Tag: social media

Social media now main source of news in US, research suggests

Social media and video networks have become the main source of news in the US, overtaking traditional TV channels and news websites, research suggests.

More than half (54%) of people get news from networks like Facebook, X and YouTube – overtaking TV (50%) and news sites and apps (48%), according to the Reuters Institute.

“The rise of social media and personality-based news is not unique to the United States, but changes seem to be happening faster – and with more impact – than in other countries,” a report found.

Podcaster Joe Rogan was the most widely-seen personality, with almost a quarter (22%) of the population saying they had come across news or commentary from him in the previous week.

The report’s author Nic Newman said the rise of social video and personality-driven news “represents another significant challenge for traditional publishers”.

The institute also highlighted a trend for some politicians to give their time to sympathetic online hosts rather than mainstream interviewers.

It said populist politicians around the world are “increasingly able to bypass traditional journalism in favour of friendly partisan media, ‘personalities’, and ‘influencers’ who often get special access but rarely ask difficult questions, with many implicated in spreading false narratives or worse”.

Despite their popularity, online influencers and personalities were named as a major source of false or misleading information by almost half of people worldwide (47%) – putting them level with politicians.

The report also stated that usage of X for news is “stable or increasing across many markets”, with the biggest uplift in the US.

It added that since Elon Musk took over the network in 2022, “many more right-leaning people, notably young men, have flocked to the network, while some progressive audiences have left or are using it less frequently”.

In the US, the proportion that self-identified as being on the right tripled after Musk’s takeover.

In the UK, right-wing X audiences have almost doubled.

Rival networks like Threads, Bluesky and Mastodon are “making little impact globally, with reach of 2% or less for news”, it stated.

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Minnesota To Mandate Mental Health Warnings on Social Media; First Amendment Questions Loom

Minnesota has positioned itself at the forefront of a deeply contentious regulatory frontier by enacting the nation’s first law requiring social media platforms to display mental health trigger warning labels to all users.

Tied to the 2025 Special Session Health and Human Services bill and awaiting the governor’s signature, the law takes effect July 1, 2026, and imposes unprecedented obligations on digital platforms to act as public health messengers.

We obtained a copy of the bill for you here.

Drafted by State Representative Zack Stephenson (DFL-District 35A), the measure compels platforms to display prominent mental health warnings on login, highlighting alleged risks associated with usage, particularly among youth, and directing users to crisis services like the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

These alerts must be acknowledged before access is granted, cannot be hidden in terms of service, and must not be dismissible without interaction. Content for the mandated warnings will be controlled by the Minnesota Commissioner of Health, alongside the Commissioner of Commerce.

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Clouds Over Bluesky: The Left’s Social Media Safe Space Under Fire For Intolerant And Hateful Postings

Bluesky has become a safe space for liberals seeking to avoid the triggering presence of opposing views since the Trump reelection. The relatively small site now has over 30 million followers (in comparison 260 million for X and 3 billion on Facebook). Now, however, users like billionaire Mark Cuban are complaining that Bluesky is just another intolerant echo chamber on the left and some are reportedly returning to X.

Billionaire Mark Cuban was one of the early champions of the site, writing “Hello Less Hateful World” in joining the site in November 2024.

At the time, some of us criticized the premise of the Bluesky devotees. Many supported the anti-free speech and censorship efforts during the Biden Administration. Bluesky offered a replication of the echo chamber in higher education, where liberals can go unchallenged or uncontradicted. This included some of the most intolerant figures in media, academia, and the government.

Now, Cuban and others are experiencing what many of us have lived through in higher education for years, an orthodox environment where even marginal disagreements are treated as litmus tests.

Cuban this week decried that “Even if you agree with 95% of what a person is saying on a topic, if there is one point that you might call out as being more of a gray area, they will call you a fascist etc.”

In his post on Monday, Cuban notes that “the replies on here may not be as racist as Twitter, but they damn sure are hateful. Talk AI: FU, AI sucks go away. Talk Business: Go away. Talk Healthcare: Crickets.”

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RFK Jr. Purges CDC Vaccine Committee—And Suddenly, Every Pharma-Funded ‘Doctor’ on Twitter Has the Exact Same Script

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has taken decisive action against regulatory capture by dismissing all 17 members of the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee. This bold move represents a significant step toward restoring independence in vaccine policy decisions. His reasoning? Simple: You don’t “restore trust” by keeping the same Pharma-backed bureaucrats who’ve spent decades rubber-stamping every vaccine Big Pharma shoves at them. Who was on the ACIP committee? The geniuses who rubber-stamped injecting experimental mRNA cocktails into infants while dismissing parents’ concerns as “misinformation.”

As Mike Adams (the Health Ranger) put it: “If I were HHS Secretary, I would solve the entire vaccine problem in one day. ‘You’re all FIRED!’ I would auction off the furniture, sell the buildings, pink-slip everybody on day one and return health decisions to the American people (and the states) instead of a bunch of corrupt pharma whores who profit from maiming and killing children. Problem solved.”

RFK pretty much just did that.

NBC spun the news this way: “Manufactured chaos: Kennedy guts CDC’s vaccine panel of independent experts.” Let’s pause to appreciate NBC’s hilarious definition of “independent experts.” Apparently, “independent” now means “financially entangled with Big Pharma but still somehow magically unbiased.” But sure, NBC, tell us more about how Kennedy’s the one causing “manufactured chaos.” The only thing being gutted here is Pharma’s ability to treat the CDC like their own private focus group.

But here’s where it gets hilariously suspicious…

Within hours of RFK’s announcement, a swarm of blue-check “doctors” flooded social media with near-identical meltdowns:

  • “This is dangerous!”
  • “RFK is anti-science!”
  • “He’s gutting public health!”

Gee, I wonder if those keyboard warrior doctors are on Big Pharma’s payroll. How many zeroes did it take to turn them into corporate attack dogs? Hilarious how they ‘forgot’ to mention that many of their fired buddies on the ACIP committee were practically swimming in Merck, Pfizer, and Moderna cash. And what a coincidence—their outraged tweets all landed in the same four-hour window. Almost like… a coordinated Pharma meltdown. Weird, right?

Let’s be clear: This was never about science. This was about a captured system rubber-stamping vaccines with less scrutiny than a TikTok dance trend, all while committee members lined their pockets with Pharma speaking fees, sat on corporate boards, and voted on products from their own financial partners. Now that RFK Jr. has derailed their gravy train, we’re witnessing something glorious: the vaccine-industrial complex having its mask-off meltdown moment—complete with coordinated media hysterics and the kind of tantrum usually reserved for toddlers who lost their juice box.

The truth is simple: When “trusted institutions” suddenly start screaming in unison, it’s not consensus—it’s collusion.

No, the backlash isn’t organic—it’s a scripted meltdown.

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France considers requiring Musk’s X to verify users’ age

The French government is considering designating X as a porn platform — a move that will likely have the platform implementing strict age verification requirements.

Such a designation could effectively ban children from accessing the social media app unless it curtailed adult content. Paris has recently upped its efforts to protect kids online by requiring age verification by porn platforms.

“X has indicated since 2024 that it accepts the distribution of pornographic content. It must therefore be treated as such,” Digital Minister Clara Chappaz’s office told POLITICO.

Her team has been tasked with “examining the designation of X in the decree concerning pornographic sites that must verify the age of their users.”

The confirmation follows an appearance by Chappaz on French TV show “Quotidien” on Thursday evening, where she said X will soon receive “the same pretty papers as YouPorn” instructing X to ban adult content or implement age screening.

Porn platforms serving content in France are required to implement age verification measures with a final deadline of June 7, although some are protesting.

Failure to comply could see sites fined, delisted from search engines or blocked completely.

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Inside the secret LAPD club of Gavin Newsom’s nightmares… and their evidence a riot crisis was waiting to happen

Los Angeles cops have a private chatroom — and California‘s Democratic leaders won’t like what they’re saying.

The Instagram group ‘Defend the LAPD’ allows officers and commanders to talk freely about what’s really going on in the streets of America’s second-biggest city, where cops clash daily with anti-government rioters.

The Daily Mail gained exclusive access to the 8,500-member club and spoke to its organizers — and the views they presented were a stark rebuke to Gov Gavin Newsom and other leaders of the Democrat-run state.

Despite what their bosses say, LAPD officers broadly support the Trump administration’s deployment of the National Guard to protect federal buildings amid a wave of sometimes violent protests against immigration raids, says the group.

Members also expressed alarm at LA Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat, for allegedly taking command of their control room, delaying the deployment of officers, and putting federal agents and the public in danger.

They also accused media outlets of one-sided coverage of the protests, by focussing on heavy-handed policing while overlooking the threat that some violent activists posed to cops and the public.

More broadly, they say the city has ‘quietly defunded’ the LAPD since the George Floyd protests of 2020, and that today’s force is understaffed, underresourced, and cannot handle the crisis exploding on the streets.

The revelations come as US Marines head to Los Angeles, as part of a federal strategy to quell the protests against immigration raids, which are a signature effort of President Donald Trump’s second term.

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European Union Unveils International Strategy Pushing Digital ID Systems and Online Censorship

As part of a broader campaign to expand its global influence in the digital era, the European Union has introduced a sweeping International Digital Strategy that leans heavily on centralized infrastructure, digital identity systems, and regulatory frameworks that raise significant questions about online freedoms and privacy.

The European Commission, in announcing the initiative, stressed its intent to collaborate with foreign governments on a range of areas, prominently featuring digital identity systems and what it calls “Digital Public Infrastructure.”

These frameworks, which have garnered widespread support from transnational institutions such as the United Nations and the World Economic Forum, are being marketed as tools to streamline cross-border commerce and improve mobility.

However, for privacy advocates, the strategy raises red flags due to its promotion of interoperable digital ID programs and a surveillance-oriented model of governance under the guise of efficiency.

According to the strategy documents, one of the EU’s objectives is to drive mutual recognition of electronic trust services, including digital IDs, across partner nations such as Ukraine, Moldova, and several Balkan and Latin American countries. This aligns with the EU’s ambitions to propagate its model of the Digital Identity Wallet, an initiative that privacy campaigners warn could entrench government control over personal data.

The strategy also outlines measures to deepen cooperation on global digital regulation, including laws that govern online speech.

While framed as promoting “freedom of expression, democracy, and citizens’ privacy,” these efforts are closely tied to the enforcement of the Digital Services Act (DSA), which mandates extensive platform compliance and systemic risk monitoring.

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America’s Dirtiest Sec of State and Dem Candidate For MI Governor Pulls A “Kamala” and DESTROYS Her Political Career With One Stupid “X” Post About LA Rioters

On any given day, America’s dirtiest secretary of state, Jocelyn Benson (MI-D), is potentially the most unpopular elected official on “X.”  It doesn’t matter which woke, or anti-Republican message she’s sharing on “X,” Michigan’s crooked secretary of state is consistently called out for her dishonestly and her ridiculous, anti-American views.

Yesterday, while defending the violent rioters in Los Angeles, CA, Michigan’s Democrat SOS Jocelyn Benson potentially ended her political career with a ridiculous post on “X” where she claimed she was praying for the safety of the rioters. Kamala Harris likely helped to end her political career in June 2020, when she foolishly asked her supporters on “X” to “chip in” to help bail out criminals who were destroying the city of Minneapolis over the drug overdose-caused death of George Floyd.

Thanks to Kamala’s promotion of the bail fund, George Howard, an alleged domestic abuser, was released from jail on a $1,500 bond that was paid by the organization Kamala was touting. Two weeks later, Howard was involved in a road rage incident where he was arrested and charged with the murder of a 38-year-old man. He would have still been in jail had it not been for Kamala Harris trying to publicly flaunt her support for the BLM rioters by asking people to bail them out of jail. This serious issue repeatedly surfaced during Kamala’s failed 2024 presidential campaign.

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Musk Deletes X Post Accusing Trump of Epstein Ties, Deletes Another Calling for Impeachment

The internet lit up this week after Elon Musk ignited a firestorm by going after President Donald Trump—and then quickly backed down.

What started as a disagreement over Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” (OBBB)—a sweeping tax and trade reform plan aimed at supercharging American manufacturing, reducing the deficit, and cutting off the globalist money faucet—turned into something far darker.

The feud escalated when Musk, in a now-deleted post on X (formerly Twitter), accused Trump of being involved in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.

Musk wrote on X, “Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!”

He continued, “Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out.”

Musk even shared a decades-old video of President Trump speaking briefly with Epstein at a Mar-a-Lago party in 1992—footage that has circulated for years and proves absolutely nothing.

Musk calmed down Thursday night after going off on Trump in several nasty posts on X. Responding to a poster with (at the time) 184 followers who pleaded with Musk to “cool off” in response to Musk posting as part of his fight with Trump he would decommission the Dragon space capsule relied on by NASA to shuttle astronauts and cargo to the International Space Station, Musk said, “Good advice. Ok, we won’t decommission Dragon.”

A few minutes later Musk responded positively to a plea for peace by Bill Ackman who posted, “I support @realDonaldTrump and @elonmusk and they should make peace for the benefit of our great country. We are much stronger together than apart.”

Just as suddenly as the posts appeared, they vanished. By early Saturday morning, Musk’s tweet had been deleted.

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Irish Government Admits No Free Speech Impact Assessment for “Misinformation” Laws

Irish authorities have moved ahead with extensive legislation aimed at tackling “misinformation,” yet they have not examined whether such measures might undermine free expression. The Department responsible for communications, media, and environmental policy has acknowledged that no analysis has been carried out to assess the consequences for free speech.

Responding to a media query from Gript, the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications plainly admitted: “The Department has not undertaken any analysis or research on the potential impact of mis/disinformation laws on free speech.”

Despite this lack of evaluation, the government continues to defend its strategy. Speaking outside Government Buildings, Taoiseach (Prime Minster) Micheál Martin insisted the effort to curb online falsehoods is justified, arguing that some speech doesn’t merit protection. “It’s not freedom of speech, really, when it’s just a blatant lie and untruth, which can create a lot of public disquiet, as we have seen,” he said.

Martin downplayed the idea that regulating disinformation represents any serious threat to expressive freedoms, stating: “There are very strong protections in our constitution and in our laws and freedom of speech.” He added, “I wouldn’t overstate the impact on clamping down on blatant lies online as a sort of incursion or an undermining of freedom of speech.”

When pressed on whether the absence of impact studies was irresponsible, Martin referenced a recent RTÉ radio segment about social media claims related to a shooting in Carlow. “There was a researcher on identifying the blatant misinformation on truths and lies surrounding what happened in Carlow,” he said. “So I do think it’s absolutely important that government focuses on this issue.”

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