Also known as: Instagram Stories
Social media platform that faces multiple lawsuits over child safety, privacy violations, and addictive design features.
Verbatim sentences from the source article.
Joy Online
Meta Platforms reached a settlement to resolve claims brought by states across the country that the company designed Instagram and Facebook to addict children, misled consumers about their safety, and improperly collected personal data of children who used its platforms, court pa …
Meta settles with US states over social media harmsJoy Online
Meta Platforms and state attorneys general have discussed a potential mid-trial settlement of a lawsuit accusing the company of deliberately designing Facebook and Instagram to be addictive to young users, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matt …
Meta, US states have discussed settling teen social media harm case, Bloomberg News reportsJoy Online
The top executive at Instagram said few teenagers used a key safety feature to limit their use before it was turned on by default, at a trial over whether Meta Platforms designed Instagram and Facebook to addict children. …
Instagram head Mosseri, at children’s addiction trial, says few teenagers knew of safety featureJoy Online
… Under the latest proposals, platforms including TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook, will have to take steps to check users are over 16 and platforms that fail to meet their obligations could face fines of up to 10% of their global revenue. …
New Zealand to introduce bill for under-16s social media banJoy Online
Ghanaian entrepreneur and educator Adnan Saani, who posts as @adnansaani on TikTok and reaches about 2.7 million followers across Facebook, TikTok and Instagram, has urged Ghanaian content creators to treat their work as a profession and to invest in the skills behind it. …
Invest in the craft, not hype: Ghanaian creator Adnan Saani on why social media alone will not payJoy Online
… A jury trial in the lawsuit started this week, with the Instagram and Facebook owner accused of targeting child users and profiting from them. …
TikTok to pay $400m to US in one of largest child privacy settlementsJoy Online
A teen girl whose lawsuit was a test case in litigation accusing social media companies of deliberately addicting young people and fueling a mental health crisis dropped her claims against the owners of Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat on Thursday, according to a court …
US teen drops lawsuit against Meta, Google and Snap ahead of trialJoy Online
A former engineering director at Meta Platforms testified on Wednesday that CEO Mark Zuckerberg fostered a culture that treated child safety as secondary to growth and engagement on Facebook and Instagram. …
Mark Zuckerberg encouraged growth over child safety, ex-Meta executive testifies at trialJoy Online
A court has heard claims that Meta intentionally hooked a generation of children on Facebook and Instagram, as the social media platform faces its biggest legal challenge. …
Meta hooked children on Facebook and Instagram, US court hearsJoy Online
… Not only are the states seeking upwards of $1 trillion from Meta, but they are also demanding that it make changes to Instagram and Facebook, including ending “like” counts and infinite scroll. …
If Meta loses this trial, Instagram and Facebook could change foreverNigerian singer Tiwa Savage has accepted a boxing challenge from fellow singer Teni after Teni issued the dare on Instagram, saying she would apologise "outside the boxing ring" after receiving 3 billion. The challenge follows a recent celebrity boxing match in which former Big Brother Naija housemate Phyna defeated Nollywood actress Nkechi Blessing.
4 October 2026 · Joy Online →
Nigerian singer Tiwa Savage has accepted a boxing challenge from fellow singer Teni after Teni issued the dare on Instagram, saying she would apologise "outside the boxing ring" after receiving 3 billion. The challenge follows a recent celebrity boxing match in which former Big Brother Naija housemate Phyna defeated Nollywood actress Nkechi Blessing.
4 October 2026 · Joy Online →
Dolly Parton's management company has accused her nephew Bryan Seaver of "threats, intimidation, and coercion" in a legal dispute over her legacy and business interests, seeking a temporary civil restraining order against him; Seaver denies the claims, saying messages were taken out of context.
23 September 2026 · Joy Online →
Nollywood actress Tonto Dikeh gave controversial socialite Bobrisky a N2 million cheque as a birthday gift, describing him as her "brother" and dependable friend. Her use of male pronouns and terms in the tribute sparked mixed online reactions, with some users focusing on her language choices while others praised her loyalty.
23 September 2026 · Joy Online →
Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel told the BBC that the firm would be "willing to implement" time limits for teen users, calling it "an important step forward for the industry." Meta is pressing other social media companies to adopt similar measures after agreeing to a $12.7bn settlement with US states over allegations that it designed apps to be addictive to young users.
16 September 2026 · Joy Online →
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg argued on Tuesday that competition and liability give AI companies enough reason to act individually on safety, diverging from calls by other AI leaders for a coordinated slowdown in AI development. His comments reflect a broader split among industry executives and U.S. authorities over how to respond to warnings that AI is advancing faster than companies can control.
16 September 2026 · Joy Online →
The European Union will propose a ban restricting under-15s from social media, video-sharing platforms, AI chatbots, and online games as part of an EU Kids Act. The proposal allows gradual access to services by age while imposing obligations on companies depending on service type and child age.
15 September 2026 · Joy Online →
A US-based tech watchdog found 332 paid ads containing artificial intelligence-generated child sexual abuse material on Facebook and Instagram over 10 months, with 84 appearing in India—78 of them after the Indian government ordered Meta to remove such content.
9 September 2026 · Joy Online →
About 20 million internet-using children across 21 countries were subjected to sexual exploitation or abuse on digital platforms in a single year, with most cases occurring on social media, according to a UNICEF report. More than one in five children aged 12 to 17 across Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe experienced at least one form of sexual abuse or exploitation online in the year before being surveyed.
3 September 2026 · Joy Online →
Meta resolved a lawsuit brought by nearly two-thirds of US states over its historic collection and use of data from children under 13, based on the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. The settlement reflects broader industry pressure on social media platforms ahead of what is expected to be a reckoning year for child safety in 2026.
27 August 2026 · Joy Online →
Meta Platforms has agreed to a historic settlement with dozens of U.S. states over allegations that its platforms fueled a youth mental health crisis, agreeing to pay up to $18 billion and overhaul key features on Facebook and Instagram. The company will initially pay approximately $12 billion, with additional payments conditional on whether competing platforms adopt similar safety standards.
26 August 2026 · Joy Online →
Meta Platforms has settled claims brought by 29 states that the company designed Instagram and Facebook to addict children, misled consumers about safety, and improperly collected personal data from child users without parental consent. The settlement was reached during a federal court trial in California, averting what would have been a major test of allegations that social media companies harmed young users.
26 August 2026 · Joy Online →
Meta Platforms and state attorneys general have discussed a potential mid-trial settlement of a lawsuit accusing the company of deliberately designing Facebook and Instagram to be addictive to young users, Bloomberg News reported. The case involves 29 states and is one of the highest-profile tests of allegations that social media companies have harmed young users.
26 August 2026 · Joy Online →
Adam Mosseri, Instagram's head since 2018, testified in a trial brought by 29 U.S. states over alleged addictive design that few teenagers — in the low-single digits — used the "Take a Break" feature before Instagram made it the default setting in September 2024, nearly three years after its launch. Mosseri acknowledged the feature was available to users but said most teens didn't want it before being made mandatory.
26 August 2026 · Joy Online →
New Zealand will introduce a bill banning those under 16 from using platforms including TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook, with companies facing fines of up to 10% of global revenue for non-compliance. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the measure is needed to protect children from harmful content and addictive technology affecting their mental health and education.
24 August 2026 · Joy Online →
Ghanaian entrepreneur Adnan Saani, who reaches 2.7 million followers across social media platforms, has urged content creators to treat their work as a profession and invest in skills rather than chasing attention alone. He argues that social media only pays when matched with professional development, saying "attention is the door" but creators must build something of value behind it.
24 August 2026 · Joy Online →
TikTok has agreed to pay $400 million to the US to settle allegations that it and parent company ByteDance violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act by collecting data on millions of users under 13. The settlement is one of the largest-ever over child privacy issues, following similar violations by YouTube ($170 million in 2019) and Epic Games ($275 million in 2022).
23 August 2026 · Joy Online →
A 15-year-old girl from New Jersey dismissed her claims against Meta, Google, and Snap, which alleged the platforms' owners contributed to her social media addiction, depression, and self-harm. Her attorney said the plaintiff chose to dismiss the remainder of her claims to resume her life, though she had sought to hold social media companies accountable.
21 August 2026 · Joy Online →
A former Meta engineering director testified that CEO Mark Zuckerberg fostered a culture treating child safety as secondary to growth on Facebook and Instagram. The testimony came during a landmark trial in which California, Colorado, Kentucky, New Jersey and 25 other states accuse Meta of designing platforms to harm young users and improperly collecting data from children under 13.
20 August 2026 · Joy Online →
A California jury has begun hearing claims that Meta intentionally hooked children on Facebook and Instagram through violations of federal and state privacy laws. Twenty-nine US states, including California and New York, filed the lawsuit in 2023 and are seeking billions of dollars in damages and demanding Meta make changes including ending "like" counts and infinite scroll.
19 August 2026 · Joy Online →
A jury trial beginning Tuesday, filed by 30 US states including California and New York, claims Meta violated federal and state privacy laws for children. The states seek over $1 trillion in damages and demand changes to Instagram and Facebook, including ending "like" counts, infinite scroll, autoplay video, filters, and other features they say manipulate young users into prolonged engagement.
17 August 2026 · Joy Online →
Top social media platforms urged the Australian government not to rely heavily on early evidence that most children still use their products despite a landmark under-16 ban introduced in December, as lawmakers consider doubling maximum penalties to A$99 million and expanding regulators' investigative powers. Australia's eSafety Commissioner reported that roughly 80% of minors were still on social media months after the ban took effect but noted modest declines in underage accounts and said enforcement would drive further change.
14 August 2026 · Joy Online →
Meta said Thursday it had taken down more than 750,000 accounts suspected to be held by Australians under 16 since the country's social media ban went live in December, with 462,000 Instagram and 294,000 Facebook accounts deactivated through June. The action comes as Australia's internet regulator considers an enforcement lawsuit against platforms for insufficient compliance, though independent studies showed more than eight in 10 under-16s remained on social media in the ban's first three months.
14 August 2026 · Joy Online →
A US judge in New Mexico ordered Meta to pay $567m for failing to warn the public about dangers its platforms posed to children, calling the company a "public nuisance" and requiring the funds be placed in a pool aimed at reducing future harms. This marks the largest ruling against the social media giant over child safety and comes in addition to an earlier $375m fine in the same case.
7 August 2026 · Joy Online →
StopNCII is a free online tool that helps adults prevent non-consensual sharing of intimate images or videos using a "privacy-first" approach called perceptual hashing, which creates a unique digital fingerprint for each image on the user's device rather than uploading the actual content.
5 August 2026 · Joy Online →
Ghana Police arrested self-proclaimed pastor Nana Yaw Bonsu Kwarteng for allegedly defrauding women through false marriage promises, blackmail using intimate images, and a fictitious tyre business scheme. Seven victims have reported the matter, with investigations indicating offences dating back to 2021; his wife, Sally Akosua Amoasah, is also accused of threatening victims.
3 August 2026 · Joy Online →
Visual Arts serves as a tool for preserving cultural values, customs, traditions and history through forms like kente weaving, Adinkra symbols and wood carvings. The article argues that Visual Arts education is underestimated in Ghanaian schools, with some teachers and parents viewing it as less competitive than General Science or Business, deterring talented students.
31 July 2026 · The Chronicle →
Meta's stock plunged after the company reported revenue growth of 28% to $61bn for the April-to-June quarter, but a 14% profit decline to $6bn, alongside plans to spend $130bn–$145bn on artificial intelligence projects this year. Investors expressed concern that Meta's expanding AI spending—which accounted for nearly all of the company's free cash flow this quarter—lacks clear commercial returns yet.
30 July 2026 · Joy Online →
Russian authorities have charged Pavel Durov, cofounder of the encrypted messaging platform Telegram, with "aiding terrorism" and issued an international arrest warrant, alleging his company failed to remove channels and bots used by Ukrainian special services and terrorist organisations to coordinate attacks in Russia.
30 July 2026 · The Chronicle →
The Ghana Police Service arrested Nana Yaw Bonsu Kwarteng and Sally Akosua Amoasah on charges including conspiracy, fraud, and non-consensual sharing of intimate images. Kwarteng allegedly posed as a pastor on Instagram, made false marriage promises to women, obtained intimate images for blackmail, and collected thousands of dollars in a fake tyre business scheme; seven victims have reported the matter.
28 July 2026 · The Ghanaian Times →
A man accused of defrauding women through fake marriage promises while posing as a pastor on Instagram has been remanded into Police custody. He allegedly obtained intimate images from victims and used them to blackmail them into sending money, and also involved some women in what was presented as a tyre business.
28 July 2026 · Joy Online →