Tag: social media

Virginia’s new social media law targets teen access via parental consent, age checks

Virginia is preparing to enforce one of the nation’s most sweeping new restrictions on social media access for teens, requiring parental consent, time limits and age checks for users under 16.

The law, signed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin in May, takes effect Jan. 1, 2026, and applies to any platform that allows public profiles, messaging and shared content feeds.

Senate Bill 854 requires users to use a neutral age screen to determine if a user is under 16 and then secure verifiable parental consent before allowing more than one hour of daily use per service.

It also bars platforms from treating a minor’s data as if it belongs to an adult, even when shared through browser plug-ins or common devices.

Virginia joins more than a dozen states that have passed or proposed laws since 2023 to regulate children’s access to social media, including Utah, Texas, Florida, Maryland and California. While the details vary, most require age verification and parental consent for minors to create accounts or use apps beyond a time limit.

Privacy advocates say the law could have unintended consequences. Jason Kelley, associate director of digital strategy at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the measure may increase data collection rather than limit it.

“Any time a company is required by law to collect more information, there are data privacy risks,” Kelley said, noting that platforms may turn to tools like geolocation, facial scans or ID verification to meet the law’s requirements.

He also raised legal concerns, pointing out that similar laws in other states have been paused or overturned in court.

“Like similar laws in other states, it’s unlikely Virginia’s law will survive judicial scrutiny,” Kelley said.

He also raised concerns that verification systems may not work for all families.

“These systems don’t necessarily take into account a large number of non-traditional families,” Kelley said. “Regardless, such restrictions are not enforcing parental authority. They are imposing governmental authority, subject only to a parental veto.”

Supporters of the law say it gives parents a stronger role in managing their children’s online habits. In a written response, Sen. Schuyler Van Valkenburg’s office said the law is enforced under the existing Consumer Protection Act and handled by the Virginia Attorney General’s Office.

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Telegram Founder: Macron Regime Interfered in Romanian Elections by Pressuring Him to Silence Conservatives Ahead of the Vote—Musk Backs Durov

In a disturbing and all-too-familiar turn of events, Romania’s recent presidential election has been marred by foreign interference, blatant censorship attempts, and an alarming assault on national sovereignty.

The increasingly desperate and unscrupulous globalist establishment—now led by France—is facing serious accusations of attempting to subvert Romanian democracy. Allegations have surfaced that French authorities pressured the founder of the influential social media platform Telegram to silence conservative voices after anti-globalist candidates Calin Georgescu and George Simion scored decisive victories—first in an annulled initial round, and again in the re-run that followed.

In the re-run of the first round of the election held on May 4, Simion, a conservative-nationalist firebrand who opposes military entanglements in Ukraine and champions Romania-first policies, threatened to upend the left-liberal globalist order by securing 40% of the vote.

But as we’ve all witnessed, an electoral defeat means little to the globalist establishment. Losing at the ballot box does not compel them to relinquish power—far from it.

Last year, when independent nationalist Calin Georgescu won the first round with a commanding lead, the Constitutional Court annulled the results, citing vague “irregularities” and supposed “Russian interference.” Unsurprisingly, no evidence was ever produced. Georgescu was then banned from running again—a chilling move condemned by pro-humanity forces across Europe and ignored completely or forcefully supported by globalist regime enjoyers.

US Vice President J.D. Vance even cited the case earlier this year as proof of the EU’s escalating war on democratic sovereignty, saying, when the people vote the wrong way, the elites just cancel the results

Now, a new bombshell threatens to further delegitimize the already illegitimate Romanian election.  Pavel Durov, founder of the encrypted messaging app Telegram, revealed that French intelligence directly pressured him to silence Romanian conservatives online ahead of the election. Durov named Nicolas Lerner, head of France’s Directorate-General for External Security (DGSE), as the official who attempted to strong-arm him during a private meeting in Paris.

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Leftists Celebrate as Nottoway Plantation, the Largest Remaining Antebellum Mansion in the South, Burned to the Ground

An investigation is underway after the Historic Nottoway Plantation in Louisiana, the largest antebellum mansion in the U.S., burned to the ground on Thursday.

Firefighters battled the blaze for over 18 hours.

The plantation has been the subject of leftist complaints in recent years for “romanticizing” the antebellum South and not doing enough to call attention to the slavery involved in its construction.

Leftists even took to social media to celebrate the destruction.

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EU nations seek mandatory social media age checks

France, Spain, and Greece are advocating for mandatory age verification on social media platforms such as Meta’s Facebook and Elon Musk’s X, Bloomberg reported on Friday.

The proposed rules would require all internet-connected devices to be equipped with age verification technology. Digital services ministers from the three EU member states are coordinating the initiative ahead of a meeting with their counterparts from the bloc on June 6, a document cited by Bloomberg said.

The three nations reportedly argue that the “lack of proper and widespread age-verification mechanisms” makes it difficult to effectively enforce age limits. They aim to leverage the economic power of the EU’s 450 million consumers to compel tech companies to implement robust verification systems, according to the report.

French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed on Tuesday his support for mandatory age verification for teenagers registering on social media platforms, stating that online networks have contributed to suffering and mental health issues among young people.

“We must protect our children,” he told TF1, adding that age verification on social networks should be imposed.

According to Bloomberg, the European Commission, along with several bloc members, is already developing pilot projects to boost parental controls and age verification. However, their efforts are being hindered by regulatory differences across EU countries and the ease with which users can access social networks from outside the bloc.

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Influencer Valeria Márquez is murdered live in Jalisco, sparking cartel rumors, alleged romantic links, and growing public pressure on authorities.

The Jalisco State Attorney General’s Office denied that Ricardo Ruíz, alias “El Tripa,” a known hitman of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), had ordered the murder, according to early investigations.

Authorities stated that, so far, Ruíz Velasco’s name does not formally appear in the case file and has not been mentioned in any of the testimonies gathered.

Nonetheless, despite the Jalisco Prosecutor’s denial, social media users continue to claim that Valeria Márquez had some type of connection to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), and are calling on the authorities in charge of the case to thoroughly investigate any possible links so that those responsible can be identified and brought to justice.

This omission by the authorities raises serious questions: Are they afraid to take action against organized crime? Are they being threatened by the cartel? Or is there complicity within the very institutions meant to uphold the law?

The lack of solid answers and the apparent inaction only deepen public mistrust and reinforce the perception that the cartels operate under protection and impunity. While Mexico burns in violence, leftist governments seem more concerned with speeches than with taking real action.

The fatal attack took place at 6:30 p.m. at ‘Blossom The Beauty Lounge’, Valeria’s own salon, located in the Real del Carmen neighborhood.

A man posing as a delivery driver entered the salon and shot her three times—in the skull, chest, and torso. The young woman, who had over 90,000 followers on TikTok, collapsed in front of her camera as her fans watched in horror.

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Florida Rejects Controversial Encryption Backdoor Bill

Legislators in the US state of Florida have shot down a bid to introduce a law that would have mandated encryption backdoors.

The outcome of the effort – known as SB 868: Social Media Use by Minors – means that the backdoors would have allowed encryption to be weakened in this fundamental way affecting all platforms where minors might choose to open an account.

As the fear-mongering campaign against encryption is being reiterated over and over again, it’s worth repeating – there is no known way of undermining encryption for any one category of users, without leaving the entire internet open and at the mercy of anything from government spies, to plain criminals.

And that affects both people’s communications and transactions.

Not to mention that while framing such radical proposals as needed for a declaratively equally large goal to achieve – the safety of youth online – in reality, by shuttering encryption, young people and everyone else are negatively affected.

If anything, it would make everyone online less secure, and, by nature of the world –  young people more so than others.

And so, Florida’s Senate on announced that SB 868 is now “indefinitely postponed and withdrawn from consideration.”

The idea behind the proposal was to allow law enforcement access to communications on a social platform – by forcing a company to build in backdoors any time law enforcement came up either with a warrant – or merely a subpoena.

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Welcome to the age of paranoia as deepfakes and scams abound

These days, when Nicole Yelland receives a meeting request from someone she doesn’t already know, she conducts a multistep background check before deciding whether to accept. Yelland, who works in public relations for a Detroit-based nonprofit, says she’ll run the person’s information through Spokeo, a personal data aggregator that she pays a monthly subscription fee to use. If the contact claims to speak Spanish, Yelland says, she will casually test their ability to understand and translate trickier phrases. If something doesn’t quite seem right, she’ll ask the person to join a Microsoft Teams call—with their camera on.

If Yelland sounds paranoid, that’s because she is. In January, before she started her current nonprofit role, Yelland says, she got roped into an elaborate scam targeting job seekers. “Now, I do the whole verification rigamarole any time someone reaches out to me,” she tells WIRED.

Digital imposter scams aren’t new; messaging platforms, social media sites, and dating apps have long been rife with fakery. In a time when remote work and distributed teams have become commonplace, professional communications channels are no longer safe, either. The same artificial intelligence tools that tech companies promise will boost worker productivity are also making it easier for criminals and fraudsters to construct fake personas in seconds.

On LinkedIn, it can be hard to distinguish a slightly touched-up headshot of a real person from a too-polished, AI-generated facsimile. Deepfake videos are getting so good that longtime email scammers are pivoting to impersonating people on live video calls. According to the US Federal Trade Commission, reports of job and employment related scams nearly tripled from 2020 to 2024, and actual losses from those scams have increased from $90 million to $500 million.

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Influencer Suggests White South African Refugees Should Be Violently Targeted

A TikTok influencer responded to the resettlement of white South African refugees in America by suggesting they should be violently targeted, remarking that unlike Trump, the Afrikaners “don’t have Secret Service” protection.

The clip was posted by a TikTok user called Your Favorite Corporate Auntie, who has 116,000 followers on the social media platform.

The woman said she was providing a “public service announcement” to South African refugees entering America, 59 of whom were welcomed on Monday.

The TikTokker proceeded to deliver a smiley, passive aggressive rant in which she pointed out that “black people who were students during apartheid – we’re grandmas and grandpas now – and we have the ear of Gen Z.”

“I also wanna let you know that our president, he has Secret Service, and you will not,” she said.

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Virginia passes law to limit time teens spend on social media to one hour a day

Virginia teens under 16 will soon face limits on their social media usage after Governor Glenn Youngkin signed new legislation into law.

The law requires social media companies to set default time limits of one hour per day for users under 16 years old, with parents having the ability to adjust that time up or down.

“It’s a good first start, and it’s a good way for parents to be able to have better control over how much social media their kids are on,” said Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg (D – Henrico), who co-sponsored the legislation.

VanValkenburg, who teaches in Henrico County schools, has witnessed the impact of excessive social media use firsthand.

“You see how much it hinders their ability to do well in school, and you see how much it hinders their socialization with their friends,” VanValkenburg said.

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CENSORSHIP KINGDOM: Retired Constable to Sue UK Police After Arrest Over a Social Media Post Denouncing Anti-Semitism

The United Kingdom continues its decent into authoritarianism and censorship of social media content.

Now, a retired constable is getting ready to sue Kent Police after being arrested back in 2023 for posting a social media reply warning about rising anti-Semitism.

The Telegraph reported:

“Julian Foulkes, from Gillingham in Kent, was handcuffed at his home by six officers from the force he had served for a decade after replying to a pro-Palestinian activist on X.

The 71-year-old was detained for eight hours, interrogated and ultimately issued with a caution after officers visited his home on November 2 2023.”

Last week, Kent Police sent out a statement saying that the caution was a mistake and has been deleted from Foulkes’s record.

The local law enforcement agency admitted that it was ‘not appropriate in the circumstances and should not have been issued’.

“On Sunday, Mr. Foulkes accepted an offer from the Free Speech Union (FSU) to fund a legal challenge against the force for wrongful arrest and detention.

‘The FSU and Lord [Toby] Young have generously agreed to fully fund a lawsuit against Kent Police’, he said. ‘I’m extremely grateful for such excellent support and would urge anyone concerned about the sustained attack on free speech to please join the FSU. They’re fighting hard every day for all of us’.”

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