Social Media

Lake Travis ISD has banned smart devices in prekindergarten through eighth grade. School administrators, parents and researchers are hopeful the policy will improve student outcomes and prevent bullying.

While protecting academic freedom and public employees’ right to free speech is important, the judge wrote in his opinion, the state ban did not violate those rights.

After a report from Media Matters showed advertisements from major brands appeared next to antisemitic posts on X, the company sued the media watchdog group and its reporter. The Texas Attorney General’s Office plans to investigate the nonprofit for potential fraud.

A U.S. District Judge in Austin heard arguments Wednesday in a lawsuit filed by a Columbia free speech group, which argues banning TikTok use at public universities hinders faculty research and teaching.

NPR's official Twitter feeds have gone silent. The news organization cites the social media platform's decision to question NPR's editorial independence through a series of inaccurate labels.

The public university took the step in response to a directive that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued in early December. Abbott said the app posed security risks to the state.

The directive from Gov. Greg Abbott comes the same day the state of Indiana filed a lawsuit against the app.

In a 5-to-4 vote, the court granted a request from Big Tech industry trade groups, which argued the law would unleash a flood of racist, hateful and other extremist content on social media platforms.

Tech industry groups are urging the Supreme Court to block a Texas law barring social media companies from removing posts or banning users based on political viewpoints.

A group of Texas middle-schoolers won NPR's 4th-annual Student Podcast Challenge, and learned a lesson about fake news and the limits of "talking digitally."