Taylor Hatmaker
Culture Editor
The Latest from Taylor Hatmaker
TikTok ban: How Congress could force ByteDance to sell or push the app out of the US
TikTok faces an uncertain fate in the U.S. once again. In a 352 to 65 vote Wednesday, the House voted to pass a bill that could lead to a national TikTok ban. After a surprise flurry of bipartisan act
The controversial bill that could ban TikTok faces a rocky road in the Senate
A bill threatening to ban an app beloved by half of the American population just rocketed through the House of Representatives in a week’s time. But in the other chamber of Congress, things are like
The bill that could ban TikTok passes in the House
The House voted on Wednesday in favor of a bill to require TikTok to sever its connection with parent company ByteDance or face a ban, moving the legislation forward with surprising speed. President J
What’s next for Twitch? A big app redesign and more social sharing
In an open letter published on Wednesday, Twitch CEO Dan Clancy outlined the livestreaming company’s plans for 2024, with a focus on helping streamers grow their audiences even when they aren’
X goes to court in Elon Musk’s war against an anti-hate research org
Elon Musk’s crusade against the extremism research organization the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) will have its day in court on Thursday. Elon Musk’s X sued the CCDH last year,
The Supreme Court could decide the future of content moderation
The Supreme Court is considering the fate of two state laws that limit how social media companies can moderate the content on their platforms. In oral arguments on Monday, the justices grappled with a
With Disney’s magic, Fortnite is poised to win the metaverse
We may not be using the M word much these days, but the race to build an interconnected avatar-driven virtual world didn’t take the last year off. The metaverse, a tech buzzword sandwiched in betwee
Cowboy allays e-bike riders’ greatest fears with on-demand repairs and tune-ups
Cowboy is rolling out a new repairs and service program designed to give its e-bike riders more ways to keep their wheels on the road. The new service option is more reassurance to European Cowboy rid
Disney takes a $1.5B stake in Epic Games to build an ‘entertainment universe’ with Fortnite
Lego Fortnite is only two months old, but Epic Games is already out with an even bigger collaboration. Epic and Disney announced today that the companies will partner on an “all-new games and en
Oversight Board calls on Meta to rewrite ‘incoherent’ rules against faked videos
The Oversight Board, the external advisory group that Meta created to review its moderation decisions on Facebook and Instagram, issued a decision on Monday concerning a doctored seven-second video of
Pew report shows TikTok’s rise and YouTube’s ubiquity
Social media apps can rise quickly and burn out just as fast, but taking a step back and looking at those trends on a longer timeline offers a better glimpse at the big picture. The Pew Research Cente
Microsoft, X throw their weight behind KOSA, the controversial kids online safety bill
On the eve of Wednesday’s Big Tech hearing (both Big Tech and a big hearing — five CEOs are testifying as we speak), Microsoft stepped up to back a controversial bill that aims to protect chil
CEOs from Meta, TikTok, Snap, X and Discord head to Congress for kids’ online safety hearing
CEOs from some of the biggest social platforms will appear before Congress on Wednesday to defend their companies against mounting criticism that they have done too little to protect kids and teens on
Fortnite and the Epic Games Store are coming to iOS in Europe
Four years after leaving iOS, Fortnite is coming back — but only European players will be dropping in this time. The endless beef between Epic Games and Apple over the company’s App Store fees
Lego Fortnite’s first big update squashes bugs and adds a launch pad
Epic’s standalone survival crafting game saw its first update on Tuesday, smoothing out some of the new game’s rough edges and adding a flurry of quality of life improvements. We’ve
Gamers flock to Palworld’s ‘Pokémon with guns’ despite copyright qualms
When Palworld made its inauspicious debut in a teaser a year or so back, few thought this strange, blatant Pokémon ripoff would be anything but a quickly forgotten oddity. But after its Early Access
In a new lawsuit, Iowa accuses TikTok of lying about content available to kids
The state of Iowa is suing TikTok, alleging that the social media company misleads parents about the kinds of content available to young users. The lawsuit from Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird accus
Substack won’t commit to proactively removing Nazi content, ensuring further fallout
Substack has industry-leading newsletter tools and a platform that independent writers flock to, but its recent content moderation missteps could prove costly. In late November, the Atlantic reported
Lawsuit against Snap over fentanyl deaths can proceed, judge rules
A lawsuit blaming Snapchat for a series of drug overdoses among young people can proceed, a Los Angeles judge ruled this week. A group of family members related to children and teens who overdosed on
Why Fortnite is getting into cozy gaming
When it comes to figuring out a formula for a hit game that keeps players coming back year after year, Saxs Persson would know. Now at Epic Games overseeing the Fortnite ecosystem, Persson previously