All cards
49 to 72 of 74 cards
-
Watch
Character.AI lawsuit settlement (AI companion chatbots)
Character.AI and Google have agreed to settle lawsuits alleging that AI companion chatbots harmed teens' mental health, including cases involving suicide, which makes this a good moment to understand how teens use these apps.
-
Watch
AI chatbots
Nearly a third of US teens use AI chatbots every day, mostly as everyday tools, but companionship-style bots deserve a closer look because of their possible effect on teens' mental health.
-
Watch
AI toys for children
Talking toys powered by chatbots are sold as friendly and educational, but child advocacy groups warn they can steer conversations to explicit or dangerous topics and crowd out play and real relationships.
-
Watch
Character.AI under-18 chat ban
After lawsuits from families, Character.AI says it will end open-ended AI chats for under-18 users, a sign that companion-style chatbots can become an emotional risk for some teens, though most use is not harmful.
-
Watch
764 network
Police in Canada say 764, a violent online group within the wider Com network, reaches kids through chat in social and gaming apps and pressures them into sharing intimate images or harming themselves, so it is worth knowing about even though reporting so far rests on one case.
-
Debunked
School explosive device email hoax
A generic emailed bomb threat sent to hundreds of schools in the UK from outside the country has been treated by police as a hoax with low risk to the public, though some schools closed or sent kids home as a precaution.
-
Debunked
Ghosting Challenge (hoax)
A viral alert about a supposed TikTok road-stunt challenge spread through a police warning and parent groups in Quebec, but TikTok and fact-checkers found no videos of it, and the alert traced back to an account known for fake posts.
-
Debunked
Yuma abduction rumor
A widely shared post called a teen's dispute over money an attempted abduction, but police released bodycam video and said the facts did not show one, which is an older kidnapping-rumour pattern coming back.
-
Debunked
Fake "school start postponed" rumour
AI-made TikTok videos, viewed hundreds of thousands of times, falsely claimed the French school start was postponed after a cyberattack, and fake "class list" sites are circulating alongside them.
-
Debunked
Discord face scan for everyone
A widely shared claim that every Discord user must scan their face or upload an ID is false: Discord says most people will never be asked, and only some age-restricted features involve a check.
-
Debunked
Walmart trafficker hoax
Viral posts claim human traffickers pose as Walmart staff to lure shoppers into the parking lot, but police and fact-checkers found no evidence of any such case.
-
Debunked
Roblox shutdown hoax
A viral screenshot claimed Roblox would shut down on January 1st, but it came from a parody account and the company announced nothing of the kind.
-
Debunked
TikTok privacy terms panic
Viral posts claimed TikTok's new terms let it start tracking sensitive personal data, but fact-checkers found the same wording in the 2024 policy, and the main real change, wider location data, can be switched off.
-
Debunked
Tainted Halloween candy hoax
A viral warning about needles in Halloween gummies turned out to be a hoax by a child in one household, and police found no tampering anywhere else, so it was never a wider threat to trick-or-treaters.
-
Context
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4
A new mature-rated military shooter is getting heavy coverage from teen-popular YouTube creators, so many younger players and viewers will want it; it is mostly a content-fit and online-chat question, not a danger.
-
Context
Australia's under-16 social media ban
Australia's new law requires big platforms to block under-16 accounts, and reports say some teens are drifting to lesser-known apps that the law doesn't cover yet.
-
Context
Roblox age checks for chat
Roblox is requiring a facial age estimate or ID check before players can use chat, then limiting who they can talk to by age group, a safety change that is worth understanding but not a threat in itself.
-
Connect
Fortnite
Fortnite is a hugely popular game with a Halloween update and ranked play going on right now, and it is a good way to connect with your kid, as long as you know how its chat and in-game spending work.
-
Connect
The Backrooms
The Backrooms is a popular internet horror fiction about endless empty, eerie rooms, told through videos, games and Roblox worlds; it is made-up and mostly harmless, though it can scare younger kids.
-
Connect
Five Nights at Freddy's (FNAF)
Five Nights at Freddy's is a long-running horror game series whose jumpscare videos are hugely popular on YouTube; it's harmless fun for most kids, but the sudden scares can rattle younger ones.
-
Connect
Roblox games
Roblox is a platform full of user-made games that most kids play daily and that top creators on YouTube keep turning into videos, so it is an easy way to start a conversation about what your child plays.
-
Connect
6-7 ("six-seven")
"6-7" is a nonsense chant that tweens shout as an in-group joke, tied to a rap song and basketball clips, and Dictionary.com named it its 2025 word of the year; it's harmless.
-
Connect
Aura farming
Aura farming is a meme about looking effortlessly cool, and it has moved offline, where young people stage public "aura battles" with exaggerated, meme-style moves in front of crowds.
-
Connect
Brainrot
Brainrot is kids' slang for absurd, repetitive, endlessly scrollable online content, and also for the foggy feeling of watching too much of it; it's mostly a harmless in-joke, with the main concern being how much time it takes.
New cards, every Monday.
The Mistlift brief sums up what kids are into online this week, rated from harmless to serious, with what to say.