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Liz Wheeler floats a Trump plan to force election reform in California

Conservatives need to stop treating California’s election system as untouchable — and BlazeTV host Liz Wheeler knows how, saying, “We don’t have to accept the rigged system, the rigged election system in California, just because it’s California.”

“The federal government has multiple things that can be done to ensure the integrity of California elections,” she adds.

“If we do not do something to secure the integrity of our elections, then we aren’t the constitutional republic that we have been,” she says, noting that despite this fear, she’s “not blackpilled.”

“The radical left has defeated us in many ways, but they have not totally defeated us. And we, the right, have finally recognized, we’ve finally acknowledged the reality of this political enemy that we face. And that is the fundamental thing necessary in order to construct our defense to defeat them,” she explains.

While Wheeler notes that the leftist majority isn’t going to change in California, there’s still hope for change.

“There are mechanisms that can be used by the federal government to entice, incentivize, or essentially coerce states into doing certain things if that state is also receiving federal money,” she continues.

Wheeler points to drinking age laws as an example.

“The federal government, the United States Congress, the House and the Senate, and then the president, the executive branch, also have authority under the General Welfare Clause,” she explains.

“The Reagan administration did not exceed their authority because they ruled that this specific provision, this 21-year-old drinking age, was related to highway safety,” she continues, noting that this law was pushed through “negative reinforcement.”

“There’s also a precedent of positive reinforcement regarding car seats, children’s car seats and booster seats. And you can think that car seat laws are too restrictive or not. That’s kind of the morality of the thing is not even the point that I’m making,” she says.

“There’s precedent on the books of the federal government being able to influence state laws simply by offering positive or negative reinforcement when it comes to the funding that states so readily accept and depend on from the federal government,” she continues.

“So what I would propose to you today,” she adds, “is why doesn’t President Trump do this?”

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​Conservatives, Liz wheeler, California, Donald trump, Election laws, Gavin newsom, Spencer pratt, Nithya raman, Karen bass, The liz wheeler show 

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‘Blue wave’ expected for midterms looks more like a tiny ripple, says CNN’s Harry Enten

While Democrats are hoping for a “blue wave” to hit Election Day and hand over control of Congress, CNN’s political analyst is tossing cold water on those expectations.

Harry Enten showed how the polling ahead of the election shows Democrats are not performing as well as they were in previous midterm elections against a Republican president.

‘It is no guarantee; it is far from a guarantee at this point if you believe these pollsters.’

Democrats are up by five percentage points in generic congressional polling from NBC News, but at the same point of the 2006 midterms, Democrats were ahead by 11 points in polling, and in 2018, they were ahead 10 points.

“And now the Democratic lead is on a single hand,” Enten said.

“Democrats are ahead, but don’t count your chickens just quite yet.”

He showed other signs that the blue wave is receding from the shoreline.

“So this is not just one poll in which we are seeing this. There is this group of pollsters that are out there that are just not showing the wave you might expect given where the president’s approval rating is,” he explained.

In three separate polls shared by Enten, Democrats failed to increase support from January and February as compared to the results from the same polling four months later. The NBC poll showed them losing 1% of support, Marquette Law School showed them losing 3%, and the Ipsos poll had them even.

Enten went on to point out that redistricting in Republican-controlled states has further eroded Democrats’ edge.

“We really think that Democrats need between three- and four-point advantage in the national polls. You average those polls together … it’s right on the border there. It’s right on the border. It is no guarantee; it is far from a guarantee at this point if you believe these pollsters.”

RELATED: ‘Historic’ loss for John Cornyn shows that the Bush era of the GOP is ‘DEAD,’ Enten says

Democrats have about a 78% chance to win the House of Representatives, according to prediction markets shared by Enten, but Republicans have a 57% chance of maintaining control of the Senate.

On Monday, Enten posted video of the segment to his social media account, where it garnered hundreds of thousands of views.

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​Blue wave, Harry enten, Midterm elections, Prediction markets, Politics 

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Liberals are trying to CANCEL funnyman Nate Bargatze for what he did on Sunday

Many on the left are furious with popular comedian Nate Bargatze for what he did on Sunday.

Like thousands of others, Bargatze attended the UFC event at the White House, where he snapped a photo with Robert Kennedy Jr., the head of the Health and Human Services Department, and Kennedy’s wife, Cheryl Hines, at the celebration of America’s 250th anniversary.

‘I used to think that MAGANate pretended to be an idiot for his act. Apparently he’s not pretending.’

The event angered many on the left who accused President Donald Trump of not respecting the sanctity of the White House, as well as the National Mall. The event, which coincided with Trump’s birthday, included several UFC fights, a military flyover, and a bald eagle.

A spokesperson for Bargatze released a statement about his attendance at the event.

“Nate is family-friendly entertainment first,” the representative said in an email to HuffPost. “He is not political, nor is anything he produces. He is also a huge UFC fan and has been since before it became political.”

Many on the left were outraged and expressed their fury on social media.

“MAGANate Bargatze. I used to enjoy Chick-fil-A, and then I learned that the owners are bigots and I haven’t eaten there in 25 years,” responded failed Democrat congressional candidate Moe Davis. “I used to enjoy @natebargatze, but then I learned that he thinks fascism is funny. I miss Chick-fil-A every now and then.”

He added, “I used to think that MAGANate pretended to be an idiot for his act. Apparently he’s not pretending.”

“I could never figure out how to properly pronounce Bargatze’s last name. He mentioned not being sure himself. Today, I know. It rhymes with Nazi,” replied another X user.

“I loved that guy, and I generally don’t do boycotts, but I’m done with him. It’s 2026. If you don’t know who the Nazis are yet, I don’t need to hear any more from you,” responded political columnist Seth Abramson.

“Of course Nate Bargatze likes Trump. He’s rich white trash,” said another user.

Others were somewhat less civil.

“F**k NATE BARGATZE!!!! Godd**ned MAGA motherf**ker,” replied one critic.

RELATED: Robert De Niro rambles about hating America during bizarre counterprogram to WH UFC

Trump has announced that he will be leading a massive Trump rally after the 250th celebration concert for the Fourth of July after several singers dropped out of performing.

Bargatze is currently the highest-grossing comedian in the world, has already branched out into starring in his first feature movie, and is developing a multimillion-dollar family theme park that will be named “NateLand.”

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​Nate bargatze, Liberal outrage, Online outrage, Politics, White house, Ufc 

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Sisters accused in stabbing of Detroit restaurant worker — over wrong food order

Two sisters are accused in connection with the stabbing of a Detroit restaurant worker over a wrong food order — and one of the sisters reportedly was nine months pregnant at time of the incident.

Brianna and Kierianna Long were charged with assault with intent to murder, assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, and assault with a dangerous weapon after the incident on the city’s east side, WDIV-TV reported.

‘I’m going to kill you.’

Police told WDIV the stabbing occurred in the 17100 block of East Warren Avenue just after 6 p.m. May 30. WDIV did not name the restaurant; Metro Detroit News said it was a chicken restaurant.

Brianna Long is 29, and Kierianna Long is 26, Metro Detroit News said, citing court records, adding that the restaurant worker is 23.

Prosecutors allege that after the sisters received a wrong food order from the worker, they argued with the worker, went behind the counter, and began assaulting the worker, WDIV said.

Brianna Long and Kierianna Long allegedly chased the worker and threw items at the worker inside the restaurant, the station said. Metro Detroit News said the items included pots and pans.

WDIV said the worker threw things back at the sisters, and prosecutors indicated the sisters picked up a knife thrown at them and used the knife to stab the worker in the stomach.

More from the station:

Prosecutors also said hot grease was attempted to be thrown at the worker, and one of the sisters allegedly told the worker, “I’m going to kill you,” during the alleged assault.

The worker was taken to a local hospital and had to undergo surgery, officials said.

The sisters allegedly drove away from the scene but were later taken into custody, WDIV said.

RELATED: Heroic gas station clerk saves girl from sex offender amid alleged kidnapping after she mouths desperate plea to him

Image source: Detroit Police Department

Brianna Long was nine months pregnant at the time of the alleged stabbing, the station said, adding that she gave birth four days before her arraignment.

During the arraignment, Brianna Long’s defense attorney claimed the worker told the sisters that she didn’t “give a f**k” about the wrong food order and threw things at Brianna and her sister first, WDIV reported.

Brianna Long also pleaded with the judge during the arraignment, saying she was innocent and that she had a four-day-old baby at home, the station added.

The judge expressed concern that a food order error led to an alleged violent assault, WDIV reported, adding that the judge as a result set the sisters’ bonds high.

Prosecutors said Kierianna Long is accused of stabbing the employee, while Brianna Long is accused of taking part in the assault and helping drive away from the scene, Metro Detroit News reported.

Brianna Long was given a $25,000 cash bond, the station said, adding that Kierianna Long was given a $100,000 cash bond.

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​Physical attack, Detroit police, Sisters arrested, Wrong food order, Restaurant, Pregnant, Stabbing, Crime 

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HOT STOCK: SpaceX IPO is making even its welders rich

A welder named Juan Hernandez joined SpaceX in 2015 at $28 an hour. He took stock instead of a fatter paycheck. The day the company was listed, those shares were worth about $880,000.

He has company. More than 4,000 current and former SpaceX employees became millionaires when the company began trading on the Nasdaq at $135 a share. The valuation hit $1.77 trillion, the seventh-largest public company and ahead of Tesla. It was the biggest IPO ever recorded. About 400 of those workers now hold stakes above $100 million, and some of them ladle soup in the cafeteria.

The teenager weighing a coding boot camp against welding school should study the leaderboard in Brownsville.

Learn to weld

That last part flips the usual script. Rank-and-file employees have struck gold in stock debuts before, but most often they were the ones writing code or creating marketing decks

This time it’s very different.

SpaceX handed equity down to welders, machinists, and line workers at Starbase, many of whom took below-market pay for shares. The bet looked reckless a decade ago, back when SpaceX still lost rockets on the launchpad. Today, the only thing still exploding is their net worth.

The setting makes it stranger. Brownsville sits near the bottom of every income chart in Texas, and SpaceX put more than 3,000 jobs there. Home prices in Cameron County have more than doubled since the rockets arrived, climbing from around $131,000 in 2014 to over $281,000.

Critics call that unaffordable, but the complaint misses who is doing the buying. The new money was earned in the county, by people who lived there before SpaceX showed up. When a poor town’s home values double on the back of local paychecks, the residents hold the deeds. Rising prices turn dangerous when wages sit still. Brownsville got richer faster than it got expensive.

Deskbound

Now for the mandatory dread about machines coming for our jobs and, in the more ominous forecasts, our throats. But now automation is a white-collar problem. AI can draft a deal sheet or pass the bar exam. What it can’t do is snake a wire past a joist or seal a fuel tank that holds at cryogenic temperatures without splitting. The jobs vanishing first are the ones done sitting down. Paralegals should sweat. Plumbers can light up a cigarette and relax.

In April, a humanoid robot built by the phone maker Honor finished a Beijing half-marathon in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, quicker than any human has run the distance. A year before that, at the first such race, one machine toppled at the start and another walked into a barrier, and every robot needed a human handler jogging beside it like a parent at a toddler’s first steps. Ask one of those to fish a cable through a finished wall and find the live wire before something ignites. Fine motor control and sound judgment still belong to people. The robots can run, but keep them away from your breaker box.

So the trades have an opening, and it widens if manufacturing returns. A factory needs hands long before it needs a wellness coordinator. The teenager weighing a coding boot camp against welding school should study the leaderboard in Brownsville.

RELATED: The first trillionaire: SpaceX goes public — and it’s not just Elon Musk who’s striking it rich

Marvin Joseph/Washington Post/Getty Images

Elon earned it

Then there is Musk. The IPO makes him a trillionaire, the richest man alive. Bernie Sanders, the millionaire who wrote a best-seller about the immorality of millionaires, calls the number obscene. Paul Krugman blames a “rigged system.”

None of this started with the IPO. Attacking Musk has been a fixture on the left for years, somewhere between a hobby and a second income. The trillion-dollar number raised the stakes. The objections write themselves and skip the question worth asking first. How did he get there?

Plenty of fortunes start with a dead grandparent and end in an offshore account. But this one came from hardware that lands itself and flies again. Musk bet on factories and launchpads while easy money chased apps. He keeps hours that would bury most executives. He sleeps on factory floors when a launch date slips, a habit his critics conveniently ignore.

And he paid everyday Americans in stock when cash would have cost him less, allowing them to win as well.

Before wheeling out the guillotine and inviting Mark Cuban to drop the blade, separate the fortunes built on extraction from the ones built on output. Musk is a visionary, a builder of truly great things. He made the rocket cheaper and the cook richer. Capitalism has never looked so hard to hate.

​Bernie sanders, Brownsville, Elon musk, Equity, Factory, Jobs, Mark cuban, Spacex, Welder, Juan hernandez, Blue collar, Trades, Hooray for capitalism 

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New York women flock to convents — for the cheap rent: ‘Nuns are awesome’

Amid sky-high prices for just a single room in New York City, living among nuns is becoming increasingly popular.

Average rent prices in the city have already jumped by almost $150 in 2026, sitting at just under $3,700 per month for June.

‘It was the cheapest place I found in Manhattan.’

Rent could get as high as $4,000 by the end of August, trends on Zillow show, a long way from where studio apartments or even two-bedrooms were in 2021: $2,000 and $2,600, respectively.

Get thee to a nunnery

In the face of these prices, New Yorkers are reportedly filling up residences run by nuns, who offer cheaper prices but require tenants to adhere to a stricter set of rules — a polar opposite of New York City free-for-alls Americans saw during the NBA Finals, for example.

The Wall Street Journal reported on five different nunneries in New York that offer housing at a third of the price, or less, of the average NYC apartment. St. Agnes Residence on the Upper West Side starts at about $950; Centro Maria in the Bronx charges about $800; and St. Mary’s Residence on E 72nd St. is around $1,200 per month.

One former renter at Sacred Heart Residence in Chelsea, named Katie, paid $1,650 for her spot.

“Nuns are awesome,” Katie told the outlet. “They be chilling.”

Hannah remarked that the Menno House, a 10-person residence in Gramercy Park, had its smallest room listed for $580/month.

“It was the cheapest place I found in Manhattan,” she said.

Cheap rent is not all the nuns are offering, either.

RELATED: ‘One nation under God’: Christians to march through DC as part of 2,000-mile Eucharistic procession

– YouTube

Daily habits

At Centro Maria, five nuns live with 21 residents in a four-story building. The benefits of this show up in the form of a daily morning breakfast for the residents cooked by the nuns, including pancakes, eggs, sausage, fruit, and more.

The nuns not only clean the building, they host parties for residents to intermingle and even have karaoke in the dining room.

There are rules, of course, offering some stability to residents in the crazy city. Some had a reported curfew of 11 p.m. or midnight, while women’s residences bar male visitors from bedrooms, as well as alcohol.

“I love living with the girls. They keep me young,” said a Sister Rita. But as loving as the nuns can be, they are also strict, and they’re not hiding it.

RELATED: Washington Nationals under fire after anti-Christian public relations disaster EXPOSED (UPDATE)

Eric Thayer-Pool/Getty Images

Sister smackdown

One convent has a display board in the lobby that lists who is home and who is out; the nuns say they lie awake until everyone is home.

“I don’t go to bed if I don’t know where someone is,” Sister Maria says. If a girl is late for her curfew — which she has likely informed her nuns of ahead of time, possibly out of fear — Sister Maria lies down and waits. The nun said she typically thinks, “I’m gonna kill her tomorrow,” and then gets up when the door opens.

Sister Maria also conducts surprise room inspections twice per month.

“You don’t know the date, but I’ll be there,” she reportedly said with a smile.

As for Sister Rita, who loves her girls, she said that she vets any boyfriends who are brought to the building and tells the girls to their faces if she doesn’t like them.

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​Religion, Nuns, New york city, Rent, News, Lifestyle 

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‘Insanity’: Jason Whitlock blasts doctor who wrote an article condemning Austin Metcalf’s dad as the villain

As reactions to Karmelo Anthony’s murder conviction continue to flood social media, BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock says the most shocking behavior isn’t happening in the form of riots — it’s happening on the internet.

“There has been a different form of rioting that I did not predict or see coming. … People are rioting and looting their brains online. People are saying crazy things in defense of Karmelo Anthony,” Whitlock says.

“They’re saying really ridiculous things defending Karmelo Anthony because they’re defending this demonic culture that black people have adopted — black people have been baited into. And now, in order to defend our racial idolatry, we have to defend some of the dumbest, most repulsive behavior on the planet,” he says, before pulling up an article one woman wrote that represents this “repulsive behavior.”

The article, by Dr. Stacey Patton, is called “Dear Jeff Metcalf: Your Son Is Dead Because You Failed to Teach Him That Black Boys Have Boundaries.”

Whitlock calls the article “insanity.”

“A lot of these things that we’re seeing are black women making the most ridiculous arguments in the history of the planet justifying the murder,” he says, before showing another example.

“Here’s two black women sitting around talking about the lies that black people should tell to get on those juries so that we can free Karmelo Anthony,” he says.

“If they say, ‘Can you be fair?’ Don’t say, ‘No, I’m not going to put a black man in jail.’ Don’t say that, OK? ‘Cause if that’s what you gonna say, you could have stayed home. You have to go and be like, ‘No, I will hear the evidence. I can be fair.’ Don’t say, ‘I hate white people and I don’t care what he did.’ Don’t do that,” one woman said on the “Gin and Juice Podcast.”

“That’s what people were doing in this case, OK? And then everybody’s like in an uproar because there’s no black people on the jury when damn near half of the black people who could have been on the jury canceled themselves out, you know?” she continued.

“‘Hey, go be dishonest. Go help a kid that murdered someone get away with murder,’” Whitlock mocks, explaining that women like this are a “force for nihilism and wickedness and deception.”

“They’re doing this out in front of everybody. This isn’t a private conversation. They’re unrepentant about their wickedness. And that’s the culture that they’ve created. And that’s why their kids, boys and girls, are unrepentant about their wickedness,” he adds.

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​Jason whitlock, Karmelo anthony, Austin metcalf, Gin and juice, Jason whitlock harmony 

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‘Devastating’ skydiving outing leaves 12 dead

A dozen people have been pronounced dead after a skydiving plane crashed shortly after taking off on Sunday.

The plane, a Pacific Aerospace P750, ascended from Butler Memorial Airport in Butler, Missouri, before stalling just moments later and crashing in an adjacent field near Interstate Business 49 around 11:30 a.m. Central Time. All 11 passengers and the sole pilot on board were pronounced dead.

‘Key to this investigation is going to be looking at the mechanical condition of the airplane itself, the engine.’

It is not currently known what caused the crash. Dennis Jacobs, airport manager of the Bates County Emergency Management Agency, suspects that power issues are to blame for the plane’s troubles.

“It had just taken off and made a left turn. In my opinion, I think it was losing power, and he was trying to make it over to the highway and land, and he stalled and went down nose first and caught fire,” Jacobs said.

Jacobs denies that weather played any role in the crash, describing the day as “beautiful” up until the tragedy.

Bailey Reed, who witnessed the crash, told CBS News that the plane was “completely perpendicular with the wings to the sky, to the ground, going fast. And then they just hit the ground.”

Reed added, “They didn’t have time to jump.”

The aircraft was reportedly only 100 feet in the air when it began to show signs of failure. The Federal Aviation Administration reported that they were “not providing air traffic control services” at the time of the crash.

RELATED: Investigator of LaGuardia plane crash suggests ‘multiple failures’ caused the collision; survivors respond

Family members of the victims were present and witnessed the tragedy unfold before their eyes, according to Bates County Sheriff Chad Anderson.

“Our hearts go out to them. There’s nothing we really can say to make it better. We just pray for them and their loved ones and their friends and their family and hope that they can recover to some sense of normalcy,” Anderson said during a press conference.

Skydive Kansas City, the company that organized the jump, released a statement in the aftermath of the crash: “This is a devastating loss for everyone connected to Skydive Kansas City and for the wider skydiving community. Our deepest sympathies are with the families, friends, and loved ones of all who were lost.”

The company added, “At this time, the focus of the management and ownership team is to assist investigators and to support the staff and the broader skydiving community. The entire team is in shock, and the community is close-knit.”

Officials from the NTSB and FAA are on the scene in Butler to begin their investigation into the incident.

“Key to this investigation is going to be looking at the mechanical condition of the airplane itself, the engine,” Robert Sumwalt, the former chair of the NTSB, said.

Butler is a small town of just over 4,000 residents located about 65 miles south of Kansas City.

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​Federal aviation administration, Politics, Missouri, Skydiving 

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Exclusive: ICE arrests illegal aliens convicted of child sex crime, forcible sexual assault, and drug trafficking

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested several illegal aliens this week who were previously convicted of sex and drug crimes, according to a Department of Homeland Security press release exclusively obtained by Blaze News.

The DHS said the operation is part of its ongoing campaign to remove “criminal illegal alien pedophiles, sexual deviants, drug dealers, and other violent criminals” from American communities.

‘We will never stop removing heinous criminals from our nation and making America safe again.’

“It’s common sense: Americans don’t want criminals in their communities,” DHS acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis stated.

ICE agents arrested Ever De Leon-Gurrola, an illegal alien from Mexico who was previously convicted of indecency with a child by exposure and aggravated kidnapping in Hidalgo County, Texas.

RELATED: ICE officer shoots at fleeing van that struck him during illegal alien arrest operation, NJ police say

Ever De Leon-Gurrola. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

Zahia Eimadeldin Musa Ali, an illegal immigrant from Sudan, now sits in ICE custody after convictions for sexual penetration with force, five counts of battery of a spouse, possession of unlawful paraphernalia, flash incarceration, and obstructing a police officer in Sacramento, California.

RELATED: SCOTUS to review Obama judges’ decision about criminal noncitizens’ alleged rights

Zahia Eimadeldin Musa Ali. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

ICE detained Juan Fernando Guarniz-Manrique, an illegal alien from Peru with prior convictions for third-degree sexual assault and second-degree assault with intent to injure by drug or substance in New Britain, Connecticut.

Juan Fernando Guarniz-Manrique. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

Fernando Morales, an illegal alien from Mexico, was apprehended by ICE agents. He was previously convicted of felony manufacturing, distribution, or dispensing of a controlled substance in Kansas City, Kansas.

Fernando Morales. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

Joining the list of detainees is Sergio Herrera-Guzman, an illegal immigrant from Mexico who was convicted of making terroristic threats to commit imminent death in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Sergio Herrera-Guzman. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

“Under President Trump and [DHS Secretary Markwayne] Mullin, we will never stop removing heinous criminals from our nation and making America safe again,” Bis said.

The DHS encourages Americans to visit wow.dhs.gov to view additional criminal illegal aliens the agency says it has removed from communities nationwide.

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​Child sex crimes, Criminal illegal alien, Department of homeland security, Drug trafficking, Illegal aliens, Immigration, Pedophiles, Politics 

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Inside the UK’s under-16 social media ban: AI girlfriends, Bluesky, and a few open questions

Alongside the fact that the British government is now apparently in the business of regulating AI girlfriends, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer just announced a sweeping ban on social media for anyone under 16 in the U.K.

Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and X are the platforms named so far in the U.K. government’s official announcement. Modeled on Australia’s ban, the list may not be final.

‘Is this simply overt political censorship?’

Restrictions will also be enforced on gaming sites, including blocks on livestreaming and stranger communication with children under 16.

Starmer previously said he was personally opposed to a “blanket ban,” but according to GB News, a government consultation closed in May with nearly 120,000 responses and over 90% of parents backing a ban.

The U.K. government also preloaded the announcement with a spending pledge.

A £132.5 million “Every Child Can” program was unveiled to fund “enriching activities” in sports, art, and nature — framed as alternatives to doomscrolling.

RELATED: New York schools banned smartphones a year ago — and it seems to be a smart idea

Isabel Infantes/POOL/AFP/Getty Images

But nobody can say for sure whether Bluesky, the left-leaning alternative to X, is even covered by the ban. GB News says it “looks set to escape a ban” entirely, but according to LBC, Technology Secretary Liz Kendall told a radio host on Monday, “In Australia, Bluesky is included in the ban, and we plan to use their model.”

Reem Ibrahim of the Reason Foundation suggested the ban could be a form of “political censorship”: “The UK is banning under-16s from social media, under the guise of ‘protecting kids’, but it will not include Bluesky. Is this simply overt political censorship?”

The U.K. government’s definition is broad enough to cover almost any app “whose purpose is to enable social interaction and which allow users to post material” and therefore could include sites like Reddit, Pinterest, and Tumblr.

And buried in the same announcement is a ban on under-18s using “romantic companion chatbots,” with all AI chatbots required to dial back “intimate functionalities” for minors.

Washington isn’t thrilled either. In its formal response, the U.S. Embassy in London said it preferred “narrowly targeted requirements” over “broad social media bans,” adding that “most content should remain accessible by default, including political speech.”

Making any of this stick will likely require platforms to confirm who is underage, though the government has not said how that will work yet.

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​Age verification, Bluesky, Digital id, Livestreaming, Minors, Parents, Social media, Us embassy, Washington, Politics