DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ 6 people in New York City have died this year after ‘subway surfing,’ a renewed social media challenge
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-02 | by ( Alisha Ebrahimji | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

CNN —A 13-year-old girl is the latest person to lose her life in New York City while “subway surfing,” a dangerous challenge attracting young people on social media. “Subway surfing,” involves riding on top of a subway car while its moving. Six subway surfing fatalities and 181 related arrests have been recorded this year through October 27, the New York Police Department told CNN on Tuesday. The 13-year-old died while participating in a social media challenge, his mother told WPIX, adding he’d posted to social media prior videos of himself doing the stunt and she’d warned him not to ride on top of trains. TikTok previously cooperated with New York authorities to remove subway surfing content, the New York Times reported in January.

Persons: who’d, “, she’d, It’s, ”, TikTok, Gail Saltz, NYers, 2DmQYCOJ7s —, Eric Adams, —, Meta, Adams, Saltz, Sergi Reboredo, New York’s Letitia James, California’s Rob Bonta, Alex Haurek, “ We’re, James ’, TikTok —, Zackery Nazario, Norma Nazario, ” Nazario, Matthew Bergman, Gingras, Carolyn Sung Organizations: CNN, New York Police Department, WABC, NYPD, Transit, WPIX, ” New York Police, York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, YouTube, Google, Social, Weill Cornell Medical College, Presbyterian Hospital, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New York, Yorkers, Facebook, New, New York Times, Getty, Social Media, Law Center, Meta Locations: New York City, Queens , New York, Queens, Bronx, York’s, United States, New, New York, Manhattan, Flushing, Brooklyn, Williamsburg

☆ ‘There are no guardrails.’ This mom believes an AI chatbot is responsible for her son’s suicide
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-30 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Globally: The International Association for Suicide Prevention and Befrienders Worldwide have contact information for crisis centers around the world. Garcia believes Character.AI is responsible for the death of her 14-year-old son, Sewell Setzer III, who died by suicide in February, according to a lawsuit she filed against the company last week. When Garcia first heard he was interacting with an AI chatbot, she said she thought it was something like a video game. However, within months of starting to use the platform, Setzer became “noticeably withdrawn, spent more and more time alone in his bedroom, and began suffering from low self-esteem. “There were no suicide pop-up boxes that said, ‘If you need help, please call the suicide crisis hotline.’ None of that,” she said.

Persons: Megan Garcia, Garcia, Character.AI, Sewell Setzer III, Setzer, “, ” Garcia, ” –, Character.AI's chatbots, chatbot Setzer, she, ” “, ”, Gabby Jones, I’m, That’s, ” Setzer, Matthew Bergman, Bergman, Sewell, Noam Shazeer, Daniel De Freitas, weren’t Organizations: New, New York CNN, International Association for Suicide Prevention, Befrienders, CNN, Trust, Safety, Prevention, Junior Varsity, Bloomberg, Getty, Character.AI, Social Media, Law Center, Meta, Google, Apple Locations: New York, Florida, Brooklyn , New York

The lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Orlando, accuses Character.AI of negligence, wrongful death and survivorship, as well as intentional infliction of emotional distress and other claims. A screenshot of what the lawsuit describes as Setzer’s last conversation shows him writing to the bot: “I promise I will come home to you. That’s not a good reason not to go through with it,” the lawsuit claims. Character.ai said in a blog post published Tuesday that it is introducing new safety measures. Setzer had also been conversing with other chatbot characters who engaged in sexual interactions with him, according to the lawsuit.

Persons: Character.ai, Megan Garcia’s, Sewell Setzer, Setzer, Daenerys Targaryen, Dany, ”, ” Setzer, “, That’s, Character.AI, Barnes, roleplayed, Sewell, Noam Shazeer, Daniel De Freitas, De Freitas, Matthew Bergman, Garcia, ” Bergman Organizations: Prevention, Technologies, Google, Alphabet Inc Locations: Florida, U.S, Orlando, California, Sewell, seductively

☆ TikTok knew its algorithm harmed kids, accidentally revealed internal documents show
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-11 | by ( Kenneth Niemeyer | Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Internal research accidentally revealed this week indicates TikTok knew its algorithm was harmful. Lawyers for children harmed by social media say the apps have long known they are hurting kids. According to NPR, TikTok's internal documents show officials at parent company ByteDance discussing internal studies that show the app can harm children. According to NPR, the unredacted internal documents show that TikTok touted its tools for limiting teens' screen time despite knowing from its own research that these features had "little impact." Matthew Bergman, a founding attorney of the Social Media Victims Law Center, which represents over 3,000 plaintiffs in cases of adolescents harmed by social media, told BI that the unsealed information is "certainly consistent with what we're seeing" across TikTok and other social media.

Persons: TikTok, —, Adam Wandt, John Jay, Wandt, Jayne Conroy, Simmons Hanly Conroy, Conroy, it's, Matthew Bergman, Bergman Organizations: Service, Kentucky Public Radio, NPR, John, John Jay College of Criminal, Social Media, Law Center

☆ Families who sued social media companies years ago are taking matters into their own hands
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-13 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +16 min

Now there are hundreds of such lawsuits against social media platforms, alleging teenagers across the country have been harmed from exposure to social media, according to Matthew Bergman, the founder of the Social Media Victims Law Center, from where many of these lawsuits have been filed. Jaime Puerta said he has met with police departments, government agencies and schools to discuss the dangers of social media platforms. Mayor Eric Adams makes announcement on lawsuit against social media companies at City Hall in New York City. Next, she said she wants to work with lawmakers to help increase the age requirement to access social media sites. Donna and Chris Dawley have attended conferences, events and Congressional hearings to raise awareness about social media addiction.

Persons: Jaime Puerta’s, Daniel, Puerta, Snapchat, Matthew Bergman, Koukichi Takahashi, TikTok, ” Puerta, “, ”, Jaime Puerta, Meta, Gail Flatt, Sarah’s, Sarah, Flatt, Republican Sen, Marsha Blackburn, Sen . Blackburn, Blackburn, Mark Zuckerberg, who’ve, “ I’m, Norma Nazario, Zackery, Eric Adams, Nazario, Lev Radin, Ron DeSantis, Jaime Puerta – Amy Neville, Alexander, –, she’s, Neville, ” Amy Neville, Alexander Neville, Amy Neville, Democratic Sen, Amy Klobuchar, Sen, Klobuchar, Sabine Polak, Polak, Mileva, ” Polak, Repasky, it’s, Cece Nelter, Independence , Kentucky –, Instagram, Cece, Nelter, Donna, Chris Dawley –, CJ, ” Donna Dawley, Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, Chris Dawley, Donna Dawley “, Donna Dawley, “ We’ve Organizations: CNN, International Association for Suicide Prevention, Befrienders, Social Media, Law, Meta, Adobe, Big Tech, Los Angeles, Central Intelligence Agency, CIA, Homeland Security, Centers for Disease Control, Prevention, Drug, Administration, Federal, Facebook, Wall, Northern District of, Republican, Union, New York City, New York, City Hall, Pacific Press, TikTok, Florida Republican, Snapchat, Alexander Neville Foundation, Alexander, Parent, Academy, Democratic, Media, Free Schools Movement Locations: Northern District, Northern District of California, Instagram, Tennessee, Biden’s, New York, New, New York City, Florida, United States, Minnesota, Phoenixville , Pennsylvania, ”, Independence , Kentucky

Search resuls for: "Matthew Bergman"

5 mentions found