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The first social media babies have grown up – and they’re angry

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The first social media babies have grown up - and they’re angry

The idea of a child giving consent for images of themselves to be posted is tricky. Photo / Getty Images

By RNZ

Parents and children performing for social media clicks and views is “murky ground” says American journalist Kate Lindsay.

“Social media likes and engagement can motivate us to post certain things or behave in certain ways. When you bring a child into that, a child can very easily become a prop … and that creates a troubling dynamic,” she tells Kim Hill.

Currently, children of parents who were or are “oversharers” on social media have few legal options, she says.

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One such child of an oversharer, 24-year-old Caymi Barrett, has become a vocal advocate for the protection of children on social media, even though her mother was not an influencer or content creator.

“[Caymi’s] mother was a regular kind of parent, just like any other, but who was new to Facebook. And perhaps, as a lot of people weren’t at the time, she wasn’t quite aware of just how public social media could be. So she would accept every friend request and had a large audience of strangers and also at the same time really use Facebook as a scrapbook for [photos of] Caymi.”

Posting family-related content can also be a 'super lucrative' business. Photo / Getty Images
Posting family-related content can also be a ‘super lucrative’ business. Photo / Getty Images

The Facebook page wasn’t a highlights reel, though, as Caymi’s mother included details of her medical issues, a car crash and “unflattering” personal information.

One summer, she posted about a skin condition Caymi had. Although the condition had healed when Caymi returned to school, her classmates refused to sit near her and the teacher even made her sit at an isolated desk.

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Parents like Caymi’s mother are not “cartoon villains”, Lindsay says. In years past, there wasn’t an awareness that social media would still be around and become even more prevalent.

Unfortunately, this problem is only getting worse. Yet in the United States, lawmakers who are not social media savvy don’t understand why this is a serious issue, she says.

While legislation is one part of improving the situation, we also need to figure out how to socially enforce what is and isn’t acceptable when it comes to the “slippery slope” of social media.

“Social media can kind of trick you and then get you to post more … That’s a feeling that so many people feel. And parents, I imagine, benefit from that social media validation even more.

“Social media likes and engagement can motivate us to post certain things or behave in certain ways. When you bring a child into that, a child can very easily become a prop … and that creates a troubling dynamic.

“Also, I think it’s worth considering the dynamic that that child is then going to have with their own social media because they’re going to mimic what they were raised on. If it’s a relationship that’s very performative or very oversharing or just toxic in any way, that groundwork is being laid by how their parents are treating social media with them.”

If every parent on social media becomes a little bit more thoughtful and aware of how their posts may impact their children, this would do wonders, Lindsay says – “just exercising judgment in terms of what it is you’re sharing – is this for you or for them?

“Now that we know every person grows up and assumes a social media identity of their own, is that an identity they would want to inherit?”

Depending on the platform, parents are usually able to take down any content they’ve posted of their children, Lindsay says. Private accounts, limited accounts, face covering and Instagram stories that disappear can also help keep images and videos of children in “a nice closed loop”.

She also recommends parents keep an eye out for their children always “performing.

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“When you see the little ways that the child growing up can feel like they need to perform, you see how a parent’s relationship with social media is going to inform a child’s relationship with social media.”

The idea of a child giving consent for images of themselves to be posted is tricky because it requires saying no to your parents, she says.

Parents are usually able to take down any content they've posted of their children. Photo / Getty Images
Parents are usually able to take down any content they’ve posted of their children. Photo / Getty Images

“I think it’s really hard for any child [to say no to content being posted], especially when they see what they’re doing makes their parents happy. That’s what they want, they want their parents to be happy. So really consent from a child in this scenario can only mean so much. It really is up to the parents to create an environment where a child can feel comfortable really sharing how they feel about this and the parent makes sure that they’re not accidentally encouraging this kind of relationship.

“It’s incumbent upon the parent to make sure they’ve created a really open environment where the child can feel comfortable expressing those thoughts and keep it being an open conversation that can change day to day.”

Lindsay recommends parents keep up an open conversation flowing with their children about social media content, delete anything that makes anyone in the family feel uncomfortable and be mindful of the potential audience, i.e. a child’s future employer.

– RNZ

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Social media blocks are “a suppression of an essential avenue for transparency”

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In this photo illustration the word censored is seen displayed on a smartphone with the logos of social networks Facebook, WhatsApp and YouTube in the background.

Once praised as the defining feature of the internet, the ability to connect with physically distant people is something that governments have recently been seemingly intent on restricting. Authorities have been increasingly pulling the plug, putting over 4 billion people in the shadows in the first half of 2023 alone

Social media platforms are often the first means of communication to be restricted. Surfshark, one of the most popular VPN services, counted at least 50 countries guilty of having curbed these websites and apps during periods of political turmoil such as protests, elections, or military activity.

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Former Myanmar colonel who once served as information minister gets 10-year prison term for sedition

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Former Myanmar colonel who once served as information minister gets 10-year prison term for sedition

BANGKOK (AP) — A former high-profile Myanmar army officer who had served as information minister and presidential spokesperson in a previous military-backed government has been convicted of sedition and incitement, a legal official said Thursday. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Ye Htut, a 64-year old retired lieutenant colonel, is the latest in a series of people arrested and jailed for writing Facebook posts that allegedly spreading false or inflammatory news. Once infrequently prosecuted, there has been a deluge of such legal actions since the army seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021.

He was arrested in late October after a military officer from the Yangon Regional Military Command reportedly filed a change against him, around the time when some senior military officers were purged on other charges, including corruption. He was convicted on Wednesday, according to the official familiar with the legal proceedings who insisted on anonymity for fear of being punished by the authorities.

Ye Htut had been the spokesperson from 2013 to 2016 for President Thein Sein in a military-backed government and also information minister from 2014 to 2016.

After leaving the government in 2016, Ye Htut took on the role of a political commentator and wrote books and posted articles on Facebook. For a time, he was a visiting senior research fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, a center for Southeast Asia studies in Singapore.

After the army’s 2021 takeover, he often posted short personal vignettes and travel essays on Facebook in which he made allusions that were generally recognized to be critical of Myanmar’s current military rulers.

The army’s takeover triggered mass public protests that the military and police responded to with lethal force, triggering armed resistance and violence that has escalated into a civil war.

The official familiar with the court proceedings against Ye Htut told The Associated Press that he was sentenced by a court in Yangon’s Insein prison to seven years for sedition and three years for incitement. Ye Htut was accused on the basis of his posts on his Facebook account, and did not hire a lawyer to represent him at his trial, the official said.

The sedition charge makes disrupting or hindering the work of defense services personnel or government employees punishable by up to seven years in prison. The incitement charge makes it a crime to publish or circulate comments that cause fear, spread false news, agitate directly or indirectly for criminal offences against a government employee — an offense punishable by up to three years in prison.

However, a statement from the Ministry of Legal Affairs said he had been charged under a different sedition statute. There was no explanation for the discrepancy.

According to detailed lists compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a watchdog group based in Thailand, 4,204 civilians have died in Myanmar in the military government’s crackdown on opponents and at least 25,474 people have been arrested.



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Top CIA agent shared pro-Palestinian to Facebook after Hamas attack: report

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Top CIA agent shared pro-Palestinian to Facebook after Hamas attack: report

A high-ranking CIA official boldly shared multiple pro-Palestinian images on her Facebook page just two weeks after Hamas launched its bloody surprise attack on Israel — while President Biden was touring the Jewish state to pledge the US’s allegiance to the nation.

The CIA’s associate deputy director for analysis changed her cover photo on Oct. 21 to a shot of a man wearing a Palestinian flag around his neck and waving a larger flag, the Financial Times reported.

The image — taken in 2015 during a surge in the long-stemming conflict — has been used in various news stories and pieces criticizing Israel’s role in the violence.

The CIA agent also shared a selfie with a superimposed “Free Palestine” sticker, similar to those being plastered on businesses and public spaces across the nation by protesters calling for a cease-fire.

The Financial Times did not name the official after the intelligence agency expressed concern for her safety.

“The officer is a career analyst with extensive background in all aspects of the Middle East and this post [of the Palestinian flag] was not intended to express a position on the conflict,” a person familiar with the situation told the outlet.

The individual added that the sticker image was initially posted years before the most recent crisis between the two nations and emphasized that the CIA official’s Facebook account was also peppered with posts taking a stand against antisemitism.

The image the top-ranking CIA official shared on Facebook.

The latest post of the man waving the flag, however, was shared as Biden shook hands with Israeli leaders on their own soil in a show of support for the Jewish state in its conflict with the terrorist group.

Biden has staunchly voiced support for the US ally since the Oct. 7 surprise attack that killed more than 1,300 people, making the CIA agent’s posts in dissent an unusual move.

A protester walks near burning tires in the occupied West Bank on Nov. 27, 2023, ahead of an expected release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Israeli hostages. AFP via Getty Images

In her role, the associate deputy director is one of three people, including the deputy CIA director, responsible for approving all analyses disseminated inside the agency.

She had also previously overseen the production of the President’s Daily Brief, the highly classified compilation of intelligence that is presented to the president most days, the Financial Times said.

“CIA officers are committed to analytic objectivity, which is at the core of what we do as an agency. CIA officers may have personal views, but this does not lessen their — or CIA’s — commitment to unbiased analysis,” the CIA said in a statement to the outlet.

The top CIA official has since deleted the pro-Palestinian images from her social media page. Hamas Press Service/UPI/Shutterstock

Follow along with The Post’s live blog for the latest on Hamas’ attack on Israel


Neither the Office of the Director of National Intelligence nor the White House responded to The Post’s request for comment.

All of the official’s pro-Palestinian images and other, unrelated posts have since been deleted, the outlet reported.

Palestinian children sit by the fire next to the rubble of a house hit in an Israeli strike. REUTERS

The report comes as CIA Director William Burns arrived in Qatar, where he was due to meet with his Israeli and Egyptian counterparts and the Gulf state’s prime minister to discuss the possibility of extending the pause in fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip for a second time.

Israel and Hamas agreed Monday to an additional two-day pause in fighting, meaning combat would likely resume Thursday morning Israel time if no additional halt is brokered.

Both sides agreed to release a portion of its hostages under the arrangement.

More than 14,000 Palestinians in Gaza, including many women and children, have been killed in the conflict, according to data from the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health.



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