logo
NC lawmakers consider bill that would ban social media for some teens

NC lawmakers consider bill that would ban social media for some teens

Yahoo01-04-2025

North Carolina lawmakers will debate a bill Tuesday that would ban social media accounts for kids under the age of 14.
To create an account, WRAL News reports companies that own social media platforms like TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram already have a minimum age of 13, in compliance with federal law.
House Bill 301 would require parental permission for kids who are 14 or 15, WRAL says.
ALSO READ: Man accused of trafficking teenage girl he met on social media, investigators say
The bill would hold social media companies responsible for stopping kids who are too young from getting an account.
If they fail to do so, they could face a $50,000 fine for each instance. Parents would also be able to sue for up to $10,000.
The bill is scheduled for a hearing in a House committee Tuesday, WRAL reports.
Citing the Pew Research Center, WRAL says some 95 percent of kids ages 13 to 17 in the U.S. report using a social media platform.
More than one-third saying they use social media 'almost constantly,' Pew researchers add.
WATCH BELOW: Why you should avoid sharing too much about your children on social media

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Trump administration orders US embassies to stop student visa interviews
Trump administration orders US embassies to stop student visa interviews

Yahoo

time2 hours ago

  • Yahoo

Trump administration orders US embassies to stop student visa interviews

The Trump administration has ordered US embassies worldwide to immediately stop scheduling visa interviews for foreign students as it prepares to implement comprehensive social media screening for all international applicants. A Tuesday state department cable obtained by the Guardian instructs consular sections to pause adding 'any additional student or exchange visitor (F, M, and J) visa appointment capacity until further guidance is issued' within days. The directive, first reported by Politico , could severely delay visa processing and hurt universities – many of which Donald Trump accuses of having far-left ideologies – that rely heavily on foreign students for revenue. 'The department is conducting a review of existing operations and processes for screening and vetting of student and exchange visitor visa applicants,' the cable reads. Officials plan to issue guidance on 'expanded social media vetting for all such applicants'. The freeze is a further escalation from current screening measures, which have primarily targeted students who participated in pro-Palestinian campus protests. Since March, consular officers have been required to conduct mandatory social media reviews looking for evidence of support for 'terrorist activity or a terrorist organization' which could be as broad as showing support for the Palestinian cause, according to a cable obtained by the Guardian at the time. That directive required officers to take screenshots of 'potentially derogatory' content for permanent records, even if posts were later deleted. The new expansion would apply social media vetting to all student visa applicants, not just those flagged for activism. Under the screening process, consular officers would examine applicants' posts, shares, and comments across platforms such as Instagram, X and TikTok for content they deem to be threatening to national security, which has since been tied in to the Trump administration's stance on combating antisemitism. Rubio told senators last week that his department has revoked visas numbering 'probably in the thousands at this point', up from more than 300 reported in March. 'I don't know the latest count, but we probably have more to do,' he said. There are more than one million foreign students in the US, contributing nearly $43.8bn to the economy and supporting more than 378,000 jobs in 2023 to 2024, according to NAFSA. The visa freeze threatens to compound existing challenges facing higher education institutions already experiencing declining international enrollment. When reached for comment, a state department spokesperson said that 'every visa adjudication is a national security decision', noting that visitors applying for visas were required to provide social media identifiers since 2019. 'The Trump administration is focused on protecting our nation and our citizens by upholding the highest standards of national security and public safety through our visa process,' the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

Trump Eyes Third TikTok Extension ahead of June 19 Deadline
Trump Eyes Third TikTok Extension ahead of June 19 Deadline

Business Insider

time4 hours ago

  • Business Insider

Trump Eyes Third TikTok Extension ahead of June 19 Deadline

Americans can't get enough of TikTok. A ban on the popular short-form app will likely cause annoyance and discomfort for hundreds of millions of U.S. users, something President Trump is well aware of. Now, he's planning to give TikTok another deadline extension ahead of the current deadline of June 19, according to the Wall Street Journal. Confident Investing Starts Here: Easily unpack a company's performance with TipRanks' new KPI Data for smart investment decisions Receive undervalued, market resilient stocks right to your inbox with TipRanks' Smart Value Newsletter U.S. officials believe that TikTok-owner ByteDance, a Chinese company, has ties to China's government, making the app a risk to national security given its usage among 170 million Americans. In April 2024, former President Biden signed a bill giving TikTok nine months to find a U.S.-approved buyer. Nine months later, TikTok failed to find a buyer, which resulted in Trump stepping in with a 75-day extension. After that extension expired, Trump provided the company with another 75-day extension. TikTok Unlikely to Find Buyer until U.S.-China Trade Talks Resolve After Trump announced his sweeping tariffs, ByteDance informed the White House that China wouldn't agree to a TikTok sale until the two sides could come to terms on trade policies. Trump spoke with Chinese President Xi over the phone on Thursday, although TikTok wasn't discussed. Still, tensions between the two sides appear to be easing, with China granting suppliers of three top U.S. automakers with rare earth export licenses today, per Reuters.

The Chinese fungus-smuggling couple: Letters to the Editor — June 7, 2025
The Chinese fungus-smuggling couple: Letters to the Editor — June 7, 2025

New York Post

time6 hours ago

  • New York Post

The Chinese fungus-smuggling couple: Letters to the Editor — June 7, 2025

The Issue: A Chinese national couple charged with smuggling a dangerous fungus into the US. We've heard this song before ('Smuggled fungus a 'growing' threat,' June 4). It seems that the Chinese Communist Party sent a student to the United States with a fungus that has the potential to wipe out large swaths of American agriculture, potentially resulting in mass starvation and deaths. Advertisement Sound familiar? Remember COVID? Instead of the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the CCP was using the biolab at the University of Michigan to tinker with this potentially dangerous fungus in our own backyard. Advertisement Since all Chinese exchange students pledge their allegiance to the CCP, their student visas must be revoked and no further visas issued. Kenneth Fitzgerald Hicksville A Chinese researcher smuggling an agricultural pathogen into this country is a major red flag. Advertisement First, it was stealing intellectual property, then it was purchasing properties adjacent to military sites, then TikTok, fentanyl, COVID, a spy balloon and now this brazen act. It's time for the United States to take some drastic action, such as canceling all Chinese foreign-exchange student visas, refusing any financial donations to our universities and immediately deporting any Chinese migrants that crossed our borders illegally in the past four years. Bob Yusko Valley Cottage Advertisement Anyone who still thinks that the Chinese government isn't involved in bioterrorism should take a look at Thursday's headlines, stating that two Chinese scientists were caught smuggling a dangerous fungus into the United States. So COVID was a 'lab accident?' And lanternflies just flew 6,000 miles across the Pacific on their own? Please, give me a break. President Xi Jinping has to be held accountable for these atrocities. Ted Rallis Mamaroneck It looks like President Trump was right again in wanting to restrict student visas. Advertisement Commie loyalist Yunqing Jian joins Columbia's Hamas-loving Mohsen Mahdawi as exhibits one and two. For decades, universities in America have allowed foreign students to study here with little or no vetting. It is no surprise that our enemies have seized upon this practice to destroy our democracy. Keep them out. Advertisement Robert Mangi Garden City During no previous wartime of the past 100 years were our enemies welcomed to visit America and to buy homes or farms — and surely not land near strategic defense facilities. That would've been stupid and dangerous. But here we are, allowing just that. Advertisement Finding a Chinese grad student at the University of Michigan potentially doing agro-terror to our crops and livestock is appalling and indicates a complete disregard for national security. If this pair were found out last July, why is the story breaking now? This is a ridiculous disclosure that exposes a lazy and ignorant nation, too naive to conduct simple due diligence on enemy visitors. We should know that too many Chinese students are spies doing work for their mother country. Advertisement Send all of them back home before they do mortal damage to America. Keep up with today's most important news Stay up on the very latest with Evening Update. Thanks for signing up! Enter your email address Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Never miss a story. Check out more newsletters Richard Klitzberg Boca Raton, Fla. When are we going to wake up and realize that China is attempting a biochemical war against us and the world? We have got to do something about this because China will not stop. Gene O'Brien Whitestone While they're at it, the feds should look into China-owned farms in America. They could be purposely infected with those toxic pathogens in hopes that the infection will spread to nearby American-owned farms. But wait: A Rutgers biologist says this ploy by two Chinese nationals doesn't pose a new threat and that importing the fungus openly with the proper procedures 'almost certainly would have been approved.' But then why did they attempt to smuggle it in? Our country is so unbelievably naive. Jim Forkan Bayside Want to weigh in on today's stories? Send your thoughts (along with your full name and city of residence) to letters@ Letters are subject to editing for clarity, length, accuracy, and style.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store