Day: January 28, 2026
TikTok and Snapchat dodge trial on harm-to-kids lawsuit
TikTok will no longer be on trial when it comes to a lawsuit that claims Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube have platforms that are addicting and harmful to children.
The lawsuit, which involves a 19-year-old plaintiff going only by KGM, says the social networks caused her to become addicted to the apps and led to depression and suicidal thoughts.
‘New families every day … are speaking out and bringing Big Tech to court for its deliberately harmful products.’
TikTok has reportedly decided to settle and agreed in principle just hours before jury selection started in Los Angeles this week. Bloomberg Law reported that along with TikTok, Snap Inc. — owner of Snapchat — also reached a confidential settlement with the woman on January 20.
“Plaintiff KGM and defendant TikTok have reached an agreement in principle to settle her case,” Joseph VanZandt, the woman’s attorney, reportedly said in a statement.
The trial, which will continue with the other social media companies later this year, is just one of many that claim the sites are harmful, addictive, and otherwise have failed to protect children.
RELATED: Google’s new motto: Don’t be Christian
While this is the first case to go to trial, there are thousands of complaints from users and families that have sparked other lawsuits in Santa Fe, New Mexico, New York City, and the Northern District of California.
For example, in the Northern District of California, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube were accused of “relentlessly” pursuing growth and “recklessly” ignoring the impacts their products have on children’s mental health.
In that case, Instagram’s former head of safety and well-being testified that Meta had a “17x” strike policy toward those who reportedly engaged in “trafficking of humans for sex.”
“You could incur 16 violations for prostitution and sexual solicitation, and upon the 17th violation, your account would be suspended,” the former employee claimed, citing internal documents.
Meta strongly denied the claims, stating, “We strongly disagree with these allegations, which rely on cherry-picked quotes and misinformed opinions in an attempt to present a deliberately misleading picture.”
“The full record will show that for over a decade, we have listened to parents, researched issues that matter most, and made real changes to protect teens,” Meta went on.
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Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images
The settlement between TikTok and KGM should come as no surprise, said Sacha Haworth, executive director of the Tech Oversight Project.
“This was only the first case — there are hundreds of parents and school districts in the social media addiction trials that [have started], and sadly, new families every day who are speaking out and bringing Big Tech to court for its deliberately harmful products,” she said in a statement provided to Blaze News.
If social media apps are found guilty in these trials, it could set a huge precedent for high-value settlements and possibly lead to sweeping regulation for how the sites handle youth accounts.
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Amazon BAILS on its cashierless grocery stores, betting you’d rather have crazy-fast delivery
What once cost Amazon over $13 billion is now turning into a big headache for the tech company.
Back in 2017, Amazon acquired Whole Foods for a price tag of $13.7 billion with the intention of making its own brick-and-mortar grocery stores under the brands Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go.
‘Fresh groceries now make up nine of the top 10 most-ordered items.’
Amazon Go was meant to be the future: a cashierless and seamless Amazon experience where shoppers simply scan on their way out. In fact, the stores mirror a mid-2000s IBM commercial about online commerce.
By 2023, expansion had been slowed, with some locations closing, CoStar reported at the time, and Amazon taking out a $720 million impairment charge.
On Tuesday, Amazon announced it is fully closing all Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go locations. Although some will be retrofitted to become Whole Foods Market stores, Amazon is making a big shift toward grocery delivery.
RELATED: Cattle rancher battles Amazon data center accused of poisoning water supply, causing miscarriages
Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Amazon said in its press release that it already offers grocery deliveries in 5,000 cities and towns, with several thousand receiving same-day deliveries. Same-day service seems to be the company’s core expansion project for 2026.
The shift appeared to be a profit-driven move after sales through same-day deliveries increased by 40x since January 2025.
“Fresh groceries now make up nine of the top 10 most-ordered items in areas where perishable groceries are available for Same-Day Delivery,” Amazon explained.
Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images
At the same, Amazon says it will be “taking convenience even further” with the introduction of an “ultra-fast” delivery option that brings thousands of “essential items,” including fresh food, to customers in 30 minutes or less. The offer is essentially a mobile convenience store experience.
While Fresh and Go may have not been the shining stars Amazon hoped they would be, its investment in Whole Foods Market has certainly paid off. The company boasted 40% sales growth since 2017, year-over-year increases in customer traffic, and expansion from around 460 locations in 2017 to over 550 currently.
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Jason Whitlock: How should Christians respond to Alex Pretti shooting in Minneapolis?
As Minnesota descends into chaos reminiscent of 2020, one viral post on X has Americans like BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock pondering how Christians should be responding to the world being set on fire, yet again.
“If u can’t clearly & boldly state the craziness of Democrats being unable to define what a woman is & saying men can get pregnant, AND the madness of Republicans defending the murder of Alex Pretti, then you’re following a political party/ideology & not The Lord Jesus Christ,” Fox Sports analyst Chris Broussard wrote in a post on X.
“How should Christians be responding to ICE officials and the killing of Alex Pretti? How should we be responding to this controversy?” Whitlock asks his panel on “Jason Whitlock Harmony.”
“We should always respond prayerfully. We should always respond according to scripture, according to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. That’s with any situation,” BlazeTV contributor Anthony Walker responds.
“It becomes so layered that we actually lose the situation at hand. So that’s why, I again, I underline prayerfully, scripturally, and spiritually,” he adds.
BlazeTV contributor Virgil Walker also believes the proper response should be looking to God.
“Whether it was the death of George Floyd, or the death of anyone, regardless of their ethnicity, regardless of the conditions by which death occurred, we should mourn the loss of an image bearer created in the image of God. Regardless of ideological framework, regardless of all of the camera angles, regardless of any of that,” Walker responds.
He also points out that scripture tells us not to rejoice in the death of the wicked.
“I’m not saying that Alex was wicked, that man who passed away was wicked … I’m simply saying that if we’re not going to rejoice in the death of the wicked, we should not rejoice in anyone’s death,” he explains.
However BlazeTV contributor Shemeka Michelle has a bit of a different take.
“I’ve been frustrated, Jason, over this entire thing … the idea that Christians are just supposed to be, I don’t know, like these weak, perfect people. And I’m really tired of people trying to qualify Christians and tell us how we’re supposed to feel or think about certain social issues that are happening in the country,” Michelle says.
“I feel like my empathy button is broken,” she adds.
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Florida nurse wishes Karoline Leavitt agonizing, life-altering birth injury — red state delivers swift takedown
A delivery nurse was stripped of her ability to practice in Florida after she posted a video online wishing harm on a pregnant Trump administration official.
A video circulated on social media of Lexie Lawler, a then-nurse for Baptist Health Boca Raton Regional Hospital, stating that she hopes White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt suffers a painful childbirth that leaves her with permanent injuries.
‘Making statements that wish pain and suffering on anyone, when those statements are directly related to one’s practice, is an ethical red line we should not cross.’
“As a labor and delivery nurse, it gives me great joy to wish Karoline Leavitt a fourth-degree tear. I hope that you f**king rip from bow to stern and never s**t normally again, you c**t,” Lawler stated in the video.
Lawler was fired this week from her position with Baptist Health Boca Raton Regional Hospital.
“The comments made in a social media video by a nurse at one of our facilities do not reflect our values or the standards we expect of health care professionals,” a spokesperson for the hospital told the Palm Beach Post. “Following a prompt review, the individual is no longer employed by our health system.”
“While we respect the right to personal opinions, there is no place in health care for language or behavior that calls into question a caregiver’s ability to provide compassionate, unbiased care,” the spokesperson added.
Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier reacted to the Lawler video, stating, “Being fired isn’t good enough. Any healthcare worker who fails to uphold his or her obligation to provide adequate, safe healthcare should not be licensed in Florida. No excuses!”
Lawler responded to the public pushback in a separate video posted to social media.
“They murdered a man in Minnesota, and you motherf**kers are coming after me because I used bad language?” Lawler said, referring to the death of Alex Pretti. “F**k you. I’m on the right side of this. F**k you.”
James Uthmeier. Photo by DOMINIC GWINN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images
Uthmeier announced on Wednesday that Lawler “is no longer allowed to practice nursing in Florida.”
“Making statements that wish pain and suffering on anyone, when those statements are directly related to one’s practice, is an ethical red line we should not cross. I’m proud of @FLSurgeonGen for taking this decisive action,” he wrote.
Lawler’s husband, Tim, created a GoFundMe requesting $14,000 in donations for his wife’s legal fund. As of Wednesday afternoon, the fund had raised over $10,000.
“Lexie Lawler was fired for political speech,” the GoFundMe post reads. “She is a liberal woman who used her personal social media — on her own time — to sharply criticize a public figure tied to a cruel, harmful administration. Her words were blunt, angry, and unapologetic. They were directed at power, not her workplace. That speech was lawful. The retaliation was real.”
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Questions linger after man sprays liquid onto Rep. Ilhan Omar during speech on impeachment — hazmat identifies liquid
Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota was sprayed with a liquid while calling for the impeachment of Department of Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem.
Omar was speaking at a town hall event on Tuesday evening when a man walked up from the crowd and sprayed her in the chest with the liquid. She appeared stunned for a second before advancing angrily on the man.
‘We will continue. These f**king a**holes are not going to get away with it!’
He was tackled and arrested soon after. The man was later identified as 55-year-old Anthony James Kazmierczak.
“I’m going to finish my remarks. It is important for me to continue,” Omar said after going back to her podium. “We will continue. These f**king a**holes are not going to get away with it!”
Minneapolis Police Department spokesperson Trevor Folke said that the congresswoman was not hurt.
The incident was captured in video footage from several different angles, as well as close-up photographs.
Police said he used a syringe to spray the liquid. Kazmierczak is being held at the Hennepin County Jail without bond on suspicion of third-degree assault charge.
RELATED: Ilhan Omar mocks Trump and others for praising Charlie Kirk: ‘These people are full of s**t!’
Photo by Angelina Katsanis/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Many on social media immediately began to question the circumstances surrounding the incident and many suggested that the congresswoman had staged the attack to elicit sympathy.
The president weighed in on the issue and landed strongly on the side accusing Omar of a hoax.
“I don’t think about her. I think she’s a fraud,” Trump said. “She probably had herself sprayed, knowing her.”
An email reviewed by Blaze News showed that the Justice Democrats political action committee had immediately begun a campaign asking for donations on Omar’s behalf. Those donations would be split with the PAC.
RELATED: Ilhan Omar compares Stephen Miller’s immigration rhetoric to Nazism
Photo by Angelina Katsanis/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The U.S. Capitol Police said they would seek the most serious charges against the man to deter other attacks. A report from Alpha News cited sources that said the liquid had been identified by hazmat officials as apple cider vinegar.
Omar posted a defiant statement on social media.
“I’m ok. I’m a survivor so this small agitator isn’t going to intimidate me from doing my work,” she wrote. “I don’t let bullies win. Grateful to my incredible constituents who rallied behind me. Minnesota strong.”
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How to assess microplastics in our bodies? Scientists have a plan
How many tiny pieces of plastic are currently inside your body? A series of headline-grabbing studies in the last few years have claimed to have found microplastics throughout human bodies — inside blood, organs and even brains.
PH bags 134 medals, posts record haul at ASEAN Para Games
The Philippines ended the 2026 ASEAN Para Games in Thailand last Monday with a haul of 134 medals, marking the country”s best performance since the tournament”s inaugural edition in 2001.
Colombia passenger plane missing with 15 aboard
An aircraft carrying 15 people, including one lawmaker, went missing near Colombia’s troubled border with Venezuela on Wednesday, state airline Satena and aerospace authorities said.
Trump warns Iran to make nuclear deal or next attack will be ‘far worse’
U.S. President Donald Trump urged Iran on Wednesday to come to the table and make a deal on nuclear weapons or the next U.S. attack would be far worse. Tehran responded with a threat to strike back against the United States, Israel and those who support them.
