Technology

States Call On Facebook To Stop Plans For An Instagram For Kids

6:39am May 11, 2021

by Shannon Bond

A bipartisan group of 44 attorneys general is urging Facebook to abandon plans to build a version of Instagram for children under 13 because of fears it could harm children's mental health and safety.

Queue Listen Now

News Brief: Kids' Pfizer Shots, Gaza Tensions, Hacked Pipeline Status

6:21am May 11, 2021

FDA approves Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for kids ages 12 to 15. A new round of Israeli-Palestinian violence escalated Monday. Pipeline hack is different from another big intrusion blamed on Russia.

Queue Listen Now

In 1995, an online troll impersonated Ken Zeran on AOL, posting tasteless ads with his phone number. Zeran sued AOL, and lost. The person behind the ads has never been identified.

National

How One Man's Fight Against An AOL Troll Sealed The Tech Industry's Power

5:00am May 11, 2021

by Bobby Allyn

A fight between a Seattle man and AOL in the mid-1990s led to what has been called "the most important Internet law ruling ever." Decades later, the decision still governs how the web functions.

Fuel tanks are seen at a Colonial Pipeline Co. delivery point Monday in Baltimore. The company's pipeline was hit with a major ransomware attack last week.

National

What We Know About The Ransomware Attack On A Critical U.S. Pipeline

8:29pm May 10, 2021

by Scott Neuman

The massive pipeline, which supplies 45% of the East Coast's gasoline and jet fuel, was forced to shut down over the weekend. The company says it has one line operating under manual control.

A new report by GLAAD highlights the high rate of harassment and hate facing LGBTQ users on social media. In this photo, demonstrators rally in favor of LGBTQ rights outside the U.S. Supreme Court in 2019.

National

Social Media Hate Speech, Harassment 'Significant Problem' For LGBTQ Users: Report

1:19pm May 10, 2021

by Jaclyn Diaz

LGBTQ social media users encounter hate speech and harassment at higher rates than all other identity groups at 64%, according to GLAAD's inaugural social media index report.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk strikes a pose at a December 2020 awards ceremony in Germany. This weekend, he hosted NBC's Saturday Night Live.

Arts

Elon Musk Takes An Awkward Turn As 'Saturday Night Live' Host

5:01pm May 09, 2021

by Eric Deggans

The Tesla CEO got to cement his image as a celebrity with pop culture cachet, appearing with the SNL cast in silly sketches that promoted his pet projects and dressing up as a video game character.

A Kid's Guide to Fandom, by Amy Ratcliffe

Books
Arts

Fandom Can Be A Lot Like High School — Here's How To Avoid The Bad Stuff

1:25pm May 09, 2021

by Alan Yu

Finding a supportive fandom — a group of people who love what you love — is a great experience. But some fan communities can be toxic, so here are a few tips for kids looking for fan connections.

Traffic on I-95 passes oil storage tanks owned by the Colonial Pipeline Co. in Linden, N.J. An cybersecurity attack has shut down Colonial Pipeline, a major transporter of gasoline along the East Coast.

National

Cybersecurity Attack Shuts Down A Top U.S. Gasoline Pipeline

1:15pm May 08, 2021

by Marisa Peñaloza

An attack shuts down Colonial Pipeline, a major transporter of gasoline along the East Coast. A security analyst says the event shows the vulnerability of key elements of the nation's infrastructure.

Politics & Government

Basecamp Blowup: Banning Politics At Work Prompts Over A Dozen Employees To Quit

4:21pm May 07, 2021

NPR's Audie Cornish talks with tech reporter Casey Newton about the mass exodus of employees from the software company BaseCamp after a new policy rolled out that restricts political talk at work.

Facebook's Oversight Board says the company, led by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, must take responsibility for its decisions.

Politics & Government

In 1st Big Test, Oversight Board Says Facebook, Not Trump, Is The Problem

12:28pm May 07, 2021

by Shannon Bond

The first big test of Facebook's Oversight Board reveals the challenges of checking the power and scale of the social media giant.