Snapchat Archives - The Minnesota Sun

Lawmakers Press Google, Meta, Others on Addressing Deepfake Pornography

November 30, 2024 The Center Square

A bipartisan group of 26 U.S. lawmakers have sent letters to seven major tech companies requesting updates on how the platforms plan to counter the growing prevalence of pornographic “deepfakes” on social media.

The number of artificially generated, sexually explicit impersonations of nonconsenting individuals increased by 550% from 2019 to 2023, with deepfake pornography now making up 98% of all deepfake videos online, the lawmakers cited in each of the seven letters addressed to Google, Apple, X, ByteDance, Snapchat, Microsoft and Meta.

Former Minnesota School Board Member Sues over Explicit Snapchat, Seeks Board Return

September 7, 2024September 6, 2024 Alpha News

A former West Central Area School District board member is suing multiple individuals after resigning last year over a sexually explicit video he posted on Snapchat.

According to the lawsuit, Jared Olson, who recently filed to return to the school board, claims the video was intended for his wife, but was instead shared to his Snapchat “stories” by accident.

Big Tech Liable for Breaking Promises to Users that Led to Suicide, Death Threats: Appeals Court

September 2, 2024 Just the News

Days before the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sent Big Tech lawyers scrambling by upending three decades of judicial precedents on Section 230 immunity from liability, its West Coast counterpart warned platforms their immunity had limits, too.

While far smaller in scope than the 3rd Circuit’s ruling that TikTok could be held liable for a little girl’s death by algorithmically recommending the video she fatally copied, likely to provoke Supreme Court intervention, the 9th Circuit ruling Aug. 22 against third-party Snapchat app developer Yolo also suggests judges are growing skeptical of maximalist views of the 1996 law.

Pew Research: Many Teens Use Social Media ‘Almost Constantly’

December 17, 2023 Minnesota Sun Staff

A new study from Pew Research Center reveals that 1 in 5 American teenagers are on social media websites “almost constantly.”

As reported by Axios, the Pew survey, an online poll with a sample size of 1,453 kids in the 13-17 age range, recorded a significant rise in social media use among that particular age group compared to a previous survey in 2014 and 2015.

Minnesota School Board Member Resigns After Inadvertently Posting Lewd Video to Social Media

October 29, 2023October 28, 2023 Minnesota Sun Staff

A West Central Area (WCA) School District board member resigned effective Thursday after it was discovered he posted a video of himself engaging in a lewd sexual act to his social media account.

Jared Olson, a WCA school board member, posted a video to his SnapChat “stories” Wednesday of himself masturbating.

Social Media Use in Children Linked to Significant Brain Changes

January 6, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

A new study from the University of North Carolina shows children and teens who frequently check social media may become more sensitive in the long term to “social feedback” in the form of “likes” and “dislikes” at a time when the brain is experiencing significant developmental changes.

In the study, published at the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Pediatrics, researchers Maria Maza, et al, investigated whether the frequency with which middle-school age children check their Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat social media accounts is associated with long-term changes in brain development as they mature further into adolescence.

Snap Let Democratic Campaign Groups Scoop Up GOP Voter Data

September 9, 2022September 8, 2022 Minnesota Sun Staff

Several prominent Democratic campaign groups accessed Republican voter data as a result of what Snap, the owner of Snapchat, called an unintentional data leak, allowing those groups to optimize midterm ads, Axios reported.

Snapchat Tries to Stop Users from Buying Fentanyl on Its Platform, but It’s ‘Too Little Too Late’ for Some

October 8, 2021October 7, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

Snapchat is putting in place new safety measures to try and stop young users buying and selling fentanyl on its platform, the company announced Thursday.

The company unveiled an in-app education portal called “Heads Up” in a blog post Thursday designed to provide young users with information from substance abuse advocacy groups including Song for Charlie, Shatterproof, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration on the dangers of fentanyl. Snapchat also said it is planning on adding health information from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention in the coming weeks.