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  • Sifting through the emotional impact of political violence – WTOP News

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    From news headlines to the social media that even very young children may have access to, children can be exposed to disturbing images, such as the shooting of Charlie Kirk.

    News stories about violence — especially those that include graphic images of an event caught in real time, such as the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk — may not be fully understood by children, but they are often more aware of current events than adults realize.

    From news headlines to the social media that even very young children may have access to, children can be exposed to disturbing images and videos.

    So how do you help them process it?

    “You want to keep it simple and age-appropriate,” Dr. Anisha Abraham, chief of the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at Children’s National Hospital, said. “You want to avoid detailed explanations, but just really focus on safety.”

    The message to younger children, Abraham said, should be along these lines: “You are safe. There are adults and grown-ups, your family members, teachers, who are here to protect you.”

    While it’s important to recognize the impact of disturbing news stories, Abraham said, “You might want to also avoid overexplaining, try to limit their exposure.”

    And she said it can be helpful to have them identify their feelings, whether that’s fear, sadness or anger.

    For older children, especially high school students, more detail and nuance can be included in discussions. Middle and high schoolers are doing more exploring of the outside world, and may be learning about current events and controversial topics in school.

    Older children are often sorting through feelings with friends, and may not immediately seek out their parents.

    “They may not want to speak about it, ” Abraham said. “They also might again feel confused, or angry or feel disillusioned.”

    Teenagers and middle schoolers are typically online more frequently than younger children, and Abraham said her own teenage son came to her Wednesday afternoon, letting her know he’d seen the graphic images of Charlie Kirk in the moments after he was fatally shot.

    Abraham told him that she would not be seeking out the video and added, “What’s out there is really difficult to see, and let’s talk about that.”

    Parents concerned about how their teens are dealing with their feelings can start with what Abraham calls a “check-in.”

    “I personally think it’s important to limit re-exposure because that can sometimes retraumatize young people,” Abraham said.

    It’s important to remember that a child may not race to their parents to talk about things that upset them, Abraham said. They may find that with time, they are more worried, scared or confused.

    “Kids may not think about it initially, but later it can really impact them,” Abraham said.

    That’s why she said it’s important to keep the door to more discussion open, and in the meantime, provide them with positive news and inspiring stories.

    Adults and the toll of political violence

    Adults can also struggle with the way exposure to violence, including political violence, can leave them feeling, according to another expert.

    Andrea Bonior, psychology professor and licensed clinical psychologist at Georgetown University, told WTOP about the impact that violent images can have when they pop up on social media feeds.

    “I think it’s horrifying because I don’t think we were built or made or wired to constantly be exposed to violent imagery,” Bonior said.

    The nature of technology, with algorithms that can send violent images into social media feeds, means, “We do have to take matters into our own hands and really set limits and be aware of what we might see,” Bonior said.

    Bonier said adults should know that it’s not unusual to find that days or even weeks may go by before the impact of images, videos or disturbing news accounts fade.

    “It will take time, because our nervous system basically takes time to reset,” she said.

    Bonior recommended avoiding overexposure to sources of upsetting stories.

    “Watch your exposure, make sure you aren’t seeing it over and over,” she said.

    And she said seeing those violent acts can have an impact that goes beyond the initial shock.

    “Try to notice your bodily response. Once we’ve had that trauma response of seeing a trauma happening to somebody else, we often have our nervous systems on high alert,” she said.

    In those cases, Bonior said, self-care becomes critical. She suggested relaxation exercises, sufficient sleep and spending time outdoors and away from screens.

    The political divide

    Bonior said the bitterness of the political divide is on full display on social media.

    “I think it’s really important that we seek connection, but connection in the right ways,” she said.

    People may scroll through their social media seeking connection, “but then we’re probably getting more inflamed,” Bonior said.

    Instead of scrolling, Bonior suggested going for a walk with a friend or texting within a trusted friend group.

    “When we see things online at a rapid pace and people respond to things without thinking it through and they’re not face to face, we’re bound to just inflame situations, and I think we lose a bit of our humanity,” Bonior said.

    Bonior added that when political attacks are so heated that empathy is seen as weakness, that’s “heartbreaking.” Empathy, Bonior said, is a source of strength.

    “Empathy helps us actually build human connection,” she said. “And we know that in this epidemic of loneliness and this epidemic of anger and anxiety, if we tune out our empathy, it’s just going to make us more miserable.”

    The impact on young adults

    Bonior, who teaches at Georgetown University, said for the younger generation, the impact of Charlie Kirk’s violent death generated “really big feelings across the spectrum.”

    “I think there’s a lot of real concern in young people right now about the world that they’re inheriting as adults and the way that things feel so divisive and so polarized and so driven by anger,” Bonior said.

    Bonior added it is important for adults of all ages to take time to pause and reflect before taking to social media to state their opinion on the very latest event.

    “I think that taking that deep breath and realizing that we might not be the first to comment on something and that might be a strength rather than a weakness — I think that’s really important,” she said.

    Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.

    © 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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    Kate Ryan

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  • Reporter’s Notebook: Rushing for narrative control

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    In the rush to announce the “correct” take, balancing the human and the political becomes nearly impossible. “CBS Evening News” co-anchor John Dickerson explains.

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  • How China’s Propaganda and Surveillance Systems Really Operate

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    A trove of internal documents leaked from a little-known Chinese company has pulled back the curtain on how digital censorship tools are being marketed and exported globally. Geedge Networks sells what amounts to a commercialized “Great Firewall” to at least four countries, including Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Ethiopia, and Myanmar. The groundbreaking leak shows in granular detail the capabilities this company has to monitor, intercept, and hack internet traffic. Researchers who examined the files described it as “digital authoritarianism as a service.”

    But I want to focus on another thing the documents demonstrate: While people often look at China’s Great Firewall as a single, all-powerful government system unique to China, the actual process of developing and maintaining it works the same way as surveillance technology in the West. Geedge collaborates with academic institutions on research and development, adapts its business strategy to fit different clients’ needs, and even repurposes leftover infrastructure from its competitors. In Pakistan, for example, Geedge landed a contract to work with and later replace gear made by the Canadian company Sandvine, the leaked files show.

    Coincidentally, another leak from a different Chinese company published this week reinforces the same point. On Monday, researchers at Vanderbilt University made public a 399-page document from GoLaxy, a Chinese company that uses AI to analyze social media and generate propaganda materials. The leaked documents, which include internal pitch decks, business goals, and meeting notes, may have come from a disgruntled former employee—the last two pages accuse GoLaxy of mistreating workers by underpaying them and mandating long hours. The document had been sitting on the open internet for months before another researcher flagged it to Brett Goldstein, a research professor in the School of Engineering at Vanderbilt.

    GoLaxy’s main business is different from Geedge’s: It collects open source information from social media, maps relationships among political figures and news organizations, and pushes targeted narratives online through synthetic social media profiles. In the leaked document, GoLaxy claims to be the “number one brand in intelligence big data analysis” in China, servicing three main customers: the Chinese Communist Party, the Chinese government, and the Chinese military. The included technology demos focus heavily on geopolitical issues like Taiwan, Hong Kong, and US elections. And unlike Geedge, GoLaxy seems to be targeting only domestic government entities as clients.

    But there are also quite a few things that make the two companies comparable, particularly in terms of how their businesses function. Both Geedge and GoLaxy maintain close relationships with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the top government-affiliated research institution in the world, according to the Nature Index. And they both market their services to Chinese provincial-level government agencies, who have localized issues they want to monitor and budgets to spend on surveillance and propaganda tools.

    GoLaxy didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from WIRED. In a previous response to The New York Times, the company denied collecting data targeting US officials and called the outlet’s reporting misinformation. Vanderbilt researchers say they witnessed the company remove pages from its website after the initial reporting.

    Closer Than They Seem

    In the West, when academic scholars see opportunities to commercialize their cutting-edge research, they often become startup founders or start side businesses. GoLaxy seems to be no exception. Many key researchers at the company, according to the leaked document, still occupy spots at CAS.

    But there’s no guarantee that CAS researchers will get government grants—just like a public university professor in the US can’t bet on their startup winning federal contracts. Instead, they need to go after government agencies like any private company would go after clients. One document in the leak shows that GoLaxy assigned sales targets to five employees and was aiming to secure 42 million RMB (about $5.9 million) in contracts with Chinese government agencies in 2020. Another spreadsheet from around 2021 lists the company’s current clients, which include branches of the Chinese military, state security, and provincial police departments, as well as other potential customers it was targeting.

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    Zeyi Yang, Louise Matsakis

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  • FTC launches inquiry into AI chatbots acting as companions, their effects on children

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    The Federal Trade Commission has launched an inquiry into several social media and artificial intelligence companies about the potential harms to children and teenagers who use their AI chatbots as companions.

    The FTC said Thursday it has sent letters to Google parent Alphabet, Facebook and Instagram parent Meta Platforms, Snap, Character Technologies, ChatGPT maker OpenAI and xAI.

    The FTC said it wants to understand what steps, if any, companies have taken to evaluate the safety of their chatbots when acting as companions, to limit the products’ use by and potential negative effects on children and teens, and to apprise users and parents of the risks associated with the chatbots.

    EDITOR’S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988.

    The move comes as a growing number of kids use AI chatbots for everything — from homework help to personal advice, emotional support and everyday decision-making. That’s despite research on the harms of chatbots, which have been shown to give kids dangerous advice about topics such as drugs, alcohol and eating disorders. The mother of a teenage boy in Florida who killed himself after developing what she described as an emotionally and sexually abusive relationship with a chatbot has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Character.AI. And the parents of 16-year-old Adam Raine recently sued OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, alleging that ChatGPT coached the California boy in planning and taking his own life earlier this year.

    Character.AI said it is looking forward to “collaborating with the FTC on this inquiry and providing insight on the consumer AI industry and the space’s rapidly evolving technology.”

    “We have invested a tremendous amount of resources in Trust and Safety, especially for a startup. In the past year we’ve rolled out many substantive safety features, including an entirely new under-18 experience and a Parental Insights feature,” the company said. “We have prominent disclaimers in every chat to remind users that a Character is not a real person and that everything a Character says should be treated as fiction.”

    Meta declined to comment on the inquiry and Alphabet, Snap, OpenAI and X.AI did not immediately respond to messages for comment.

    OpenAI and Meta earlier this month announced changes to how their chatbots respond to teenagers asking questions about suicide or showing signs of mental and emotional distress. OpenAI said it is rolling out new controls enabling parents to link their accounts to their teen’s account.

    Parents can choose which features to disable and “receive notifications when the system detects their teen is in a moment of acute distress,” according to a company blog post that says the changes will go into effect this fall.

    Regardless of a user’s age, the company says its chatbots will attempt to redirect the most distressing conversations to more capable AI models that can provide a better response.

    Meta also said it is now blocking its chatbots from talking with teens about self-harm, suicide, disordered eating and inappropriate romantic conversations, and instead directs them to expert resources. Meta already offers parental controls on teen accounts.

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  • Charlie Kirk Was Shot and Killed in a Post-Content-Moderation World

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    Another TikTok video Degeling shared with WIRED showed a slow-motion, close-up angle of the bullet hitting Kirk’s neck. The tone of the video was conspiratorial: The user who uploaded it added spooky music and a digitally narrated voice, asking, “What is the black thing on his shirt and why did it move like this before he got shot?” As of Thursday morning, the video was still online. It had been up for eight hours and had more than 900 comments (with many saying the “black thing” was a microphone).

    As of Thursday morning, on Instagram, a search for “Charlie Kirk shot” surfaced a close-up video of the incident as the first result. The video autoplays as a thumbnail, without warning. At the time of writing, the video had 15.3 million views.

    Not only are the Kirk shooting videos spreading rapidly, but some are in clear violation of the platforms’ social media policies. For example, TikTok’s terms of use state that the company does not allow “gory, gruesome, disturbing, or extremely violent content.”

    On other platforms, the Kirk video falls into a gray area. Meta’s overarching policy is to age-restrict certain content, require warning labels, and remove some graphic depictions of violence.

    A spokesperson for Meta said that, per the company’s Violent and Graphic Content policies, it’s applying a “Mark as Sensitive” warning label to footage of the Kirk shooting, and are age-gating it to users 18 and older. The spokesperson also said that the company has 15,000 people reviewing content for Meta—though it did not say whether these are employees or contractors—and that it does not allow videos that glorify, represent, or support the incident or perpetrator.

    Meta also states in its online Transparency Center that it does not allow content of “terrorist attacks, hate events, multiple-victim violence or attempted multiple-victim violence, serial murders, or hate crimes perpetrator-generated content relating to such attacks; or third-party imagery depicting the moment of such attacks on visible victims.” Still, the widely circulated footage of Kirk being shot, for now, is allowable. It will get a warning label and be age-gated, but not removed from Meta platforms unless determined to be in clear violation of the “glorified content” policy.

    X tells users that they “may share graphic media if it is properly labeled, not prominently displayed and is not excessively gory or depicting sexual violence.” The platform notes that content that is “explicitly threatening, inciting, glorifying, or expressing desire for violence” is not allowed.

    Mahadevan, from the Poynter Institute, says that he saw the Kirk shooting video without his consent multiple times on X on Wednesday, likening it to a version of “4Chan turned into a mainstream social media platform.” (He also says he opened up Facebook on Thursday morning and immediately saw a video of Kirk being shot.)

    X did not reply to requests for comment or questions about whether the Kirk video was considered “excessively gory” by X’s standards.

    But X appears to have another content moderation problem: A few hours after Kirk was pronounced dead, the AI chatbot Grok, which runs on X, insisted that Kirk was “fine and active as ever.” X did not reply to further questions from WIRED about Grok’s misinformation about the Kirk shooting.

    TikTok did not respond to WIRED’s request for comment. Bluesky has said it’s suspending accounts that encourage violence and taking down close-up videos of the event.

    For now, the videos of Charlie Kirk’s shooting continue to spread online.

    “This is all psychologically damaging to our society in ways we don’t understand yet,” Mahadevan said. “We’re seeing posts on X of people saying, ‘Congratulations, you’ve radicalized me.’ And part of that is because they’re seeing the video of Kirk being killed. They’re not just reading about it. They’re actually seeing it.”

    Additional reporting by Kylie Robison.

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    Lauren Goode

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  • Right-Wing Activists Are Targeting People for Allegedly Celebrating Charlie Kirk’s Death

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    Far-right influencers and violent extremists are posting identifying details about people they view as celebrating or glorifying the murder of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. The campaign has been swift and widespread and has already led to at least one person losing their job and others receiving death threats.

    The people posting the identifying information include Chaya Raichik, who runs the hugely influential, hate-filled LibsofTikTok account on X, Trump-whisperer Laura Loomer, and former Proud Boy leader Enrique Tarrio.

    A central hub of this activity is a website called Charlie’s Murderers, which was registered in the early evening on the day Kirk was shot and is revealing certain personal information, such as social media usernames and email addresses, of individuals the operators believe were celebrating the horrific murder.

    One of the first names listed on the sites was Rachel Gilmore, an independent journalist at Bubble Pop Media who wrote on X that she was “terrified to think of how far-right fans of Kirk, aching for more violence, could very well turn this into an even more radicalizing moment. Will they now believe their fears have been proven right and feel they have a right to ‘retaliate,’ regardless of who actually was behind the initial shooting?”

    As WIRED reported, this is exactly how much of the far right—along with Republican lawmakers including President Donald Trump—did respond to the news, even though no suspect had been arrested and no motive had been revealed.

    For Gilmore, the impact of her inclusion on the website was instant and terrifying.

    “This website has me genuinely afraid for my safety,” Gilmore tells WIRED. “I feel awful for anyone whose name is on it. It’s clear that the purpose of the website is to do exactly what the post that landed me on there warned Kirk’s supporters might do: retaliate.”

    Gilmore has received multiple death and rape threats since the site went live on Wednesday evening. (WIRED reviewed screenshots of emails and direct messages Gilmore has received to verify the threats.) She has not reported the threats to the police yet, she says.

    “I’ve gotten emails and DMs promising to find out where I live,” Gilmore says. “I have folks claiming my information is all over 4chan telling me in the same breath that they hope I get ‘raped and killed’ and telling me to ‘have fun walking the streets of’ my city, which they name.”

    At the time of publication, two dozen people were listed on the site, with many entries including full names, employment details, location, and social media accounts. The site’s operators, who are anonymous, claim to have received “thousands” of submissions. “All of them will be reviewed and uploaded shortly,” a note on the website reads. “This is a permanent archive and will soon contain a search feature.”

    “Most likely, we’d be happy to answer your questions,” the people controlling the website told WIRED in an email. Subsequent emails, though, went unanswered.

    The website asks people to submit a potential target’s full name, location, and employer information, as well as screenshots of incriminating social media posts, via email. An About section on the website, added on Thursday morning, says: “This is not a doxxing website. This website is a lawful data aggregator of publicly-available information. It has been created for the purposes of public education.”

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    David Gilbert

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  • Tweet As I Say, Not As I Tweet: Plano Rep. Breaks Own Rule About Political Violence

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    As the news of Charlie Kirk’s death on Wednesday quickly made its way around social media, politicians from both parties seemed to be in a race to see whose thumbs could offer up their thoughts and prayers the fastest. You had liberal California Gov. Gavin Newsom expressing his sadness, as well as Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who called Kirk “a friend” in a post on X. President Donald Trump was one of the first, if not the first, to break the news that Kirk had died following the shooting on a Utah college campus…

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    Kelly Dearmore

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  • How AI Helped Me Get 7 Million Views on Instagram Reels | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    If you’ve been creating content for social media, you’ve likely heard the buzz about AI. But I’m not here to talk about it as some abstract revolutionary tool. I’m here to show you how AI helped me create two amazing Instagram video reels — racking up over 7 million views in just a few days and how it’s completely changed the game for content creators like us.

    Once you grasp what AI can do and how to use it, the possibilities can become endless. Here’s my story and how you, too, can tap into AI to take your social media content to the next level.

    How AI helped me create viral content

    The story starts with my visit to the U.S. Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach, California. I went there intending to create some fresh original brand content in one of the most dynamic environments possible — surfing championships with energy, stunning visuals and fans everywhere. It was amazing!

    I captured loads of raw footage, took photos, networked with media and absorbed the vibrant atmosphere. But it wasn’t until I brought my footage back and combined it with AI tools that the magic truly happened.

    Using AI, I was able to take my content to a level I couldn’t have achieved otherwise. These weren’t just surf clips; they were something bigger. One video layered storytelling with mind-blowing visual effects — waves transforming into algorithms, surfers riding beams of light and the entire scene looking like a sci-fi sportscast. Without AI, creating such effects or even conceptualizing them would’ve taken the pros weeks of editing and would have been impossible for me to create.

    The second viral video took the emotional route — AI helped me analyze the patterns of successful emotional video stories. I spliced candid moments of athletes prepping, fans cheering and sunsets framing the beach. I turned it into a mini feature film that resonated deeply with my followers. The AI perfectly timed transitions, voice inflection and audio swells for a truly cinematic experience.

    To my amazement, both videos blew up. Each crossed over 7 million views in roughly two to three days. What made it extraordinary wasn’t the views themselves — it was realizing these videos wouldn’t exist in their viral form without the capabilities AI gave me.

    Related: How to Create Better Content With AI — Plus 11 Tools to Get You There

    Why AI is a game-changer in content creation

    AI is unlocking creative potential we didn’t even know we had. It’s not just about making tasks quicker (although that’s a huge benefit). It’s about transforming what we think is impossible to create into possible.

    Here are the key ways AI is changing the social media content game and how you can use it to stand out.

    1. AI brings your creative vision to life faster

    Say goodbye to countless hours spent editing, refining and perfecting content. AI tools can automate tedious processes while enhancing the quality of your work.

    Even if you have wild, creative ideas you don’t have the technical know-how to execute, AI bridges the gap. Tools can generate custom visuals, effects and enhancements that match your vision, often in minutes.

    Pro tip: Create mood boards or brainstorm audacious ideas and test them with AI tools. Experimentation is key to unlocking what’s possible.

    2. AI can analyze what works (and what doesn’t)

    AI doesn’t just help you create, it helps you create smarter. Analytics platforms powered by AI can study trends, competitor performance and audience behavior to guide your content strategy.

    For instance, some AI tools can analyze which content formats, tones or topics resonate most with your audience. AI can also predict the best times to post based on audience engagement patterns.

    Actionable insight: Run A/B tests on your content ideas. AI tools make it easier to add captions or video formats to see what drives maximum engagement.

    3. AI turns raw footage into professional-grade material

    Imagine turning random clips you filmed on your phone into something that feels like a Hollywood production. AI is making it easier for creators to bridge that gap.

    Try this: Leverage AI to create polished scenes from mundane clips. Even a daily vlog can feel like a blockbuster with thoughtfully applied AI enhancements.

    4. It scales content creation without sacrificing quality

    AI doesn’t just amplify single pieces of content; it lets you multiply your efforts across platforms. Once you create a video, AI tools can automatically distill the video into Instagram Reels, TikTok clips and YouTube Shorts while customizing content for each platform’s audience.

    Pro tip: Use these tools to maximize reach without reinventing the wheel for every post. Repurpose wisely for consistency across multiple channels.

    Related: Two-Thirds of Small Businesses Are Already Using AI — Here’s How to Get Even More Out of It

    Final thoughts

    AI isn’t just a tool — it’s become a co-creator, enabling the kind of content that was once limited to professionals with hefty budgets and years of experience. Whether you’re making jaw-dropping visuals, tapping into data-backed insights or optimizing your content for different audiences, AI levels the playing field.

    If I could take two videos from an idea to 7 million views within days, imagine what you could do by harnessing AI in your own creative process. Experiment with tools, stay curious and don’t be afraid to push creative boundaries.

    The future of content creation is here, and it’s powered by AI. Are you ready to make it a part of your story?

    If you’ve been creating content for social media, you’ve likely heard the buzz about AI. But I’m not here to talk about it as some abstract revolutionary tool. I’m here to show you how AI helped me create two amazing Instagram video reels — racking up over 7 million views in just a few days and how it’s completely changed the game for content creators like us.

    Once you grasp what AI can do and how to use it, the possibilities can become endless. Here’s my story and how you, too, can tap into AI to take your social media content to the next level.

    How AI helped me create viral content

    The rest of this article is locked.

    Join Entrepreneur+ today for access.

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    Tonia Ryan

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  • Politicians condemn killing of Charlie Kirk

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    It was President Trump who announced that conservative commentator and activist Charlie Kirk had died after he was shot during a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday afternoon. The president, who was close to Kirk, praised his appeal to young Americans and mourned him in a social media post.

    “The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social.

    The president also ordered flags to be lowered to half-staff until Sunday evening to honor Kirk.

    Later Wednesday, Mr. Trump released a video statement about Kirk, blaming the “radical left” for his killing. “For years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world’s worst mass murderers and criminals,” he said in a video posted to Truth Social. “This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now.”

    Democratic and Republican politicians alike condemned Kirk’s murder, although among some in Congress, there were disagreements about how to observe his death on the House floor. Speaker Mike Johnson attempted to hold a moment of silence for Kirk. Then, according to the House gallery, GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado asked for a point of order — she reshared an X post that said she had asked for a moment of prayer. A Democrat yelled, “No.” Boebert and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a Florida Republican, then started to speak out, as other lawmakers who appeared to be Democrats responded. One yelled, “There was just a shooting in Colorado!” Another said “Pass some gun laws!” Johnson repeatedly called for order.

    In an appearance on Fox News, Johnson explained what had happened. “A motion was made on the floor to have a vocal prayer, and it turned into an argument,” he said, adding, “You know, that’s where our politics are in the country right now. We have got to turn the heat down a little bit. We got to have civil discourse.”

    “The great tragic irony about this, one of the tragedies, is that Charlie represented that, the best of it,” Johnson continued. “He’s the guy that was the champion out on the front lines having the debate, but he he loved the people that disagreed with him …. He loved it, and he loved the debate.”

    “That’s what’s so important for us to remember,” Johnson said. “We shouldn’t regard one another as enemies. We’re fellow Americans, and we should have vigorous debate, but it cannot lead to political violence. It’s just too much.”

    File: Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, enters the plaza and talks with his supporters, May 1, 2025. / Credit: Michael Ho Wai Lee/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

    Biden says there’s “no place in our country for this kind of violence”

    Former President Joe Biden decried the attack on Kirk in a post on social media.

    “There is no place in our country for this kind of violence. It must end now. Jill and I are praying for Charlie Kirk’s family and loved ones,” he said in a post shared to X.

    Obama calls Kirk’s killing an act of “despicable violence”

    Former President Barack Obama condemned the shooting, calling it “despicable violence” in a post on X.

    “We don’t yet know what motivated the person who shot and killed Charlie Kirk, but this kind of despicable violence has no place in our democracy,” Obama said. “Michelle and I will be praying for Charlie’s family tonight, especially his wife Erika and their two young children.”

    Bush says “violence and vitriol must be purged from the public square”

    In a statement, former President George W. Bush said, “Today, a young man was murdered in cold blood while expressing his political views. It happened on a college campus, where the open exchange of opposing ideas should be sacrosanct.”

    “Violence and vitriol must be purged from the public square. Members of other political parties are not our enemies; they are our fellow citizens. May God bless Charlie Kirk and his family, and may God guide America toward civility,” he said.

    Bill Clinton calls for “serious introspection”

    Former President Bill Clinton said in a social media post that he was “saddened and angered” by the shooting.

    “I hope we all go through some serious introspection and redouble our efforts to engage in debate passionately, yet peacefully,” he said.

    Melania Trump mourns Kirk, saying now, his children will be raised “with stories instead of memories”

    First lady Melania Trump imagined what the loss of Kirk will mean to his children as they grow up.

    “Charlie’s children will be raised with stories instead of memories, photographs instead of laughter, and silence where their father’s voice should have echoed,” she said in a post on X.

    Utah Gov. Spencer Cox “heartbroken” over Kirk’s death, vows justice will be served

    Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, said that he and his wife are “heartbroken” about Kirk’s death, and said they are praying for the conservative activist’s wife and two children.

    “I just got off the phone with President Trump. Working with the FBI and Utah law enforcement, we will bring to justice the individual responsible for this tragedy,” he wrote in a social media post on X.

    Sen. Mike Lee praises Kirk’s “boundless energy and great love for his country”

    Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah told CBS News he spoke with Mr. Trump about Kirk, and said the president told him, “‘I’m sure they’ll stay after him,’” referring to the shooting suspect, and “‘they need to catch this guy.’”

    “Whether you agree with him or not, you have to respect his boundless energy, his commitment to making the world a better place,” Lee also said.

    In a post on X, Lee called Kirk an “American patriot, an inspiration to countless young people to stand up and defend the timeless truths that make our country great.”

    He condemned Kirk’s murder, writing on X that it was “a cowardly act of violence, an attack on champions of freedom like Charlie, the students who gathered for civil debate, and all Americans who peacefully strive to save our nation.”

    “The terrorists will not win,” he continued. “Charlie will. Please join me in praying for his wife Erika and their children. May justice be swift.”

    House Speaker Mike Johnson says Kirk will be “sorely missed”

    House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, told reporters that Kirk was “a close friend” and “confidant.”

    “He will be sorely missed,” he said. “And we need every political leader to decry the violence and do it loudly.”

    Eric Trump says Trump properties will fly flags at half-staff

    Eric Trump described Kirk as a “dear friend” to the entire Trump family. He said all Trump properties would fly their flags at half-staff to honor him.

    Donald Trump Jr.: “I love you brother”

    Donald Trump Jr, who was close with Kirk, wrote on social media: “I love you brother. You gave so many people the courage to speak up and we will not ever be silenced.”

    “There is no question that Charlie’s work and his voice helped my father win the presidency,” Trump Jr. wrote in a lengthy follow-up post. “He changed the direction of this nation…I know Charlie’s legacy doesn’t end here. He poured into millions of young people who will carry forward the torch he lit. He built something that will outlast him, because it was grounded in faith, in truth, and in courage. And as his friend, I will never forget him. I’ll honor him by loving boldly, speaking truth without fear, and continuing his spirit of courage. His fight lives on in all of us who loved him. This is an unimaginable loss.”

    Gabby Giffords “horrified” to hear of Kirk’s shooting

    Gabby Giffords, a former U.S. congresswoman from Arizona who suffered a serious brain injury when she was shot in 2011, said in a post on X, “I’m horrified to hear that Charlie Kirk was shot at an event in Utah. Democratic societies will always have political disagreements, but we must never allow America to become a country that confronts those disagreements with violence.”

    House Oversight Chairman James Comer, Republican of Kentucky, said shooting was “awful”

    GOP House Oversight Chairman James Comer of Kentucky said he watched the video of the shooting and said it was “awful.”

    “It’s just, it’s just terrible. I mean, I think we’ve been saying for months now the political temperature is too high in America, and we’ve got to tone it back,” Comer told CBS News. “And political violence is on the rise. And, you know, I know that most of my colleagues and myself included are getting a lot more threatening calls, and it’s just, it’s a terrible environment now and again. I just feel awful for Charlie Kirk and his young family.”

    GOP Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina: Kirk meant a lot to “the right to speak freely and share your beliefs”

    Rep. Virginia Foxx, Republican of North Carolina, told CBS News at the Capitol that “there’s no room for violence, and it’s terrible. She said she’s encouraged by the bipartisan response to the attack on Kirk and noted the House Oversight Committee had paused for a moment of prayer for Kirk.

    Foxx told CBS News that Kirk represented “a category of people in our culture that’s very important,” and noted he was “very proud of the fact that he doesn’t have a college degree.”

    “He means a lot, and he means a lot, not just to the conservative movement and to the, and to that aspect of our culture, but again, the right to speak freely and share your beliefs and be safe in our country, and it’s just so unfortunate. It’s unfortunate when anybody has violence perpetrated on them, whether you’re liberal or conservative. It’s just wrong.”

    GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia: “There really aren’t words”

    Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia said of Kirk’s shooting, “There really aren’t words,” and told reporters that it will “be hard for anybody to fill his shoes.”

    “Charlie Kirk leaves a huge legacy,” she said.

    GOP Rep. Chip Roy of Texas suggests Kirk’s killing “is going to be one of those things that, you know, changes some things”

    Far right Republican Chip Roy said of Kirk, “This is a guy that you can disagree with him — I disagreed with him on most things.” But Roy admired that “he was trying to open up dialog and engage in civil discourse across college campus, appeal even those that disagree with them.”

    Roy suggested that Kirk’s murder, “is going to be one of those things that you know changes some things.”

    “I haven’t quite yet figured out how or what, but you know, it’s, you know, this one, this one hits,” he told reporters at the Capitol.

    “We should be able to speak freely and speak with passion and regard about what we believe, without it coming to that. That’s the thing … we’re here for something bigger and greater than all of ourselves,” Charlie lived it, tweeted out three days ago about his faith in his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, so, I know where he is.”

    He blamed “a country that’s turning its back on our collective faith as a nation,” saying that “this is why we’re seeing a breakdown and our ability to band together. We got to do something about that.”

    GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna blames Democrats

    Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a Florida Republican, blamed Democrats for Kirk’s shooting. “They did cause this — that type of rhetoric. You calling people fascists? You basically saying that we’re Nazis, taking away people’s rights. Charlie Kirk was literally murdered,” she told reporters. Law enforcement does not have a suspect in custody.

    Nancy Pelosi calls shooting “reprehensible”

    House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, condemned the shooting in a post on X, calling it “reprehensible.”

    “Political violence has absolutely no place in our nation,” she said, adding Americans should “hold the entire UVU community in our hearts as they endure the trauma of this gun violence.”

    Pelosi, whose husband Paul Pelosi was bludgeoned with a hammer by a man who broke into Pelosi’s San Francisco home in 2022, has frequently condemned political violence.

    California Gov. Gavin Newsom calls on Americans to “engage with each other”

    California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who hosted Kirk on his podcast earlier this year, wrote on social media that Kirk’s killing is “a reminder of how important it is for all of us, across the political spectrum, to foster genuine discourse on issues that deeply affect us all without resorting to political violence.”

    “The best way to honor Charlie’s memory is to continue his work: engage with each other, across ideology, through spirited discourse. In a democracy, ideas are tested through words and good-faith debate — never through violence,” Newsom said. “Honest disagreement makes us stronger; violence only drives us further apart and corrodes the values at the heart of this nation.”

    Charlie Kirk shooting witness says she saw “blood pouring out everywhere”

    Latest updates on Charlie Kirk’s condition after shooting | Special Report

    Charlie Kirk shot during event at Utah Valley University | Special Report

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  • Army tries to restore order in Nepal after protest violence intensifies

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    KATHMANDU, Nepal — Armed soldiers guarded the streets of Nepal’s capital Wednesday, ordering people to stay home in an attempt to restore order after tens of thousands of protesters stormed and set fire to government buildings and attacked politicians.

    Soldiers with weapons guarding the main areas of Kathmandu appeared to give some sense of control returning to the city that was overtaken by violence and chaos in previous days.

    The army warned in an announcement late Tuesday that the security forces were committed to preserving law and order. The army is rarely mobilized and so far had stayed in its barracks, but police have failed to control the situation.

    Soldiers told people in Kathmandu that the curfew was valid and checked vehicles and people. The army in a statement said 21 suspected looters had been arrested.

    The protests had grown increasingly violent Tuesday as demonstrators set fire to government buildings and politicians’ homes and attacked some leaders. The prime minister resigned amid widening criticism of the country’s political elite, though it appeared to have little effect on the unrest.

    Tens of thousands of protesters remained on the streets late in the day, blocking roads and storming government facilities. Army helicopters ferried some ministers to safe places.

    On Monday, demonstrations led by young people angry about the blocking of several social media sites gripped the capital, and police opened fire on the crowds, killing 19 people.

    The social media ban was lifted Tuesday, but the protests continued, fueled by rage over the deaths and accusations of political corruption.

    President Ram Chandra Poudel, the ceremonial head of state, appealed to the protesters to pursue a peaceful resolution and stop further escalation. He accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli and appointed Oli to lead a caretaker government until a new one is in place — though it was unclear what power he would wield or even where he was.

    The demonstrations — called the protest of Gen Z — began after the government blocked social media platforms, including Facebook, X and YouTube, saying the companies had failed to register and submit to government oversight.

    But the protests spiraled to reflect broader discontent. In particular, many young people are angry that the children of political leaders — so-called nepo kids — seem to enjoy luxury lifestyles and numerous advantages while most youth struggle to find work. With youth unemployment running at about 20% last year, according to the World Bank, the government estimates that more than 2,000 young people leave the country every day to seek work in the Middle East or Southeast Asia.

    Videos shared on social media showed protesters beating up Nepali Congress party leader Sher Bahadur Deuba and his wife, Arzu Rana Deuba, the current foreign minister. Both appeared to be bleeding, while one video showed the party leader being helped to safety. The party is the country’s largest and is part of the governing coalition.

    Smoke was still coming out of the parliament building, presidential house, the central secretariat that has the offices of the prime minister and key ministries, and the prime minister’s official residence Wednesday.

    The building of Kantipur publication, the biggest media outlet in Nepal, was torched and damaged. Car showrooms were also torched. Burned-out vehicles dotted the streets.

    Protesters had attacked government buildings and the residences of the top political leaders throughout Tuesday, blaming the government for the police opening fire on the protesters.

    In addition to the 19 fatalities, scores of people were wounded. Oli has ordered an investigation report on the shootings and promised compensation to the families.

    The violence unfolded as Nepal’s government pursues a broader attempt to regulate social media with a bill aimed at ensuring the platforms are “properly managed, responsible and accountable.” The proposal has been widely criticized as a tool for censorship and for punishing government opponents who voice their protests online.

    The bill would require companies to appoint a liaison office or a point of contact in the country. Rights groups have called it an attempt by the government to curb freedom of expression and fundamental rights.

    The registration requirement applied to about two dozen social networks widely used in Nepal. Those that didn’t comply were blocked last week, though TikTok, Viber and three other platforms that registered were operating without interruption.

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  • Man convicted in fatal shooting of victim lured by ruse to marijuana sale in Inglewood

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    LOS ANGELES — An Antelope Valley man has been convicted of fatally shooting a marijuana dealer during a planned robbery in Inglewood four years ago.

    Leandrew Raglin, 22, of Lancaster was found guilty Friday in downtown Los Angeles of four federal counts, including conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery and brandishing a firearm in a crime of violence resulting in death, constituting murder, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

    Evidence presented at an eight-day trial showed Raglin and co-defendants Mateo Paul, 23, of Long Beach and Iysis Elanore Smith, 22, of Inglewood agreed to rob the dealer at gunpoint. The trio planned a ruse to lure the dealer via social media to a meeting, where they intended to ambush him and steal his stash, the jury heard.

    On March 15, 2021, Smith approached the vehicle occupied by the victim. Federal prosecutors said that while Smith distracted the dealer, Paul and Raglin parked behind the victim’s vehicle. Raglin then exited the vehicle Paul was driving, approached the passenger side of the victim’s car and opened fire, repeatedly wounding the person in the passenger seat, federal prosecutors said.

    Raglin then walked around to the other side of the vehicle and opened fire, fatally wounding the dealer in the driver’s seat, evidence showed. The 26-year-old man who died was identified in court papers only as “A.B.”

    U.S. District Judge Fernando L. Aenlle-Rocha scheduled a March 13 sentencing hearing, at which time Raglin will face between 10 years and life imprisonment, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

    Paul pleaded guilty in February to interference with commerce by robbery and brandishing and discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. He is scheduled to be sentenced in L.A. federal court on Sept. 26.

    Smith pleaded guilty to felony robbery charges. Both Paul and Smith face potential life sentences, prosecutors said.

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    City News Service

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  • Mom’s Creative Side Hustle Grew to $570,000 a Month: Penny Linn | Entrepreneur

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    This Side Hustle Spotlight Q&A features Krista LeRay, the 34-year-old founder of needlepoint store Penny Linn. She lives with her husband and two children in Westport, Connecticut. Responses have been edited for length and clarity.

    Image Credit: Courtesy of Penny Linn. Krista LeRay.

    Want to read more stories like this? Subscribe to Money Makers, our free newsletter packed with creative side hustle ideas and successful strategies. Sign up here.

    What was your day job or primary occupation when you started your side hustle?
    Before starting Penny Linn, a new-age needlepoint store offering hand-painted canvases, accessories and more, I was a full-time influencer running my blog, Covering The Bases. I started the blog in 2013, but I only took it full-time about a year before starting Penny Linn. While managing the blog, I had a corporate career at Major League Baseball, where I worked on the social media team for over five years.

    Related: He Spent $36 to Start a Side Hustle. Now the Business Earns 6 Figures a Year — With Just 1-2 Hours of Work a Day: ‘Freedom.’

    When did you start your side hustle, and where did you find the inspiration for it?
    I initially learned to stitch from my grandma, who inspired the name of the business, and then I really got into it in college at the University of Kentucky. I picked it back up again in 2018 when I started stitching custom belts for my dad and husband, and a ring bearer pillow for my wedding in 2019. Little did I know that this would be the perfect hobby to fall back in love with as the pandemic approached.

    As I got back into stitching, I quickly stitched through my stash of canvases and was disappointed with both the in-person and online needlepoint shopping experiences. It felt antiquated; there weren’t many sites with a good user experience, a handful of the shops made you call to order, and the designs felt very mature. I found myself wishing there were more fun and better accessories and canvases, so I started making them after my search came up short.

    Image Credit: Courtesy of Penny Linn

    What were some of the first steps you took to get your side hustle off the ground? How much money/investment did it take to launch?
    When I started painting my own canvases, I wasn’t even in the mindset of starting a business; it was still just a hobby for me. I probably spent under $100 buying a blank canvas on Etsy and paint at Michaels, and painted the infamous Ralph’s Coffee cup for myself. When I shared it on my Instagram, I had an overwhelming number of followers ask to buy one, so I knew my followers were also interested in needlepoint.

    As I began searching for cuter accessories for myself, I found that many custom items had a 100-item minimum. At the time, I had a business bank account for my blog, so I used that money to order the inventory and knew that I could at least sell 90 of them to my followers who also needlepointed. After making a few canvases and seeing the demand, I realized I had enough ideas to launch a larger collection online. So I bought the smallest Shopify package, started sourcing needleminders and project bags, and recruited my friends and family to help paint canvases.

    All in all, I spent about $5,000 on the initial inventory for our accessories and an additional $2,000 on shipping materials, canvas tape, etc., but none of this accounted for my time painting the canvases one by one, which was the biggest investment.

    Related: These 31-Year-Old Best Friends Started a Side Hustle to Solve a Workout Struggle — And It’s On Track to Hit $10 Million Annual Revenue This Year

    If you could go back in your business journey and change one process or approach, what would it be, and how do you wish you’d done it differently?
    Looking back on how I built my business, it’s a catch-22; if I had known what I know today, I might have done it differently. However, having my hands in every aspect of the business has brought me a great deal of knowledge and appreciation that continues to shape the business.

    In the beginning, I hand-painted nearly every canvas, which took many, many hours, but it kept costs low since my labor was essentially free and gave me control over my inventory. If I had known that people outsourced painting, it would have saved me so much time and energy, but doing it myself taught me the value of a hand-painted canvas.

    Similarly, I wish I had hired people at the beginning to take more off my plate, but by doing it all, I learned valuable lessons and knew how I wanted every aspect of the business to run. I don’t think Penny Linn would be such a thoughtful and impactful brand today if I hadn’t had my fingers on every aspect of the business in the beginning.

    Related: I Interviewed 5 Entrepreneurs Generating Up to $20 Million in Revenue a Year — And They All Have the Same Regret About Starting Their Business

    When it comes to this specific business, what is something you’ve found particularly challenging and/or surprising that people who get into this type of work should be prepared for, but likely aren’t?
    The reason Penny Linn has been so successful as a business, and also in reviving the cultural love for needlepoint, is that we brought much-needed innovation to the industry. I never expected the amount of pushback from vendors and industry vets I received. Across the board, people pushed back on our ideas and how we ran our business.

    Today, we have found partners who believe in our growth and are building with us. When we launched our acrylic line in 2022, there was so much chatter online that it wasn’t innovative or unique, but today we hold a patent for the design, and it’s one of our bestselling lines. We also take a slightly smaller wholesale margin than the industry standard because I believe in making needlepoint accessible. Our wholesale partners were initially adamant that it wouldn’t be successful, but it has proven otherwise. I developed a thick skin while blogging and learned to shut out the noise, which has followed me into Penny Linn as we continue to shake up the industry.

    Image Credit: Courtesy of Penny Linn

    Can you recall a specific instance when something went very wrong? How did you fix it?
    I vividly remember one of our first bag launches, which did not go as planned. It was a beautiful project bag with leather and PVC that we sold through so quickly! As I was packing them, I tested a few of the zippers and was very disappointed to find that they stuck and were difficult to open, despite the samples working perfectly. I reached out to each customer who had ordered them and let them know that the bags weren’t up to our standards. I offered them a full refund if they wanted to return the bag or a discount if they wanted to keep it.

    This became one of my biggest rules in business: When anything goes wrong, I need to take ownership and work to rectify it immediately. Our community was beyond appreciative of how proactive we were, and most ended up keeping the bags. We put the rest of the bags on clearance and now work with our team and vendors to ensure we have quality control measures in place.

    How long did it take you to see consistent monthly revenue? How much did the side hustle earn?
    In the first six months after we launched, the only consistent revenue was what we generated during launches. Everything would sell out so quickly that we wouldn’t have any inventory left until the next launch. We would often have a day or two without sales in between launches, which wasn’t a sustainable way to run a business. To prevent this, we started producing more inventory and introduced our Penny Linn Collective, allowing us to bring on designers who expanded our offerings. Our designer collective has been fruitful for us over the past five years, and we continue to grow it today.

    We started seeing more consistent revenue in year two, doing just over $30,000 per month. The popularity of our launches started to level out, and we could better forecast inventory to keep our income steady. It was such a big deal for us at the time to reach these numbers, but we do that in a day now. Each year has been drastically different in terms of demand, and about every six months, we reach an inflection point where we need to increase quantities even more.

    Related: This Couple’s ‘Scrappy’ Side Hustle Sold Out in 1 Weekend — It Hit $1 Million in 3 Years and Now Makes Millions Annually: ‘Lean But Powerful’

    What does growth and revenue look like now?
    It’s been really exciting that Penny Linn has doubled or tripled each year. In 2024, we did $4.4 million in revenue, and we have already surpassed that and are on track to double it in 2025. We are currently averaging $570,000 per month. Whatever I think our ceiling might be, we come in and double it each year. Our growth has been so explosive that I do expect it to start leveling out in the next year or so, but there is still so much opportunity for the business.

    My mind is always racing with new ideas for the brand as we expand our product offering, launch new designers under the Penny Linn Collective and bring new accessories to market. Our store opening in Norwalk, Connecticut, earlier this year was a huge milestone for us, and now we are exploring what more stores might look like. I don’t see our growth slowing down anytime soon.

    Image Credit: Courtesy of Penny Linn

    What do you enjoy most about running this business?
    I honestly love what I do so much and find great fulfillment in it. I feel so much pride, excitement and joy thinking about what we’ve created at Penny Linn and the business I’ve built in under five years. It’s nothing I could have ever imagined as my career or what I expected Penny Linn to grow into. We haven’t seen many bumps in the road yet, and keep having success after success, which energizes me to keep going.

    I pride myself on the fact that Penny Linn is “by a stitcher for a stitcher,” and there is nothing more satisfying as a needlepointer to want something in my collection and to be able to make it. I’m privileged to have the ability to work with our vendors to create the products of my dreams, and it’s just as exciting to see how much our community loves them.

    I also find so much joy in the change we have brought to the industry and how we have been able to bring needlepoint to the forefront for a new generation. It’s crazy to sit back and think that my brand has revived a centuries-old tradition and built it into something that will continue to live on and evolve for generations to come.

    Related: These Friends Started a Side Hustle in Their Kitchens. Sales Spiked to $130,000 in 3 Days — Then 7 Figures: ‘Revenue Has Grown Consistently.’

    What’s your best business advice?
    The first is, “If you don’t ask, the answer is always no.” People are often scared to reach out because they are afraid of rejection, but my motto is always to ask, and if they don’t reply, it’s still not a no. If they don’t respond, it’s not the end of the world, but the opportunity for the answer to be yes is so much greater.

    My second is to learn the difference between constructive feedback and criticism. If someone doesn’t like you or your business, they will never have anything nice to say, and it’s not worth listening to. However, if they are a loyal fan and a frequent shopper, and they comment on how a product or process might be improved, it’s worth listening to. It’s easy to get lost in the negative feedback, but the faster you learn what is worth listening to, the better decisions you will make for your business.

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    Amanda Breen

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  • Right-Wing Influencers Are Turning to Foreign Affairs

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    These trips have seemingly influenced the way traditional politicians spread diplomatic messages on their own social media accounts. When the Trump administration first partnered with the Nayib Bukele government this spring to send migrants detained in the US to the El Salvadoran megaprison Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), government officials traveled to the prison, and images of the visits were blasted online. Department of Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem stood in front of dozens of CECOT’s prisoners who were lined up behind the prison’s bars where she took photos and videos warning immigrants that this prison could be “one of the consequences” they face if they’re caught unlawfully entering the US.

    The strategy hasn’t been confined to explicitly political influencers either. In July, Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu joined popular YouTuber group the Nelk Boys for their Full Send Podcast. The more than an hourlong podcast provided Netanyahu with a new audience composed primarily of young men who rarely tune into traditional news, allowing the world leader to reach a coveted demographic credited with helping Trump win reelection in 2024. Netanyahu’s team reached out to Full Send to schedule the interview, John Shahidi, who manages the Nelk brand, tells WIRED.

    “We are so not qualified to do this,” Kyle Forgeard said at the beginning of the podcast, shortly before Netanyahu joined. “That’s what’s interesting about this.”

    The podcast also showed how these kinds of political collaborations could blow up in the creators’ faces. Clips of Nelk’s interview with Netanyahu drew fierce criticism from both the right and left online, with critics accusing the Full Send crew of trivializing Israel’s war on Gaza and extending Netanyahu a platform to spread propaganda.

    “Asking him if he prefers Burger King or McDonald’s … while people are starving … this is insane,” one YouTube commenter wrote. (After going on the Israel365 trip and getting some similar blowback, Zirkle “parted ways” with Bannon’s War Room, Axios reported.)

    For foreign governments seeking approval from the MAGA base, meeting with these creators provides them with insight on US voters and a platform to speak directly to them.

    “If you want to understand MAGA, you have to understand the online ecosystem that fuels our movement. That’s why it’s no surprise countries around the world are eager to engage with creators who have the ear of the administration and finger on the pulse,” says CJ Pearson, a MAGA-aligned creator.

    Conducting diplomacy via influencer may in some cases have the additional advantage of falling into blind spots in social media regulation and existing laws governing lobbying, allowing creators to operate on behalf of foreign governments without traditional disclosures.

    “Part of the challenge with political influencers is that it’s unclear the extent to which they’re being paid by various competing interest groups and organizations,” says Samuel Woolley, an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh who studies digital propaganda. “Political influencers exist in this liminal space where they’re one part campaign mouthpiece and another part independent actor.”

    This points to what’s new—not trips and conferences for potentially sympathetic and influential people but rather using them to establish a new type of diplomatic messenger. Partisan influencers with millions of followers can amplify foreign policy talking points on behalf of the MAGA movement and any foreign governments eager to access their platforms—all beyond existing rules and oversight.

    “It makes them very valuable,” says Woolley, “given discrepancies and extant holes in the law to political organizations that are hoping to do things a little more under the table and in a little bit more of a casual or less trackable manner.”

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    Makena Kelly

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  • Taylor Swift and Amazon’s ‘Antifragile’ Secret to Business Success | Entrepreneur

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    If you’ve had internet access since 2005, you’re familiar with Taylor Swift.

    Image Credit: Gilbert Flores | Getty Images

    The superstar musician is the most-streamed artist in the world. She is the first to win album of the year at the Grammy Awards four times. Her Eras Tour generated more than $2 billion in ticket sales. And she has a net worth of $1.6 billion.

    She also has something valuable in common with Amazon, the Jeff Bezos-founded ecommerce giant that boasts a $2.5 trillion market capitalization.

    Related: Don’t ‘Shake Off’ These 5 Business, Brand and Legal Lessons From Taylor Swift

    Aside from Swift and Amazon’s status as two of the most successful brands in the world, the pair shares a rare trait that’s helped them get there, according to former strategist at Harvard Business School Sinéad O’Sullivan.

    In her new book, Good Ideas and Power Moves: Ten Lessons for Success From Taylor Swift, O’Sullivan claims that Taylor Swift and Amazon have both reached the pinnacles of their respective industries by being “antifragile.”

    “In an increasingly complex and seemingly random world, some systems perform better in chaos than others.”

    The concept of “antifragility” relates to a field of physics called chaos theory. Lebanese American scholar of math and financial markets Nassim Taleb coined the term after noticing a peculiar event unfolding in systems and organizations across a wide range of fields, from biology to urban development, healthcare and more.

    “What he saw was that in an increasingly complex and seemingly random world, some systems perform better in chaos than others,” O’Sullivan writes.

    Essentially, antifragility flouts the human desire for stability and instinct to fear what’s different or unstable.

    “The idea of antifragility goes far beyond saying that uncertainty doesn’t have to be bad,” O’Sullivan explains. “It actually says that uncertainty is good. Antifragility isn’t just about surviving chaos; it’s about flourishing in it. It’s about flipping the script and turning adversity into opportunity, uncertainty into innovation and chaos into creativity.”

    Related: Embracing Antifragility — How to Leverage Uncertainty, Volatility and Stress for Unprecedented Growth and Innovation

    The immune system and winemaking serve as real-life examples of antifragility at work, O’Sullivan notes. A strong immune system has been exposed to pathogens and can better ward off future threats. Great wine often comes from vines under stress because they grow smaller grapes with more concentrated flavor.

    “Amazon’s business actually gets stronger because the volatility wipes out its competitors.”

    The pandemic helped reveal which companies were antifragile, too — those that didn’t have to wait for share prices to recover because they’d never really fallen in the first place, according to O’Sullivan. As many major retailers struggled to stock their shelves, Amazon maintained total control over its supply chain and saw its online business soar.

    “At Amazon, there is no single point of failure that would prevent toilet paper from being passed from millions of available sellers to millions of eagerly awaiting buyers,” O’Sullivan says. “Amazon’s business actually gets stronger because the volatility wipes out its competitors.”

    Likewise, Swift has demonstrated remarkable antifragility while building her business over the years. O’Sullivan cites four career moments when Swift took a “destructive” path that weakened the competition and strengthened her brand:

    1. In 2014, Swift withdrew her music from Spotify, the fastest-growing music streaming platform at that time, because she believed its compensation model for artists devalued their work.

    Why wasn’t the move “fatal,” as many industry experts assumed it would be? The “friendship first” and “music later” relationship she has with her fans plays an important role, according to O’Sullivan.

    “Taylor Swift can be compared to a Rolex watch, not a Swatch,” O’Sullivan writes. “The harder it is for people to access her music, the more they crave her and are willing to follow her. By withdrawing her music, Taylor Swift became what is known as a ‘Veblen’ or a ‘luxury’ good.”

    When Swift left Spotify, her music was in the playlists of more than 19 million users; the week she returned in 2017, she hit nearly 48 million streams.

    Related: 3 Lessons for Entrepreneurs From Spotify, Which Won Over Taylor Swift and Just Made its Billion-Dollar IPO

    2. Swift isn’t afraid to “beef” with other musicians and celebrities — like Kanye West after he told her on stage at the 2009 MTV Music Video Awards that “Beyonce had the best video of all time.”

    “The more Kanye West beat down Taylor Swift, the stronger her fan base rallied around her, leading to extravagantly higher levels of emotional connection between Taylor and her fans within the Swiftverse,” O’Sullivan says.

    O’Sullivan adds that “at least from the outside, Taylor never starts the fights,” which also tends to fit within three main growth-fueling “vibes”: “powerful men taking advantage of less powerful women,” “women who are bitchy and unkind” and “being on the right side of history.”

    Related: 7 Business Feuds With More Beef Than Kanye vs. Taylor

    3. During the pandemic, Swift released not one but two surprise albums despite marketing limitations amid lockdowns and industry precedents.

    “When everybody else was fumbling to get a handle on their life, how was Taylor Swift able to Amazon herself?” O’Sullivan writes. “Well, most of it comes down to the fact that, like Amazon, she has spent her entire career creating, buying and owning her own ‘value chain,’ or the different parts of the music industry that she needs to engage with to release music.”

    The Swiftverse is “one hell of a strategic asset,” O’Sullivan notes — and kept her able to deliver core products into the market.

    Related: ‘Historically Unprecedented Demand’: Taylor Swift Fans Caused Ticketmaster’s Site To Crash Over 5000 Times

    4. Finally, Swift rerecorded her albums after Big Machine Label Group was sold to Scooter Braun‘s Ithaca Holdings.

    Some industry leaders considered the lengthy and expensive move one that “would suck the oxygen out of her career” — but because Swift is antifragile, the opposite proved true, O’Sullivan says.

    “As Taylor and Amazon both show us, [during a crisis] is exactly when their stock is going to rise,” O’Sullivan writes. “Investors who pay hundreds of millions of dollars to try to own what they think is Taylor Swift’s ‘core product’ (music) simply don’t understand her empire as well as she understands it.”

    Related: Taylor Swift Just Made a Surprise Announcement, Revealing the Marketing Genius Behind Her $1.5 Billion Fortune

    Going forward, business and strategy leaders who successfully lead through chaos will all be building antifragile organizations — Swift just happens to be ahead of the game, O’Sullivan says.

    What’s more, as beneficial as antifragility is, O’Sullivan acknowledges that adopting it isn’t easy. It requires embracing uncertainty and volatility, building resilience and accepting “weird and bad things.”

    O’Sullivan’s Good Ideas and Power Moves offers other takeaways from Swift’s career that entrepreneurs and business leaders might find applicable to their own, including how to be a unicorn, have a strategy and stick to it, build a world instead of products, negotiate with authenticity and more.

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  • Is it safe to travel to Nepal? Government advice amid deadly protests

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    Flights in and out of Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, have been cancelled with the airport shutting following deadly protests in Nepal over a government social media ban.

    At least 19 people have been killed, and around 100 more injured, as clashes between demonstrators and police erupted in Kathmandu.

    Kathmandu is a popular city break destination due to its ancient temples, bustling markets and spectacular Unesco World Heritage sites, such as Kathmandu Durbar Square. It is also often the departure point for those set to climb the world’s highest mountain, Mount Everest, located outside the city in the Himalayas.

    For travellers planning on visiting Kathmandu or other areas in Nepal, and those already there, here is the latest UK government travel advice.

    What is happening in Nepal?

    At least 19 people have been killed in Nepal amid clashes between protestors and police over a government social media ban.

    The demonstrations started when thousands from Generation Z, those in their teens and 20s, protested against the ban on 26 social media platforms, including Facebook, YouTube, and X.

    Police have been accused of “firing indiscriminately” at demonstrators, while authorities say the protestors broke through a barricade to force their way into the parliament complex in Kathmandu.

    Protesters burn vehicles and tires during protests against social media ban and corruption in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, 9 September (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

    Amid the protests, tyres have been set on fire and objects have been hurled at rows of riot police. One eyewitness told The Independent he saw protesters setting fire to the homes of some politicians in Kathmandu on Tuesday.

    Protestors marched through the city bearing the national flag and carrying signs stating slogans such as “Shut down corruption, not social media”.

    The protests that started in the capital have spread nationwide to other cities, including Biratnagar, Bharatpur, and Pokhara.

    Nepal has since reversed the ban, withdrawing the decision to block social media platforms following an emergency cabinet meeting late on Monday. On Tuesday, Nepal’s prime minister KP Sharma Oli released a statement saying he was resigning in light of the crisis.

    A burning police station during protests against social media ban and corruption in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday 9 September (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

    A burning police station during protests against social media ban and corruption in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday 9 September (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

    Even after the social media ban was lifted, demonstrators said they would continue to protest. Demonstrators say their grievances are about more than just the social media ban, with some stating that they are continuing to protest corruption and nepotism.

    What is the UK government advice?

    The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) has confirmed that there have been a number of casualties in Nepal and has advised travellers to avoid protests.

    “Protests are taking place in Kathmandu and elsewhere across the country. There have been violent clashes, with lethal force used by the police. This has led to a number of deaths and injuries,” the FCDO said.

    “Curfews have been introduced in several cities, including Kathmandu and Pokhara. Avoid protests, check local media for updates, and follow direction of the authorities.”

    “Kathmandu airport has also been disrupted, impacting domestic and international flights. Contact your airline, hotel and tour operator for up-to-date information before travel. Tourists should be able to move around and travel to and from airports with proof of travel plans,” the FCDO added.

    “While the social media ban has been lifted, expect continued disruption to services.”

    A fire burns as demonstrators gather on a road during a protest to condemn the police's deadly crackdown on demonstrators in Kathmandu on Tuesday 9 September (AFP/Getty)

    A fire burns as demonstrators gather on a road during a protest to condemn the police’s deadly crackdown on demonstrators in Kathmandu on Tuesday 9 September (AFP/Getty)

    In its general civil disorder advice for Nepal, the FCDO adds that a number of groups have stated their intent to organise protests or political rallies in Kathmandu and elsewhere across the country.

    The FCDO said that they can start at short notice and may lead to clashes between protesters and law enforcement. Protests cause disruption to transport, and the authorities may increase the police presence.

    Will my flight be cancelled?

    Tribhuvan International Airport, the capital’s main airport, is located close to the city centre and has shut due to “adverse conditions within the valley” as well as “smoke” seen around the airport and the flight path, the airport said in a translated post.

    Many flights in the morning were cancelled or diverted to other airports in Nepal and India, and by Tuesday afternoon, the civil aviation authority announced the complete closure of the airport with immediate effect.

    What are my rights if my flight is cancelled?

    As a passenger, you are covered by UK law if you are departing from an airport in the UK on any airline, arriving at an airport in the UK on an EU or UK airline, or arriving at an airport in the EU on a UK airline.

    Airlines must provide you with care and assistance if your flight is cancelled, meaning they must supply you with food and drink (often provided in the form of vouchers), means for you to communicate (often by refunding call costs), accommodation if you are given a new flight the following day, and transport to and from the accommodation or your home.

    The airline must provide you with these items until it is able to fly you to your destination, no matter how long the delay lasts or what has caused it, the Civil Aviation Authority says.

    Sometimes, airlines are unable to arrange care and assistance if they are stretched during major disruptions, meaning you can arrange the care yourself and claim the cost back later by keeping receipts.

    Can I cancel my holiday?

    As the FCDO has not warned against travel to Nepal, there will be no special circumstances in place to be able to cancel a trip for a full refund.

    The conditions for cancelling your trip will be dependent on your holiday provider, so it’s best to contact them if you’re looking to postpone.

    There is no obligation for companies to refund bookings if you want to cancel, and you will not be able to claim on your travel insurance due to safety concerns unless government advice changes.

    If you do have travel insurance, some policies include natural disaster cover for an event that prevents you from reaching your holiday destination. Check your insurance policies and speak to your insurer to see where you stand.

    For more travel news and advice, listen to Simon Calder’s podcast

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  • Nepal protests over repealed social media ban rage, sparking prime minister’s sudden resignation

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    Kathmandu — Nepal’s Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli announced Tuesday that he would step down as the country was rocked by a second day of unrest amid protests over a since-repealed ban on many major social media platforms. Clashes between young demonstrators and police on Monday turned violent, with police reportedly killing 19 people.

    Protesters in Nepal’s capital defied a curfew on Tuesday to continue venting their rage at the government a day after the deadly crackdown.

    The protests, which began on Monday with demands that the government lift a ban on social media and tackle corruption, reignited despite the apps being allowed to go back online.

    Kathmandu police spokesman Shekhar Khanal said several groups had refused to obey a curfew on Tuesday, telling AFP there were protesters in the streets in many areas including “cases of fire and attacks.”

    A protester throws a wooden plank toward flames outside the Nepali Congress party’s headquarters, during a demonstration against the killing the previous day of 19 people, after anti-corruption protests triggered by a social media ban which was later lifted, in Kathmandu, Nepal, Sept. 9, 2025.

    Navesh Chitrakar/REUTERS


    Some targeted the properties of politicians and government buildings, according to an AFP photographer and local media reports. According to The Associated Press, the homes of the leader of the largest political party in the country, Nepali Congress, along with President Ram Chandra Poudel, Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak and leader of the Communist party of Nepal were among those set on fire. A private school owned by the foreign minister was also set on fire.

    Prime Minister Oli, 73, had ordered a probe into the violence and on Tuesday said he would head all-party talks in a bid to bring about a “meaningful conclusion” to the violence. But not long after, local media said he was stepping down, and the Reuters news agency cited his aide Prakash Silwal as confirming the news.

    The interior minister resigned on Monday, according to a government statement, while two others cabinet members had earlier quit on Tuesday, according to Nepali media.

    “The social media platforms have been opened, which was among the Gen Z’s demands,” Minister for Communication Prithvi Subba Gurung told AFP, referring to young people aged largely in their 20s who have led the protests.

    What are the protests in Nepal all about?

    The social media ban fed into existing anger at the government in a country with a youth bulge. People aged 15-40 make up nearly 43% of the population, according to government statistics — while unemployment hovers around 10% and GDP per capita at just $1,447, according to the World Bank.

    Slogans demanding accountability from the authorities have been a feature at the protests.

    “Nearly 20 people were murdered by the state — that shows the scale of police brutality,” 23-year-old student Yujan Rajbhandari, who took part in the demonstrations a day earlier, said Tuesday. “The government… have to take responsibility for the lives that were lost.”

    Protest against Monday's killing of 19 people after anti-corruption protests, in Kathmandu

    Demonstrators react outside the Nepali Parliament complex during a protest against the killing the previous day of 19 people amid anti-corruption protests that were triggered by a social media ban, which was later lifted, despite a curfew in Kathmandu, Nepal, Sept. 9, 2025.

    Adnan Abidi/REUTERS


    Several social media sites — including Facebook, YouTube and X — were blocked Friday in the Himalayan nation of 30 million people, after the government cut access to 26 platforms that it said had failed to register as required. In addition to formal registration, the government had required the platforms to post a local liaison in Nepal.

    Amnesty International said live ammunition was used against protesters on Monday, and the United Nations demanded a swift and transparent probe.

    Police in Kathmandu on Monday clashed with the crowds when protesters pushed through barbed wire and tried to storm into a restricted area near parliament. Seventeen people were killed in Kathmandu, police said, and two more in the eastern district of Sunsari, according to local media.

    Police said about 400 people were injured, including more than 100 police.

    Since Friday, videos contrasting the struggles of ordinary Nepalis with the children of politicians flaunting luxury goods and expensive vacations have gone viral on TikTok, which was not blocked.

    Popular platforms such as Instagram have millions of users in Nepal who rely on them for entertainment, news and business. Others rely on the apps for messaging.

    “This isn’t just about social media — it’s about trust, corruption, and a generation that refuses to stay silent,” the Kathmandu Post newspaper wrote. “Gen Z grew up with smartphones, global trends, and promises of a federal, prosperous Nepal.”

    “For them, digital freedom is personal freedom,” the newspaper said. “Cutting off access feels like silencing an entire generation.”

    Nepal has restricted access to popular online platforms in the past, including to Telegram in July, citing a rise in online fraud. It lifted a nine-month ban on TikTok last year after the platform agreed to comply with Nepali regulations.

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  • Nepal’s government lifts ban on social media after deadly protests

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    Nepal’s government has lifted a controversial ban on social media platforms following violent protests in which at least 19 people died.

    The Cabinet took this decision after a late-night crisis meeting, Nepali Communication Minister Prithvi Subba Gurung told the local news portal OnlineKhabar.

    On Monday, at least 19 people were killed in clashes between demonstrators and police in the country, including at least 17 in Kathmandu.

    Over 100 people were injured, including police officers, according to authorities.

    The unrest follows the government’s decision last week to block 26 online networks, including Facebook and Instagram, across the Himalayan nation. Authorities accused the platforms of failing to register properly.

    In August, Nepal’s Supreme Court had ordered that the affected online services be placed under state supervision to help combat the spread of misinformation online.

    Critics say the government is using the measure to expand control over the platforms rather than merely to regulate them.

    Thousands of people, mostly young people aged roughly 18 to 30, took to the streets across the country to protest the move.

    In Kathmandu, the situation escalated on Monday when protesters tried to force their way into the parliament building. Participants in the protests also voiced concerns about rising government corruption.

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  • Nepal internet crackdown part of global trend toward suppressing online freedom

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    Nepal’s crackdown on social media companies, which led to protests and police killing at least 19 people, is part of a yearslong decline of internet freedoms around the world as even democracies seek to curtail online speech.

    The Himalayan country’s government said last week it was blocking several social media platforms including Facebook, X and YouTube because the companies failed to comply with a requirement that they register with the government. The ban was lifted Tuesday a day after the deadly protests.

    What’s happening in Nepal mirrors “this broader pattern of controlling the narrative and controlling of stories emerging from the ground,” said Aditya Vashistha, an assistant professor of information science at Cornell University. “This has happened several times in the neighboring countries India, Pakistan, Bangladesh. So this is nothing new — in fact, I would say this is taken from the playbook, which is now very established, of trying to control social media narratives.”

    Like neighboring countries, Nepal’s government have been asking the companies to appoint a liaison in the country. Officials are calling for laws to to monitor social media and ensure both the users and operators are responsible and accountable for what they share. But the move has been criticized as a tool for censorship and punishing opponents who voice their protests online.

    “Governments absolutely have a valid interest in seeking to regulate social media platforms. This is such a daily part of our lives and in our business. And it is certainly reasonable for authorities to sit down and say we want to develop rules for the road,” said Kian Vesteinsson, senior research analyst for technology and democracy at the Washington-based nonprofit Freedom House.

    “But what we see in Nepal is that wholesale blocks as a means of enforcing a set of rules for social media companies results in wildly disproportionate harms. These measures that were put in place in Nepal (cut) tens of millions of people off from platforms that they used to express themselves, to conduct daily business, to speak with their families, to go to school, to get healthcare information.”

    It’s not just Nepal. Freedom House has found that global internet freedom has declined for the 14th consecutive year in 2024, as governments crack down on dissent and people face arrest for expressing political, social or religious views online. While China consistently tops the list as the “world’s worst environment” for internet freedom, last year Myanmar shared this designation as well. The organization did not track Nepal.

    India passed a telecommunications law in 2023 that gave its government “broad powers to restrict online communications and intercept communications,” according to Freedom House. Three years earlier, a sweeping internet law put digital platforms like Facebook under direct government oversight. Officials say the rules are needed to quell misinformation and hate speech and to give users more power to flag objectionable content. But critics cautioned it would lead to censorship in a country where digital freedoms have already been shrinking.

    In January, meanwhile, Pakistan’s lower house of parliament passed a bill that gives the government sweeping controls on social media, including sending users to prison for spreading disinformation.

    Calling internet freedom a “pillar of modern democracy,” Freedom House said a healthy 21st-century democracy cannot function without a trustworthy online environment, where people can access information and express themselves freely.

    Increasingly, though, governments are putting up roadblocks.

    Often, regulations are in the name of child safety, cyber crime or fraud, Vesteinsson said, “but unfortunately, a lot of this regulation comes hand in hand with restrictive measures.”

    In the Nepali law, for instance, “the same provision of this law, directs social media platforms to restrict content relating to child trafficking and human trafficking and labor, a really important issue,” he added. “Two bullet points above that, it orders platforms to restrict people from posting anonymously.”

    The Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday that the protests “underscore the widespread concerns over Nepal’s ban on social media and the pressing need for the government to drop its order. Such a sweeping ban not only restricts freedom of expression, it also severely hinders journalists’ work and the public’s right to know.”

    The crackdown appears to have spurred a surge in use of virtual private networks, or VPNs, according to Proton, which provides encrypted services. Signups for Proton’s VPN service in Nepal have jumped by 8,000% since Sept. 3, according to data the company posted online. A VPN is a service that allows users to mask their location in order to circumvent censorship or geography-based online viewing restrictions.

    But experts caution that VPNs are not an end-all solution to government internet blocks. They can be expensive and out of reach for many people, Vashistha noted, and they can be slow and lead to lower-quality experiences when people try to access blocked social platforms.

    Google, Meta, X and TikTok (which registered and continues to operate) didn’t respond to requests for comment.

    Vesteinsson said companies can take important steps to safeguard privacy of their users — particularly human rights defenders and activists who might be a specific target for government repression in their countries.

    “It’s enormously important for social media platforms to be responsible to their users in that way,” he said.

    ___

    AP Business Writer Kelvin Chan and AP Technology Writer Matt O’Brien contributed to this report.

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  • Nepal internet crackdown part of global trend toward suppressing online freedom

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    Nepal’s crackdown on social media companies, which led to protests and police killing at least 19 people, is part of a yearslong decline of internet freedoms around the world as even democracies seek to curtail online speech.

    The Himalayan country’s government said last week it was blocking several social media platforms including Facebook, X and YouTube because the companies failed to comply with a requirement that they register with the government. The ban was lifted Tuesday a day after the deadly protests.

    What’s happening in Nepal mirrors “this broader pattern of controlling the narrative and controlling of stories emerging from the ground,” said Aditya Vashistha, an assistant professor of information science at Cornell University. “This has happened several times in the neighboring countries India, Pakistan, Bangladesh. So this is nothing new — in fact, I would say this is taken from the playbook, which is now very established, of trying to control social media narratives.”

    Like neighboring countries, Nepal’s government have been asking the companies to appoint a liaison in the country. Officials are calling for laws to to monitor social media and ensure both the users and operators are responsible and accountable for what they share. But the move has been criticized as a tool for censorship and punishing opponents who voice their protests online.

    “Governments absolutely have a valid interest in seeking to regulate social media platforms. This is such a daily part of our lives and in our business. And it is certainly reasonable for authorities to sit down and say we want to develop rules for the road,” said Kian Vesteinsson, senior research analyst for technology and democracy at the Washington-based nonprofit Freedom House.

    “But what we see in Nepal is that wholesale blocks as a means of enforcing a set of rules for social media companies results in wildly disproportionate harms. These measures that were put in place in Nepal (cut) tens of millions of people off from platforms that they used to express themselves, to conduct daily business, to speak with their families, to go to school, to get healthcare information.”

    It’s not just Nepal. Freedom House has found that global internet freedom has declined for the 14th consecutive year in 2024, as governments crack down on dissent and people face arrest for expressing political, social or religious views online. While China consistently tops the list as the “world’s worst environment” for internet freedom, last year Myanmar shared this designation as well. The organization did not track Nepal.

    India passed a telecommunications law in 2023 that gave its government “broad powers to restrict online communications and intercept communications,” according to Freedom House. Three years earlier, a sweeping internet law put digital platforms like Facebook under direct government oversight. Officials say the rules are needed to quell misinformation and hate speech and to give users more power to flag objectionable content. But critics cautioned it would lead to censorship in a country where digital freedoms have already been shrinking.

    In January, meanwhile, Pakistan’s lower house of parliament passed a bill that gives the government sweeping controls on social media, including sending users to prison for spreading disinformation.

    Calling internet freedom a “pillar of modern democracy,” Freedom House said a healthy 21st-century democracy cannot function without a trustworthy online environment, where people can access information and express themselves freely.

    Increasingly, though, governments are putting up roadblocks.

    Often, regulations are in the name of child safety, cyber crime or fraud, Vesteinsson said, “but unfortunately, a lot of this regulation comes hand in hand with restrictive measures.”

    In the Nepali law, for instance, “the same provision of this law, directs social media platforms to restrict content relating to child trafficking and human trafficking and labor, a really important issue,” he added. “Two bullet points above that, it orders platforms to restrict people from posting anonymously.”

    The Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday that the protests “underscore the widespread concerns over Nepal’s ban on social media and the pressing need for the government to drop its order. Such a sweeping ban not only restricts freedom of expression, it also severely hinders journalists’ work and the public’s right to know.”

    The crackdown appears to have spurred a surge in use of virtual private networks, or VPNs, according to Proton, which provides encrypted services. Signups for Proton’s VPN service in Nepal have jumped by 8,000% since Sept. 3, according to data the company posted online. A VPN is a service that allows users to mask their location in order to circumvent censorship or geography-based online viewing restrictions.

    But experts caution that VPNs are not an end-all solution to government internet blocks. They can be expensive and out of reach for many people, Vashistha noted, and they can be slow and lead to lower-quality experiences when people try to access blocked social platforms.

    Google, Meta, X and TikTok (which registered and continues to operate) didn’t respond to requests for comment.

    Vesteinsson said companies can take important steps to safeguard privacy of their users — particularly human rights defenders and activists who might be a specific target for government repression in their countries.

    “It’s enormously important for social media platforms to be responsible to their users in that way,” he said.

    ___

    AP Business Writer Kelvin Chan and AP Technology Writer Matt O’Brien contributed to this report.

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  • Nepal reverses social media ban as protests turn deadly

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    KATHMANDU, NEPAL – SEPTEMBER 8: Nepalese youth stage an anti-government protest in Kathmandu, Nepal, on September 8, 2025. According to reports, eight protesters have been killed and over 100 injured after police opened fire on the demonstrators. (Photo by Sunil Pradhan/Anadolu via Getty Images) | Image Credits:Sunil Pradhan/Anadolu / Getty Images

    Nepal has made a dramatic U-turn, reversing a social media ban imposed last week after the decision sparked nationwide “Gen Z” protests that reportedly left at least 19 people dead.

    The ban, which blocked access to 26 platforms including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and X, was imposed following an August 25 directive requiring foreign social media companies to register their operations in Nepal and appoint a local contact within seven days. When most platforms failed to comply by the deadline, the government cut access last week.

    Late on Monday, Nepal’s Communications and Information Technology Minister Prithvi Subba Gurung told reporters that the government had revoked the social media ban in response to the public outrage.

    Monday’s reversal came just hours after thousands of people, many of them students in school uniforms, flooded the streets across Nepal, demanding an end to the social media blackout. The youth-led protests escalated into violent clashes with security forces in several areas, resulting in the deaths of at least 19 demonstrators and leaving more than 100 others injured, according to local media reports.

    In a statement late Monday, Nepal’s Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli said that the protests turned violent due to infiltration by certain elements, but that the government was never opposed to the demands of the new generation.

    International organizations, including the United Nations and human rights groups such as Amnesty International, had earlier raised concerns about the ban and the government’s response to the public uproar.

    “We call on the authorities to respect and ensure the rights of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression,” the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement on Monday.

    The deadly incidents stemmed from the social media ban imposed last week by Nepal’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, which blocked access to 26 platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and X. The move followed an August 25 directive requiring foreign social media companies to register their operations in Nepal and appoint a local contact within seven days.

    Some platforms, such as TikTok and Rakuten Group-owned Viber, were not affected by the ban as the government stated they had already complied with the directive and registered locally.

    The social media restrictions are part of a broader government effort to regulate digital platforms. Earlier this year, Nepal’s government faced widespread outrage over its proposed social media bill, which is still pending approval. The legislation includes provisions for imprisonment and fines for posts “deemed against national sovereignty or interest.” The proposal “threatens to severely undermine press freedom and digital expression,” the International Federation of Journalists said.

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