US tech giant agrees to establish further protections for teens such as daily usage limits and blocks on nighttime use. Meta agreed to significant changes to its Instagram and Facebook apps in a settlement that ended a landmark lawsuit on Wednesday. Dozens of US states had accused the tech giant of addicting and harming children with dangerous products. Click below to view the article

The social media giant settled with 47 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories, and agreed to make major changes to its products over claims its platforms endangered children. Click below to read article

The strange part isn’t that people talk to machines. It’s how much easier some people find it to talk to a machine than to another human being. A few years ago, if someone told you they spent every night talking to an AI, you probably would have laughed. Now it isn’t particularly strange. People tell chatbots about their relationships. They ask them what a text message means. They talk about their parents. They complain about work. They ask whether they are being selfish. Som

A New Mexico court has ordered Instagram and Facebook parent company Meta to pay $567 million to address harms to young people from its platforms in the second phase of a landmark trial. Judge Bryan Biedscheid said in a ruling late Thursday that the bulk of the money — $420 million — will be used for treatment services for young people. The rest will go toward awareness and prevention, screening services and other costs over the next five years. The new penalty is in addition

Social media exacerbates a unique kind of social stress—of feeling left out, inferior, and inadequate. From Instagram likes to dating apps, today’s teenagers are experiencing an unprecedented scale of rejection. Parents can model good habits, create safe spaces for conversation, and help girls develop critical thinking. Psychologists rightfully blame girls’ high stress levels and poor mental health outcomes at least partly on social media. The average girl today starts using

In the most recent CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey from 2023, 52.6% of high school girls reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, nearly twice the rate of their male peers at 27.7%. While social media isn’t the sole driver of that gap, it plays a significant and well-documented role. The Numbers Behind the Crisis The trend isn’t new, but it keeps getting worse. CDC data from 2011 through 2021 consistently showed female students with higher rates of persistent s