Tag: social media

Congress calls Trump’s TikTok plan a good first step, but concerns remain about algorithm control

ongressional leaders see positive first steps in President Donald Trump’s TikTok deal, but are withholding full support until questions about control of the important content algorithm owned by China-based ByteDance are resolved. The Chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party says that the promise of divestiture is a good first step on the way to a final deal, but noted once again that an important requirement of the law passed by Congress is severing China’s connections to the app’s algorithm.  

“Transitioning to a majority American-owned entity would mark an important step in that process that could mitigate some of the ByteDance threat depending on the details, but divestment was not the law’s only requirement,” Chairman John Moolenaar, R-Mich., said in a statement on Friday. 

Staying within the guardrails

“The law also set firm guardrails that prohibit cooperation between ByteDance and any prospective TikTok successor on the all-important recommendation algorithm, as well as preclude operational ties between the new entity and ByteDance,” said the chairman. 

The chairman promised that he would use his committee to conduct full oversight over this agreement, starting with an urgent briefing” that he requested from the Trump administration. Moolenaar also said he plans to hold a hearing next year with the leadership of the new American Tiktok entity, according to the press release.

TikTok’s operations in the United States have drawn significant scrutiny from Congress for years. Last year, Congress passed and President Joe Biden signed into law the bill requiring TikTok’s parent company, the China-based ByteDance, to either divest itself of the popular video sharing app or face a ban on operations in the United States. 

The bill aimed to address concerns that the Chinese company exercised the ability to weaponize the app against the American people on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party’s goals by gathering and exploiting citizens’ personal data.  

Of particular concern is ByteDance’s proprietary content suggesting algorithm, which experts say could be exploited to influence users and U.S. public opinion and politics at large. There is some evidence of this claim. Earlier this year, a study found that TikTok suppresses anti-China content and influences user opinion on the communist country’s human rights record and society. The researchers from Rutgers University and the Network Contagion Research Institute assessed this was done by likely manipulation of the content algorithm, though no definitive determination could be made without access to the code.

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Vice President JD Vance calls out ‘left-wing radicals’ for inciting political violence in social media post

Vice President JD Vance fired back on social media on Friday after being tagged in a video that appeared to mock Trump supporters over their response to the 2023 Bud Light controversy.

The clip, which was posted to X, showed a man shooting Bud Light cans seemingly in protest of the brand’s 2023 partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. 

The user then took aim at Vance, telling him not to complain about “violent rhetoric from the left.”

“This is how MAGA responded after Bud Lite had the audacity to feature a trans influencer in their ads,” the X user said. “So spare us your b——- about violent rhetoric from the left, [JD Vance].”

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Māori women’s rights advocate faces jail over social media posts

Rex Landy, an outspoken Māori women’s rights advocate and member of Mana Wāhine Kōrero, is facing court action under the Harmful Digital Communications Act after being reported to police by a trans activist over her social media posts.

Landy was arrested in December 2024 after complaints from Daniel Johnston, a fantasy author who identifies as female and is known online as “Caitlin Spice.” 

Police first contacted Landy in 2022 and later issued a written warning. “They told me I had to stop saying what I was saying… 

The very next day I received a written warning in the post threatening that they had enough to charge me under the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015.” 

In September 2024, Landy was ordered by the court to delete all posts referencing Johnston. She says she deleted everything but claims she missed two posts. 

On 18 December, she said police raided her home, seized devices, and charged her with failing to obey a court order.

She was given another charge after Johnston claimed she had indirectly referenced him in a livestream. Prosecutors have ruled out diversion, telling the court she was “in the grip of an ideology,” meaning they view her stance as rigid and unchangeable rather than a one-off lapse, and therefore undeserving of leniency. Landy reportedly faces up to three months in jail or a $50,000 fine.

“Win, lose, or draw – he’ll never be a woman. I’ve already won. I’m a woman, he isn’t,” Landy said. 

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Trump Signs Order to Allow TikTok to Continue Operating Under American Company

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday approving a deal to allow TikTok to continue operating in the United States, as the Chinese app becomes majority-owned by American interests in a new joint-venture company.

The deal involves TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, selling the social media app’s U.S. operations to a consortium of American investors, Breitbart News reported earlier this week. American technology giant Oracle, co-founded by centibillionaire Larry Ellison, will be entrusted to retrain the formerly Chinese-controlled TikTok algorithm “from the ground up” to create a separate, more secure version for U.S. users, according to Bloomberg. 

Trump continued to delay the impending TikTok ban in order to have enough time for the deal to fall into place, with Vice President JD Vance saying as the order was signed, “There was some resistance on the Chinese side.”

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YouTube Expands AI Age Checks, Users Face ID Verification

Google’s video platform is tightening its controls, and a growing number of YouTube users are suddenly finding themselves locked out of content unless they hand over proof of age through ID verification.

The new direction stems from YouTube’s decision to push its AI-driven age estimation system much more broadly than before.

The technology, which YouTube began experimenting with in Europe before confirming its US debut in July, surveils people’s accounts and examines everything from account details and viewing habits to search activity.

Those surveillance signals are then used to guess whether someone is under 18.

The pace of enforcement has accelerated sharply. Within the 24 hours leading up to September 24, Reddit’s r/youtube subreddit saw a flood of posts from users saying their accounts were suddenly flagged for verification, suggesting a big uptick in restrictions.

Accounts flagged as too young are immediately restricted: targeted advertising is reduced, recommendations deemed unsafe are cut back, and access to adult material is blocked outright.

When YouTube’s system determines that an account likely belongs to someone under 18, the platform automatically enforces a set of limits designed to control how the service is used.

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As Ellison Buys Out TikTok, US Moves Toward One-Party Media

Larry Ellison, founder of the software firm Oracle, is the second-richest billionaire in both the US and the world, and for a brief moment was No. 1 in the world (AP, 9/11/25). But for a long time, unlike many of his peers, he was unable to boast that he controlled a chunk of the news and opinion reaching the American public.

On Forbes‘ US list, he is sandwiched between Elon Musk, No. 1, who bought the social media network Twitter and rebranded it as X, and Mark Zuckerberg, who runs Meta, which operates Facebook and Instagram. Jeff Bezos, at No. 4, has the Washington Post. Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google, Nos. 5 and 6, operate the leading search engine as well as one of the most important news aggregators, Google News. Michael Bloomberg, at No. 13, the former New York City mayor, has Bloomberg and its various outlets.

Ellison seems to have joined the club, as TikTok, under US government coercion (FAIR.org, 1/23/25), is selling 80% of its US operations to an investor consortium that includes Oracle, along with investment firms Silver Lake and Andreessen Horowitz (Reuters, 9/16/25).

Ellison is a big Trumper, joining in the reactionary denial of the 2020 presidential elections (Washington Post, 5/20/22). Like some of the others in the deal, he is part of the inner circle of Trump’s favorite corporate ideologues. This TikTok deal is not just about money. It’s about control of the political narrative.

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‘Trump next please’: Democrats on Bluesky call for MORE political violence

If you used the Bluesky app in the past couple of days, it would be hard not to notice just how bloodthirsty the Democratic Party has become — especially in the wake of the assassination of the right’s beloved Charlie Kirk.

One trend on the social media app has taken BlazeTV hosts Jill Savage and Matthew Peterson by surprise.

“There are a ton of crazies over there,” Savage says on “Blaze News: The Mandate.” “I am not on there, but they are basically saying, ‘Who’s next for all of this?’”

Leftists have been posting who they hope falls victim to the same fate as Charlie Kirk.

The most repeated names on this list include President Trump, J.K. Rowling, Joe Rogan, Matt Walsh, Ben Shapiro, Libs of TikTok, and Elon Musk.

“Charlie Kirk is dead (and has been for a few hours), Trump next please,” one user wrote on the left’s version of X.

“Unfortunately, this is what we will have to continue to deal with,” Savage says.

Blaze Media D.C. correspondent Christopher Bedford is also completely disturbed.

“The threats are real. The copycats are going to happen,” Bedford says.

“This really is a point where we can decide that we’re going to get better, or we can decide that we’re going to get much worse, much more quickly. And it’s going to take a serious turn by society, a serious rejection by the American left, by the universities — not just these businesses and these sports teams, but by the university system — of this kind of crap in order for this to actually have any kind of impact,” he explains.

“There needs to be significantly more accountability than there is right now. And funds need to be taken,” he continues. “And all these nonprofits that for the last five years have spent time funneling money towards bail funds for rioters, towards printing T-shirts that have guns on them with the trans flag that says ‘defend it’ … these people who fund groups that are professional agitators — well, those funds need to be ceased, and those boards of directors need to be investigated. These are crimes.”

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Man Arrested for Allegedly Plotting to Murder Republican New Hampshire Governor Kelly Ayotte With Pipe Bombs

A 22 year-old man was arrested this week for allegedly plotting to kill New Hampshire’s Republican Governor Kelly Ayotte with pipe bombs.

The suspect, who is apparently not very smart, shared his plans with people on the internet and even with his female roommate, who spoke to police, telling them that he showed her the materials he planned to use for the explosive device or devices.

It’s amazing that this transpired just a week after the assassination of Charlie Kirk. It shows that there are many people on the left who have no intention of slowing down the political violence.

Townhall reports:

New Hampshire Gov. Ayotte Targeted in Alleged Pipe Bomb Plot by 22-Year-Old

A 22-year-old has been arrested after he allegedly threatened to murder New Hampshire Governor Kelly Ayotte using homemade pipe bombs.

Independent reporter Breanna Morello posted on X: “Investigators say Tristan Anderson boasted about his plans to his roommate on Snapchat, displaying the materials he planned to use.

Anderson allegedly posted anti-Semitic messages about an “Israel Deep State” before targeting Catholic Governor Kelly Ayotte with threats.

His social media included violent posts, like threatening to “kill” New Hampshire committee members he believed misrepresented residents.

His roommate reported to police that Anderson owned guns and showed her fireworks, metal tubes, and bags of nuts and bolts, which he allegedly planned to use to make pipe bombs.

Anderson allegedly texted a threat, media reported.

“I’m going to target the NH Mayor Kelly ayott,” the message reads. “With my weapon of mass destruction.”

This person has now ruined his life. Was it worth it?

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New York Wants Online Digital ID Rules for Social Media Feeds Under “SAFE For Kids Act”

New York is advancing a set of proposed regulations that would require social media platforms to verify users’ ages before granting access to algorithm-driven feeds or allowing nighttime alerts.

Attorney General Letitia James introduced the draft rules on Monday, tied to the Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) For Kids Act, which was signed into law last year by Governor Kathy Hochul.

Presented as part of an effort to reduce mental health harms linked to social media, the law would compel platforms to restrict algorithmic content for anyone under 18 or anyone who hasn’t completed an age verification process, which would mean the introduction of digital ID checks to access online platforms.

In those cases, users would be limited to seeing content in chronological order from accounts they already follow.

Platforms would also be barred from sending notifications between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m. to those users.

The rules give companies some flexibility in how they confirm a user’s age, as long as the method is considered effective and designed to protect personal data.

Acceptable alternatives to submitting a government ID include facial analysis that estimates age. Any identifying information collected during verification must be deleted “immediately,” according to the proposal.

For minors to access personalized algorithmic feeds, parental permission would be required.

That too involves a verification step, with the same data-deletion requirements in place once the process is complete.

The SAFE For Kids Act targets platforms where user-generated content is central and where at least 20 percent of time spent involves engagement with feeds tailored to user behavior or device data.

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UK Police Show Up at Cancer Patient’s Door Demanding an Apology For Social Media Post

Just when you thought British speech policing had reached the bottom of the absurdity barrel, they bring a jackhammer.

In June, Thames Valley Police managed to dispatch one of their elite to investigate a grave national threat: an American cancer patient who may have written something a bit spicy on social media.

Yes. That’s not a joke. That is, in fact, the plot of a low-budget dystopian sitcom that the real world seems hell-bent on adapting in full.

Deborah Anderson, a mother of two, a member of the Free Speech Union, a cancer patient, and, as she put it herself, “an elderly woman,” was enjoying the blissful serenity of not being in prison when a Thames Valley Police officer showed up at her front door.

Why? Because “something that we believe you’ve written on Facebook has upset someone.”

Let’s pause here.

We are no longer talking about crime. We are no longer talking about justice. We are now fully submerged in the soggy underworld of “upset someone.”

This is what policing has become in Britain; knocking on doors to gently scold the sick and the elderly because someone got their feelings hurt.

“I’m a member of the Free Speech Union, and I’m an American citizen. I’ll have Elon Musk on you so quick your feet won’t touch,” Anderson told the officer, who probably realized at that exact moment that his day’s mission had veered into Monty Python territory.

The officer, in all his taxpayer-funded wisdom, suggested that Deborah Anderson could simply apologize and make the whole thing go away, as if groveling before the offended masses had suddenly become a formal step in police procedure.

It was less “serve and protect” and more “say sorry and maybe we won’t waste more of your time.”

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