Business
States Sue TikTok, Claiming Its Platform Is Addictive And Harms The Mental Health Of Children
More than a dozen states and the District of Columbia filed complaints against TikTok on Tuesday, claiming that the popular short-form video app is damaging teenage mental health by creating its platform to be addicting to children.
The cases originate from a national TikTok investigation begun in March 2022 by a bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general, including New York, California, Kentucky, and New Jersey. All of the allegations were filed in state court.
At the center of each case is the TikTok algorithm, which determines what users view on the site by populating the app’s primary “For You” stream with content suited to their preferences. The claims also highlight design aspects that they claim cause children to become addicted to the platform, such as the ability to browse endlessly through information, push alerts with built-in “buzzes,” and face filters that create unrealistic appearances for users.
States Sue TikTok, Claiming Its Platform Is Addictive And Harms The Mental Health Of Children
In its pleadings, the District of Columbia referred to the algorithm as “dopamine-inducing,” and claimed it was designed to be purposely addictive so that the corporation could ensnare many young people into excessive use and keep them on its app for hours on end. TikTok engages in these actions while knowing that they will cause “profound psychological and physiological harms,” including anxiety, sadness, body dysmorphia, and other long-term issues, according to the lawsuit.
“It is profiting from the fact that it is addicting young people to its platform,” District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb stated in an interview.
“We strongly disagree with many of these allegations, which we believe are false and misleading. In response to the lawsuits, TikTok spokesman Alex Haurek stated, “We are proud of and remain deeply committed to the work we’ve done to protect teens, and we will continue to update and improve our product.” “We’ve endeavored to work with the Attorneys General for over two years, and it is incredibly disappointing they have taken this step rather than work with us on constructive solutions to industrywide challenges.”
The social networking company does not let minors under the age of 13 sign up for its main service, and some content is restricted to anyone under the age of 18. Despite the company’s assertions that its platform is safe for children, Washington and several other states stated in their petition that children may simply bypass those limits, allowing them to access the services that adults use.
“TikTok claims to be safe for young people, however this is far from accurate. In New York and across the country, young people have died or been injured while participating in deadly TikTok challenges, and many more are feeling sad, frightened, and depressed as a result of TikTok’s addictive elements,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement.
Their complaint also targets other aspects of the company’s business.
The district claims TikTok is functioning as a “unlicensed virtual economy” by allowing users to buy TikTok Coins, a virtual currency within the platform, and send “Gifts” to TikTok LIVE streamers, who can then cash out for real money. TikTok charges a 50% commission on these financial transactions but has not registered as a money transmitter with the United States Treasury Department or district authorities, according to the complaint.
Officials claim that minors are routinely exploited for sexually explicit content via TikTok’s LIVE streaming feature, which has enabled the app to function essentially as a “virtual strip club” with no age limitations. They argue that the cut the corporation receives from financial transactions allows it to benefit from exploitation.
The 14 attorneys general say their lawsuits aim to stop TikTok from employing these features, impose financial penalties for suspected illegal actions, and recover damages for aggrieved users.
Many states have filed lawsuits against TikTok and other internet companies in recent years, as concern rises over prominent social media platforms and their ever-increasing impact on young people’s lives. In some cases, the challenges were coordinated in a manner similar to how states had organized against the tobacco and pharmaceutical companies.
States Sue TikTok, Claiming Its Platform Is Addictive And Harms The Mental Health Of Children
Last week, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against TikTok, alleging that the firm shared and sold children’s personal information in violation of a new state law that bars such operations. TikTok, which denies the charges, is simultaneously battling a similar data-related federal case launched in August by the Department of Justice.
Several Republican-led states, including Nebraska, Kansas, New Hampshire, Kansas, Iowa, and Arkansas, have previously sued the company, some unsuccessfully, over claims that it harms children’s mental health, exposes them to “inappropriate” content, or allows young people to be sexually exploited on its platform. Arkansas has filed a lawsuit against YouTube and Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, which is being sued by dozens of states on allegations that it is damaging young people’s mental health. New York City and certain public school districts have filed their own cases.
TikTok, in particular, is encountering additional hurdles at the national level. According to a federal rule that went into force earlier this year, TikTok might be outlawed in the United States by mid-January if its Chinese parent firm ByteDance does not sell the site by that time.
TikTok and ByteDance are both appealing the statute in Washington’s appeals court. A panel of three justices heard oral arguments in the case last month and is anticipated to announce a decision that might be appealed to the US Supreme Court.
SOURCE | AP
Business
Bitcoin Goes Over $80,000 As Buyers Guess Whether Trump Will Run For President.
(VOR News) – The following day, Bitcoin achieved a new record high as a consequence of traders’ wagers on the potential benefits of Donald Trump’s return to the White House for the cryptocurrency.
This was an additional factor contributing to Bitcoin’s recent record-breaking performance.
This resulted in Bitcoin’s first-ever record-breaking high.
The digital currency’s inaugural transaction, valued at eighty thousand dollars, was executed one hundred twenty minutes after twelve o’clock in the afternoon (1200 GMT). This occurred shortly after the timepiece reached twelve.
The conviction that President Trump may reduce laws on digital currencies has increased as a result of his victory in the presidential election that occurred in the United States on Tuesday. This conviction has been bolstered by his election victory. Since the election was won by the Republican nominee, Trump, this mentality has been gradually cultivated.
On Wednesday, the price of bitcoin achieved a new all-time high of $75,000, surpassing the previous all-time high of $73,797.98, which was achieved in March. This item has attained the highest price to date.
It was widely believed that Trump was the politician who embraced Bitcoin during his campaign against Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party candidate. Harris was a candidate for the Democratic Party in the Senate campaign.
Donald Trump employed the term “hoax” to describe cryptocurrencies during his inaugural tenure as president of the United States. However, in the time that has passed since then, he has experienced a substantial change in his viewpoints, which has even resulted in the creation of his own committee platform.
In addition to his pledge to establish the United States of America as the “bitcoin and cryptocurrency capital of the world,” he has also committed to appointing Elon Musk, a tech entrepreneur and right-wing conspiracy theorist, to the role of overseeing a comprehensive investigation into the government’s wasteful practices.
Both of these commitments are components of his strategy to enhance the prosperity of the United States of America. It is crucial to acknowledge that he has made a commitment to both of these.
The administration of President Trump was responsible for the reduction of corporation taxes, which resulted in an increase in market liquidity and facilitated the investment in high-growth assets, such as cryptocurrencies. Through the administration of President Trump’s predecessor, this was accomplished.
The previous administration benefited from a decrease in the tax rate for Bitcoin companies.
In September, President Trump announced that he, his sons, and other organizations would be creating a digital currency platform known as World Liberty Financial. The development of this platform would also incorporate the participation of other businesses. The network would facilitate the conversion of digital currency into corporeal currency.
Nevertheless, it experienced an unsuccessful sales launch earlier this month, with only a small percentage of the tokens that were placed on the market being purchased by consumers. This incident transpired earlier this month. From this, it is possible to infer that the launch was unsuccessful.
Cryptocurrencies have been the subject of numerous news articles since their inception. The FTX exchange platform is the most notable of the numerous industry stalwarts that have fallen, and these stories have covered a wide variety of subjects, including the immense volatility of their pricing. Numerous topics have been addressed in these narratives.
According to reports that circulated in the days preceding the election, he made history by becoming the first former president to utilize bitcoin to conduct a transaction. Donald Trump achieved historical significance by conducting a transaction using bitcoin. This could be considered a significant accomplishment.
He accomplished this by purchasing hamburgers from a restaurant in New York City, which characterized the transaction as “historic.” He succeeded in achieving these objectives. Because of this opportunity, he capitalized on it.
Bitcoin, a digital currency, is transacted on the market every day of the week, including Sundays.
SOURCE: TET
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Business
Subsidies for Electric Vehicles Cut as Consumer Interest Fades
Pressure is building on Canada’s electric vehicle manufacturers, and several are rethinking their stance on E.V.s in favor of plug-in hybrids. Automobile manufacturers are now bracing themselves for an even more challenging era in the Canadian market for electric vehicles (E.V.s).
President Kristian Aquilina of General Motors Canada claims that support and expectations are misaligned because the Canadian government is reducing subsidies for electric vehicles while trying to phase out gas-powered cars.
Manufacturers find pushing for an all-electric future in Canada increasingly difficult due to fewer consumer financial incentives and increasingly strict sales targets.
With subsidies totaling up to C$12,000 (about $8,500), Canadian consumers may save a tonne of money on electric automobiles. The federal government offers a rebate of up to $5,000 Canadian, and the provinces of Quebec and British Columbia provide further incentives of up to $7,000 and $4,000, respectively.
Ontario, which eliminated rebates in 2018, had the lowest market share for electric vehicles compared to Quebec and British Columbia, two regions that offered bigger incentives and thereby drove E.V. adoption in Canada.
Although this backing is dwindling, the province of Quebec has now declared that all subsidies will end in 2027. In June, the British Columbia government restricted incentives to a smaller subset of E.V. purchasers for “available funding” and higher-than-expected E.V. sales growth.
These reductions indicate a larger pattern: provincial governments reevaluate the sustainability of taxpayer-financed incentives for E.V.s as budget deficits widen.
With lofty goals to cut pollution from gas-powered cars and increase sales of electric vehicles, the Canadian government has reduced subsidies for these vehicles. Electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles will be mandatory for all new light-duty vehicle sales in Canada by 2035.
To meet our intermediate goals, 20% of new sales must be electric vehicles (E.V.s) by 2026 and 60% by 2030. Car companies are already under a lot of pressure due to dwindling incentives and increasing demands, and the clock is ticking faster by the second.
In addition, these rules impose new forms of responsibility. Automakers that do not reach their provincial sales targets may be subject to financial fines imposed by provinces such as British Columbia.
Canadian manufacturers are already under financial pressure from federal compliance credit system standards, which they must meet or face deficits. This system gives them credit for electric vehicle sales and infrastructure improvements, but it’s not without its challenges.
“The timing is not necessarily lining up very well, in that the purchase incentive support comes off just as mandates and regulations start to bite,” GMC Canada President Kristian Aquilina told Bloomberg. “It must make a difference.
Therefore, we must consider that. Despite the cutbacks, Aquilina argued that the government’s investment in enhancing the charging infrastructure could benefit E.V. sales.
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Chewy Slides After Filing Shows 3rd-Biggest Shareholder, ‘Roaring Kitty,’ Sold His Stake
Washington — Chewy shares fell about 2% overnight Wednesday after a regulatory filing showed that Roaring Kitty, a meme stock trader, sold his interest in the online pet retailer.
According to a beneficial ownership document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday, Roaring Kitty, whose legal name is Keith Gill, sold all his Chewy shares, totaling 6.6% of the company.
Chewy Slides After Filing Shows Third-Biggest Shareholder, ‘Roaring Kitty,’ Sold His Stake
Plantation, Florida-based Chewy dropped 1.9% after hours to $26.19 per share.
Gill, an investor at the core of the meme stock craze, bought more than 9 million shares of Chewy in July, making him the company’s third-largest stakeholder.
Gill built a name for himself in 2021 by rallying ordinary investors around GameStop. At the time, the video game shop was fighting to stay in business, and major Wall Street hedge funds and investors were betting against it or shorting the stock. But Gill and those who agreed with him altered GameStop’s direction by purchasing thousands of shares despite practically all acknowledged criteria indicating that the firm was in deep peril.
Chewy Slides After Filing Shows Third-Biggest Shareholder, ‘Roaring Kitty,’ Sold His Stake
That triggered what is known as a “short squeeze,” in which large investors who had bet on GameStop were obliged to buy its swiftly increasing stock to offset significant losses.
Gill has expressed confidence in GameStop Chairman and CEO Ryan Cohen’s ability to revamp the company following his success at Chewy. Cohen cofounded Chewy in 2011 and stepped down as CEO in 2018.
SOURCE | AP
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