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UP Argues the Social Media Industry Is Moving From Optional Safeguards Toward Safety by Design

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WICHITA, Kan., Aug. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Meta’s agreement to pay up to $18 billion in aggregate settlements and make significant changes to Facebook and Instagram marks more than a legal turning point. According to UP, Inc., it marks the arrival of a new market category: Safe Social.

The settlement requires Meta to limit users under 18 to two hours per day across Facebook and Instagram, restrict overnight access, reduce notifications during school hours, strengthen age assurance and parental controls, limit visible “likes” and certain filters, and offer young users a non-algorithmic feed option. Several protections can become stricter if other major platforms adopt comparable terms.

The agreement came during Instagram President Adam Mosseri’s testimony and before Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was expected to testify. Meta denied wrongdoing.

“This settlement validates what families have said for years: social media should not be designed to keep people scrolling at any cost,” said Nick Rotola, founder and CEO of UP, Inc. “UP began with a more fundamental question: what if safety was not a setting, but the structure of the product?”

Meta has called on TikTok and YouTube to adopt the same framework. UP believes that pressure confirms that safer defaults are becoming an industry expectation, not a discretionary feature.

But UP argues that guardrails added to an engagement-centered platform are not the same as building a platform around safety from the beginning.

UP screens creators and brands before they can publish. Its standards exclude explicit, violent, hateful, substance-promoting, predatory, and manipulative material. UP does not allow unsolicited direct messages or open comments. Its Scroll Happy® system ranks video around how it may leave a viewer feeling, while mood-based feeds provide greater control.

“Meta is being required to add guardrails around an open, engagement-driven network,” Rotola said. “UP vets who can publish, curates what enters the feed, removes unsolicited direct messages, and ranks content for how it leaves a person feeling. That is the difference between safety controls and safety by design.”

The risk extends beyond screen time. A 2025 Thorn study found that one in five teens surveyed had experienced sextortion. TIME has also reported allegations concerning Meta’s former enforcement thresholds and recommendations connecting potentially inappropriate adults with teens. Meta disputed those allegations.

“The press is calling this social media’s tobacco moment. I see it as a millstone moment: a reckoning with what happens when products built to capture attention are allowed to shape children before they are ready to defend themselves,” Rotola said. “The settlement matters. But a safer version of the same incentive system is not enough. Families deserve a real alternative.”

UP calls that alternative Social with Standards.

UP is available as a free download for iPhone and Android. To learn more, visit www.ScrollHappy.com or download UP through the Apple App Store and Google Play.

About UP, Inc.

UP, Inc. is the company behind UP – Scroll Happy®, a social video platform built around vetted creators, curated content, safer interaction, and user well-being. UP gives people an alternative to doomscrolling through Social with Standards.

Media Contact
UP, Inc.
Nick Rotola
421609@email4pr.com
615-715-7267

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SOURCE UP, Inc.

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Notice of Data Privacy Incident

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Psychiatry of Texas PLLC

HOUSTON, Aug. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Psychiatry of Texas PLLC writes to notify you of a data privacy event that involved protected health information (PHI).

What Happened? On March 31, 2026, we learned of an anomaly on our network and launched an immediate investigation. We engaged cybersecurity specialists to assist us in our investigation. Ultimately, we determined that our company experienced a data privacy event involving unauthorized access to our systems on March 31, 2026. On that date, we believe PHI belonging to certain of our patients, as well as patients of healthcare providers we support, was acquired.

What Information Was Involved? The information involved varied by individual but may have included first and last name along with a Social Security number, date of birth, medical diagnosis or treatment information, health insurance information, and electronic identification or account number, username, email address, a parent’s premarital surname, or password.

Individuals whose information was involved and for whom we had address information were provided written notice on August 27, 2026.

What We Are Doing. We investigated this matter to determine whether any PHI was involved and, if so, to whom it related. As an added precaution, we are offering complimentary credit monitoring and identity protection services, free of charge, to individuals whose Social Security numbers were involved through HaystackID.

What Involved Individuals Can Do. Generally, it is best practice to remain vigilant for incidents of identity theft and fraud, from any source, by reviewing and monitoring your account statements and credit reports for suspicious activity and errors. If you discover any suspicious or unusual activity on your accounts, promptly contact your financial institution or service provider.

Individuals can further educate themselves regarding identity theft, fraud alerts, credit freezes, and the steps to take to protect personal information by contacting the credit reporting bureaus, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), or state Attorneys General. The FTC also encourages those who discover that their information has been misused to file a complaint with them. The FTC may be reached at 600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20580; www.identitytheft.gov; 1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-4338); and TTY: 1-866-653-4261.

For More Information. If you would like to learn whether your protected health information may be included in the event, please contact our dedicated assistance line at 855-205-9558 (toll free) Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, excluding major U.S. holidays.

Contact: Matthew Smith, matthew.smith@kennedyslaw.com 

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/notice-of-data-privacy-incident-302862348.html

SOURCE Kennedys CMK LLP

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INVESTOR ALERT: Pomerantz Law Firm Investigates Claims On Behalf of Investors of Alphabet Inc. – GOOG

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NEW YORK, Aug. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Alphabet Inc. (“Alphabet” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: GOOG). Such investors are advised to contact Danielle Peyton at newaction@pomlaw.com or 646-581-9980, ext. 7980.

The investigation concerns whether Alphabet and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices. 

[Click here for information about joining the class action]

On July 16, 2026, Bloomberg reported that Alphabet’s Google is “months behind schedule on delivering Gemini 3.5 Pro, its most powerful flagship AI model” due to the Company’s ongoing coding efforts. Specifically, “[l]ate last month, Google updated the data being used to train Gemini in an attempt to improve [its] skills, but the results were disappointing.” 

On this news, Alphabet’s stock price fell $16.40 per share, or 4.4%, to close at $353.81 per share on July 16, 2026. 

Then, on July 22, 2026, Alphabet released its second quarter 2026 financial results, announcing, among other things, a significant expansion of expected full year 2026 capital expenditures to $195 billion to $205 billion. The Company also disclosed that, for the quarter, it had a negative free cash flow of $5.9 billion. Alphabet further disclosed that “given the supply constrained environment, we plan to expand the use of third-party capacity in Q3 as a bridging strategy,” which “will create modest margin pressure in the near term.” 

On this news, Alphabet’s stock price fell $23.57 per share, or 6.89%, to close at $318.34 per share on July 23, 2026.

Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com.

Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes. 

CONTACT:
Danielle Peyton
Pomerantz LLP
dpeyton@pomlaw.com
646-581-9980 ext. 7980

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/investor-alert-pomerantz-law-firm-investigates-claims-on-behalf-of-investors-of-alphabet-inc—goog-302862343.html

SOURCE Pomerantz LLP

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Media advisory – Parliamentary Secretaries Bardeesy and Chi to highlight major investments to attract top researchers to Canada

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TORONTO, Aug. 27, 2026 /CNW/ — Karim Bardeesy, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry, and Maggie Chi, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health, will highlight federal investments to attract top researchers from around the world through the Eddie Goldenberg Research Chairs of Canada and Canada Impact+ Emerging Leaders programs.

The announcement will be followed by a media availability.

Date: Friday, August 28, 2026

Time: 1:00 pm (ET)

Location: Toronto, Ontario

Members of the media are asked to contact ISED Media Relations at media@ised-isde.gc.ca to receive event location details and confirm their attendance.

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SOURCE Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

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