Seen at The Rutherford Institute: FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA, February 17— A Virginia public school system has announced its plan to adopt what has been likened to a precrime surveillance program in order to monitor and deter social media threats, hate speech, bullying and harassment by students. Pointing out that the social media monitoring program being…
Category: Youth & Schools
GWU admits that it tracked student, employee locations on campus without consent
Alexa Schwerha reports: The George Washington University’s president publicly apologized Friday for a fall 2021 surveillance pilot program that tracked students’ and employees’ locations on campus without their consent. “I write to inform you of a data analytics pilot program that took place on the university campus during the Fall 2021 semester, and to apologize on behalf…
Texas Gov. Abbott: Agencies must investigate gender-affirming care for trans kids as ‘child abuse’ (UPDATED)
Lauren McGaughy reports: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered state agencies to investigate reports of transgender kids receiving gender-affirming care as “child abuse,” but it’s unclear what immediate effect the directive will have on kids, teachers, doctors and parents. In a letter to the Department of Family and Protective Services sent Tuesday, Abbott said the agency “is responsible for…
Texas Attorney General Investigates TikTok for Potential Child Privacy Violations and Facilitation of Human Trafficking
Hunton Andrews Kurth writes: On February 18, 2022, the Texas Attorney General’s Office (the “Texas AG”) announced that it had issued two Civil Investigative Demands (“CIDs”) to TikTok Inc. The Texas AG’s investigation focuses on TikTok’s alleged violations of children’s privacy and facilitation of human trafficking, along with other potential unlawful conduct. In relevant part, the CIDs seek information…