Technologies
Snap, TikTok and YouTube to testify at Congress: How to Watch on Tuesday
The trip to Capitol Hill comes as a leak of Facebook documents stirs concerns about social media’s effect on children.
Snap, TikTok and YouTube will detail on Tuesday the steps they’ve taken to protect children to a potentially skeptical audience: a Senate subcommittee that has already expressed concerns that Facebook is unhealthy for kids.
Chaired by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, the consumer protection subcommittee will meet with the policy heads of the three companies to discuss how their platforms might aggravate harmful behavior, addictions and invade privacy. The description of the hearing, titled «Protecting Kids Online: Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube,» suggests the participants won’t be made comfortable. It specifically notes that social media apps «have been misused to harm kids and promote destructive acts, such as vandalism in schools, deadly viral challenges, bullying, eating disorders, manipulative influencer marketing, and grooming.»
The hearing comes amid heightened scrutiny of social media giant Facebook, which is the subject of a series of stories based on leaked documents that suggest the company knows about the harm its platforms cause to the mental health of teenagers, as well as democracy and developing countries. Frances Haugen, the former Facebook product manager who collected the cache of internal research and communications, has already testified before the Senate subcommittee. She also testified to Parliament on Monday.
Haugen, who first revealed herself as the Facebook whistleblower in October, has said she saw conflicts of interests between Facebook’s business objectives and user safety during her time at the company. Facebook has said its internal research is being mischaracterized.
In prepared remarks, YouTube plans to tell Congress that it removed 7 million accounts believed to belong to young children and preteens in the first three quarters. Roughly 3 million of those removals came in the third quarter as the company had «ramped up our automated removal efforts.» (For context, YouTube has more than 2 billion accounts that actively visit YouTube each month.)
Snap will be represented by Jennifer Stout, the vice president of global public policy; TikTok by Michael Beckerman, vice president and head of public policy, Americas; and YouTube by Leslie Miller, vice president of government affairs and public policy. (YouTube is owned by Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet.)
Here’s what you need to know:
When
The hearing will begin on Tuesday at 10 a.m. ET/7 a.m. PT.
Where
The hearing is being streamed live on the committee’s webpage or on CNET’s YouTube channel.
What to expect
Hostility from both sides of the aisle. Nether Democrats nor Republicans have much love for Big Tech, particularly social media, at the moment.
Democrats complain that social media companies do little to stamp out hate speech, bullying and disinformation. Republicans blast social media as biased, censoring conservative points of view.
Hearings are as much political theater as they are forums for inquiry. Possibly more. So expect plenty of grandstanding and tub thumping.
Technologies
New Speed Test Results Reveal the Fastest Internet Service Provider in the US
Technologies
Meta Debuts More Instagram Protections for Teen Users. Here’s What’s New
Accounts for teenagers using Meta’s platform, especially Instagram, will be getting new protections for direct messages and to help users spot potential scammers.
Meta this week unveiled the latest efforts it’s making to bolster the safety of teens and kids on its social media apps, with a particular focus on the teen-skewing Instagram. The company has touted these new features for Instagram in a blog post, most notably adding more information and warnings about accounts that teens might try to contact via direct messages.
«We’ve added new safety features to DMs in Teen Accounts to give teens more context about the accounts they’re messaging and help them spot potential scammers,» the post explained. «Now, teens will see new options to view safety tips and block an account, as well as the month and year the account joined Instagram, all prominently displayed at the top of new chats.»
DMs have also been given new block and report function, which Meta claims will allow and encourage users to do both at the same time when they run into sketchy accounts.
The company also reported that in June, 1 million Teen Accounts reported or blocked accounts, and another 1 million used the Location Notice feature to see if an account messaging them was in a different country.
Speaking to CNET, Meta confirmed that the new DM features and the block/report options are exclusive to Instagram for now, but that they «may explore bringing them to [Facebook] Messenger in the future.» The safety and location notices touted in the blog post are available on Instagram and Facebook.
Meta has faced many accusations over the years about the effects its platforms have on minors. Just last year, bombshell accusations emerged from a memoir by a Meta whistleblower, claiming that the company served ads to teenagers based on their emotional states.
Meta denied those claims but has taken steps in recent years to offer improved safety features for underage users on its platforms, built around new «Teen Accounts,» which limit the ability of young users to be contacted and to see certain content.
Meta will also be rolling out similar protections for accounts run by adults that share a great deal of content related to children, such as those who post pictures and videos of their children, and accounts for children managed by their parents. The blog post explained that while such accounts «are overwhelmingly used in benign ways, unfortunately there are people who may try to abuse them, leaving sexualized comments under their posts or asking for sexual images in DMs.»
For those family blogging-style accounts, Meta is extending protections including, «automatically placing these accounts into our strictest message settings to prevent unwanted messages, and turning on Hidden Words, which filters offensive comments.»
The changes will be rolling out in the next few months.
Technologies
These $130 Asus Gaming Headphones Get Almost Everything Right
The Asus ROG Pelta is a pair of fantastic gaming headphones at a great price.
Pros
- Sound great
- Comfortable
- Customizable sound
- Affordable
- Three connection modes
Cons
- No noise cancellation
- No Xbox support
- Minimal headband adjustment
After reviewing the Turtle Beach Stealth 700 headset last year, I was impressed by just how much a good headset can improve the gaming experience. While headsets like the Stealth 700s are great, they’re also expensive. The ROG Pelta headphones from Asus, on the other hand, nail the basics while being more affordable.
I’ve been testing the Pelta’s for several weeks now and I’m quite impressed. They get just about everything right and only cost $130. That’s still a fair amount of money, but much of what you get with the Pelta is often only found on headsets that cost twice as much.
What I like about the Asus ROG Pelta
For starters, the 50mm titanium-plated drivers sound great. No matter what game I played, I heard everything clearly. Both music and movies sounded fantastic, almost as good as my $300 Sony XM3 headphones.
The best part is that with the Asus Armory Crate app you can customize the sound profile in detail. Asus gives you lots of options for tuning the headphones precisely to your liking, which is a welcome touch at this price. There are some custom profiles as well for those who just want to pick one and leave it. To be honest, I never felt the need to switch from the default settings during my entire time with the Peltas.
They’re also comfortable to wear. The earcups fit well over my ears, and the cushions are comfortable — more so than the Stealth 700s. They’re made of soft mesh material that gives them greater breathability than others I’ve used. They’re also very lightweight. There’s no carrying case, which is disappointing.
Microphone quality is also solid. I never had any teammates complain about not being able to hear me, and I even took a few video calls with them and didn’t have any issues. The mic is also removable, which is convenient, so it doesn’t get in the way when you’re not using it.
The 70-hour battery life (90 on Bluetooth) is quite decent, and you can get 3 hours of usage with 15 minutes of charging.
The Pelta’s can connect to PC, Mac, PlayStation, Switch and mobile devices via Bluetooth or a 2.4GHz USB-C dongle. There’s also an included USB-C cable with an adapter if you want to go the wired route. The odd part is that there’s no Xbox support.
What I didn’t like about the Asus ROG Pelta
The only real downside is that the headband is not telescoping, which means there are only three predetermined positions for adjusting the headset. This may not be a problem for most, but I have a small, weirdly shaped head and the Pelta never quite fit as snugly as I would have liked. I always felt like they would slip off at any moment. They never did, but it always felt like they were about to.
There’s also no 3.5mm headphone jack. I get that this is becoming more common these days, but it’s still annoying. There are still those of us who want a good analog connection from time to time.
Noise cancellation also doesn’t make an appearance, but that’s not uncommon on gaming headphones, especially at this price.
Should you buy the Asus ROG Pelta?
Overall, for $130, there’s really not much to dislike about the ROG Pelta headphones. They work with almost any device, sound great, have good battery life and are quite comfortable. If you’re looking for a good gaming headset that won’t have your wallet complaining, and you don’t have an Xbox, the Pelta’s should be high on the list.
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