Social Media

Recent surveys by Carroll County Public Schools in Maryland found support for banning phones throughout the school day was highest among teachers, lower among parents, and lowest among students.

Los Angeles school officials — fed up with kids distracted by social media and concerned about abuses such as cyber bullying — are poised to join a growing number of school systems across the country.

A high school biology teacher in Arizona says he will not be returning to the classroom next year, in part because he found it so draining to pour his heart into students whose attention was consumed by mobile apps.

A ninth-grade teacher at Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia saw only positives to keeping phones out of reach during class, and students themselves attested to their improved concentration and engagement.

An "away-for-the-day" policy, which required sixth-grade students to have their cellphones turned off and out of sight for the entirety of the school day, led to "less drama, less bullying and less harassment."

One bill will prohibit social media companies from providing "addictive" content feeds to minors without parent consent, and the other will prohibit websites from processing a minor's personal data without consent.

Eric Goldman, associate dean of research at Santa Clara University School of Law, assesses concerns around the impending TikTok ban or buyout. It faces significant First Amendment challenges, he said.

The San Francisco company described in a blog post how its chatbots have already been misused to post political spam and generate entire articles. It also described steps it is taking to stop these practices.

Social media platforms may be held financially liable for harm caused to California’s minors if a court finds that they knowingly offered products or design features that resulted in harm to minors.

Two bills on Internet safety and privacy for children that are now before the New York state Legislature have fierce opposition from tech companies. But Gov. Kathy Hochul said their passage is her “priority.”

State legislators have agreed on what should be done about protecting residents from artificial intelligence, and against the use of deepfakes in elections. Proposed laws taking action on each have gone to Gov. Jared Polis for his signature.

A close vote by the school board has made Lee County Schools part of a lawsuit against social media companies including TikTok, SnapChat, Instagram and Facebook, alleging harms to student mental health.

In an effort to force collaboration on data privacy and online safety laws, two Congressional representatives propose doing away with part of a U.S. law that shields technology and social media platforms from liability for user-generated content.

A proposed law requiring parental consent for people under age 16 to open a social media account passed the state’s House of Representatives with bipartisan support. It heads to the state Senate, where a similar bill has been tabled.

To prepare students for a world of misinformation, legislation expected to pass in early 2025 would establish guidelines to teach digital media literacy in K-12 based on pilot programs at a handful of schools.

Laws that would bar social media companies from collecting children’s personal data, and from using addictive feeds to keep young users online, are expected to clear the Statehouse. That’s despite opposition from large tech companies.

A website created by state and university partners in Michigan offers free interactive content, games and videos to teach students about media, news, and differences between fact and opinion.

Two dozen New York schools and districts joined litigation against Meta, TikTok, Snap, YouTube and other social media companies, seeking changes to their platforms and damages for student mental health issues.