Melissa Barrera is out of her starring role in the ‘Scream’ franchise, and the production company that fired her says it’s due to her social media posts it deems hate-inciting and antisemitic. The actress was set to once again assume the leading role in “Scream VII” after starring in “Scream” and “Scream VI” … but … Read more
Mark Zuckerberg’s latest social media platform has a new high-profile user: The President of the United States. After Elon Musk endorsed an antisemitic conspiracy theory on X, his social media platform formerly known as Twitter, the White House criticized his “unacceptable” comments. “We condemn this abhorrent promotion of antisemitic and racist hate in the strongest … Read more
On Instagram, infographics about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza are punctuated with the watermelon emoji. In captions of TikTok videos calling for a ceasefire, the emoji replaces words like “Palestine” and “Gaza.” X (formerly Twitter) users add the watermelon to their handles to express support for Palestinian independence. The watermelon has long been a symbol … Read more
It surely says something about the state of the world today that one of the web’s most anodyne and wholesome memes chose to come out of retirement this week to wade into the discussion surrounding one of the most contentious political conflicts in modern history. Why is the Dancing Baby an NFT? By that I … Read more
Selena Gomez‘s makeup company Rare Beauty is taking a stand amid the ongoing violence taking place in Israel and Gaza. The 31-year-old singer and actress took to social media last week to explain her silence on the unfolding tragedy. One week later, she and her company have announced a plan to help the victims, especially … Read more
Earlier this year, Meta-owned WhatsApp started testing a new feature that allows users to generate stickers based on a text description using AI. When users search “Palestinian,” “Palestine,” or “Muslim boy Palestine,” the feature returns a photo of a gun or a boy with a gun, a report from The Guardian shows. According to The … Read more
NATO-led international peacekeeping force the Kosovo Force (KFOR) soldiers walk in the northern part of the ethnically divided city of Mitrovica, on September 28, 2023. Stringer | Afp | Getty Images Leon Hartwell, a non-resident senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), said escalating tensions between Serbia and Kosovo necessitated heightened vigilance, … Read more
Live matches, also known as player knockout or PK battles, have been a feature on TikTok since at least 2021, though TikTok does not mention the feature on its own webpage describing how livestreaming works. Despite the feature being available for more than two years, it is not very well known, and to the uninitiated, … Read more
In the Lego-like world of Roblox, about a hundred blocky avatars march through a lamplit street, wielding Palestine flags that are larger than their own animated bodies. Characters dressed like cartoonish dinosaurs, steampunk zombies and pastel pink pop stars chant together via instant messages in both Malay and English as they arrive at a stage, … Read more
Israeli soldiers listen to Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant as he meets them in a field near Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel October 19, 2023. Ronen Zvulun | Reuters Israel is widely expected to embark on a major ground incursion into Gaza, seeking to wipe the Palestinian militant group Hamas “off … Read more