Surgeon General Vivek Murthy arrives to speak at Children's National Hospital, Monday, May 23, 2022, about mental health and wellness. (AP Photo/ Carolyn Kaster)
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The Big Story
Surgeon General warns of social media risks for teens
Surgeon General Vivek Murthy warned Tuesday that using social media may be harmful to young people in an advisory on Tuesday.
Murthy cited growing evidence that online content is hurting the development of the nation’s youth, our colleague Joseph Choi reported.
“I’m issuing this advisory because we’re in the middle of a youth mental health crisis and I’m concerned that social media is contributing to the harms that kids are experiencing,” Murthy told The Hill.
Murthy specifically pointed to the possibility of a link between time spent on social media and depression and anxiety.
He cited one 2019 study that found adolescents between the ages of 12 and 15 who spent more than three hours on social media daily had double the risk of developing symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Teenagers on average spend 3 1/2 hours on social media every day, according to data cited in the advisory.
The advisory acknowledged social media can provide some benefits to young people.
It noted a majority of young girls of colorsay they regularly see “positive and identity-affirming content” online.
Google searches related to personal sexual orientation and gender identity have skyrocketed since 2004, according to new research. The Cultural Currents Institute released an analysis that explored Google searches from 2004 to this month that included searches for questions such as “am I gay”, “am I lesbian”, “am I trans” and “how to come out”, as well as searches for “nonbinary.” …
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, sold the GIF-sharing platform Giphy to Shutterstock for $53 million, a fraction of the $400 million that the company reportedly paid for it in 2020. Shutterstock, a stock photo company, said in a release Tuesday that it has reached an agreement to acquire Giphy, which it called the world’s largest collection of GIFs — Graphics Interchange Format, a compression format for images — …
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House on Tuesday announced new efforts to guide federally backed research on artificial intelligence as the Biden administration looks to get a firmer grip on understanding the risks and opportunities of the rapidly evolving technology. Among the moves unveiled by the administration was a tweak to the United States’ strategic plan on artificial intelligence research, which was last updated …
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools are testing a provision that protected the tech industry for decades from lawsuits over third-party content. As applications like ChatGPT and rival products rise in popularity, experts and stakeholders are split on whether and how Section 230 of the Communication Decency Act — a liability shield for internet companies over third-party content — should apply to the new tools.
News we’ve flagged from the intersection of tech and other topics:
Meta’s upcoming layoffs could jeopardize content moderation
Several former and current staff are concerned that the new round of layoffs could hinder content moderation, The Washington Post reported.
Amazon workers in Seattle plan to walkout in protest
The workers are planning to walkout on May 31 in protest to several issues, including recent layoffs, return-to-office mandates and a lack of action to address climate change, The Seattle Times reported.
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Elon Musk signals Twitter’s headquarters may not stay in San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Twitter might not keep its headquarters in San Francisco forever, its owner Elon Musk signaled Tuesday. Speaking virtually at the Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit in London, Musk gave a noncommittal answer to an interviewer’s question about whether the company will stay …
Netflix on Tuesday outlined how it intends to crack down on the rampant sharing of account passwords in the U.S., its latest bid to reel in more subscribers to its video streaming service as its growth slows. To combat password sharing, Netflix said it will limit U.S. viewership of its programming …
Former President Trump accused Fox News host Laura Ingraham of running a “hit piece” on him for airing a segment focusing on his poll numbers … Read more
Illinois state senators last week were told to expect violence if they voted to pass legislation that would allow businesses to install multiple-occupancy … Read more
