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Mexico will require the digital platforms to protect minors from violent and sexual content.

Mexican ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠President Claudia ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sheinbaum signed a presidential decree requiring digital platforms, including TikTok, Meta and X, to protect children from violent, sexual and other harmful content online.

The decree establishes that digital platforms must, by design, restrict exposure to content involving violence, harassment or sexual abuse, as well as immediately remove any risky material from the profiles of minors.

Sheinbaum said on Wednesday that the government would back legislation to penalise companies that fail to implement the decree.

“If no progress is made, it would become a law,” she told a news conference on Tuesday.

“The goal is for digital platforms to take on some of the responsibility and refrain from disseminating, promoting, or spreading content related to this type of information — including criminal acts or violent behaviour,” Sheinbaum had said earlier when she indicated she would introduce the decree.

The decree comes after an attack by two 18-year-olds on their former high school in the northern ‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌state of Coahuila in early October that killed one and wounded three others.

Digital platforms will have one month to comply with the decree, government adviser Luisa Maria Alcalde said.

Officials said they had already discussed the matter with representatives of social media outlets and streaming platforms such as Meta, Microsoft, Apple, TikTok, Google, X and Huawei.

Last August, Meta, for example, agreed to pay an $18bn settlement in a major US federal case accusing it of endangering children, and was forced to introduce new safety features to platforms including Instagram and Facebook. The lawsuit alleged Meta had violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act by collecting, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠retaining, and using personal data from children under 13 without proper parental consent.

Mexico’s move follows a broader global push to protect minors online, with governments in Europe and Australia tightening oversight of digital platforms and US states pursuing a range of child-safety measures.

Brazil has also moved to strengthen protections for children online. Such measures have raised questions over how to protect minors while safeguarding privacy and freedom of expression.

Exactly a week after the new Skydance corporation — the product of the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger — was officially formed, Hollywood’s newest media giant is already raising streaming prices.

Discovery+, one of Skydance’s new streaming assets, will now cost $6.99 a month for its ad-supported tier, up $1. Its ad-free tier is also up $2, costing viewers $11.99 a month. The prices take effect immediately for new subscribers. Existing subscribers will get 30 days’ notice and see the higher rates on bills dated on or after Nov. 12.

Skydance did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The platform first launched in 2021, at $4.99 a month for its ad-supported tier and $6.99 for ad-free. Nearly six years later, the price of the cheapest tier has risen roughly 40%, and the ad-free tier has jumped about 72%. This is the service’s second price hike since January 2025.

The standalone streaming service features tens of thousands of TV episodes from cable networks like HGTV, Food Network and TLC.

Before the merger, each company maintained its own streaming services, with HBO Max and Discovery+ under Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount+ under Paramount Skydance. The services are currently operating as separate entities. But David Ellison, Skydance’s chairman and chief executive, has said he plans to merge the two platforms into one streaming service. It’s unclear when that might happen, what it would cost, or where Discovery+ fits in. The company has not publicly laid out plans for the service.

Prices for HBO Max currently range between $10.99 and $22.99 monthly. Paramount+ costs between $8.99 and $13.99 a month.

Streaming is one of the biggest open questions for Skydance as it enters a new era. The company is carrying roughly $80 billion in debt and is targeting more than $6 billion in cost savings over three years. Skydance has said those savings will come primarily from technology, procurement, marketing and real estate, and Ellison has said the bulk won’t come from layoffs. Industry observers expect that debt load to add pressure for more price increases across Skydance’s streaming lineup.

This price increase also comes at a time when many streaming platforms are similarly hiking their prices — in part to cover the rising cost of programming and talent. Discovery+ joins platforms like Netflix, Apple TV, Hulu and Disney+ which have all raised their subscription fees in the last year. Prime Video raised the cost of its ad-free add-on in April.

The cornerstone of Kim’s platform is her call for the state-run property disaster insurance program, which largely would be funded by policyholders. Coverage would be universal, with policyholders automatically enrolled. With no need to generate shareholder profits, fund marketing or pay high executive salaries, she contends the plan could better invest in fire prevention and make buildings and property more fire resilient. Such a drastic change in the insurance system would require legislation and support from the governor.

“Voters I’ve talked to don’t want to see the same old tinkering with the system, because most voters agree that it’s actually magical thinking that doing the same tinkering of the existing system is going to lead to a different result,” she said.

Allen is sharply critical of Kim’s plan, which he says is woefully short on details. Instead, he is focusing on the mechanics of improving the current system — for both homeowners and insurers. He wants to speed reviews of insurer rate applications, create a business office to attract more carriers to the state and work with elected officers at all levels to design programs that reduce fire risk of individual properties and at the neighborhood and community scale.

“I’m focused on what’s actually doable. The people who suffer from these terrible fires don’t need a 10-year experiment. Voters of all stripes, not just Republicans, are not interested in making the state a guinea pig,” he said.

When Brandon Hurst first decided to sell his plants on TikTok Live in 2023, the 32-year-old Sylmar resident didn’t know what to expect. He said he thought he could sell at least 30 plants, but instead sold 250.

Now, three years later, the internet creator, who goes by Brandon the Plant Guy, sells up to 5,000 plants a week, works out of a 3,000-square-foot greenhouse in Sylmar and has a staff of 13. He credits much of this success to the exposure he’s received on TikTok.

“I’d be out of business if it wasn’t for TikTok,” said Hurst. “I would have ended the business and gone back to working the desk job that I was working prior. I was already on that path, that was where we were headed. And then TikTok really did turn that around.”

Hurst is one of the 920,000 California-based businesses using the social media platform to reach new customers and grow their brands, according to new data from consulting firm PF Global.

In 2025, TikTok helped generate $12 billion in advertising and merchandise sales for those businesses and supported 52,000 jobs in the state, said the PF Global report, which was commissioned by TikTok.

Nationwide, economic activity on TikTok last year helped contribute $81 billion to some 8.5 million U.S. businesses, the report said.

The surge in activity reflects a growing trend toward online commerce, as more small businesses and consumers turn to social media platforms like TikTok to buy and sell goods.

“We enable American culture, American creators, American businesses, to reach an audience around the world,” said Nicole Mason, TikTok’s head of U.S. public policy, said during a presentation on Wednesday morning.

The new report comes as TikTok is increasingly eager to tout its economic impact as a newly formed U.S. joint venture. In January, the company was taken over by three managing investors: Silver Lake, Oracle and Emirati investment firm MGX, each holding 15%, with ByteDance retaining 19.9% of investments. This transition came after TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, was under pressure to divest its ownership in the app’s U.S. operations or face a nationwide ban, due to security concerns.

Last month, TikTok also settled a $400-million lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Justice, ending a 2024 lawsuit alleging the company violated federal children’s privacy laws.

TikTok, which operates its U.S. headquarters in Culver City, where it employs several hundred workers, is mostly known for its viral, short-form vertical videos. But, over the years, the platform has become a hub of curated viral content and a central part of many businesses’ marketing strategies.

The app also has features like TikTok Live, where businesses can host live shopping events, and TikTok Shop, which serves as a direct-to-consumer online marketplace.

For its study, PF Global surveyed more than 11,000 adults in the U.S. and 5,000 businesses. The firm also conducted five case studies with U.S. small businesses and TikTok creators and interviewed over 600 people around the country. The data set combined that survey data with government statistics, industry research and TikTok’s own internal data.

PF Global recently published a similar economic report for the U.K. and is working on reports for 10 other European countries with TikTok.

Neil Ross, a partner at PF Global, said a common global theme is that TikTok users are more likely to see something on the platform and go out and do it.

“People around the world are using it as a kind of digital front door to work out where to go, what to shop, what experiences to have,” Ross said.

The U.S. report states that 27 million Americans “visited an independent shop, cafe or restaurant for the first time after seeing it on the platform.”

The app’s roots date to 2014, when an app called Musical.ly was launched in Shanghai. In 2016, Chinese tech company ByteDance launched a similar platform in China called Douyin.

As the apps grew in popularity, ByteDance picked up on their potential. It purchased Musical.ly in 2017 and combined all these platforms into one, named TikTok. Over the next few years, the app began its rapid ascent, hooking in users with a curated algorithm and viral trends. Today, 200 million Americans use TikTok every month, according to PF Global.

“On a daily basis, TikTok powers real economic impact across the United States, helping entrepreneurs grow their businesses, reach new customers, and create jobs across the country,” said Adam Presser, TikTok’s chief executive in a statement.

YouTube is holding onto its exclusive livestream deal with Coachella.

The tech giant in San Bruno, Calif., has renewed its partnership with festival promoter Goldenvoice, keeping exclusive livestream rights to the three-day desert festival through 2030. The next edition, in April 2027, will mark 15 years of Coachella on YouTube.

“We’re excited to bring the energy of the desert to millions of music fans around the world,” Neal Mohan, YouTube’s chief executive officer, said at its Made On YouTube event in New York City on Wednesday morning.

This year’s Coachella, headlined by Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber and Karol G, drew the most concurrent viewers in the history of Coachella on YouTube, according to the company. Bieber, who was discovered on YouTube, even included a nostalgic homage to the platform into his set.

Over the years, the livestream has become an essential part of the Coachella experience, especially for fans who can’t make it to the desert. What started as a single feed has evolved into live coverage of every stage across both weekends.

Beyond Coachella, YouTube doubled down on livestreaming during its presentation, unveiling a slew of new live and AI-powered tools. In August, more than 600 million logged-in viewers watched live content on the platform each day on average, according to YouTube. The new live features include a new co-hosting function in which two creators can appear on the same stream together, and a live auto-dubbing tool that automatically translates speech in real time. Several of the updates are slated to roll out in early 2027.

“Whether it’s a music festival or a creator’s livestream, fandom is no longer a spectator sport,” added Mohan. “Just look at the sheer scale of the live communities we’re seeing today.”

YouTube isn’t the only streamer leaning into live. Netflix has spent the last few years buliding out its own live business, which now includes NFL and MLB games.