social media

The New ‘Odyssey’ Movie Is Sparking a Right-Wing Backlash. This Female Scholar Knows It Well

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The New ‘Odyssey’ Movie Is Sparking a Right-Wing Backlash. This Female Scholar Knows It Well

Wilson’s Odysseus himself is, by turns, heroic, cunning, cruel, conniving, maudlin, and ever-blubbering—in a word, complicated. Such sympathies naturally offended the sensibilities of those who hold Homer (and Odysseus himself) as foundational to that amorphous notion of “Western civilization,” which can seem like little more than myth sustaining white, patriarchal, Eurocentric supremacy. Some other scholars … Read more

Meta Pauses Employee-Tracking Program Following Internal Data Leak

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Meta Pauses Employee-Tracking Program Following Internal Data Leak

Meta is pausing a divisive employee tracking program after an internal security issue exposed potentially sensitive data collected through the initiative to other workers. “We have carefully designed this program with privacy safeguards and while we have no indication at this time that any data was improperly accessed by Meta employees, we’re pausing it while … Read more

World Cup Scams Are Getting Harder to Spot

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World Cup Scams Are Getting Harder to Spot

You got a World Cup ticket. It arrived in your inbox with a QR code, professional branding, and a confirmation email that looked like the real thing. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. For years, spotting a scam was relatively simple. A suspicious email address, broken English, or an obvious typo were often enough to raise suspicion. But … Read more

TikTok Shoppers Thought They Were Bidding on iPhones. Instead, They Won Teddy Bears

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TikTok Shoppers Thought They Were Bidding on iPhones. Instead, They Won Teddy Bears

A TikTok livestream host waves an iPhone box in front of the camera as around 250 viewers place their bids. “This could be yours, chat,” the host says. “Wake it up.” The host’s face is hidden from view, with just their hands visible in front of stacks of iPhone, iPad, and MacBook boxes. The TikTok … Read more

Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth Admits the Company’s AI Reorg Was ‘Atrocious’

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Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth Admits the Company’s AI Reorg Was ‘Atrocious’

Meta did an “atrocious” job of rolling out a new artificial intelligence division and will aim to “rekindle” a more cheerful internal culture through better communication, career growth, and even snacks, a top executive told employees on Monday in an internal post seen by WIRED. The comments made by Andrew Bosworth, Meta’s chief technology officer, … Read more

The UK Places a Sweeping Ban on Social Media for Kids Under 16

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The UK Places a Sweeping Ban on Social Media for Kids Under 16

Children under the age of 16 will be banned from social media platforms in the UK, under new measures announced by prime minister Keir Starmer on Monday. “The need for action could not be clearer. Social media is making our children unhappy and unsafe,” said Starmer, in an X post. “Our children deserve better.” Under-16s … Read more

Karmelo Anthony Case: The Truth Is Lost in a Sea of Racist AI Slop

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Karmelo Anthony Case: The Truth Is Lost in a Sea of Racist AI Slop

This week, a jury in McKinney, Texas convicted 19-year-old Karmelo Anthony of murder, sentencing him to 35 years in prison for the killing of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at a track meet in April 2025.  The case drew almost immediate national media attention. It was a shocking incident: a fight that escalated to murder at a … Read more

Matchmakers Are Being Paid $25K to Find Trad Wives for Rich Men

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Matchmakers Are Being Paid K to Find Trad Wives for Rich Men

The matchmaker Blaine Anderson, who runs the high-end dating service Dating by Blaine, receives a lot of hyper-specific requests from her wealthy male clients, many of which she documents on her popular social media accounts. But no one was more difficult than the man she refers to as Daniel. (Anderson uses pseudonyms when discussing her … Read more

The US Is Requiring Foreign Influencers to Get Work Visas for the 2026 World Cup

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The US Is Requiring Foreign Influencers to Get Work Visas for the 2026 World Cup

Influencers covering the 2026 World Cup in the United States will not be able to create content for monetization on social media without a work visa, according to a joint statement issued by Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Homeland Security. The move could affect FIFA’s broadcasting strategy, which includes agreements with multiple … Read more

Grok Is Still Hosting Sexualized Deepfakes of Famous Women

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Grok Is Still Hosting Sexualized Deepfakes of Famous Women

Two prompts that were used to generate material on Grok were rejected by OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Meta AI, and Anthropic’s Claude as inappropriate when tested by WIRED. Google’s Gemini did create an image of one celebrity being held in the hand of a giant, though it rejected another prompt. Google declined to comment. One Grok Imagine … Read more