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03-01 NEW REPORT FROM FAIRPLAY FOR KIDS: Buying to Belong: Virtual Goods in Roblox and Fortnite Are Exposing Kids to Harm.

As social gaming platforms like Roblox and Fortnite surpass social media’s popularity among kids, this new report using focus group data from young players shows how the pervasive marketing of virtual goods in those games exposes children to harm.

The report shows that platforms like Roblox and Fortnite aggressively promote virtual goods — including avatars, skins, pets, clothing and other items that players can purchase and use — pressuring kids to spend huge amounts of time and money on the games and exposing them to bullying, financial harm, and damage to their physical and mental health.

Read more here.

lynnswarriors03-01 NEW REPORT FROM FAIRPLAY FOR KIDS: Buying to Belong: Virtual Goods in Roblox and Fortnite Are Exposing Kids to Harm.
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02-28 GROSSLY INADEQUATE. APPLE Releases Statement on Child Safety.

Apple announced it would be updating some device and App Store features to address child safety concerns.

Sarah Gardner – CEO of the HEAT INITIATIVE – “Unfortunately, Apple’s announcement is not an earnest investment in keeping kids safe, it is another stage in a race to the bottom as tech companies like Apple and Meta fight each other to take the least amount of responsibility to protect children from online harms.

While a few of these updates, like Declared Age Range API, are steps in the right direction, the rest are inadequate. Apple is still putting the safety of its youngest users primarily in the hands of profit-driven developers around the world instead of purposefully curating the App Store to be a safe place for kids, like they promise. Our children need measures like third party review and verification of app age ratings and better rating enforcement and accountability.

At the end of the day, today’s announcement highlights all the ways they could do so much more to protect kids–it is devastating they continue to choose not to.”

FULL APPLE STATEMENT 

 

lynnswarriors02-28 GROSSLY INADEQUATE. APPLE Releases Statement on Child Safety.
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02-27 Teens are Spilling Dark Thoughts to AI Chatbots. Who’s to Blame when Something Goes Wrong?

When her teen with autism suddenly became angry, depressed and violent, the mother searched his phone for answers.

She found her son had been exchanging messages with chatbots on Character.AI, an artificial intelligence app that allows users to create and interact with virtual characters that mimic celebrities, historical figures and anyone else their imagination conjures.

What could go wrong?

Read more here. 

lynnswarriors02-27 Teens are Spilling Dark Thoughts to AI Chatbots. Who’s to Blame when Something Goes Wrong?
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02-26 Parents in Palmer Twp., PA Asking for Community’s Help to Find 14-Year-Old Daughter

Two parents in Northampton County are pleading for the community’s help to find their 14-year-old daughter.

Enci Wu, who goes by Aubrey, ran away from her home in Palmer Township in early January and hasn’t been seen in more than a month. Her parents told us they believe she may have been the victim of human trafficking.

We met Jiajie Wu, Aubrey’s mother who goes by Jade, and Aubrey’s stepfather John Gehrmann in their kitchen, where they’ve set up a command center to search for their daughter. They’ve been working to find her since Jan. 10.

Read more here.

lynnswarriors02-26 Parents in Palmer Twp., PA Asking for Community’s Help to Find 14-Year-Old Daughter
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02-25 A Break from Your Smartphone Can Reboot Your Mood. Here’s How Long You Need.

f you order up coffee on a mobile app while scrolling your social feeds, or can’t stop watching videos and reading news articles on your phone at bedtime, listen up!

Researchers studied what happened when people agreed to block the internet from their smartphones for just two weeks. And turns out, 91% felt better after the break.

“What we found was that people had better mental health, better subjective well-being and better sustained attention,” says Adrian Ward, a psychologist at the University of Texas at Austin.

Read more here. 

lynnswarriors02-25 A Break from Your Smartphone Can Reboot Your Mood. Here’s How Long You Need.
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02-23 WAKE UP AMERICA! NJ Man Charged with Sextortion of Minor Met on Gaming App

Talk to your kids. NOW.

A Somerset County man is accused of giving gift cards to a minor and then threatening the victim’s family when he didn’t get to meet him in person.

Sebastian Romero, 27, was arrested at his Somerset home on Aug. 2, according to the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office.

He’s charged with first-degree production of child sexual abuse material, second-degree debauching the morals of a child, second-degree luring, second-degree aggravated sexual extortion, third-degree CSAM possession, and third-degree obscenity to a minor.

Read More.

 

lynnswarriors02-23 WAKE UP AMERICA! NJ Man Charged with Sextortion of Minor Met on Gaming App
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02-22 AG Pam Bondi Vows to Release Bombshell Jeffrey Epstein Documents — Which Could Include Client List

President Trump’s Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday teased plans to release bombshell documents in Jeffrey Epstein’s case — which could include his client list.

Bondi said there are “a lot of documents” related to the dead pedophile’s case sitting “on her desk” waiting to be reviewed during an interview with Fox News’ “America Reports.”

She said she was briefed on the materials shortly after being confirmed to her high-profile post in the Trump administration — and that looking at them was a “directive” from the president himself.

Read More Here.

lynnswarriors02-22 AG Pam Bondi Vows to Release Bombshell Jeffrey Epstein Documents — Which Could Include Client List
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02-20 Tren de Aragua, MS-13, Mexican Cartel Gangs Designated as Foreign Terror Groups

he notorious Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, the brutal MS-13 organization, and half a dozen Mexican cartels have been designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the State Department.

The announcement, dated Feb. 6 and published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, prohibits Americans from providing “material support or resources” to the organizations — and allows the US to deport those involved in the gangs.

In addition to Tren de Aragua and MS-13, the cartels given the designations include Cartel de Sinaloa, formerly led by notorious drug lord “El Chapo“; Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion, Carteles Unidos, Cartel del Noreste, Cartel del Golfo and La Nueva Familia Michoacana.

Read more here.

lynnswarriors02-20 Tren de Aragua, MS-13, Mexican Cartel Gangs Designated as Foreign Terror Groups
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