Over the past few years, a groundswell of parents, educators and lawmakers have been sounding the alarm about social media's dangers to young people. Recently, the calls have become louder after the publication of “The Anxious Generation” by social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, which ties social media to the growing mental health and self-harm crisis affecting young people.Haidt says that children shouldn’t have access to social media or smartphones until they are 16.On Thursday, November 7, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced a "world-leading" plan to ban social media for children under 16, even if they already have accounts and parental permission.Under the proposed legislation, social media companies such as Meta or TikTok would be fined and penalized if they allowed anyone under 16 to use their platforms.The law wouldn’t penalize any children or their parents for disobeying the law and it's expected to be implemented next year. — (@) "Social media is doing harm to our kids and I'm calling time on it," Albanese said Thursday. "I've spoken to thousands of parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles. They, like me, are worried sick about the safety of our kids online, and I want Australian parents and families to know that the government has your back." "This one's for the mums and dads. Social media is doing harm to our kids and I'm calling time on it," Albanese continued. The 36Months initiative supports the ban, saying that children are "not yet ready to navigate online social networks safely" until at least 16 and that currently, "excessive social media use is rewiring young brains within a critical window of psychological development, causing an epidemic of mental illness.” Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, argues that its current safety controls are enough to provide a safe environment for children on their platforms. "There's a solution that negates many of these concerns and simplifies things immeasurably for parents: parental consent and age verification should happen on the app store. And we think Australia should make it law," the company said in a statement. — (@) The bill's detractors say it prevents Australian children from developing the essential skills to navigate the internet and social media. "The online world is a place where children and young people access information, build social and technical skills, connect with family and friends, learn about the world around them and relax and play," said a letter signed by 140 Australian and international experts and delivered to Albanese. "We are concerned that a 'ban' is too blunt an instrument to address risks effectively."The announcement comes a year after the U.S. Surgeon General's office announced that social media poses a mental health risk to young people. “The most common question parents ask me is, ‘Is social media safe for my kids’. The answer is that we don't have enough evidence to say it's safe, and in fact, there is growing evidence that social media use is associated with harm to young people’s mental health,” U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said in a statement. “Children are exposed to harmful content on social media, ranging from violent and sexual content to bullying and harassment. And for too many children, social media use is compromising their sleep and valuable in-person time with family and friends. We are in the middle of a national youth mental health crisis, and I am concerned that social media is an important driver of that crisis – one that we must urgently address.”A series of new laws have been passed in the U.S. over the last year to provide young people with a safer online experience. However, NetChoice, an advocacy group representing TikTok, Meta and X, has challenged many in court. In July of this year, the U.S. Senate passed the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) and the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) to better protect children and teens online. Together, bills would give parents new tools to protect their kids online and ban targeting online advertising to children under 17. The bill has yet to be passed by the House, but if it does, President Biden says he will sign it into law before he leaves office in January.

by Ronan Manly, BullionStar: “Gold continues to be one of the most important reserve assets globally, as evidenced by the significant purchases of gold by central banks in recent years.” – Hungarian central bank, September 2024 As we enter the final stretch of 2024 with the international gold price having made continual new highs during […]

by Joseph P. Farrell, Giza Death Star: Well, the American (s)election is officially over, and we’re now in whatever shenanigans “they” are going to pull to turn the whole thing into another hanging chad circus (remember that one?). And speaking of shenanigans and circuses, check out this story (shared by reader T.S.) about some more missing money […]

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez blamed Kamala Harris' loss in this year’s presidential election on sexism and misogyny on Thursday, continuing the left's trend of blaming everyone and everything except Kamala Harris herself.

The White House has held its first press briefing since Donald Trump's election victory.