A new report from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, shared with WIRED, documents a trend dubbed 'Slop Jihad' in which young supporters of ISIS and al-Qaida use generative AI to turn violent extremist imagery into cartoons, memes and fan edits. One example recreates an infamous ISIS execution video using SpongeBob SquarePants characters, shared on TikTok. Tech Against Terrorism has separately published findings on the same phenomenon.
TikTok is expanding its comment section beyond text, letting users reply with voice clips, photo carousels, and polls. The update aims to make comment threads more interactive and expressive, treating them as a richer space for engagement rather than a simple text feed.
TikTok is adding several new comment features: voice comments up to 60 seconds long for users 18 and older, rolling out over the next month; comment polls with up to five options that creators can track results for, already live globally; and photo comment upgrades including live photo uploads available now and the ability to post up to nine images in a carousel comment within the next month.
A viral TikTok trend called 'pheromone-maxxing' encourages men to forgo showering and deodorant before dates, with proponents claiming their natural body scent boosts attractiveness to women. The trend has sparked debate online, with users sharing personal anecdotes rather than scientific evidence to support the claims.
House Select Committee on China Chair John Moolenaar says TikTok backed out of a planned public roundtable meant to address Chinese government access to US user data and its algorithm. Moolenaar said TikTok withdrew on August 27th, a day after Meta settled with state attorneys general over child safety claims, and cited concerns about facing child safety questions despite that not being the meeting's focus.
TikTok is rolling out new comment features including voice comments up to one minute long, creator-run polls, photo carousel comments, and Live Photo comments. Voice comments will roll out globally over the next month to users 18 and older, while polls—previously limited to some creators—are now available worldwide.
A developer detailed how to bypass TikTok's public web endpoints and instead access the private HTTP+JSON API used by its Android app, which returns far more data at higher speed. Using this method, the researcher collected 3.23 billion creator profiles, 5.94 billion videos and 2.8 billion comments in three weeks, and has released 4.5 billion of those videos as a free dataset on Hugging Face with captions, engagement metrics, sound data, country and posting time.
Livestream shopping, long popular in China, is gaining traction in the U.S. through platforms like TikTok Shop and Whatnot, now valued at $20 billion. Companies such as Beachwaver, run by celebrity hairstylist Sarah Potempa, generate a significant share of sales through hours-long live sessions featuring product demos, auctions and interactive stunts. Legacy retailer QVC has also pivoted to this model, broadcasting over 200 hours weekly across seven TikTok channels after emerging from bankruptcy.
Hollywood actors, producers and investors are increasingly moving into microdramas, short scripted series built for phones with soap-opera plots and cliffhangers meant to keep viewers paying for more. James Franco now stars in "Love, Lies & Frank" on the app Shortical, one of the first such projects made under SAG-AFTRA's new verticals agreement. Omdia projects the U.S. microdrama market will hit $1.5 billion this year, drawing apps like ReelShort, DramaBox and TikTok's own PineDrama.
Meta reached an $18 billion settlement with a coalition of U.S. states that accused it of concealing the risks its platforms posed to young users, ending a high-profile trial in California. Under the deal Meta will pay roughly $12.7 billion outright and adopt new safeguards for minors, such as a two-hour daily limit, disabled cosmetic-surgery filters and stricter age checks, while the remaining $5.3 billion depends on rivals like TikTok and YouTube adopting similar protections.
Meta has reached a settlement with attorneys general from 52 states and territories that ends a years-long lawsuit accusing the company of failing to protect children on its platforms. The deal requires Meta to pay a capped amount of roughly $16.68 billion and to roll out a series of new safety features, while also pledging to push YouTube and TikTok to adopt similar measures, even though that would raise Meta's own payout under the settlement's terms.
UN human rights chief Volker Türk responded to Meta's settlement with almost all US states, which requires the company to add child safety features like time limits and parental controls. Meta has urged TikTok and YouTube to adopt similar measures, but Türk argued governments should not wait for litigation to force such protections across the whole industry.
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