Social Media

Amid account verification turmoil and warnings of potential outages at Twitter, some agencies say they have no plans to leave, but are alerting users to other social media options and tips for spotting real accounts.

Election-related disinformation built on strategies tested in 2020, and its believers remain a strong community, those watching the space say. Though voters rejected many election denier candidates, there is still cause for concern.

Public agencies have come to rely on Twitter as a vital communication tool, particularly in emergencies. Given the platform's turmoil, experts weigh in on the path forward for government social media.

Why is it that in a society where the longtime prevalent view is that elections are run fairly, millions of people believed the opposite, with little or no proof, based solely on utterances of a small group of people?

The first-in-the-nation legislation imposes sweeping restrictions on Internet companies that serve minors, requiring that they design their platforms with “well-being” in mind and barring eight common data-collection practices.

For many years, the financial trajectory of Facebook, now known as Meta Platforms, validated investors' faith in Zuckerberg. He seemed to have the golden touch. Not so much lately.

As if on murderous cue, two new developments in Erie County have underscored the need to require social media companies to better police their virtual landscapes, including a crash where four teens died.

New York is serious about holding social media outlets accountable for distributing content designed to incite hatred or violence, with a plausible strategy to avoid the inevitable objections to limiting free speech.

New laws in Florida and Texas set the stage for states to have more control over what’s posted on social media, but that could soon be tested at the U.S. Supreme Court and mean potential changes to the First Amendment.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is reporting that China and Russia are actively amplifying existing election misinformation in an effort to to interfere in the November midterms.

Apple Inc. told iPhone users last year that Facebook could no longer follow Internet activity without consent — but a lawsuit alleges that Facebook's parent, Meta, is still tracking them without asking for approval.

The Pentagon should harness social media and influencers to change young people's perception of the military and entice them to enlist amid a challenging recruiting environment, defense officials told a Senate panel.

A White House listening session this week explored the possible negative impacts related to social media platforms, and the Biden administration offered six core principles to increase accountability moving forward.

The case, which involves prison escapes and the use of an altered identity, was finally solved by investigators recently, in part, using a mixture of old and new technology, police officials said.

The proposed settlement would resolve claims that Meta violated its own privacy policy when it collected, stored and monetized the location data of Facebook users — even after they turned off location services.

California state lawmakers this week revealed that they will not advance a bill that would have allowed prosecutors to sue large social media companies for addicting children to online platforms.

The updated crime blotter replaces a manual process and will share information and tweet out each incident on a new blotter Twitter account after the reports have been reviewed and approved by a supervisor.

California legislators will renew discussion over a bill to penalize Facebook, Snapchat and other large companies for the algorithms and other features they use to keep minors on their platforms for as long as possible.