SNAPCHAT

Children in Georgia would need their parents' permission to create social media accounts if some top Republicans in the state get their way next year.

A former band teacher who was arrested last year for sharing child pornography on Snapchat was arrested again while he was out on bond, according to the Converse Police Department.

“It’s important that we as parents have an obligation to monitor those devices. We have a responsibility to ensure the safety of our children. And when we fail to do that, unfortunately, evil is out there,” Opiela said. “Evil will find our kids if we don’t do our job.”

Diego Alejandro Cortez, 24, is charged with child trafficking to engage in sexual conduct and harboring a runaway child.

Social media companies are once again under scrutiny, this time in France as the country’s president blames TikTok, Snapchat and other platforms for helping fuel widespread riots over the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old driver.

Dr. Vivek Murthy, the U.S. Surgeon General, is calling for “immediate action” by tech companies and lawmakers to protect kids’ and adolescents’ mental health on social media.

Ohio’s governor wants to require parental consent for kids under 16 to get new accounts on TikTok, Snapchat and other social media and gaming platforms.

Like the tobacco, oil, gun, opioid and vaping industries before them, the big U.S. social media companies are now facing lawsuits brought by public entities that seek to hold them accountable for a huge societal problem in the mental health crisis among youth.

The public school district in Seattle is suing the tech giants behind TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat, seeking to hold them accountable for the mental health crisis among youth.

As the U.S. deals with its deadliest overdose crisis to date, a national crime-prevention group is calling on the Justice Department to clamp down on social media’s role in the spread of fentanyl, the drug largely driving a troubling spike in overdose deaths among teenagers.

A Russian court has fined TikTok for failing to delete LGBT material in what is the country’s latest crackdown on Big Tech companies.

A middle school band teacher with Judson ISD is on leave after San Antonio police found child pornography files on his Snapchat account.

The parent company of social media platform Snapchat said Wednesday that it is letting go of 20% of its staff as it reorganizes and tries to reduce costs in the face of declining ad sales.

As concerns about social media’s harmful effects on teens continue to rise, platforms from Snapchat to TikTok to Instagram are bolting on new features designed to make their services safer and more age appropriate.

Social media has had a rough 2022 with lingering questions about advertising spending and a $44 billion takeover of Twitter that may or may not be happening, depending on which Elon Musk tweet you read.

A 20-year-old man was arrested on an active warrant for a child sex crime two days before he was scheduled to start working at the Bexar County Jail, according to authorities.

Senators have put executives of YouTube, TikTok and Snapchat on the defensive.

A former San Antonio police officer who was fired last year for sending explicit videos of children via Snapchat has been sentenced to federal prison.

Students at a North Texas high school are being disciplined for their role in a mock slave auction they conducted on social media.

Yes, you heard that correctly – Snapchat is making a few people millionaires. The spotlight feature on Snapchat is a dedicated tab in the app for promoting short viral videos from the Snapchat community, much like TikTok. Meanwhile, the Snapchat app overall grew to 265 million global daily active users in its fourth quarter of 2020, from 249 million in its third quarter. AdSo far, Snapchat has given out more than $110 million overall across the markets where spotlight is live. Snapchat said “several” users have become millionaires through the spotlight club since November 2020.

FILE - This April 26, 2017, file photo shows the Twitter app icon on a mobile phone in Philadelphia. Twitter is launching tweets that disappear in 24 hours called Fleets globally, echoing social media sites like Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram that already have disappearing posts. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)Shares of social media and other tech companies slid Monday, hit by fallout from the siege on the U.S. Capitol by supporter of President Donald Trump. Trump supporters have argued that the actions of the technology companies is a violation of free speech and Trump has long tried to repeal Section 230. Though Trump's tenure ends in nine days, power in the Senate has flipped to the Democrats who have long begrudged the oversized influence of social media.

LAS VEGAS – A 23-year-old man accused in a fatal stabbing in Las Vegas and then posting to Snapchat with the victim’s property has been extradited to Nevada’s Clark County, authorities said. Las Vegas Metro Police said 23-year-old Nile Herrington was arrested Nov. 2 north of Austin, Texas in connection with the death of 34-year-old Anthony King. Herrington is accused of stabbing King on Oct. 25 inside a Las Vegas apartment. Jail records show Herrington was booked into the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas on Friday. Metro Police said King owned multiple short-term rentals in Las Vegas and hired Herrington to clean them.

Twitter is launching tweets that disappear in 24 hours called “Fleets” globally, echoing social media sites like Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram that already have disappearing posts. Twitter tested the feature in Brazil, Italy, India, and South Korea, before rolling it out globally. Fleets are a “lower pressure” way to communicate “fleeting thoughts” as opposed to permanent tweets, Twitter executives Joshua Harris, design director, and Sam Haveson, product manager, said in a blog post. The news comes the same day Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg faced questions from a Senate Judiciary Committee about how they handled disinformation surrounding the presidential election. Such features are increasingly popular with social media users looking for smaller groups and and more private chats.

SAN ANTONIO – A North East Independent School District teacher has been arrested after he asked a 14-year-old girl for sex on social media, an arrest affidavit said. According to the affidavit, Christopher Michael Rocha, a math teacher and coach at Krueger Middle School, started to message a student on Snapchat, a popular social media application. Rocha, 29, then asked the student to invite him over to her house to have sex, the affidavit said. The family then reported the incident to the school district and the San Antonio Police Department. Rocha gave a voluntary statement to investigators and gave names of other students he was communicating with through social media, the affidavit said.

Social media can be magical when it comes to staying in touch with family and friends, but we all know that social media has its dark side too. According to an article published on the healthy.com, social media constantly interrupts us. Studies show that by doing social media while working can reduce your productivity by up to 40%. Doctors say just spending one to two hours on social media before bedtime can lead to 15 hours a week of lost sleep. staying away from social media can make you feel calmer, and more focused on things that really matter.

Police say the 16-year-old victim told them in early November that she had run away from home after getting into an argument with her father. Police obtained a search warrant and reviewed the victim’s Snapchat account. Officials said the victim told the user, identified as 24-year-old Spencer Allen Cox, that she was 16 early on in their conversation. Police said the victim told them that Cox had requested a “car date” so that they could “hook up” on three separate occasions. Cox told police he used his Snapchat app to communicate with various females, according to an arrest affidavit.

A teenager's Snapchat message is what led authorities to her kidnappers, investigators say. Snapchat, a social media app, allows friends to share their locations with each other if the app is open on their phone. "Within a few feet," San Jose State University professor Ahmed Banafa told KPIX. Banafa told the affiliate that the app is easy to use -- even in similar circumstances. And you have to understand that Snapchat broadcasts your location to multiple friends -- not just one.”

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat … it can be tough to keep all the social media channels straight.