Child safety

Child safety


Massachusetts court hears arguments in lawsuit alleging Meta designed apps to be addictive to kids

BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts’ highest court heard oral arguments Friday in the state’s lawsuit arguing that Meta designed features on Facebook and Instagram to make them addictive to young users. The lawsuit, filed in 2023 by Attorney General Andrea Campbell, alleges that Meta did this to make a profit and that its actions affected hundreds […]

Read More


Liberals adopt policy to restrict kids from social media

Federal Liberals voted in favour of setting 16 as the age of majority for Canadians to be able to use social media accounts. Party grassroots passed a non-binding resolution Saturday morning for the restriction and to place the onus on social media companies to enforce it. Quebec MP Rachel Bendayan, who presented the idea to […]

Read More


Verdicts against Meta, YouTube validate concerns long raised by parents, child safety advocates

For years, parents, teenagers, pediatricians, educators and whistleblowers have pushed the idea that social media is detrimental to young people’s mental health and can lead to addiction, eating disorders, sexual exploitation and suicide. For the first time, juries in two states took their side. In Los Angeles on Wednesday, a jury found both Meta and […]

Read More


EU targets Snapchat over child safety and accuses porn sites of failing to block minors

LONDON (AP) — European Union regulators are investigating Snapchat over concerns the platform isn’t doing enough to protect kids and exposing them to risks such as increased vulnerability to child predators or recruitment by criminals. The 27-nation EU’s executive Commission said Thursday it was opening a formal investigation into Snapchat under the bloc’s sweeping rule […]

Read More


New Mexico jury says Meta harms children’s mental health and safety, violating state law

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico jury determined Tuesday that Meta knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its social media platforms, a verdict that signals a changing tide against tech companies and the government’s willingness to crack down. The landmark decision comes after a nearly seven-week trial, […]

Read More


Jury begins deliberations in landmark New Mexico trial over children’s safety risks on Meta

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A jury began deliberations Monday in a landmark trial in New Mexico where social media conglomerate Meta is accused of misleading its users about how safe its platforms are for children. Meta’s attorneys dispute the claims and say the company provides built-in protections for teenagers and weeds out harmful content […]

Read More


Jurors wade through daunting evidence in high-stakes Meta trial about social media risks to children

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A daunting stream of testimony and evidence has been presented in a New Mexico case that explores what the social media conglomerate Meta knew about the effects of its platforms on children. State prosecutors allege Meta failed to disclose the risks that its platforms pose for children, including mental health […]

Read More


Brazil rolls out law boosting online protection of minors

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A Brazilian law that seeks to shield minors from addictive, violent and pornographic online content took effect this week, with experts calling it a milestone in the protection of children and adolescents. The issue gained traction in August, after influencer Felipe Bressanim, known as Felca, published a video denouncing the […]

Read More


Former local teacher a convicted sex offender

On February 27, 2026, a northern Alberta teacher, Brock Mackenzie Whalen, was convicted of sex crimes against a minor. He was initially charged on October 1, 2024 with six counts. The offences occurred from September 1, 2018 to August 30, 2022, dates inclusive. The case began in June 2023 when McLennan RCMP, assisted by Alberta’s […]

Read More


Montreal teacher challenges policy for trans students to hide identity from parents

Quebec’s Superior Court heard arguments Friday in a case about a high school teacher who alleges her Charter rights were violated when she was ordered to hide a student’s gender identity from their parents.  The teacher, identified only through the initials A.B. in court documents, alleges she was asked to use masculine pronouns for the […]

Read More


Supreme Court blocks law against schools outing transgender students to their parents in California

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court cleared the way Monday for California schools to tell parents if their children identify as transgender without getting the student’s approval, granting an emergency appeal from a conservative legal group. The order blocks for now a state law that bans automatic parental notification requirements if students change their pronouns […]

Read More


Paris prosecutors raid X offices as part of investigation into child abuse images and deepfakes

PARIS (AP) — French prosecutors raided the offices of social media platform X on Tuesday as part of a preliminary investigation into allegations including spreading child sexual abuse images and deepfakes. They have also summoned billionaire owner Elon Musk for questioning. X and Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI also face intensifying scrutiny from Britain’s data […]

Read More