Vote Targeting TikTok and an Unexpected Win for Ukraine

The New York Times Audio app is home to journalism and storytelling, and provides news, depth and serendipity. If you haven’t already, download it here — available to Times news subscribers on iOS — and sign up for our weekly newsletter. The Headlines brings you the biggest stories of the day from the Times journalists […]

Read More