United States – October 19, 2026 -- Parents should be able to install third-party safety software on every social media platform and device operating system, argues Marc Berkman, CEO of the Organization for Social Media Safety, after two months of damaging press about children's exposure to harmful content.
United States – October 19, 2026 -- Parents and school administrators are being urged to take three steps against social media-related school violence threats after a so-called "National Day of School Violence" spread online this week.
The threats reportedly started on TikTok, though that has not been definitively established. Posts about them spread quickly, worrying families across the country and forcing some schools to close for the day. The Organization for Social Media Safety says it worked through the week to make sure schools were aware and took precautions. The day passed without incident.
United States – October 19, 2026 -- Parents can cut the risk of teen drug poisoning by setting app permissions, locking down privacy settings and talking openly about fentanyl, according to the Organization for Social Media Safety. The group says its own testing found it takes about three minutes to connect with a drug dealer on social media and receive a "menu" of drugs for sale.
Sammy Chapman was an A student whose parents, Sam and Laura, worked to keep him away from dangerous people and places. A dealer contacted him on Snapchat and delivered drugs to his home. Sammy snuck out after his parents went to sleep and met the dealer, who gave him a lethal dose of fentanyl. He believed he had bought Xanax. The organization says thousands of children died this past year from drugs bought through social media.
Unspecified location – October 19, 2026 -- Parents who link to their child through Snapchat's new Family Center can see the child's friend list and who they messaged in the past seven days, but the Organization for Social Media Safety says the tool will not meaningfully improve child safety.
Snap, Inc. announced Family Center this month. Parents must first request permission from their child. Snap confirmed that the tool gives parents no insight into "the substance of those conversations."
First, the group says teens intent on risky activity can simply use a second, secret account, which Family Center cannot monitor. Snap responded that people with multiple accounts must fully log out to switch between them. In the group's test, switching took about four seconds, the same time it took to reach Family Center from the home screen.
New York – October 19, 2026 -- Attack Shark's R5 Turbo, a 43g wireless gaming mouse with 8KHz polling over both wired and wireless connections, goes on sale October 23, 2026, in black, white and a new Dune colorway.
The housing is injection-molded carbon fiber composite with a hollowed-out, breathable design. Weight is approximately 43g (± 3g). A glass-like cool-touch coating is meant to reduce stickiness from hand sweat during long sessions.
The PixArt PAW3950MAX optical sensor covers 1,200-60,000 DPI in 50-DPI steps. It tracks at up to 750 IPS with 60G acceleration. A three-level lift-off distance setting lets players adjust tracking height to their preference.
Australia – October 19, 2026 -- A study published this year found that four in five Australian teens under 16 got onto platforms barred by the country's 2024 social media ban. In an opinion piece, researchers Michal Luria, Aliya Bhatia and Danah Boyd argue that tightening enforcement would make kids and adults less safe online.
France joined Australia in July by barring under-15s from major platforms, though the country's top court blocked the ban on human rights grounds. The UK aims to bar under-16s in early 2027, and the EU has announced its own plan for under-15s. Teens in Australia have used a sibling's face for ID checks and even drawn fake facial hair.
Dallas – October 19, 2026 -- MoneyGram has launched a redesigned app and website that let consumers send, receive, hold and cash out money across borders in one place, with support in 40 languages. The updated MoneyGram Online experience is live across supported markets globally.
Consumers can send money to bank accounts, debit cards, digital wallets, retail locations and other MoneyGram app users. They can also pay bills, top up mobile phones and earn rewards by referring friends and family. Available receive methods vary by corridor and appear during the transaction flow.
In select markets, users can hold a stable, dollar-denominated balance through MoneyGram balance. Stablecoin technology runs behind the scenes, so users do not have to manage it themselves.
Austin – October 19, 2026 -- Sutyo AI, a new personal memory app from Sutyo, is now available on iOS and Android and turns voice notes, saved web content and conversations into searchable memories with built-in reminders for meetings and follow-ups.
Users can capture ideas through voice notes, save useful content from the web, screenshots and documents, or dictate with the app's voice keyboard. Sutyo AI then organizes these scattered inputs into memories automatically. Over time, it connects them across three dimensions: facts, experiences and observations, forming a personal knowledge system.
Sutyo says the app also helps people keep track of important meetings and follow-up actions through reminders.
Atlanta – October 19, 2026 -- Students across the United States can apply for $3,000 scholarships to fund technical education and training, with an application deadline of Tuesday, Nov. 10.
Schneider Electric and SKILLED Nation, an organization that expands access to training for high-demand skilled careers, are adding $100,000 in scholarships to the Schneider Electric SKILLED Scholarship Program.
The program is now in its fourth year. Schneider Electric has put more than $300,000 into it so far. The money helps pay for postsecondary education and training in building automation, energy management, HVAC, electrical systems, facilities engineering and maintenance, green building and sustainability, security and related technical fields.
Dubai – October 19, 2026 -- The HONOR X9e Pro pairs an 11,000mAh silicon-carbon battery with a 3-metre marble drop rating, IP68, IP69 and IP69K protection, and a body about 8.08mm thin and roughly 203g.
HONOR frames the phone as the latest step in an X Series that has raised its durability bar with each generation. Two of those generations have also earned Guinness World Records titles.
The X9a used 0.65mm reinforced glass rated to withstand more than 900MPa of stress. HONOR tested it with marble drops, squeezing, rolling and steel-ball impact.
The X9b added 360-degree whole-device protection and drop resistance from up to 1.5 metres. It became the first smartphone in the industry to receive Switzerland's SGS Five-Star Overall Drop Resistance Certification.