A dozen victims of Jeffrey Epstein filed a lawsuit on Wednesday accusing the FBI of covering up its failure to investigate the late financier, enabling his sex trafficking to continue for more than 20 years.
The victims, using Jane Doe pseudonyms, said the FBI received credible tips as early as 1996 that Epstein trafficked young women and girls, yet failed to interview victims or share what it knew with federal and local law enforcement.
Parental controls have failed—and it’s not parents’ fault.
For years, I’ve written about the tools that tech companies offer up when parents and lawmakers complain that their apps aren’t safe for children. In the past five years or so, the major players have rolled out software to give parents more say over when kids can use devices and services and what shows up on their screens.
But these tools are optional and often buried, and sometimes broken. Most parents don’t use them, according to a poll conducted last year by the market research firm Ipsos.
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Thousands of teens are revitalizing the part-time job market. It is a significant shift for Gen Z, with an increasing number of them seeking after-school and summer jobs, “reversing a trend of forgoing work when millennials were teens,” The Washington Post said in a recent analysis.
“You know, in the last year or two, they’ve really helped keep the service sector going,” said Abha Bhattarai, economics analyst for the Post, to Marketplace. Several restaurant owners told her that if it were not for the influx of teens working for them, “they just would have had to shut down by now.”
Remember, images remain online FOREVER.
A California district judge has ruled that payment giant Visa must remain a defendant in a child pornography lawsuit against MindGeek, the owner of multiple porn websites, including Pornhub.
The case against MindGeek and Visa is brought by Serena Fleites, who was 13-years-old in 2014 when an explicit video of her first appeared on PornHub.com. Fleites’ boyfriend at the time had taken the video and posted it without her consent. MindGeek distributed the video among various websites it owned, earning revenue from advertisements appearing alongside it. Visa is at the center of website transactions, processing payments between advertisers and MindGeek. Fleites alleges that Visa and its agent banks continued to process transactions connected with child pornography despite being aware of the illegal content on MindGeek websites.
Visa’s motion to dismiss hinges upon the argument that Fleites’ injuries are entirely dependent upon the actions of separate parties like MindGeek or her childhood boyfriend. However, the court pointed out that Fleites’ case centers the monetization of illegal videos posted to MindGeek sites. If what Fleites alleges is true, then Visa knowingly took part in the monetization of her abuse.
“That is where Visa enters the picture in full view, unobscured by the third parties that it attempts to place between itself and Plaintiff,” Judge Cormac J. Carney wrote in a decision filed on Friday, July 29. “The emotional trauma that Plaintiff suffered flows directly from MindGeek’s monetization of her videos and the steps that MindGeek took to maximize that monetization.”
In Visa’s motion to dismiss, the company argues that it has no authority to control or edit conduct on MindGeek sites. This argument is undermined by the fact that it has successfully intervened in previous MindGeek operations. After a New York Times article published in 2020 outlined the scope of Pornhub’s child-pornography operations, Visa and Mastercard MA -0.8% suspended business with Pornhub. Shortly after, Pornhub removed 10 million unverified videos from its site, over 80% of its content. Months later, Visa restored services for paid premium subscriptions and advertising on other MindGeek sites, according to the lawsuit. In his refusal to dismiss the case against the payment processor, Carney writes, “Visa quite literally did force MindGeek to operate differently, and markedly so, at least for a time.”
Read more here.
Dating violence is more common than you may think, especially among teens and young adults: 1 in 3 U.S. teens will experience physical, sexual, or emotional abuse from someone they’re in a relationship with before becoming adults. And nearly half (43%) of U.S. college women report experiencing violent or abusive dating behaviors.
Each February, young adults and their loved ones nationwide raise awareness about teen dating violence through Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month (TDVAM). This annual, month-long effort focuses on advocacy and education to stop dating abuse before it starts.
We’re excited to announce the 2024 theme for TDVAM is “Love Like That.” Selected by the love is respect Youth Council, “Love Like That,” illuminates what “that” means regarding healthy and unhealthy relationships. We know that love is more than a feeling; no matter how you define it, it’s essential to ensure you’re on the same page with your partner about the definitions and boundaries of your relationship. Teens and young adults express their love for one another in many ways, which differ from person to person or community. All expressions of love are valid. However, the essential aspect of “Love Like That” calls on us all to create a world of positive actions to express and show healthy love in various ways.
To request 2024 materials or for any other questions about TDVAM reach out to [email protected].
TikTok influencers that target kids with high-end skincare products has led to the trending of the term “Sephora Baby.”
Tweens are flocking to Sephora, making it a popular after-school spot.
Sephora employees note a shift from well-behaved young shoppers to a disruptive “free-for-all,” attributing the issue to parenting and social media influence.
Huff Post: The ‘Sephora Baby’ Craze Has Tweens Obsessed With Anti-Aging
NEW YORK, Feb 1 (Reuters Breakingviews) – It’s been a big week for Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tabboss Mark Zuckerberg. On Wednesday, he testified in a congressional committee hearing on the sexual exploitation of children on social-media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. The next day, he announced on a quarterly earnings call that the company would pay its first-ever dividend to shareholders. Excitement around artificial intelligence and a rebound in online advertising might be helping Meta’s stock extend last year’s 100%-plus rise. But tension with lawmakers suggests investors are underestimating bigger risks to come if Meta can’t prove its products are safe.
