Surgeon general demands warning label on social media apps

Surgeon general demands warning label on social media apps

The like button is making parents rethink what the ideal age is to introduce phones and social media access to their children. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy told CNN that the threat social media poses to children requires urgent action, and he demanded Congress, in the US to put a label on the apps as it does with cigarettes and alcohol. "The mental health crisis among young people is urgent, […]

June 18, 2024 47

Lifestyle

How often do you lie? Deception researchers investigate how the recipient and the medium affect telling the truth

Hunter Biden has been found guilty of making a false claim on a federal firearms application. AP Photo/Julio Cortez By Christian B. Miller, Wake Forest University Prominent cases of purported lying continue to dominate the news cycle. President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden was found guilty of lying on a government form while purchasing a handgun. Republican Representative George Santos allegedly lied in many ways, including […]

June 12, 2024 26

World

Trump’s post-conviction windfall shows democracy is increasingly a pay-to-play game

By Daniel Drache, York University, Canada and Marc D. Froese, Burman University In the hours immediately following Donald Trump’s recent hush-money conviction in a Manhattan courtroom, his presidential campaign raked in US$53 million from small donors. Why are regular people without deep pockets throwing so much money at a convicted felon? In the United States today, as in many other countries with a populism […]

June 10, 2024 15

Namibia

Politicians urged to simplify manifestos to engage young voters

https://youtu.be/94YOzZof2fs By: Valeria Handobe, via News on One Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) Youth Leader and Head of Communications, Julia Nekwaya called on political parties to make their manifestos more digestible for young voters. Nekwaya was speaking at the EduVote panel discussion, hosted by the Global Shapers - Windhoek hub, which aims to amplify the voices and perspectives of young voters, encouraging them to actively engage […]

June 3, 2024 22

Africa

TikTok activism: how queer Zimbabweans use social media to show love and fight hate

iZhenya/iStock/Getty Images Plus, CC BY By Gibson Ncube, Stellenbosch University and Princess Sibanda, University of Fort Hare In Zimbabwe, there is a long held public view that queerness is “unAfrican” and imported to Africa from the west. Even though numerous studies have proven this not to be true, reiterations of this lie by the state has led many to believe that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer […]

May 29, 2024 26

Africa

Democracy in Africa: digital voting technology and social media can be a force for good – and bad

Electoral agents test a voting machine ahead of the DRC’s 2023 elections. Patrick Meinhardt/AFP via Getty Images) By Maxwell Maseko, University of the Witwatersrand It’s a bumper year for elections on the continent: by the end of 2024, 20 countries ought to have gone to the polls to vote in national elections. A handful of others are also scheduled to conduct local-level elections. As is the case elsewhere […]

May 29, 2024 28

Africa

Major global media still fails Africa, but bright spots emerge

By Seth Onyango, via bird story agency Despite some progress, a clichéd and often stereotypical coverage of Africa persists among major global media outlets. However, there are notable exceptions like The Guardian, AFP, Al Jazeera, and Reuters, which are breaking the mould with balanced reporting of the continent. Findings from the University of Cape Town's Global Media Index for Africa (GMI) suggest that major news […]

May 23, 2024 44

Science & Technology

TikTok law threatening a ban if the app isn’t sold raises First Amendment concerns

TikTok users worry about losing their social media platform, but First Amendment rights are on the line, too. AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey By Anupam Chander, Georgetown University and Gautam Hans, Cornell University TikTok, the short-video company with Chinese roots, did the most American thing possible on May 7, 2024: It sued the U.S. government, in the person of Attorney General Merrick Garland, in federal court. The suit claims […]

May 22, 2024 20

Africa

TikTok in Kenya: the government wants to restrict it, but my study shows it can be useful and empowering

By Stephen Mutie, Kenyatta University Every day, 750 million people around the world engage with Tiktok – the short-video sharing app. Kenyans are among its top users. According to a Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2023, 54% of Kenyans sampled used TikTok for general purposes, the highest proportion among the countries in the survey. They also use TikTok to express themselves and connect with others. The app, […]

May 17, 2024 28