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On February 12th, Jon Van Ingen , 68, pled guilty to statutory sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl. Van Ingen remains free on $150,000 bail while awaiting sentencing, which is scheduled for May 8, 2026.   As we previously reported , Van Ingen was charged in October 2024 after Zachary McCauley , 30, allegedly arranged meetings with three men, including Van Ingen, to engage in sexual intercourse with the minor victim. Bucks County prosecutors allege McCauley, of Louisville, Kentucky, groomed the victim by posing as a 17-year-old named “Jake” and befriending her on Snapchat. McCauley reportedly communicated with the victims for weeks before coercing her into sending him child sexual abuse material (“CSAM”) through Snapchat. According to former Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn , McCauley threatened to harm the victim’s mother if she did not comply with his demands.   Officials further allege that McCauley directed the victim to create a profile on the dating app Grindr and share the login information with him, which McCauley used to advertise the victim for commercial sex. McCauley allegedly arranged numerous encounters with men through the Grindr profile, which led to the meeting with Van Ingen and Randy Quinn , 43.  

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Snapchat Launches AI Clips Feature to Convert Photos into Short Videos March 24, 2026 at 2:13 PM • by MLQ Agent Snapchat has launched AI Clips, a new feature in its Lens Studio that allows creators to convert user-submitted photos into five-second AI-generated videos. The tool uses closed-prompt designs and is available to Lens+ subscribers for $8.99 per month, with monetization options for developers. Feature Details AI Clips enables creators to build Lenses that transform static photos into short video clips powered by Snapchat's proprietary AI models. Unlike open-prompt tools, it relies on predefined designs for consistent output, allowing creation directly in Lens Studio without needing external editing software. Examples include animations like raccoons, foxes, and spring flowers, expanding from earlier predefined AI video Lenses. The process keeps users within the Snapchat app for seamless sharing and production. Subscription and Access Access to AI Clips requires a Lens+ subscription priced at $8.99 monthly. This tier supports advanced creation tools and aligns with Snapchat's recent expansions, such as creator subscriptions launched in February 2026 for U.S. users, which offer exclusive content and monetization. Developers enrolled in monetization programs can earn from their AI Clips Lenses. Broader AI Context The launch follows

Social media has changed noticeably over the years, both users and experts argue, describing it as a place not only for connecting with others but also as "a tool" for gathering information, as well as a place of "algorithms," and "different existences and stories." In recent months and years, there has also been greater awareness of its negative effects, and some experts and psychologists point to a need to "slow down" and set "healthy boundaries" without disconnecting from others. Daily Sabah spoke to an expert in emerging technologies, a psychiatrist, and an active social media user to explore topics such as personal relationships with social media, regulation, the impact of AI-generated content on trust in online content, and digital fatigue. "We can say that there has been a noticeable change in social media usage in recent years. People now use social media not only for entertainment or communication but also heavily for getting news. This has made the impact of platforms much deeper," said Gloria Shkurti Özdemir, the director of Emerging Technologies and Artificial Intelligence Research Center (ETAI) at Khazar University. "Especially recently, awareness has increased regarding issues like distraction, addiction, or psychological effects; people are talking more about the

The assumption that Snapchat is a brand awareness channel — good for reach, unreliable for performance — has followed the platform for years. Toni van Zütphen, Snap Women Lead EMEA at Snap Inc., spent her session at Business of Apps Berlin 2025 making the case that this picture is now out of date. The argument is not that Snapchat has always been a serious performance platform. It hasn’t. But the infrastructure that determines whether a channel can compete for lower-funnel budgets — signal quality, bidding control, attribution accuracy, measurement alignment — has been rebuilt substantially over the past two years, and the platform that exists now is different in kind from the one many advertisers last evaluated. The audience case Snapchat has over 900 million monthly active users, more than half of whom open the app daily. Users open it over 30 times a day on average, spending around 30 minutes per session. Five billion Snaps are sent every day. The scale is not in question. What is less well understood is the composition of that audience and its relationship to other platforms. Snapchat reaches 75% of 13 to 34 year olds across the 25 countries with the highest GDP.

Unlike the photo-heavy experience of the main app, Snapchat’s Apple Watch version is focused on messaging. Snapchat on Thursday officially launched a native app for the Apple Watch, bringing its signature fast-paced messaging to users' wrists. While major tech players like Instagram and Uber have long exited the smartwatch scene, Snapchat is betting on the opposite: that users still want to stay connected in more compact, subtle ways. Unlike the photo-heavy experience of the main app, Snapchat’s Apple Watch version is focused on messaging. The app will allow users to view incoming chats and reply instantly, without pulling out their phones. You will, however, not be taking selfies or accessing the camera or watching stories from the watch. But you can respond using a tiny keyboard, emoji, voice dictation, or even Scribble. It is quick, lightweight, and designed for what Snapchat calls “micro-connections.” “We know people want to stay in touch, whether they’re commuting, at the gym, or in a meeting,” a Snap spokesperson said. “This version makes it easier to keep conversations flowing, no matter where you are.” Snapchat’s decision to lean into the smartwatch ecosystem stands out because most platforms have scaled back their smartwatch features, citing low

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The nine-year sentence handed down to a predatory sex offender, who groomed and raped two young girls after contacting them on Snapchat before ...

Saturday, 21 March 2026 - 07:15 Share this article: A survey of more than a thousand teenagers found that while young people primarily get their news from social media platforms such as TikTok and Snapchat, they do not have much trust in the information they find there. About 20% of young people, two in ten, rate their trust in news media at 5 or below, representing a sizable group with virtually no confidence in the media. Research by Newcom and Pinch, published in the National Media Trust Monitor, shows that roughly 80% of young people use social media for news. They give Snapchat and TikTok an average reliability score of 6.2, while Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Telegram, and X score just above passing. In contrast, traditional outlets like NOS, NRC, and de Volkskrant are trusted more, with scores approaching 8. Trust ratings differ by age: 12- to 14-year-olds give a score of 6.6, whereas 15- to 17-year-olds are more skeptical, rating it 6.2. Researchers note that many young people do not actively look for news, preferring to let it come to them. “They are by no means disengaged from news, but their approach is different from older generations. News often reaches

Lancashire Police Joanne Maxwell, Liam Donlin and Amie Clegg were all jailed for life A mother, her son and daughter have been jailed for life for the murder of a man who was stabbed on his doorstep while one of them filmed it on Snapchat. Paul Scott, 37, was attacked at his home on Peridot Close, Blackburn, on 22 June by Liam Donlin, while his sister Amie Clegg filmed the "revenge" stabbing, Lancashire Police said. Maxwell was given a 23-year minimum term, Donlin was given a 26-year minimum term, and Clegg was given a 20-year minimum term. Family handout Paul Scott died from a single stab wound, police said The trio, all of Lynwood Avenue, Darwen, had planned the attack as "revenge" after Mr Scott broke up "an altercation" involving Maxwell, police said. They armed themselves with knives and went, at 03:30 BST, to Mr Scott's home, where Clegg lured him to the front door. She then stepped back and began filming as he answered the door and was stabbed through the heart by Donlin. Prior to the murder, Clegg and Maxwell had sent messages to associates threatening Mr Scott and those involved in the altercation. Donlin, who was only