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US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an op-ed in June calling for social media to come with a warning label about its negative health impacts, similar to the warnings placed on cigarettes and tobacco products. Now, 42 attorneys general have drafted an open letter to Congress to signal their support for Murthy's plan. "This ubiquitous problem requires federal actionand a surgeon generals warning on social media platforms, though not sufficient to address the full scope of the problem, would be one consequential step toward mitigating the risk of harm to youth," the group's letter reads. "A warning would not only highlight the inherent risks that social media platforms presently pose for young people, but also complement other efforts to spur attention, research, and investment into the oversight of social media platforms." Almost every state's AG signed the letter; the only holdouts are Alaska, Arizona, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Texas and West Virginia. Attorneys general from American Samoa, District of Columbia and the US Virgin Islands also signed. The attorneys general cited the Kids Online Safety Act and the Children and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act, which both recently passed in the Senate, as other important measures for protecting young people's mental health. The measures took multiple tries to get to a floor vote in the Senate, and it's unclear whether they have the support to pass in the House of Representatives.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/majority-of-attorneys-general-support-a-warning-label-for-social-media-platforms-184138728.html?src=rss
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Metas Oversight Board has weighed in on its first Threads case and reversed the companys initial decision and first appeal. Regarding a post about the outgoing Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, using a phrase that translates to drop dead / die in English, the board determined the phrase was used figuratively and not as a literal threat or call to violence. The case was sparked by a Threads post showing a news article about Kishida and his reaction to his political partys (ahem) fundraising irregularities. The caption criticized the Prime Minister, accusing him of tax evasion. The users reply demanded an explanation from the government leader and, calling him a tax evader, used the phrase , or drop dead / die. The post also included hah and derogatory language about people who wear glasses. (Watch yourself there, partner!) The post went largely unnoticed, with no likes. But someone reported it under Metas Bullying and Harassment rules. After three weeks, one of Metas reviewers determined it instead broke the Violence and Incitement rules. The user appealed, and another reviewer agreed with the first that it violated the policy. One more appeal teed up the issue for the board, which accepted the case and overruled the two human reviewers who removed it. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio KishidaThe Government of Japan In this case, the threat against a political leader was intended as non-literal political criticism calling attention to alleged corruption, using strong language, which is not unusual on Japanese social media, Metas Oversight Board wrote in its explanation. It was unlikely to cause harm. The board considered the posters use of hah to help determine its figurative sense. The board said that, despite speaking Japanese and understanding local content, the moderators who removed the post were in error. It recommends Meta clarify its internal guidelines and offer more guidance for reviewers on how to evaluate language and local content. Metas Oversight Board added that the Violence and Incitement policy includes a rule prohibiting the phrase death to against high-risk persons isnt clear enough. It said that while the companys policy rationale suggests context matters in threat evaluation, its reviewers arent empowered to assess cases involving the death to phrase. The board echoed its 2022 recommendation for Meta to explain that rhetorical threats using the phrase are generally allowed, except when directed at high-risk individuals, and to provide criteria on when threatening statements directed at heads of state are permitted to protect rhetorical political speech. Further, the board recommended that Meta clarify how the policy differs for public figures vs. high-risk persons. It calls out the confusion over why threats against public figures are only removed when credible. In contrast, those against others are axed regardless of credibility. The Oversight Board has had a busy September after deciding on only 53 cases last year. Last week, it ruled that the phrase From the River to the Sea shouldnt be banned and, in a case with some parallels to this one, it separated death threats from aspirational statements in Venezuela.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/in-its-first-threads-case-metas-oversight-board-asked-for-clarity-on-death-threats-170630647.html?src=rss
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Amazons Fire HD 8 tablet is more than half off, bringing the cost down to just $55. The original asking price is a whopping $130, so this is quite a bargain. As a matter of fact, its just $5 shy of the Amazon Prime Day price. This is a decent tablet, even at the original sum. It boasts a hexa-core processor, 13 hours of battery life per charge, 2GB of RAM, 64GB of storage and a microSD slot for up to 1TB of additional storage. Its fairly thin and light, making it a budget-friendly option for a kick around the house tablet. Just plop it on the nightstand and use it for emergency Netflix sessions. We recommended the tablet in our official review, calling it a great communal device. Its not going to win any design awards, but it gets the job done. There are two caveats. First of all, this is an ad-supported model. There are ads on the lockscreen. I hate advertisements with the heat of 1,000 suns, but this never bothered me. The whole thing is fairly innocuous. The other potential downside involves the app store. This tablet can only access the Amazon Appstore and not Google Play. Youll be able to find all of the big apps and games, but the more niche titles may not be available. Amazon is also selling the slightly beefier Fire HD 10 tablet for $90, which is close to its Prime Day price. This one boasts a 10.1 FHD screen, an octa-core processor and 3GB of RAM. October Prime Day 2024 is around the corner, serving as Amazons (un)official kickoff to the holiday shopping season. If youre eager to snag some early holiday deals for those on your list (or yourself), heres what we know so far about the next Prime Day shopping event. When is October Prime Day 2024? Amazon has not announced the dates of fall Prime Day 2024 yet, but we do know it will be returning sometime in October. What is October Prime Day? October Prime Day is an extension of the regular Prime Day sale held annually in July. It features exclusive deals on Amazon for Prime members, although not quite on as big of a scale as the main summer Prime Day. How long is October Prime Day? In years past, October Prime Day has been two days long, just like Prime Day in July.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/amazons-fire-hd-8-tablet-is-more-than-half-off-and-close-to-its-prime-day-price-164258054.html?src=rss
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