Step into a world where the focus is keenly set on who. Within the confines of this article, a tapestry of references to who awaits your exploration. If your pursuit involves unraveling the depths of who, you've arrived at the perfect destination.
Our narrative unfolds with a wealth of insights surrounding who. This is not just a standard article; it's a curated journey into the facets and intricacies of who. Whether you're thirsting for comprehensive knowledge or just a glimpse into the universe of who, this promises to be an enriching experience.
The spotlight is firmly on who, and as you navigate through the text on these digital pages, you'll discover an extensive array of information centered around who. This is more than mere information; it's an invitation to immerse yourself in the enthralling world of who.
So, if you're eager to satisfy your curiosity about who, your journey commences here. Let's embark together on a captivating odyssey through the myriad dimensions of who.
Who declares monkeypox a global emergency us declares monkeypox health emergency us declares state of emergency over monkeypox biden administration declares monkeypox who declares monkeypox who declares war who declares a recession who declares laws unconstitutional who declares monkeypox emergency
WHO Declares Monkeypox Outbreak a Global Health Emergency
WHO Declares Monkeypox Outbreak a Global Health Emergency
The World Health Organization on Saturday declared the monkeypox outbreak a global health emergency, as the number of cases, and countries reporting them, has climbed over the last month.
"We have an outbreak that has spread around the world rapidly, through new modes of transmission, about which we understand too little," WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a press conference.
Tedros said there are now more than 16,000 reported cases from 75 countries, up from 3,040 reported cases from 47 countries a month ago. Five people have died as a result of the current outbreak, Tedros said. About 2,900 cases have been confirmed throughout the United States and Puerto Rico, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Tedros said, however, that we have the tools to bring the outbreak under control, and he called on countries to carry out a coordinated response. That includes implementing measures for halting transmission and protecting vulnerable groups; increasing the monitoring of the outbreak's progress; speeding up research into vaccines and treatments; and developing recommendations for international travel.
Read more: What We Know About the Monkeypox Vaccine
Monkeypox spreads between people primarily through contact with infectious sores, scabs or bodily fluids, according to the CDC, but it can also spread through prolonged face-to-face contact via respiratory droplets or by touching contaminated clothing or bedding. Anyone can be infected with monkeypox, but so far many of the outbreak cases have involved men who have sex with men.
"Although I'm declaring a public health emergency of international concern," Tedros said, "for the moment, this is an outbreak that's concentrated among men who have sex with men, especially those with multiple sexual partners. That means that this is an outbreak that can be stopped with the right strategies in the right groups."
Tedros cautioned that "stigma and discrimination can be as dangerous as any virus" and he called on countries to adopt measures that "protect the health, human rights and dignity of affected communities."
He also said countries should work closely with those communities to develop services and outreach programs, and he said the WHO intends to partner with civil organizations, including groups with experience working with people who have HIV, to fight discrimination and stigma.
Gay and bisexual communities tend to have particularly "high awareness and rapid health-seeking behavior when it comes to their and their communities' sexual health," Dr. Hans Henri P. Kluge, the WHO's regional director for Europe, said in a statement at the end of May, noting that those who sought early health care services should be applauded.
A monkeypox infection typically begins with flulike symptoms, including fatigue, intense headache, fever and swollen lymph nodes. Within one to three days of a fever developing, according to the CDC, a rash or sores develop and can be located pretty much anywhere on the body, including the hands, genitals, face, chest and inside of the mouth.
Read more: What to Know About Monkeypox
Notably, some people never experience flulike symptoms, the CDC says, and people may experience all or only a few of the typical monkeypox symptoms. For safer sex and social gatherings where people may be in close contact with other peoples' bodies, the CDC has a fact sheet for practices to consider.
Close contact is a key element in the transmission of monkeypox. That, along with the fact that the virus that causes monkeypox appears to have a slower reproduction rate than the COVID-19 virus, sets it apart from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Tom Inglesby, director of the Center for Health Security at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said last month at a media briefing.
CNET's Jessica Rendall contributed to this report.
The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.
Who Is My Student Loan Servicer? Here's How to Find Out
Who Is My Student Loan Servicer? Here's How to Find Out
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden announced his long-awaited student loan forgiveness plan. Borrowers who make less than $125,000 are eligible for cancellation of $10,000 of their federal direct loans, or $20,000 if they are federal Pell Grant recipients.
More than 45 million Americans carry some amount of student loan debt. Close to 8 million borrowers (less than 20%) may be eligible to have their debts wiped automatically, according to the Department of Education.
If you want more details on your specific loan, however, you'll want to contact your loan servicer -- the third-party company contracted by the Department of Education to handle billing and other services.
You may want to reach out, for example, if you made payments during the loan forbearance period and want to request a refund to maximize your debt forgiveness.
Here's how to find out who your loan servicer is, how to contact them and what you should have handy when you reach out.
For more on student debt forgiveness, find out if you're eligible, learn how to sign up and know how to avoid student loan payment scams.
Who is my student loan servicer?
If you don't know who your servicer is, you can sign into your Federal Student Aid account with your FSA ID. Once you get to the dashboard, you'll see your service provider and other loan details.
You can also call the Federal Student Aid Information Center (FSAIC) at 800-433-3243 or consult the Department of Education's "Who is my loan servicer?" site for more information.
How do I contact my student loan servicer?
There are nine companies that manage most federal student loans. The largest is Nelnet, which acquired Great Lakes Education Loan Services in 2018 and is now responsible for overseeing more than 40% of all student loans.
If you know your provider, we've included links and telephone numbers, below, for the companies that service federal student loans.
Student Loan Servicers
Servicer
Website
Phone Number
Aidvantage
https://aidvantage.com/
800-722-1300
EdFinancial Services (HESC)
https://edfinancial.com/home
855-337-6884
Educational Computer Systems Incorporated (ECSI)
https://efpls.ed.gov/
866-313-3797
FedLoan Servicing (PHEAA)
https://myfedloan.org/
800-699-2908
Great Lakes Educational Loan Services
https://mygreatlakes.org/
800-236-4300
Maximus
https://maximus.com/fsa
800-621-3115
Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority (MOHELA)
https://www.mohela.com/
888-866-4352
Nelnet
https://www.nelnet.com/welcome
888-486-4722
Oklahoma Student Loan Authority (OSLA)
https://public.osla.org/
866-264-9762
Be patient. It might take some time
Biden's announcement has unsurprisingly sparked a massive number of inquiries -- servicer sites are experiencing delays, and providers are also reporting unusually high call volumes.
Redditors on the Student Loans subreddit on Wednesday reported they were on the phone for several hours.
On Thursday morning, Nelnet asked borrowers to "hold off on calling us as we continue to experience heavy phone volume."
Come prepared
When you do reach out, have handy any information you know about your loan before contacting your loan provider, including account numbers and balances. This is especially important if you are going to ask for a refund.
They might not have the answers you need
"We do not have any more details on who is eligible for loan cancellation than what was announced by President Biden," Nelnet tweeted on Thursday.
On Friday, EdFinancial indicated the most up-to-date info was on the Education Department site, tweeting "We have no updates. Loan eligibility has not been shared with servicers."
Aidvantage also recommends consulting the FSA website.
Get ready for major changes to who services federal student loans
In 2020, US Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced a shakeup to the companies contracted to manage student loan payments.
Alex Wong/Getty Images
In June 2020, then-Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced sweeping changes to the companies that would be managing active and defaulted student loans for the federal government to streamline the process and improve a system that "can lead to customer confusion and inconsistent operations."
The number of third-party contractors with contracts from the Department of Education was trimmed from nine to five: EdFinancial Services, F.H. Cann & Associates, Maximus (which runs Aidvantage), MOHELA and Trellis Company.
Aidvantage recently began taking over the 6 million borrower accounts previously overseen by Navient, which announced it was getting out of the federal student loan business last September.
After December 2022, FedLoan Servicing will no longer continue its contract with the government, and accounts are already moving to MOHELA. Some non-Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) accounts have been moved from FedLoan to Nelnet.
But DeVos also announced that Nelnet and its subsidiary, Great Lakes, would no longer manage student loans for the federal government. The company's contract was initially set to expire in December 2022, but the Department of Education under Biden extended it through Dec. 14, 2023, the Lincoln Journal-Star reported.
Borrowers should receive a letter or email if their assigned servicer has been changed. Your account information should transfer automatically, with no change to the terms of your loan.
If you are told of a change, however, it might be worth checking in with your new provider.
Here's Who Needs a Monkeypox Vaccine, and What We Know About It
Here's Who Needs a Monkeypox Vaccine, and What We Know About It
What's happening
The monkeypox vaccine is available to people at higher risk of getting the disease, but supply has been limited. To stretch out more doses, the US is starting to administer the vaccine in a slightly different way that requires a smaller dose.
Why it matters
Vaccination is an important tool to slow the monkeypox outbreak happening in the US and other countries. Access to vaccines is crucial for people most at risk.
What it means for you
Some men who have sex with men are eligible for the vaccine, as are other people who may've been exposed to monkeypox.
The vaccine Jynneos is being given out a little differently now in some places. If you're eligible for a monkeypox vaccine, you might be getting a shot under a top layer of skin, instead of deeper into your arm. That's because the US Food and Drug Administration authorized intradermal injection for the monkeypox vaccine this month, which is an effort to increase the US supply of vaccine up to five times since intradermal injection requires a much smaller dose than one given subcutaneously.
Also called "dose-sparing," intradermal types of injections aren't new to health care. But the change in medical guidance on how the monkeypox vaccine can be administered reflects a shortage of Jynneos that's plagued the vaccine rollout since it began. Health officials have touted a national stockpile of vaccines that work against monkeypox as well as smallpox, but getting them out to states and into the arms of people who need them has been a challenge.
According to a report from The New York Times, a hurdle in the monkeypox vaccine rollout (besides limited supply of Jynneos) is that the federal system being used to move vaccines to states and cities is different from the system local health officials are used to, which is run by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is already linked to state databases. The current system states are using for the monkeypox vaccine is made for mass vaccine rollouts where every person would need a vaccine (like a smallpox bioterrorism event), and it's been difficult in some states for local health officials to track their orders or get to the site where the doses have been delivered, the Times reports.
But federal health officials are confident in the new intradermal vaccination method, which they say gives an immune response similar to that of the traditional method. But it still requires two doses, about 28 days apart. One-dose priority policies for the vaccine, which could potentially delay a second dose, have been put in place in cities like San Francisco and New York City, which make up a large portion of the country's monkeypox cases.
Here's what we know about monkeypox vaccination.
Read more: Monkeypox: What to Know About Variants, Symptoms and More
Who can get a monkeypox vaccine?
Exact criteria for who should get a monkeypox vaccine depend on the city or state people live in and how widespread the outbreak is there, but men who have sex with men and who have had multiple or anonymous sexual partners in the last two weeks are eligible in cities like New York. That's because gay and bisexual men are currently at higher risk in the outbreak, though anyone with close contact to monkeypox can get the disease. You may also be eligible if you were recently exposed to someone with monkeypox.
According to the CDC, you meet the criteria for a monkeypox vaccine if:
You're a contact of someone who has monkeypox or you were identified as possibly exposed via contact tracing.
You had a sexual partner within the last two weeks who has monkeypox.
You've had multiple sexual partners in the last two weeks in an area with a high number of monkeypox cases.
You are a lab or health care worker who's around orthopox viruses, including in animals.
If you think you qualify for a vaccine or were exposed to monkeypox, contact your local health department or doctor's office to find an appointment in your area. You can also book an appointment for the vaccine online, a process that'll walk you through the eligibility criteria. Here is New York City's vaccine appointment website. You can make an appointment and find a vaccine in San Francisco by calling one of the city's clinics or visiting its drop-in location.
Colematt/Getty Images
What is intradermal vaccination?
Intradermal vaccination is a method that injects the vaccine under a more shallow layer of skin, typically on the inner side of the forearm. This should produce a "noticeable pale elevation of the skin," according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Counties including Los Angeles county and Fulton county in Georgia (where Atlanta is) have already transitioned to intradermal injections, according to the White House.
Most vaccines we get these days go either into the muscle in our arm (intramuscular injection) or into the fatty tissue under our skin (subcutaneous injection), like Jynneos has been given so far. Subcutaneous injection of Jynneos is the only authorized method of vaccination for people younger than 18. If you get the monkeypox vaccine intradermally, you'll still need two doses.
When the FDA authorized the new vaccine method, the agency referenced a study published in 2015 that found that a smallpox vaccine given intradermally gave a similar immune response in people compared to the vaccine given subcutaneously.
What are the monkeypox vaccines?
The US has two vaccines in its national stockpile that work against monkeypox. Jynneos is currently being given out to people before an exposure, as well as after an exposure, as it's a newer vaccine that's safe for most people.
Jynneos (made by Bavarian Nordic) is a new-generation vaccine approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2019 for monkeypox and smallpox. It's a two-dose vaccine, with each shot given about four weeks apart. It uses a weakened virus and is approved for adults 18 and older who are at high risk of getting monkeypox or smallpox.
Because of limited supply, it's likely you'll only be able to book an appointment for the first dose for the time being. In New York City, for example, health officials say you'll be contacted if you received a first dose about the second dose in the coming weeks.
Side effects of Jynneos may include typical temporary vaccine side effects, including headache, chills and fatigue. There can also be some pain and swelling around the injection site, which can result in what some are reporting as a temporary swollen lump around the injection site.
ACAM2000 is a second-generation smallpox vaccine that also works against monkeypox. According to the CDC, ACAM2000 is a derivative of Dryvax, which helped eradicate smallpox. (The two diseases are closely related and both caused by orthopoxviruses, which makes this possible.) If necessary, the US Department of Health and Human Services said it's also prepared to ship out the ACAM2000 vaccine, which is in greater supply than Jynneos but remains a second choice in the monkeypox response because it has a side effect profile that isn't safe for certain people.
ACAM2000 is administered differently than the typical vaccine shot we're used to, including intradermal injection. It's given by dipping a needle into a vaccine solution which will then be "pricked" several times on the upper arm. It will cause a localized infection (a "pox"), prompting an immune response.
While ACAM2000 doesn't cause smallpox, it contains live vaccina virus, which isn't suitable for everyone. It could be unsafe for immunocompromised people, pregnant folks and those with certain heart or skin diseases, like eczema.
Smallpox was declared eliminated from the world in 1980. The US stopped routine vaccination against it in 1972, though some health care workers or people who work in labs may have had the vaccine. Historically, according to the CDC, smallpox vaccines were 95% effective against infection and protect you for about three to five years, and after that protection starts to wane.
Because of this, it's possible people born before the early 1970s who got the smallpox vaccine might have some cross-protective immunity against monkeypox, according to the WHO, but there is "little immunity" to younger people living in non-endemic countries because they've had no exposure to a similar virus.
Read more:Monkeypox: What Gay and Bisexual Men Need to Know
A smallpox vaccine scar. People born before the mid-1970s might have such a scar. Jynneos, a newer-generation monkeypox and smallpox vaccine, is not the same type of vaccine as the one used to eradicate smallpox and doesn't leave a scar.
Picture Alliance/Getty Images
How effective are the vaccines against monkeypox? How long do they take to work?
Giving Jynneos within four days of a monkeypox exposure is the best option for stopping the onset of the disease, according to the CDC. If it's given four to 14 days after an exposure, the CDC says, Jynneos may not prevent monkeypox but will likely reduce the severity of symptoms. However, this information was published when Jynneos was given only the "standard" way (subcutaneous injection).
The CDC says that the Jynneos vaccine takes two weeks (14 days) after the second dose for immunity to build, and that ACAM2000 takes four weeks for maximum immunity. Though many people are receiving only the first dose of Jynneos at this time, early research suggests that one dose will still offer some protection, at least for a shorter period of time.
Because the US outbreak of monkeypox is so new, there's no data yet on exactly how effective the vaccines will be in the current situation, according to the CDC.
You should still self-isolate if you develop symptoms of monkeypox after getting vaccinated, such as a rash.
A computer image of a monkeypox virus.
Uma Shankar Sharma/Getty Images
Why does the US have a stockpile of monkeypox vaccines?
The US has a stockpile of Jynneos and ACAM2000 on hand not because the country was worried about an outbreak of monkeypox (which has been endemic in some African countries for years), but in case smallpox becomes a public threat again. Smallpox was declared eliminated in the 1980s, and the last natural outbreak in the US happened in 1949. But smallpox is usually much more severe than monkeypox, and officials worry it could be used as biological warfare.
"The stockpile was created in the event of a biological weapons attack on the United States with smallpox," Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious-disease expert and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security said. In this event, health officials would not be rationing vaccines or using only the newer-generation vaccine, according to Adalja.
"If there was a smallpox attack, we would be using whatever vaccines we have to be able to deal with it," he added.
Why is there a monkeypox vaccine supply issue?
The supply of Jynneos, the newer vaccine specifically approved to prevent monkeypox, has been in particularly short supply.
Officials who spoke to The New York Times said the supply issue is partly because the government waited too long to ask Bavarian Nordic, which makes Jynneos, to bottle and fill the vaccine order the US had already purchased.
Another report by the Times alleges that the US national stockpile of monkeypox and smallpox vaccines dwindled because the government never replaced the expired doses and instead put money into technology that would extend their shelf life. Part of the reason for this was that the government created the stockpile not for monkeypox but for smallpox, which is a more contagious and often more serious disease officials fear could be used in biological warfare against the US.
The US Department of Health and Human Services didn't respond to a request for comment on the reports.
The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.
Middle class tax refund middle class tax refund payment california middle class tax rebate nj middle class tax refund california s middle class tax refund ca new middle class tax rebate california middle class income middle class income range in california what is the middle class income in california california s middle class tax refund california smile pleasant hill ca california smile dental studio
California's Middle-Class Tax Refund: Do You Qualify for a Check?
California's Middle-Class Tax Refund: Do You Qualify for a Check?
What's happening
California has announced a one-time "middle-class tax refund" that will provide 23 million taxpayers with between $200 and $1,050.
Why it matters
California's economy is the largest in the US. The inflation relief payments are a compromise between Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers.
Starting this fall, California will send one-time inflation-relief checks to taxpayers. Through the Middle Class Tax Refund, eligible families will receive a one-time payment of as much as $1,050, depending on their income, filing status and household size.
The $9.5 billion in refunds is part of a larger $12 billion relief plan approved by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers in June.
"California's budget addresses the state's most pressing needs, and prioritizes getting dollars back into the pockets of millions of Californians who are grappling with global inflation and rising prices of everything from gas to groceries," Newsom said in a statement.
Here's what you need to know about California's inflation relief checks, including who is eligible for the money, how much they'll get and when they can expect to receive it.
California is just one of numerous states offering residents stimulus payments. Find out which are issuing tax refunds and which are pausing their gas tax and sales tax.
Who qualifies for the California tax rebate check?
The refund plan has been set up in three tiers, based on the adjusted gross income on your 2020 California state tax return.
Single taxpayers who earned less than $75,000 and couples who filed jointly and made less than $150,000 will receive $350 per taxpayer and another flat $350 if they have any dependents. A married couple with children, therefore, could receive as much as $1,050. This is the largest bracket, KCRA reported, representing about 82% of beneficiaries.
Individual filers who made between $75,000 and $125,000 -- and couples who earned between $150,000 and $250,000 -- will receive $250 per taxpayer, plus another $250 if they have any dependents. A family with any children could receive $750.
Individual filers who earned between $125,000 and $250,000 and couples who earned between $250,000 and $500,000 would receive $200 each. A family with children in this bracket could receive a maximum of $600.
Although single taxpayers who earned more than $250,000 and couples who made more than a combined $500,000 in 2020 aren't eligible, the Middle Class Tax Refund is expected to benefit 23 million Californians in all.
You can estimate your payment with the Franchise Tax Board website calculator.
What are the requirements for the tax rebate?
In addition to meeting income requirements, residents must have filed their 2020 tax refund by Oct. 15, 2021, have lived in the state for at least half of the 2020 tax year and still be a California resident on the date the payment is issued.
They also cannot have been claimed as dependents in the 2020 tax year.
When will the California tax rebate payments go out?
According to the Franchise Tax Board, the payments will start going out in October and the last ones should be received in the middle of January 2023.
How will California taxpayers receive their rebate payments?
If you filed your 2020 California state tax return electronically and requested a direct deposit for your refund, you will receive the tax rebate as a direct deposit, as well.
Otherwise, you should receive your payment on a debit card.
What if I didn't file a 2020 California tax return?
Most Californians who didn't file a complete 2020 tax return by Oct. 15, 2021, aren't eligible for the rebate. (The exception is for those who applied for an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, or ITIN, and had not received it by Oct 15, 2021.)
In addition to the tax rebate, the state is increasing funding for several social programs, including the Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Payment, which assists more than 1 million seniors and disabled people. SSI/SSPbenefits will increase by about $39 per month for individuals and by $100 per month for couples.
There are also increases to California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids, aka CalWORKS grants, which provide money and services to eligible families with children. Grant recipients could see their benefits increase as much as $194 a month, KCRA reported.
Neil patrick harris musical doctor horrible neil patrick harris plays neil patrick harris joins doctor who neil patrick harris doctor horrible neil patrick harris health neil patrick harris doctor show neil patrick harris on dr who neil patrick harris and partner neil patrick harris height neil patrick harris doctor who neil patrick
Neil Patrick Harris Joins Doctor Who as the Doctor's 'Greatest Enemy'
Neil Patrick Harris Joins Doctor Who as the Doctor's 'Greatest Enemy'
The Doctor had better watch out. Emmy and Tony Award-winning actor Neil Patrick Harris is joining Doctor Who, and not as one of the good guys.
Once and future Doctor Who showrunner Russell T. Davies posted a photo of Harris in costume to his Instagram on Monday. Harris sports a severe gray haircut, pince-nez glasses, and what looks like a shop apron over a button-up shirt and floppy tie.
"Neil Patrick Harris, welcome to Cardiff!" Davies wrote in the Instagram post's caption. "Playing the greatest enemy the Doctor has ever faced. Such a great actor, such a great man, it's an honour and a hoot. Have fun!"
Harris also posted the photo to Instagram, writing, "My current gig. Never looked more dashing. Thank you for inviting me into your Whoniverse, Russell T. Davies. I'll try my hardest to do my worst. This Doctor has no idea what's in store. And even if he does... Who cares? Ha ha ha HA ha-ha-ha!"
Of course, Doctor Who fans want to know just what that "greatest enemy" teaser means, and who exactly Harris will be portraying. But that info is all still confidential.
"It's my huge honour to open our studio doors for the mighty Neil Patrick Harris... but who, why, what is he playing?" Davies wrote in a statement. "You'll just have to wait. But I promise you, the stuff we're shooting now is off the scale. Doctor beware!"
Davies served as Doctor Who showrunner from 2005 to 2010, and will return to the show in that role in 2023.
The role of the Doctor is getting a new acto,r too. Ncuti Gatwa will play the role of the 14th Doctor, the BBC announced in May. He'll be the first Black actor to play the role, replacing Jodie Whittaker, the first woman to play the role. No specific dates have been announced for either Gatwa's or Harris' first appearance.
Middle class tax refund payment ca middle class relief ftb middle class tax refund california s middle class tax refund california middle class income middle class tax refund ca what is middle class income california california smile dental group california smile dental studio
California's Middle-Class Tax Refund: Do You Qualify for a Check?
California's Middle-Class Tax Refund: Do You Qualify for a Check?
What's happening
California has announced a one-time "middle-class tax refund" that will provide 23 million taxpayers with between $200 and $1,050.
Why it matters
California's economy is the largest in the US. The inflation relief payments are a compromise between Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers.
Starting this fall, California will send one-time inflation-relief checks to taxpayers. Through the Middle Class Tax Refund, eligible families will receive a one-time payment of as much as $1,050, depending on their income, filing status and household size.
The $9.5 billion in refunds is part of a larger $12 billion relief plan approved by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers in June.
"California's budget addresses the state's most pressing needs, and prioritizes getting dollars back into the pockets of millions of Californians who are grappling with global inflation and rising prices of everything from gas to groceries," Newsom said in a statement.
Here's what you need to know about California's inflation relief checks, including who is eligible for the money, how much they'll get and when they can expect to receive it.
California is just one of numerous states offering residents stimulus payments. Find out which are issuing tax refunds and which are pausing their gas tax and sales tax.
Who qualifies for the California tax rebate check?
The refund plan has been set up in three tiers, based on the adjusted gross income on your 2020 California state tax return.
Single taxpayers who earned less than $75,000 and couples who filed jointly and made less than $150,000 will receive $350 per taxpayer and another flat $350 if they have any dependents. A married couple with children, therefore, could receive as much as $1,050. This is the largest bracket, KCRA reported, representing about 82% of beneficiaries.
Individual filers who made between $75,000 and $125,000 -- and couples who earned between $150,000 and $250,000 -- will receive $250 per taxpayer, plus another $250 if they have any dependents. A family with any children could receive $750.
Individual filers who earned between $125,000 and $250,000 and couples who earned between $250,000 and $500,000 would receive $200 each. A family with children in this bracket could receive a maximum of $600.
Although single taxpayers who earned more than $250,000 and couples who made more than a combined $500,000 in 2020 aren't eligible, the Middle Class Tax Refund is expected to benefit 23 million Californians in all.
You can estimate your payment with the Franchise Tax Board website calculator.
What are the requirements for the tax rebate?
In addition to meeting income requirements, residents must have filed their 2020 tax refund by Oct. 15, 2021, have lived in the state for at least half of the 2020 tax year and still be a California resident on the date the payment is issued.
They also cannot have been claimed as dependents in the 2020 tax year.
When will the California tax rebate payments go out?
According to the Franchise Tax Board, the payments will start going out in October and the last ones should be received in the middle of January 2023.
How will California taxpayers receive their rebate payments?
If you filed your 2020 California state tax return electronically and requested a direct deposit for your refund, you will receive the tax rebate as a direct deposit, as well.
Otherwise, you should receive your payment on a debit card.
What if I didn't file a 2020 California tax return?
Most Californians who didn't file a complete 2020 tax return by Oct. 15, 2021, aren't eligible for the rebate. (The exception is for those who applied for an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, or ITIN, and had not received it by Oct 15, 2021.)
In addition to the tax rebate, the state is increasing funding for several social programs, including the Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Payment, which assists more than 1 million seniors and disabled people. SSI/SSPbenefits will increase by about $39 per month for individuals and by $100 per month for couples.
There are also increases to California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids, aka CalWORKS grants, which provide money and services to eligible families with children. Grant recipients could see their benefits increase as much as $194 a month, KCRA reported.
Massachusetts Tax Refund: Who Is Eligible and When Could Checks Go Out?
Massachusetts Tax Refund: Who Is Eligible and When Could Checks Go Out?
Gov. Charlie Baker's plan to send $250 checks to middle-income residents fell apart last month, but Massachusetts taxpayers will still probably get a healthy tax rebate this year.
The $250 payout was making headway but a bill failed to pass before the July 31 deadline, in part because legislators suddenly remembered a 35-year-old voter referendum that could mean nearly $3 billion in surplus taxes will be returned to taxpayers this fall.
The 1986 statute -- which has only ever been triggered once, in 1987 -- mandates that, if the money collected in income tax reaches a predetermined dollar amount above and beyond the state budget, the excess must be returned to taxpayers.
Baker insisted there was enough in the coffers to support both his original $250 payout and any mandatory refunds.
"The tax breaks that are currently pending before the legislature are eminently affordable," he told reporters, WBUR reported. "I mean, you're talking about a tax year, this past year, in which tax revenue went up by over 20 percent."
Legislators on Beacon Hill didn't necessarily agree.
"The fiscally responsible thing to do is to hit pause right now on all of this spending," Sen. Michael Rodrigues, chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, told reporters on Aug. 1, The Boston Globe reported.
"We want to make sure we get it right," Rodrigues added. "We are committed to getting some real, long-term permanent tax relief done."
Here's what Massachusetts residents need to know about the tax rebate, including who is eligible, how much it could be for and when it may go out.
For more on tax relief, find out which states are mailing out tax rebates, pausing their gas tax and instituting sales tax "holidays."
How much will the Massachusetts tax rebate be?
The original refund proposed in Baker's budget was for $250, intended for individual filers who earned between $38,000 and $100,000 last year and joint filers who made up to $150,000.
The exact dollar amount that could go out now is still to be determined: State Auditor Suzanne Bump has to calculate what, if any, tax surplus there is, using a formula based on annual wage and salary growth.
Baker's office has predicted taxpayers would get 7% of their 2021 income taxes returned, according to MassLive. For an individual earning $75,000, that would work out to about $250.
While the state auditor hasn't determined whether tax revenue has triggered a refund yet, Gov Baker predicts that thanks to a 1986 voter referendum, taxpayers will get 7% of their 2021 income taxes returned.
Photosomnia/Getty Images
Who qualifies for the Massachusetts tax rebate?
Theoretically, anyone who paid 2021 income tax in Massachusetts would be eligible to be paid back. Residents with outstanding state tax bills may not see a check, though.
When will the Massachusetts tax rebate be sent out?
Baker's original plan would have had $250 checks in the hands of eligible taxpayers by October. The tax cap won't be calculated by the state auditor until September, though the Department of Revenue could start issuing tax credits on Sept. 21, MassLive reported.
"We're looking at what's the quickest and most efficient way to get that money back to the taxpayers," Michael Heffernan, state secretary of administration and finance, told reporters Thursday, WBZ news radio reported.
Lawmakers don't want to rush any decisions and overextend the budget with multiple rounds of tax rebates.
Pausing the economic development and tax relief package forged the "wisest choice," House Speaker Ron Mariano said at a press conference, WGBH reported.
"We wanted to make sure to be fiscally prudent that we know what we're getting into," Mariano added. "The economy is going through some strange things with a big inflation rate [and] oil and gas fluctuations that may lead to a recession."
What other tax breaks could Massachusetts residents receive?
Lawmakers want to increase the earned income tax credit from the 30% match of the federal credit to 40%, raise the child care credit from $180 per child to $310 and increase the rental deduction cap from $3,000 to $4,000.
Certain seniors who own or rent their primary properties in Massachusetts get a "circuit breaker" tax credit, and Democrats want to bump the maximum from $1,170 to $2,340.
Who can get monkeypox vaccine can i get a monkeypox vaccine the one who needs you here s who i am camp here s how here s hopin instrumental here sdk here string powershell
Here's Who Needs a Monkeypox Vaccine, and What We Know About It
Here's Who Needs a Monkeypox Vaccine, and What We Know About It
What's happening
The monkeypox vaccine is available to people at higher risk of getting the disease, but supply has been limited. To stretch out more doses, the US is starting to administer the vaccine in a slightly different way that requires a smaller dose.
Why it matters
Vaccination is an important tool to slow the monkeypox outbreak happening in the US and other countries. Access to vaccines is crucial for people most at risk.
What it means for you
Some men who have sex with men are eligible for the vaccine, as are other people who may've been exposed to monkeypox.
The vaccine Jynneos is being given out a little differently now in some places. If you're eligible for a monkeypox vaccine, you might be getting a shot under a top layer of skin, instead of deeper into your arm. That's because the US Food and Drug Administration authorized intradermal injection for the monkeypox vaccine this month, which is an effort to increase the US supply of vaccine up to five times since intradermal injection requires a much smaller dose than one given subcutaneously.
Also called "dose-sparing," intradermal types of injections aren't new to health care. But the change in medical guidance on how the monkeypox vaccine can be administered reflects a shortage of Jynneos that's plagued the vaccine rollout since it began. Health officials have touted a national stockpile of vaccines that work against monkeypox as well as smallpox, but getting them out to states and into the arms of people who need them has been a challenge.
According to a report from The New York Times, a hurdle in the monkeypox vaccine rollout (besides limited supply of Jynneos) is that the federal system being used to move vaccines to states and cities is different from the system local health officials are used to, which is run by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is already linked to state databases. The current system states are using for the monkeypox vaccine is made for mass vaccine rollouts where every person would need a vaccine (like a smallpox bioterrorism event), and it's been difficult in some states for local health officials to track their orders or get to the site where the doses have been delivered, the Times reports.
But federal health officials are confident in the new intradermal vaccination method, which they say gives an immune response similar to that of the traditional method. But it still requires two doses, about 28 days apart. One-dose priority policies for the vaccine, which could potentially delay a second dose, have been put in place in cities like San Francisco and New York City, which make up a large portion of the country's monkeypox cases.
Here's what we know about monkeypox vaccination.
Read more: Monkeypox: What to Know About Variants, Symptoms and More
Who can get a monkeypox vaccine?
Exact criteria for who should get a monkeypox vaccine depend on the city or state people live in and how widespread the outbreak is there, but men who have sex with men and who have had multiple or anonymous sexual partners in the last two weeks are eligible in cities like New York. That's because gay and bisexual men are currently at higher risk in the outbreak, though anyone with close contact to monkeypox can get the disease. You may also be eligible if you were recently exposed to someone with monkeypox.
According to the CDC, you meet the criteria for a monkeypox vaccine if:
You're a contact of someone who has monkeypox or you were identified as possibly exposed via contact tracing.
You had a sexual partner within the last two weeks who has monkeypox.
You've had multiple sexual partners in the last two weeks in an area with a high number of monkeypox cases.
You are a lab or health care worker who's around orthopox viruses, including in animals.
If you think you qualify for a vaccine or were exposed to monkeypox, contact your local health department or doctor's office to find an appointment in your area. You can also book an appointment for the vaccine online, a process that'll walk you through the eligibility criteria. Here is New York City's vaccine appointment website. You can make an appointment and find a vaccine in San Francisco by calling one of the city's clinics or visiting its drop-in location.
Colematt/Getty Images
What is intradermal vaccination?
Intradermal vaccination is a method that injects the vaccine under a more shallow layer of skin, typically on the inner side of the forearm. This should produce a "noticeable pale elevation of the skin," according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Counties including Los Angeles county and Fulton county in Georgia (where Atlanta is) have already transitioned to intradermal injections, according to the White House.
Most vaccines we get these days go either into the muscle in our arm (intramuscular injection) or into the fatty tissue under our skin (subcutaneous injection), like Jynneos has been given so far. Subcutaneous injection of Jynneos is the only authorized method of vaccination for people younger than 18. If you get the monkeypox vaccine intradermally, you'll still need two doses.
When the FDA authorized the new vaccine method, the agency referenced a study published in 2015 that found that a smallpox vaccine given intradermally gave a similar immune response in people compared to the vaccine given subcutaneously.
What are the monkeypox vaccines?
The US has two vaccines in its national stockpile that work against monkeypox. Jynneos is currently being given out to people before an exposure, as well as after an exposure, as it's a newer vaccine that's safe for most people.
Jynneos (made by Bavarian Nordic) is a new-generation vaccine approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2019 for monkeypox and smallpox. It's a two-dose vaccine, with each shot given about four weeks apart. It uses a weakened virus and is approved for adults 18 and older who are at high risk of getting monkeypox or smallpox.
Because of limited supply, it's likely you'll only be able to book an appointment for the first dose for the time being. In New York City, for example, health officials say you'll be contacted if you received a first dose about the second dose in the coming weeks.
Side effects of Jynneos may include typical temporary vaccine side effects, including headache, chills and fatigue. There can also be some pain and swelling around the injection site, which can result in what some are reporting as a temporary swollen lump around the injection site.
ACAM2000 is a second-generation smallpox vaccine that also works against monkeypox. According to the CDC, ACAM2000 is a derivative of Dryvax, which helped eradicate smallpox. (The two diseases are closely related and both caused by orthopoxviruses, which makes this possible.) If necessary, the US Department of Health and Human Services said it's also prepared to ship out the ACAM2000 vaccine, which is in greater supply than Jynneos but remains a second choice in the monkeypox response because it has a side effect profile that isn't safe for certain people.
ACAM2000 is administered differently than the typical vaccine shot we're used to, including intradermal injection. It's given by dipping a needle into a vaccine solution which will then be "pricked" several times on the upper arm. It will cause a localized infection (a "pox"), prompting an immune response.
While ACAM2000 doesn't cause smallpox, it contains live vaccina virus, which isn't suitable for everyone. It could be unsafe for immunocompromised people, pregnant folks and those with certain heart or skin diseases, like eczema.
Smallpox was declared eliminated from the world in 1980. The US stopped routine vaccination against it in 1972, though some health care workers or people who work in labs may have had the vaccine. Historically, according to the CDC, smallpox vaccines were 95% effective against infection and protect you for about three to five years, and after that protection starts to wane.
Because of this, it's possible people born before the early 1970s who got the smallpox vaccine might have some cross-protective immunity against monkeypox, according to the WHO, but there is "little immunity" to younger people living in non-endemic countries because they've had no exposure to a similar virus.
Read more:Monkeypox: What Gay and Bisexual Men Need to Know
A smallpox vaccine scar. People born before the mid-1970s might have such a scar. Jynneos, a newer-generation monkeypox and smallpox vaccine, is not the same type of vaccine as the one used to eradicate smallpox and doesn't leave a scar.
Picture Alliance/Getty Images
How effective are the vaccines against monkeypox? How long do they take to work?
Giving Jynneos within four days of a monkeypox exposure is the best option for stopping the onset of the disease, according to the CDC. If it's given four to 14 days after an exposure, the CDC says, Jynneos may not prevent monkeypox but will likely reduce the severity of symptoms. However, this information was published when Jynneos was given only the "standard" way (subcutaneous injection).
The CDC says that the Jynneos vaccine takes two weeks (14 days) after the second dose for immunity to build, and that ACAM2000 takes four weeks for maximum immunity. Though many people are receiving only the first dose of Jynneos at this time, early research suggests that one dose will still offer some protection, at least for a shorter period of time.
Because the US outbreak of monkeypox is so new, there's no data yet on exactly how effective the vaccines will be in the current situation, according to the CDC.
You should still self-isolate if you develop symptoms of monkeypox after getting vaccinated, such as a rash.
A computer image of a monkeypox virus.
Uma Shankar Sharma/Getty Images
Why does the US have a stockpile of monkeypox vaccines?
The US has a stockpile of Jynneos and ACAM2000 on hand not because the country was worried about an outbreak of monkeypox (which has been endemic in some African countries for years), but in case smallpox becomes a public threat again. Smallpox was declared eliminated in the 1980s, and the last natural outbreak in the US happened in 1949. But smallpox is usually much more severe than monkeypox, and officials worry it could be used as biological warfare.
"The stockpile was created in the event of a biological weapons attack on the United States with smallpox," Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious-disease expert and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security said. In this event, health officials would not be rationing vaccines or using only the newer-generation vaccine, according to Adalja.
"If there was a smallpox attack, we would be using whatever vaccines we have to be able to deal with it," he added.
Why is there a monkeypox vaccine supply issue?
The supply of Jynneos, the newer vaccine specifically approved to prevent monkeypox, has been in particularly short supply.
Officials who spoke to The New York Times said the supply issue is partly because the government waited too long to ask Bavarian Nordic, which makes Jynneos, to bottle and fill the vaccine order the US had already purchased.
Another report by the Times alleges that the US national stockpile of monkeypox and smallpox vaccines dwindled because the government never replaced the expired doses and instead put money into technology that would extend their shelf life. Part of the reason for this was that the government created the stockpile not for monkeypox but for smallpox, which is a more contagious and often more serious disease officials fear could be used in biological warfare against the US.
The US Department of Health and Human Services didn't respond to a request for comment on the reports.
The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.
TikTok Parents Are Taking Advantage of Their Kids. It Needs to Stop
TikTok Parents Are Taking Advantage of Their Kids. It Needs to Stop
Rachel Barkman's son started accurately identifying different species of mushroom at the age of 2. Together they'd go out into the mossy woods near her home in Vancouver and forage. When it came to occasionally sharing in her TikTok videos her son's enthusiasm and skill for picking mushrooms, she didn't think twice about it -- they captured a few cute moments, and many of her 350,000-plus followers seemed to like it.
That was until last winter, when a female stranger approached them in the forest, bent down and addressed her son, then 3, by name and asked if he could show her some mushrooms.
"I immediately went cold at the realization that I had equipped complete strangers with knowledge of my son that puts him at risk," Barkman said in an interview this past June.
This incident, combined with research into the dangers of sharing too much, made her reevaluate her son's presence online. Starting at the beginning of this year, she vowed not to feature his face in future content.
"My decision was fueled by a desire to protect my son, but also to protect and respect his identity and privacy, because he has a right to choose the way he is shown to the world," she said.
These kinds of dangers have cropped up alongside the rise in child influencers, such as 10-year-old Ryan Kaji of Ryan's World, who has almost 33 million subscribers, with various estimates putting his net worth in the multiple tens of millions of dollars. Increasingly, brands are looking to use smaller, more niche, micro- and nano-influencers, developing popular accounts on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube to reach their audiences. And amid this influencer gold rush there's a strong incentive for parents, many of whom are sharing photos and videos of their kids online anyway, to get in on the action.
The increase in the number of parents who manage accounts for their kids -- child influencers' parents are often referred to as "sharents" -- opens the door to exploitation or other dangers. With almost no industry guardrails in place, these parents find themselves in an unregulated wild west. They're the only arbiters of how much exposure their children get, how much work their kids do, and what happens to money earned through any content they feature in.
Instagram didn't respond to multiple requests for comment about whether it takes any steps to safeguard child influencers. A representative for TikTok said the company has a zero-tolerance approach to sexual exploitation and pointed to policies to protect accounts of users under the age of 16. But these policies don't apply to parents posting with or on behalf of their children. YouTube didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
"When parents share about their children online, they act as both the gatekeeper -- the one tasked with protecting a child's personal information -- and as the gate opener," said Stacey Steinberg, a professor of law at the University of Florida and author of the book Growing Up Shared. As the gate opener, "they benefit, gaining both social and possibly financial capital by their online disclosures."
The reality is that some parents neglect the gatekeeping and leave the gate wide open for any internet stranger to walk through unchecked. And walk through they do.
Meet the sharents
Mollie is an aspiring dancer and model with an Instagram following of 122,000 people. Her age is ambiguous but she could be anywhere from 11-13, meaning it's unlikely she's old enough to meet the social media platform's minimum age requirement. Her account is managed by her father, Chris, whose own account is linked in her bio, bringing things in line with Instagram's policy. (Chris didn't respond to a request for comment.)
You don't have to travel far on Instagram to discover accounts such as Mollie's, where grown men openly leer at preteen girls. Public-facing, parent-run accounts dedicated to dancers and gymnasts -- who are under the age of 13 and too young to have accounts of their own -- number in the thousands. (To protect privacy, we've chosen not to identify Mollie, which isn't her real name, or any other minors who haven't already appeared in the media.)
Parents use these accounts, which can have tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of followers, to raise their daughters' profiles by posting photos of them posing and demonstrating their flexibility in bikinis and leotards. The comment sections are often flooded with sexualized remarks. A single, ugly word appeared under one group shot of several young girls in bikinis: "orgy."
Some parents try to contain the damage by limiting comments on posts that attract too much attention. The parent running one dancer account took a break from regular scheduling to post a pastel-hued graphic reminding other parents to review their followers regularly. "After seeing multiple stories and posts from dance photographers we admire about cleaning up followers, I decided to spend time cleaning," read the caption. "I was shocked at how many creeps got through as followers."
But "cleaning up" means engaging in a never-ending game of whack-a-mole to keep unwanted followers at bay, and it ignores the fact that you don't need to be following a public account to view the posts. Photos of children are regularly reposted on fan or aggregator accounts, over which parents have no control, and they can also be served up through hashtags or through Instagram's discovery algorithms.
The simple truth is that publicly posted content is anyone's for the taking. "Once public engagement happens, it is very hard, if not impossible, to really put meaningful boundaries around it," said Leah Plunkett, author of the book Sharenthood and a member of the faculty at Harvard Law School.
This concern is at the heart of the current drama concerning the TikTok account @wren.eleanor. Wren is an adorable blonde 3-year-old girl, and the account, which has 17.3 million followers, is managed by her mother, Jacquelyn, who posts videos almost exclusively of her child.
Concerned onlookers have pointed Jacquelyn toward comments that appear to be predatory, and have warned her that videos in which Wren is in a bathing suit, pretending to insert a tampon, or eating various foodstuffs have more watches, likes and saves than other content. They claim her reluctance to stop posting in spite of their warnings demonstrates she's prioritizing the income from her account over Wren's safety. Jacquelyn didn't respond to several requests for comment.
Last year, the FBI ran a campaign in which it estimated that there were 500,000 predators online every day -- and that's just in the US. Right now, across social platforms, we're seeing the growth of digital marketplaces that hinge on child exploitation, said Plunkett. She doesn't want to tell other parents what to do, she added, but she wants them to be aware that there's "a very real, very pressing threat that even innocent content that they put up about their children is very likely to be repurposed and find its way into those marketplaces."
Naivete vs. exploitation
When parent influencers started out in the world of blogging over a decade ago, the industry wasn't exploitative in the same way it is today, said Crystal Abidin, an academic from Curtin University who specializes in internet cultures. When you trace the child influencer industry back to its roots, what you find is parents, usually mothers, reaching out to one another to connect. "It first came from a place of care among these parent influencers," she said.
Over time, the industry shifted, centering on children more and more as advertising dollars flowed in and new marketplaces formed.
Education about the risks hasn't caught up, which is why people like Sarah Adams, a Vancouver mom who runs the TikTok account @mom.uncharted, have taken it upon themselves to raise the flag on those risks. "My ultimate goal is just have parents pause and reflect on the state of sharenting right now," she said.
But as Mom Uncharted, Adams is also part of a wider unofficial and informal watchdog group of internet moms and child safety experts shedding light on the often disturbing way in which some parents are, sometimes knowingly, exploiting their children online.
The troubling behavior uncovered by Adams and others suggests there's more than naivete at play -- specifically when parents sign up for and advertise services that let people buy "exclusive" or "VIP" access to content featuring their children.
Some parent-run social media accounts that Adams has found linked out to a site called SelectSets, which lets the parents sell photo sets of their children. One account offered sets with titles such as "2 little princesses." SelectSets has described the service as "a classy and professional" option for influencers to monetize content, allowing them to "avoid the stigma often associated with other platforms."
Over the last few weeks, SelectSets has gone offline and no owner could be traced for comment.
In addition to selling photos, many parent-run dancer accounts, Mollie's included, allow strangers to send the dancers swimwear and underwear from the dancers' Amazon wish lists, or money to "sponsor" them to "realize their dream" or support them on their "journeys."
While there's nothing technically illegal about anything these parents are doing, they're placing their children in a gray area that's not explicitly sexual but that many people would consider to be sexualized. The business model of using an Amazon wish list is one commonly embraced by online sugar babies who accept money and gifts from older men.
"Our Conditions of Use and Sale make clear that users of Amazon Services must be 18 or older or accompanied by a parent or guardian," said an Amazon spokesperson in a statement. "In rare cases where we are made aware that an account has been opened by a minor without permission, we close the account."
Adams says it's unlikely to be other 11-year-olds sending their pocket money to these girls so they attend their next bikini modeling shoot. "Who the fuck do you think is tipping these kids?" she said. "It's predators who are liking the way you exploit your child and giving them all the content they need."
Turning points
Plunkett distinguishes between parents who are casually sharing content that features their kids and parents who are sharing for profit, an activity she describes as "commercial sharenting."
"You are taking your child, or in some cases, your broader family's private or intimate moments, and sharing them digitally, in the hope of having some kind of current or future financial benefit," she said.
No matter the parent's hopes or intentions, any time children appear in public-facing social media content, that content has the potential to go viral, and when it does, parents have a choice to either lean in and monetize it or try to rein it in.
During Abidin's research -- in which she follows the changing activities of the same influencers over time -- she's found that many influencer parents reach a turning point. It can be triggered by something as simple as other children at school being aware of their child's celebrity or their child not enjoying it anymore, or as serious as being involved in a car chase while trying to escape fans (an occurrence recounted to Abidin by one of her research subjects).
One influencer, Katy Rose Pritchard, who has almost 92,000 Instagram followers, decided to stop showing her children's faces on social media this year after she discovered they were being used to create role-playing accounts. People had taken photos of her children that she'd posted and used them to create fictional profiles of children for personal gratification, which she said in a post made her feel "violated."
All these examples highlight the different kinds of threats sharents are exposing their children to. Plunkett describes three "buckets" of risk tied to publicly sharing content online. The first and perhaps most obvious are risks involving criminal and/or dangerous behavior, posing a direct threat to the child.
The second are indirect risks, where content posted featuring children can be taken, reused, analyzed or repurposed by people with nefarious motives. Consequences include anything from bullying to harming future job prospects to millions of people having access to children's medical information -- a common trope on YouTube is a video with a melodramatic title and thumbnail involving a child's trip to the hospital, in which influencer parents with sick kids will document their health journeys in blow-by-blow detail.
The third set of risks are probably the least talked about, but they involve potential harm to a child's sense of self. If you're a child influencer, how you see yourself as a person and your ability to develop into an adult is "going to be shaped and in some instances impeded by the fact that your parents are creating this public performance persona for you," said Plunkett.
Often children won't be aware of what this public persona looks like to the audience and how it's being interpreted. They may not even be aware it exists. But at some point, as happened with Barkman, the private world in which content is created and the public world in which it's consumed will inevitably collide. At that point, the child will be thrust into the position of confronting the persona that's been created for them.
"As kids get older, they naturally want to define themselves on their own terms, and if parents have overshared about them in public spaces, that can be difficult, as many will already have notions about who that child is or what that child may like," said Steinberg. "These notions, of course, may be incorrect. And some children may value privacy and wish their life stories were theirs -- not their parents -- to tell."
Savannah and Cole LaBrant have documented nearly everything about their children's lives.
Jim Spellman/WireImage
This aspect of having their real-life stories made public is a key factor distinguishing children working in social media from children working in the professional entertainment industry, who usually play fictional roles. Many children who will become teens and adults in the next couple of decades will have to reckon with the fact that their parents put their most vulnerable moments on the internet for the world to see -- their meltdowns, their humiliation, their most personal moments.
One influencer family, the LaBrants, were forced to issue a public apology in 2019 after they played an April Fools' Day Joke on their 6-year-old daughter Everleigh. The family pretended they were giving her dog away, eliciting tears throughout the video. As a result, many viewers felt that her parents, Sav and Cole, had inflicted unnecessary distress on her.
In the past few months, parents who film their children during meltdowns to demonstrate how to calm them down have found themselves the subject of ire on parenting Subreddits. Their critics argue that it's unfair to post content of children when they're at their most vulnerable, as it shows a lack of respect for a child's right to privacy.
Privacy-centric parenting
Even the staunchest advocates of child privacy know and understand the parental instinct of wanting to share their children's cuteness and talent with the world. "Our kids are the things usually we're the most proud of, the most excited about," said Adams. "It is normal to want to show them off and be proud of them."
When Adams started her account two years ago, she said her views were seen as more polarizing. But increasingly people seem to relate and share her concerns. Most of these are "average parents," naive to the risks they're exposing their kids to, but some are "commercial sharents" too.
Even though they don't always see eye to eye, the private conversations she's had with parents of children (she doesn't publicly call out anyone) with massive social media presences have been civil and productive. "I hope it opens more parents' eyes to the reality of the situation, because frankly this is all just a large social experiment," she said. "And it's being done on our kids. And that just doesn't seem like a good idea."
For Barkman, it's been "surprisingly easy, and hugely beneficial" to stop sharing content about her son. She's more present, and focuses only on capturing memories she wants to keep for herself.
"When motherhood is all consuming, it sometimes feels like that's all you have to offer, so I completely understand how we have slid into oversharing our children," she said. "It's a huge chunk of our identity and our hearts."
But Barkman recognizes the reality of the situation, which is that she doesn't know who's viewing her content and that she can't rely on tech platforms to protect her son. "We are raising a generation of children who have their entire lives broadcast online, and the newness of social media means we don't have much data on the impacts of that reality on children," she said. "I feel better acting with caution and letting my son have his privacy so that he can decide how he wants to be perceived by the world when he's ready and able."
