The U.S. surgeon general called on Monday for social media platforms to include health warnings for younger users.

“It is time to require a surgeon general’s warning label on social media platforms, stating that social media is associated with significant mental health harms for adolescents,” Vivek H. Murthy wrote in an op-ed published in The New York Times.

Murthy’s office had last year issued an advisory on social media use and its possible affects on teenage users. He called at that time on social media companies to prioritize safety and privacy in their product designs and ensure minimum age requirements are enforced.

Developing Story…

As NY Gov. Kathy Hochul mulls a statewide ban of mobile phones in schools, the reality on the ground in New York City illustrates the complexities of such a large-scale effort.

On its face, the cell phone policy at Forest Hills High School seems clear: Phones cannot be used in school and must be turned off during the day, unless a teacher allows them as part of a lesson.

In practice, the picture is a lot more complicated.

Some teachers create their own rules, from zero-tolerance approaches like confiscation to more relaxed policies like allowing phones unless a class devolves into chaos, according to Stephan Menasche, a senior at the 3,400-student school in Queens.

The inconsistencies lead to students testing boundaries and giving into the irresistible pull of their phones to watch or create TikToks, text friends, or listen to music.

“There are classes where I’m not using my phone, and they’re interesting. It’s great because I don’t have to get distracted by the notifications or whatever,” Menasche said. “But sometimes the classes are really boring, and I would rather be on my phone.”

Forest Hills is one of hundreds of schools across New York City that instituted cell phone bans after the Education Department dropped the citywide prohibition in March 2015, a move that gave principals responsibility to create their own approaches. As Gov. Kathy Hochul mulls a statewide ban of cell phones in schools, the reality on the ground in New York City illustrates the complexities of such a large-scale effort.

Read more here.

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn on Thursday introduced a new bipartisan bill that seeks to establish a national human trafficking database housed at the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The database would compile state-level trafficking crime data, streamline connections with anti-trafficking and survivor support organizations, and create incentives for state law enforcement agencies to report data.

“Human trafficking prosecutions have skyrocketed in recent years, and the federal government must use every available tool to convict criminals that have not yet been identified in our communities,” Blackburn, R-Tennessee, said in a statement. “The National Human Trafficking Database Act would help combat this heinous crime by incentivizing states to identify the risks of human trafficking in their counties and track the number of prosecutions statewide.”

Blackburn sponsored the bipartisan bill with U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota.

“We must do all we can to prevent human trafficking. This means making sure that we have the best data and tools available,” Klobuchar said in a statement. “This bipartisan legislation will establish a national database to fill critical information gaps, help streamline collaboration between those fighting to end trafficking, and ultimately save lives.”

Read more here. 

Social media platform X is now hiding your likes.

In an update posted on the platform formerly known as Twitter earlier this week, X’s engineering team said it would be “making Likes private for everyone to better protect your privacy.” That means that users will still be able to see their own likes, but others will not — putting an end to a feature that many had long used.

The change went into effect Wednesday. As of the afternoon, the “Likes” tab appeared to only be available on users’ own profile page. But when visiting other accounts, that tab is no longer available.

Users also received a pop-up notification that seemed to suggest the change would result in more user engagement.

“Liking more posts will make your ‘For you’ feed better,” the message read.

According to the engineering team’s update, like counts and other metrics for a user’s own posts will still show up under notifications. Posts still appear to show how many likes they have — but the author will be the only person who can see a list of those who liked it.

Read more here.

A single fraudulent pill could contain a lethal dose of the drug fentanyl — the opioid that has led to over 70,000 fatal overdoses.

Watch here.

Murder is the 3rd leading cause of death for Native women. This crisis remains largely under the general public radar. Why? Let’s discuss. #solutionsneedednow

WE RIDE FOR HER is a documentary short film that sheds light on the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women and relatives.

Please watch We Ride for Her and learn more.

Please contact Lynn Shaw to find out more.

Paint Me Bear is for children and adults alike. Art heals. Get off those devices and share community time with us. Snacks, drinks, music – come #BeAWarrior

This is nation-leading legislation to combat addictive social media feeds and protect kids online.Calling on DC to do the same & pass #KOSA -Kids Online Safety Act.

Assembly Passes SAFE for Kids Act & New York Child Data Protection Act to Protect Kids Mental Health and Online Privacy

Speaker Carl Heastie and Assemblymember Nily Rozic today announced the Assembly has passed Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act and the New York Child Data Protection Act to help protect kids from addictive social media feeds and digital monitoring which could follow them for the rest of their lives. The passage of these is the first significant advancement in online child protection in New York since the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA) went into effect in 2000.

“As technology evolves, so must the ways we protect our kids from harm – both on and offline,” Speaker Heastie said. “These bills will give parents the tools to help protect kids from predatory practices that impact their mental health by eliminating the addictive personalized feeds and will make online privacy the default for New York’s children, preventing companies from collecting and using their data. Thank you to our Assembly sponsor Nily Rozic and to Governor Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Letitia James and our partners in the Senate for all the work they’ve done on this to make online spaces safer for kids.”

“We must do all that we can to protect our kids from the harmful influence of addictive algorithms and unchecked data collection, the passage of the SAFE for Kids Act and the NY Child Data Protection Act are the straightforward first step in that effort,” said Assemblymember Rozic. “These new laws signal that New York is taking the lead in putting New Yorkers’ safety and privacy at the forefront. I thank Speaker Heastie, Governor Hochul, Attorney General James, and Senator Gounardes for their collaborative efforts in order to protect young people in the digital age.”

Read more here.