Facebook and Instagram Recover After Brief Outage Disrupts Thousands of Users Facebook and Instagram went dark for a chunk of users across the US and several other countries Sunday night, before recovering within roughly an hour, according to outage-tracking site Downdetector. The disruption began around 8:55pm Eastern Time on Sunday, September 20, with reports spiking … Read more
Macron Urges EU to Enact Social Media Ban for Under-15s, Citing Child Safety in Letter to Von der Leyen French President Emmanuel Macron has formally asked the European Commission to push through EU-wide legislation banning children under 15 from social media, turning to Brussels after his own attempt to pass a national ban collapsed at … Read more
Vietnam has settled on a notably different approach than many of the countries currently racing to restrict children’s access to social media. Rather than banning under-16s from platforms entirely, as Australia did in December 2025 and France has moved toward for under-15s, Vietnam’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has finalized draft rules that keep … Read more
A courtroom in Oakland has become the center of the most consequential legal fight social media has ever faced, as a coalition of states pushes Meta to answer for allegations that it deliberately engineered Instagram and Facebook to hook children and teenagers. The trial, which opened with jury selection last week, marks the first time … Read more
Meta Ordered to Pay $567M to Address Kids’ Mental Health Online: Inside the New Mexico Ruling and What It Means for Instagram and Facebook Safety A New Mexico court has delivered one of the most significant financial penalties any social media company has faced over child safety concerns, ordering Meta to pay $567 million to … Read more
TikTok Reaches $400 Million Settlement With Justice Department Over Children’s Privacy: What the COPPA Case Means for Parents and the App’s Future in the US TikTok has closed one of the most consequential legal chapters in its history in the United States, agreeing to pay $400 million to resolve a federal lawsuit accusing the company … Read more
A Connecticut streamer with a modest following has set off a legal fight that could shape how every major platform handles user content in the age of generative AI. Warren Pandiscia, who broadcasts LEGO builds and video games to just over 900 followers on Twitch, filed a proposed class action lawsuit against Twitch Interactive and … Read more
WhatsApp will charge businesses per message: new WhatsApp Business API pricing explained for 2026 WhatsApp is closing out one of the last remaining free lanes on its business messaging platform, and companies that have relied on free customer support conversations for years are about to see a real line item appear on their bills. Starting … Read more
TikTok creator monetization is evolving rapidly in 2026, and it is reshaping how social media platforms reward digital creators across the globe. The TikTok creator monetization system is no longer limited to basic ad revenue sharing; rather, it now includes subscription tools, live gifting enhancements, and brand partnership integrations. Meanwhile, creators are adapting to multiple … Read more
The Week in Apps: AI Is Now the Default Layer The most significant pattern in app development in 2026 is not a specific product category. It is that AI has become the default assumption in every new product and major update. Apps that launched two years ago as AI-powered tools are now being superseded by … Read more