A $375 million verdict that could reshape how Big Tech treats children
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM A New Mexico jury ruled last Tuesday that Meta knowingly harmed children's mental health, made false or misleading statements about platform safety, and engaged in trade practices the jury called "unconscionable." The trial ran nearly seven weeks. The verdict Read More...
Brazil's new law blames platform design for harming kids, not parents
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM If you have ever lost an hour to a video feed you never meant to open, you understand what Brazil just decided to make illegal for children. The Digital Statute of Children and Adolescents took effect in Brazil last week, and what makes it different from Read More...
How to be an ally part I: performative allyship
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Why we’re revisiting our series on allyship this Pride Month At The Optimist Daily, we believe that allyship is a lifelong practice; one that demands reflection, humility, and, most of all, action. This June, we are celebrating Pride Month but also Read More...
Combatting visual misinformation: an everyday user's guide for times of conflict
In times of war and conflict, the digital landscape becomes flooded with images and stories. However, many of these images are fraudulent or modified, making it difficult to tell fact from fiction. As regular people, we must assume ethical responsibility for the content we consume and distribute as Read More...
Unlocking happiness: The 30-minute secret to better mental health
It's no surprise that in a world dominated by screens, many of us are concerned about how much time we spend connected to our smartphones. While the advantages of limiting screen time are widely recognized, the issue remains: how much is enough? A new study shed light on this quandary, and the Read More...
Teens should be spending the "Goldilocks amount" of time online
It’s nothing new that mental illnesses - like anxiety and depression - are a growing issue among teenagers in recent years. While toxic happiness, high achievement pressure, and societal changes have all played their role, social media is a key contributing factor to this crisis. To shed light Read More...
Why teen anxiety is on the rise and how to help
It’s Mental Health Awareness Month, so here at The Optimist Daily, we want to shine a light on this important subject. We're committed to helping break the stigma around mental illness, educating more people, and showing solidarity with those who are impacted by them. Over the past two years, Read More...
Pinterest tightens policy on fake news with climate misinformation ban
The popular image-focused social networking platform Pinterest is promising to do its part in the fight against fake news by blocking all content that denies, twists, or in any way spreads misinformation about the climate crisis. As reported by The Guardian, Pinterest’s new policy defines Read More...
Some tips to spot false posts about the Russia-Ukraine conflict
It’s hard to discern what to believe and what to question, what with fake news and improved deep fake videos. Misinformation has been commonly used as a propagandistic tactic to distract, confuse, and redirect public opinion by many countries throughout history. In World War Two, the Germans Read More...
Research finds that empathy is key to ending online hate speech
Many social media platforms have launched more elaborate filters in an attempt to root out hate speech and inappropriate content, but unfortunately, many of these are imprecise and, as any social media user knows, harmful and hateful content still runs rampant on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Read More...