We are excited to announce that Governor Gavin Newsom has signed the Youth Social Media Protection Act (AB 2481) into California law, a critical piece of legislation sponsored by the Organization for Social Media Safety. Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal authored this bill, which provides an important new tool to protect children from dangerous content on social…
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Terrorist groups often use social media platforms to disseminate hate and extreme violence. We wanted to let you know that parents around the country are receiving alerts from schools and elected officials over concerns that terrorists plan to disseminate distressing videos, including of hostages, through social media. These officials are generally urging parents to delete TikTok and Instagram from their children’s devices…
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This month, Snap, Inc. (“Snap”) announced a new safety tool called Family Center. Unfortunately, after review, the Organization for Social Media Safety believes that it will not have any meaningful impact on child safety. With Snapchat’s Family Center, parents, after requesting permission from their child, can see a list of who their child is friends with…
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Unfortunately, apps that allow anonymous messaging between teens are seeing a resurgence. In recent weeks, the anonymous app NGL has exceeded 15 million installs. Parents, and teens, need to be aware of the real danger of anonymous messaging. While the mechanics of various anonymous messaging apps can differ, the concept is consistent. These apps allow…
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April 1, 2022News@Northeastern One of the most problematic uses of the technology is when an individual’s likeness, typically a woman’s, is manipulated and put on a sexually explicit video, making it appear as if the individual they are targeting is participating in the sexual activity, says Marc Berkman, the executive director of the Organization for…
Read MoreSammy Chapman was an amazing kid, sweet, funny, curious, and an A student. His parents Sam and Laura worked hard to keep him away from dangerous people and places. But, like most parents, they had no idea that drug dealers were preying on their children using social media platforms. And they had no idea illegal,…
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This week, you may have heard about a so-called “National Day of School Violence” threat being spread on social media. Reportedly, the threats originated on the social media platform TikTok, though that has not definitively been established. Regardless, posts about the threats spread quickly over social media causing worry across the country and even forcing some schools to shut…
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