Social Networks

Published Jan 31, 2026, 10:01 AM EST Dominik Bošnjak is a freelance writer from Croatia. He has been writing about games for as long as he can remember and began doing so professionally in 2010 because an opportunity presented itself while he was pursuing a degree in journalism. Before GameRant, Dominik worked as a journalist, editor, and video editor for over half a dozen outlets spanning two continents, covering video games, technology, and entertainment. He has bylines at IGN Adria, SamMobile, Android Headlines, Spilled, HCL, 24sata, and VIDI, among others. If he was forced to pick a favorite game genre, he'd go with RPGs, but he wasn't, so he didn't. Political commentator Hasan "HasanAbi" Piker has criticized Twitch's content policies after being banned from the platform at the end of January. The development marks his first Twitch ban of 2026. The latest in an ever-growing list of Hasan Piker's Twitch bans materialized on Thursday, January 29, around 7pm PT. His channel on the platform went offline while he was discussing the January 24 killing of Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse who was shot multiple times by agents of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The event

Share US authorities have reportedly investigated claims that Meta can read users’ encrypted chats on the WhatsApp messaging platform, which it owns. The reports follow a lawsuit filed last week, which claimed Meta “can access virtually all of WhatsApp users’ purportedly ‘private’ communications”. Meta has denied the allegation, reported by Bloomberg, calling the lawsuit’s claim “categorically false and absurd”. It suggested the claim was a tactic to support the NSO Group, an Israeli firm that develops spyware used against activists and journalists, and which recently lost a lawsuit brought by WhatsApp. Guardian An ally of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has proposed a bill to ban social media for children, as the world’s biggest market for Meta and YouTube joins a global debate on the impact of social media on young people’s health and safety. “Not only are our children becoming addicted to social media, but India is also one of the world’s largest producers of data for foreign platforms,” lawmaker L.S.K. Devarayalu told Reuters on Friday. Reuters  At the height of the Cold War, US Air Force officials proposed a terrifying plan to help America demonstrate its superiority over the Soviet Union: detonating a nuclear bomb on the Moon. The top secret programme, Project A119, envisaged

US authorities have reportedly investigated claims that Meta can read users’ encrypted chats on the WhatsApp messaging platform, which it owns. The reports follow a lawsuit filed last week, which claimed Meta “can access virtually all of WhatsApp users’ purportedly ‘private’ communications”. Meta has denied the allegation, reported by Bloomberg, calling the lawsuit’s claim “categorically false and absurd”. It suggested the claim was a tactic to support the NSO Group, an Israeli firm that develops spyware used against activists and journalists, and which recently lost a lawsuit brought by WhatsApp. The firm that filed last week’s lawsuit against Meta, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, attributes the allegation to unnamed “courageous” whistleblowers from Australia, Brazil, India, Mexico and South Africa. Quinn Emanuel is, in a separate case, helping to represent the NSO Group in its appeal against a judgment from a US federal court last year, which ordered it to pay $167m to WhatsApp for violating its terms of service in its deployment of Pegasus spyware against more than 1,400 users. “We’re pursuing sanctions against Quinn Emanuel for filing a meritless lawsuit that was designed purely to grab headlines,” said Carl Woog, a Meta spokesperson, in a statement. “This is the

A Madison County library is using Twitch streams, digital art and gaming to reach teens and expand youth engagement beyond traditional library ...

Jan. 31, 2026, 7:26 a.m. ET Add a round of indoor golf to the list of things you can do on the Wilmington Riverfront. Wilmington developer Buccini/Pollin Group is adding a 8,000-square-foot indoor golf venue at 401 S. Madison St. inside the same building as Penn Cinema. Renovations will be made to the building to include a separate entrance to the golf facility. The Clubhouse of Delaware, opening in the spring, will feature nine golf simulators and a restaurant to bring more entertainment options to Wilmington's growing Riverfront. “We’ve heard from residents that there is a desire for entertainment options beyond restaurants and bars, and we’re proud to support local operators in bringing a cutting-edge concept to our community,” Buccini/Pollin Group founder Rob Buccini said in a press release. The golf facility will feature real putting greens, artificial intelligence-driven performance technology to measure ball and club metrics, and virtual reality tools that allow guests to play on world-famous golf courses. The venue also plans to offer golf lessons and youth programming.  » Read More

Several thousand people gather for a protest against the Immigration Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) on Church Street in Burlington on Friday, Jan. 30. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger Updated at 6:14 p.m. A nationwide call to protest President Trump’s violent immigration crackdown led Vermonters to take to the streets and small business owners to close their doors across the state Friday. In Vermont, at least 16 small businesses announced that they would be closing for all or part of the day in response to the “ICE Out” movement, according to social media posts and newsletters from local businesses. At least six others announced that they would remain open but donate a portion of their proceeds to pro-immigrant or Minneapolis-related causes. “Standing with Minneapolis in this pretty astoundingly difficult time … is the simplest of things we can do,” said Xavier Jimenez, co-owner of Buch Spieler Records in Montpelier, one of the businesses that decided to close Friday. The “ICE Out” movement began as an effort to demonstrate resistance against the actions of U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement in Minneapolis, according to a website for the event. The movement called for “No work. No school. No shopping.” “The entire country is shocked

(CNN) — For more than a decade, images of Santa Maddalena, a small village church in northern Italy framed by jagged peaks of the Dolomite Mountains, have circulated online. But locals say it was last summer that the steady stream of visitors became a flood. Now, authorities are stepping in to slow the flow, introducing new restrictions aimed at curbing day-trip tourism and easing pressure on the village. Beginning in May, access to the village near the UNESCO World Heritage-listed church will be restricted by a barrier allowing entry only to residents and visitors staying at least one night in the area, according to the local municipality. Cars and tour buses bringing day trippers will be turned away. Those visiting for the day — up to 600 people during peak season — will instead have to walk 30 minutes or more from designated parking areas to reach the church. The municipality has yet to decide whether a shuttle service will be introduced for visitors unable to make the walk. Once the village parking lot reaches capacity, drivers will be required to park even farther away, says Peter Pernthaler, the mayor of the surrounding Funes district, who told CNN the filtered

For more than a decade, images of Santa Maddalena, a small village church in northern Italy framed by jagged peaks of the Dolomite Mountains, have circulated online. But locals say it was last summer that the steady stream of visitors became a flood. Now, authorities are stepping in to slow the flow, introducing new restrictions aimed at curbing day-trip tourism and easing pressure on the village. Beginning in May, access to the village near the UNESCO World Heritage-listed church will be restricted by a barrier allowing entry only to residents and visitors staying at least one night in the area, according to the local municipality. Cars and tour buses bringing day trippers will be turned away. Those visiting for the day — up to 600 people during peak season — will instead have to walk 30 minutes or more from designated parking areas to reach the church. The municipality has yet to decide whether a shuttle service will be introduced for visitors unable to make the walk. Once the village parking lot reaches capacity, drivers will be required to park even farther away, says Peter Pernthaler, the mayor of the surrounding Funes district, who told CNN the filtered entry system

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! A conservative advocacy group is slamming the social media platform LinkedIn and conservatives online ...

Married ex-high school teacher McKenna Kindred suggested that she and a teenage student she was sexually abusing should start using Snapchat to hide their X-rated chats, according to court docs. “Hm next time I need to relearn Snapchat haha,” Kindred, now 27, texted the 17-year-old boy at one point during their tryst, which began when Kindred was his educator at Central Valley High School in Spokane, Washington. The conniving message came after the pair had already engaged in a depraved three-and-a-half hour sex marathon at Kindred’s marital home in November 2022 – while her oblivious husband was away on a hunting trip. “Mom glad I can satisfy you,” the teen kicked off the text thread. After the teacher liked the message, the boy asked if she used a sex toy while thinking about him. “I did,” she creepily replied. “U should have video it and save it,” the teen responded, prompting Kindred to propose that he teach her how to use Snapchat the next time they meet up. The social media platform is popular for allowing users to send photos and videos – or “snaps” – that disappear after viewing. By that point, the pair had already exchanged a series