Valentines Day is just a week away, and is one of the most popular holidays for consuming chocolates. But according to two notices from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), buyers of select M&M products are at risk of adverse health consequences due to undeclared allergens. Heres what you need to know.
Whats happened?
On January 26, Beacon Promotions Inc initiated a voluntary recall of some of its M&M products. Beacon Promotions, based in Minnesota, sells third-party products featuring its clients logos and branding.
Businesses use promotional product companies like Beacon to produce everything from tote bags to chocolate with their logos, which they then give out as freebies to employees or customers.
One of the products Beacon offers is packages of candies, including M&Ms. It is some of these M&M products that Beacon produced that the company is now recalling.
But according to two FDA enforcement reports, the M&M products arent being recalled because there is nothing abnormal about the candy itself. Instead, the promotional M&M products Beacon made that are included in the recalls did not have the required allergen warnings on the packages.
The lack of these warnings means that people who are vulnerable to allergens, including milk, soy, and peanuts, may mistakenly believe that M&M candies are safe for them to eat.
Class II recall may cause adverse health consequences
The FDAs enforcement reports for both recalls state that each recall is classified as a Class II recall.
According to the agency, a Class II recall means the recalled product may cause temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences or where the probability of serious adverse health consequences is remote.
What M&M products are included in the recalls?
The two recalls cover more than 6,000 units of M&M products.
The first recall covers 541 units of the following:
Repackaged M&Ms Peanut candies, Net Wt 1.3 oz.
Item BB471BG.
Lot M1823200
Best By dates: 4/30/2026
Labeled as Make Your Mark.
The second recall covers 5788 units of the following:
Repackaged M&Ms candies, Net Wt 1.3 oz.
Item BB458BG.
Lot L450ARCLV03, Best By 12/1/2025 Lot L502FLHKP01, Best By 1/1/2026 Lot L523CMHKP01, Best By 6/30/2026 Lot L537GMHKP01, Best By 9/1/2026.
Labeled with the following promotional company names. 1. Next Up, 2. Smith Pro, 3. Jaxport, Jacksonville Port Authority, 4. Climax Molybdenum, A Freeport-McMoRan Company, 5. University of Maryland, School of Public Policy, 6. Liberty University Environmental Health & Safety, 7. Subaru, 8. Trinity Cyb3r, 9. Candy Treats, 10. JSE, Jordan & Skala Engineers, 11. Dropbox DocSend, 12. PP, Prosperity Promotions, 13. Northwest Indian College Foundation, 14. FES Branding Solutions, 15. Berkshire Hathaway Guard Insurance Companies, 16. merry maids Annual 26 Conference, 17. BW, Best Western, 18. Morgan Stanley, 19. tufin, 20. Compliments of Pioneer, 21. A.D. Morgan, Construction Manager, Design Builder, General Contractor, 22. Adobe, 23. xfinity, 24. Fundermax Interiors, 25. White Cup, 26. Acadia Commercial, 27. Aviagen, 28. ORG Expo, 29. Make Your Mark.
Where were the recalled products distributed?
According to the FDA enforcement reports, the recalled M&M products were distributed in 20 states, including:
Arizona
California
Florida
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Massachusetts
Maryland
Minnesota
North Carolina
New York
Ohio
Pennsylvania
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Virginia
Washington
Wisconsin
What should I do if I have the recalled M&Ms?
The FDA enforcement notices do not give specific advice on what to do if you have the recalled M&M products.
As a best practice, a prudent course of action is to ensure the recalled M&M products do not fall into the hands of anyone who could be harmed by consuming the improperly labeled products.
Five years ago, a retired police officer spotted a 7-year-old girl walking alone in her New Jersey neighborhood. The stranger stopped her, questioned her about where she lived and whether she was alone, then called the police. When officers arrived, the girl gave them her address which was just a few blocks away. They walked her home and met her parents.
But instead of leaving, the officer demanded ID. When the parents refused, arguing they’d done nothing wrong by letting their daughter go for a walk in the neighborhood, the officer called for backup and threatened to take their daughter into protective custody. The father tried to comfort his crying daughter. Police wrestled him to the ground, arrested him for obstructing justice, and took him to jail in handcuffs. He was later found guilty and fined $133.
We Americans talk big about freedom, but when a child is learning to be independent, the cultural reaction today is to think something is terribly wrong.
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Way back in the olden days, if a stranger walked up to a child asking questions like “Where do you live?” and “Are you alone?” the stranger was considered suspicious. Countless PSAs were made about this stuff. But now, a stranger asks those questions, follows the child home, gets the child’s dad arrested, and is considered a hero.
Freedom to move
What does this have to do with urbanism? Well, it seems pointless to design streets for all ages if all ages arent allowed to freely move around.
In the 80s, when my sister and I got home from school, we’d have a snack, change clothes, and go play. If it wasn’t pouring rain, a significant amount of playtime was outsidenot because we felt some bond to nature, but because that’s just what you did. Also, mom was teaching piano lessons in the living room, so being loud in the house wasn’t an option.
We lived in a suburban neighborhood developed in the 1960s and 70s. Everything was within a 10-minute bike ride: playgrounds, soccer fields, the pool, the library, everybody else’s house, and the woods. (The woods is what we called any bigger-than-your-yard area of treesit had creeks, “secret” passageways to other streets, mysterious remains of tree forts, and places to hang out away from grown-ups.)
By 3:30pm on any given weekday, we (and kids across America) were knocking on doors asking: “Can you come out and play?” or “You wanna ride bikes?”
We’d shoot hoops until our arms got tired. We’d use saws, hammers, ropes, chains, and other found tools to make stuff. A few of us once made what in hindsight I’d call a cargo bike train. Multiple injuries followed.
Walking everywhere
My point about these neighborhood adventures isn’t that we became one with nature or longed for healthy exercise. The big difference between then and now is the getting from here to there. We were walking or biking everywhere. Parents were either at work or home doing parent things. No kid in their right mind was asking for a ride to the playground. You got yourself there.
If you didn’t have a similar childhood, I’m sure someone close to you did. We Gen Xers love sharing the glory days of when we could be left to our own devices. I think one reason my generation is so nostalgic is that our ordinary youth seems otherworldly by today’s standards.
Good urbanism isn’t any good if you’re not allowed to walk or bike. Besides the infrastructure itself, neighbors and cops now interfere with healthy childhood development. There’s a case to be made that a safe place to grow up allows for risky childhood behavior. I use “risk” loosely because expectations for child development have changed dramatically in our culture.
Childhood independence
Town councilman Keith Kaplan witnessed the New Jersey incident and was outraged. He drafted a Reasonable Childhood Independence bill stating that letting kids walk or play outside isn’t negligence unless they’re in obvious, serious, and likely danger. The bill passed and became law in 2025, making the New Jersey town a place where kids can be kids and parents can breathe a little easier.
That bonkers story about the police investigating an independent child isnt an outlier. So many parents are threatened with legal action that groups like Let Grow have been established to help restore freedom of mobility for people of all ages.
Town planners and urbanists talk about designing streets and public spaces to work for everyone, from children to elderly people, from wheelchair users to marathon runners. The idea is that if your infrastructure isn’t safe and comfortable for an 8-year-old and an 80-year-old, it’s not good design. But thats a futile exercise if the cultural norm is to be suspicious of independent children.
Personal stories are powerful tools to help convert policy jargon into infrastructure practice. It’s important to talk and write about your own experiences and what you’re hearing from others. Watch for stories that might have a headline about parenting or education but have deeper roots in land use or transportation policy.
Walk-friendly, bike-friendly neighborhoods are incredibly important for human flourishing. But they’re also only as good as the local authorities allow them to be. Legalize good urbanism and legalize healthy childhood development.
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If you’re looking for a good reason to stop staring at screens this weekend, we’ve got you. This weekend, there’s an exciting astronomical event taking to the skies. The 2026 Planet Parade, an extraordinary event where six planets will be visible all at once, just for a moment, is coming.
If you’re a seasoned skywatcher, you might remember that in 2025, there was a Planet Parade, too. Last February, seven planets, including Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, all lined up just after sunset.
This year, only six planetsbecause Mars is taking a raincheckwill make an appearance. And, according to astronomers, the show will be just as quick as last year’s.
What is a planet parade?
As our planets orbit the sun, occasionally, they line up on the same side of the sun, making them visible to us at the same time. According to NASA, planet parades aren’t as rare as you might think. “Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn are frequently seen in the night sky, but the addition of Venus and Mercury make four- and five-planet lineups particularly noteworthy,” the site explains.It continues, “Both orbit closer to the Sun than Earth, with smaller, faster orbits than the other planets. Venus is visible for only a couple of months at a time when it reaches its greatest separation from the Sun (called elongation), appearing just after sunset or before sunrise. Mercury, completing its orbit in just 88 days, is visible for only a couple of weeks (or even a few days) at a time just after sunset or just before sunrise.”
How can I see the planet parade?
If you’re hoping to catch a glimpse of six planets all at once, you’ll have to look up at the exact right moment and in the right direction. According to Star Walk, the best time to try will be around an hour after sunset on February 28. You’ll want to look West, toward the sunset. But even with the planets on the same side of the sun, you’ll need luck on your side to see them all at once, too.
“Four of them (Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, and Mercury) will be easily visible to the naked eye,” the site explains. However, some planets will be tougher to spot. “For Uranus and Neptune, get a pair of binoculars or a small telescope.”
Along with luck, you’ll need good weather, and little light pollution, which can impact your view, as well. And, according to Space.com, not only will you need an unobstructed view and binoculars, but you may also need “a healthy dose of imagination.”
Looking back on the first year of his second term, President Donald Trump boasts that he has resurrected the American economy by imposing big import taxes on foreign products. He made his case in a recent opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal, chiding the paper and critics, including mainstream economists, who predicted that tariffs would backfire, raising prices and threatening growth. “Instead,” he wrote, “they have created an American economic miracle.”But the proof he offers is often off-base or wrong altogether.Here’s a look at the facts around Trump’s assessment of tariffs.CLAIM: “Just over one year ago, we were a ‘DEAD’ country. Now, we are the ‘HOTTEST” country anywhere in the world!’ “THE FACTS: This is a standard statement from Trump. But the U.S. economy was hardly “dead” when Trump returned to office last year. And in Trump’s second term, it’s performed strongly after getting off to a bumpy start.In 2024, the last year of the Biden presidency, American gross domestic product grew 2.8%, adjusted for inflation, faster than any wealthy country in the world except Spain. It also expanded at a healthy rate from 2021 through 2023.The numbers for all of 2025 aren’t out yet. But during the first three quarters of the year, Trump’s tariffs or the threat of them delivered mixed results for the American economy.From January to March, U.S. GDP actually shrank for the first time in three years. The main culprit was easy to identify: a surge in imports, which are subtracted from GDP, as American companies rushed to buy foreign products before Trump could impose tariffs on them.But growth rebounded in the second half of the year. From April through June, the economy expanded at a healthy 3.8% pace. And from July through September, it grew even faster 4.4%. A big part of the surge was a drop in imports, likely reflecting Trump’s tariffs as well as the fact that importers had already stocked up at the start of the year. Strong consumer spending also drove economic growth.Trump also likes point to solid gains in the U.S. stock market. He noted that stocks hit new highs 52 times in 2025. It’s true that the American stock market did well last year. But it underperformed many foreign stock markets. The benchmark S&P 500 index climbed 17% a nice gain but short of a 71% surge in South Korea, 29% in Hong Kong, 26% in Japan, 22% in Germany and 21% in the United Kingdom.CLAIM: “Annual core inflation for the past three months has dropped to just 1.4% far lower than almost anyone, other than me, had predicted.”THE FACTS: The president is using cherry-picked data to vastly exaggerate where inflation stands.His figure for annual inflation in the past three months which excludes the volatile food and energy prices is low, but reflects data distorted by the government shutdown in October and November, which disrupted the government’s data collection and forced the agency that compiles the figures to plug in rough estimates in some categories that artificially lowered overall inflation.Annual core inflation for the final six months of 2025 is higher at 2.6%. That is down from January 2025’s level but about where it was in October 2024. Overall, inflation has leveled off this year, and was 3% in September before the government shutdown, the same as it had been in January 2025.It’s true that inflation hasn’t been as high as many economists worried it would be when Trump started rolling out tariffs last spring, but that is partly because many of the “Liberation Day” tariffs were withdrawn, reduced or riddled with exemptions. When Democrats won some high-profile elections last year by highlighting “affordability” concerns, the administration rolled back existing or planned tariffs on coffee, beef and kitchen cabinets, for example, a backhanded acknowledgment that the duties were raising prices.The impact of tariffs can be more clearly seen in core goods prices, which also exclude food and energy. Before the pandemic, core goods costs typically barely rose or even fell each year, but last December they were 1.4% higher than a year earlier. That was the largest increase, outside the pandemic, since 2011.Alberto Cavallo, an economist at Harvard and the author of a study on the impact of tariffs cited by Trump in his op-ed, has found that Trump’s tariffs have boosted overall inflation by roughly three-quarters of a percentage point. _ CLAIM: “The data shows that the burden, or ‘incidence,’ of the tariffs has fallen overwhelmingly on foreign producers and middlemen, including large corporations that are not from the U.S. According to a recent study by the Harvard Business School, these groups are paying at least 80% of tariff costs.” THE FACTS: The study Trump cited appears to conclude the opposite of what Trump claimed. Authored by Cavallo and two colleagues, it finds that “U.S. consumers were bearing roughly 43% of the tariff-induced border cost after seven months, with the remainder absorbed mostly by U.S. firms.” Cavallo said by email that import prices hadn’t fallen much, “which suggests foreign exporters did not reduce their pre-tariff prices enough to shoulder a large share of the burden.” CLAIM: “We have slashed our monthly trade deficit by an astonishing 77%.”THE FACTS: This claim involves more cherry-picking, reflecting the percentage drop from a very high trade deficit in January 2025, when the president took office, to a super-low deficit in October.The story is more complicated than the president makes it. The trade deficit the gap between what the U.S. sells other countries and what it buys from them has actually risen since he returned to the White House.From January through November in 2025, the U.S. accumulated a trade deficit of nearly $840 billion, up 4% from the same period of 2024. In the first three months of 2025, importers rushed to buy foreign products before Trump could slap tariffs on them. After that, monthly trade deficits came in consistently lower than they were in 2024. But the January-March import surge was so big that the 2025 year-to-date trade deficit still exceeds 2024’s.
CLAIM: “I have successfully wielded the tariff tool to secure colossal Investments in America, like no other country has ever seen before. In less than one year, we have secured commitments for more than $18 trillion, a number that is unfathomable to many.”THE FACTS: Trump did, in fact, use the tariff threat to pry investment commitments from America’s major trading partners. The European Union, for instance, pledged $600 billion over four years.But Trump hasn’t said how he came up with $18 trillion. The White House has published a figure of $9.6 trillion, which includes private and public investment commitments from other countries.Researchers at the Peterson Institute for International Economics last month calculated the investment pledges at $5 trillion from the EU, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and the Persian Gulf states of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.And they raised oubts about whether the money will actually materialize, partly because the agreements are vague and sometimes because the countries would strain to afford the commitments.But all the numbers are huge nonetheless. Total private investment in the United States was most recently running at a $5.4 trillion annual pace. In 2024, the last year for which figures are available, total foreign direct investment in the United States amounted to $151 billion. Direct investment includes money sunk into such things as factories and offices but not financial investments like stocks and bonds.
Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck.
Paul Wiseman and Christopher Rugaber, AP Economics Writers
Cellphones are everywhereincluding, until recently, in schools.
Since 2023, 29 states, including New York, Vermont, Florida, and Texas, have passed laws that require K-12 public schools to enforce bans or strict limits on students using their cellphones on campus.
Another 10 states have passed other measures that require local school districts to take some kind of action on cellphone usage.
Approximately 77% of public schools now forbid students from having their phones out during classan increase from the 66% of schools that forbade students from using phones at school in 2015.
Schools across the country are finding different ways to enforce no-phone policies. Some schools have students lock their phones in pouches that only open at the end of the day. Others use simple classroom bins or lockers.
Some research shows that spending a lot of time looking at phones instead of peoples faces can make it harder for children and teenagers to get the basic human skills they need for developing and maintaining friendships and other relationships.
As a scholar of educational leadership, I believe that school is about more than just classesits where young people learn how to get along with others. When phones are put away, students actually start looking at each other and talking again. School hallways and the lunchroom turn into spaces where students learn to resolve conflicts face-to-face and make human connections.
Putting phones away in Ohio
Ohio is an example of a state that has clamped down on students cellphone usage over the past 18 months.
In May 2024, Ohio went from suggesting some cellphone guidelines for different schools to adopt to requiring that all public districts limit students phone use during class. School districts could choose to allow phones at lunch or between classes.
Many schools began using lockable pouches, plastic bins, or lockers to keep phones out of sight. They still needed to allow some students to have phones for medical reasons, like monitoring blood sugar on an app.
Ohio then adopted an even stricter cellphone use policy in 2025. This new law required all Ohio public school boards to adopt policies by Jan. 1, 2026, that prohibit phone use during the entire school day, including lunch and the time between classes.
A needed break
In the fall of 2025, I surveyed 13 Ohio public school principals from rural, urban, and suburban districts. Principals reported that the partial phone bans increased students social interactions and reduced peer conflicts:
62% of principals described more verbal, face-to-face socializing during recess, at lunch time, and between classes.
68% noted that students can stay on one task for more than 20 minutes without seeking a quick digital break.
72% observed a shift from heads-down scrolling to active conversation in common areas such as the cafeteria.
61% reported fewer online social conflicts spilling over into the classroom.
A tension for students
In late January 2026, I also surveyed and spoke with 18 Ohio high school students about the new phone bans in place at their schools as part of research that has not yet been published.
Their responses revealed a complex tension between understanding the need for the phone ban and feeling a significant loss of personal safety and autonomy.
A few students said they felt safe knowing a phone in the main office is available for emergencies.
Some students said they felt anxious about not being reachable if there is an emergencylike if a relative were in an accident, or if the younger siblings they care for required their help.
Finally, 13 out of 18 students argued that they should be learning the self-discipline required to balance technology with focus. Students said that phone bans made them feel as though they were children who could not make responsible decisionsrather than young adults preparing for professional environments.
Some students also said that not having their phones made it impossible to fill out college and scholarship applications during the school day, since many application systems require multifactor authentication and require phones to log in.
Lessons from Ohio
Rules are more likely to be respected when students feel they have a voice in the boundaries that affect their daily lives. I think that school leaders could address students safety and security concerns in different ways, including by establishing a dedicated family emergency hotline that people can call.
Principals could designate supervised areas where more senior high school students can briefly use their phones for multifactor authentication. School leaders could also offer a specific time window for students to check messages on their phones, or an easy way for the schools main office to deliver them messages from family.
While these insights from Ohio students and principals offer a helpful starting point, they are just one part of a much larger conversation.
More research is needed to see how these bans affect different types of schools and communities across multiple states. Because every district is different, what works in one town might cause unexpected challenges in another. By continuing to study these effects and listening to everyone involved, especially the students, researchers like myself can figure out how to keep classrooms focused and students interacting without making students feel less safe or less prepared for the adult world.
Corinne Brion is an associate professor in educational administration at the University of Dayton.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
The logic behind electric vehicles benefiting public health has long been solid: More EVs means fewer internal combustion engines on the road, and a reduction in harmful tailpipe emissions. But now researchers have confirmed, to the greatest extent yet, that this is indeed whats actually happening on the ground. Whats more, they found that even relatively small upticks in EV adoption can have a measurably positive impact on a community.
Whereas previous work has largely been based on modeling, a study published this month in the journal Lancet Planetary Health used satellites to measure actual emissions. The study, conducted between 2019 and 2023, focused on California, which has among the highest rates of EV use in the country, and nitrogen dioxide, one of the gases released during combustion, including when fossil fuels are burned. Exposure to the pollutant can contribute to heart and lung issues, or even premature death. Across nearly 1,700 ZIP codes, the analysis showed that, for every increase of 200 electric vehicles, nitrogen dioxide emissions decreased by 1.1 percent.
A pretty small addition of cars at the ZIP code level led to a decline in air pollution, said Sandrah Eckel, a public health professor at the University of Southern Californias Keck School of Medicine and lead author of the study. Its remarkable.
The group had tried to establish this link using Environmental Protection Agency air monitors before, but because there are only about 100 of them in California, the results werent statistically significant. The data also were from 2013 through 2019, when there were fewer electric vehicles on the road. Although the satellite instrument they ultimately used only detected nitrogen dioxide, it did allow researchers to gather data for virtually the entire state, and this time the findings were clear.
Its making a real difference in our neighborhoods, said Eckel, who said a methodology like theirs could be used anywhere in the world. The advent of such powerful satellites allows scientists to look at other sources of emissions, such as factories or homes, too. Its a revolutionary approach.
Mary Johnson, who researches environmental health at Harvard Universitys T.H. Chan School of Public Health and was not involved in the study, said shes not aware of a similar study of this size, or one that uses satellite data so extensively. Their analysis seems sound, she said, noting that the authors controlled for variables such as the COVID-19 pandemic and shifts toward working from home.
The results, Johnson added, totally make sense and align with other research in this area. When London implemented congestion pricing in 2003, for example, it reduced traffic and emissions and increased life expectancy. That is the direction this latest research could go too. They didnt take the next step and look at health data, she said, which I think would be interesting.Daniel Horton, who leads Northwestern Universitys climate change research group, also sees value in this latest work. The results help to confirm the sort of predictions that numerical air quality modelers have been making for the past decade, he said, adding that it could also lay the foundation for similar research. This proof of concept paper is a great start and augurs good things to come.Eckel hopes that, eventually, advances in satellite technology will allow for more widespread detection of other types of emissions too, such as fine particulate matter. That could even help account for some of the potential downsides of EVs, which are heavier and could therefore kick up more tire or brake dust than their gasoline counterparts. On the whole, though, she believes the picture overwhelmingly illustrates how driving an electric car is better not just for the planet but for people.
Research like this, she says, underscores the importance of continued EV adoption, the sales of which have slumped recently, and the need to do so equitably. Although lower-income neighborhoods have historically borne the brunt of pollution from highways and traffic, they cant always afford the relatively high cost of EVs. Eckel hopes that research like this can help guide policymakers.
There are concerns that some of the communities that really stand to benefit the most from reductions in air pollution are also some of the communities that are really at risk of being left behind in the transition, she said. Previous research has shown that EVs could alleviate harms such as asthma in children, and detailed data like this latest study can help highlight both where more work needs to be done and whats working.
Its really exciting that we were able to show that there were these measurable improvements in the air that were all breathing, she said. Another arguably hopeful finding was that the median increase in electric vehicle usage during the study was 272 per ZIP code.
That, Eckel says, means there is plenty of opportunity to make our air even cleaner.
Correction: This story originally misidentified the pollutant studied. It is nitrogen dioxide.
This article originally appeared in Grist.
Grist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Learn more at Grist.org
The European Union on Friday accused TikTok of breaching the bloc’s digital rules with “addictive design” features that lead to compulsive use by children, in preliminary charges that strike at the heart of the popular video sharing app’s operating model.EU regulators said their two-year investigation found that TikTok hasn’t done enough to assess how features such as autoplay and infinite scroll could harm the physical and mental health of users, including minors and “vulnerable adults.”The European Commission said it believes TikTok should change the “basic design” of its service. The commission is the EU’s executive arm and enforcer of the 27-nation bloc’s Digital Services Act, a sweeping rulebook that requires social media companies to clean up their platforms and protect users, under threat of hefty fines.TikTok denied the accusations.“The Commission’s preliminary findings present a categorically false and entirely meritless depiction of our platform, and we will take whatever steps are necessary to challenge these findings through every means available to us,” the company said in a statement.TikTok’s features including infinite scrolling, autoplay, push notifications, and highly personalized recommender systems “lead to the compulsive use of the app, especially for our kids, and this poses major risks to their mental health and wellbeing,” Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier said at a press briefing in Brussels.“The measures that TikTok has in place are simply not enough,” he said.The company now has a chance to defend itself and reply to the commission’s findings. Regnier said “if they don’t do this properly,” Brussels could issue a so-called non-compliance decision and possible fine worth up to 6% of the company’s total annual revenue. There was no deadline specified for the commission to make a final decision.The preliminary findings are the latest example of pressure that TikTok and other social media platforms are facing over youth addiction.Australia has banned social media for under-16s while governments in Spain, France, Britain,Denmark,Malaysia and Egypt want to introduce similar measures. In the U.S., TikTok last month settled a landmark social media addiction lawsuit while two other companies named in the suit Meta’s Instagram and Google’s YouTube still face claims that their platforms deliberately addict and harm children.TikTok has 170 million users in the European Union and “most of these are children,” Regnier said. He added that 7% of children aged 12 to 15 spend four to five hours daily on TikTok, and it’s “by far” the platform most used after midnight by children aged 13 to 18, citing unspecified data.“These statistics are extremely alarming,” he said.The commission said that TikTok fuels the urge to keep scrolling because it constantly rewards users with new content, leading to reduced self control.It said TikTok ignores signs that someone is compulsively using the app, such as the amount of time that minors spend on it at night, and how often the app is opened.The company has failed to put in place “reasonable, proportionate and effective” measures to offset the risks, it said.The commission said TikTok’s existing time management controls are easy to dismiss and “introduce limited friction,” while parental tools need “additional time and skills” from parents.Changes that the commission wants TikTok to make include disabling features like infinite scroll; putting in more effective breaks for screen time, including at night; and changing its “highly personalized” recommender system, which feeds users an endless stream of video shorts based on their preferences.TikTok says it has numerous tools, such as custom screen time limits and sleep reminders, that let users make “intentional decisions” about how they spend their time on the app. The company also noted it has teen accounts that let parents impose time limits on use, and prompt teen users to switch off in the evenings.
Associated Press journalist Sam McNeil contributed to this report.
Kelvin Chan, AP Business Writer
Just because youre an ultra-talented global celebrity doesnt mean youre a shoo-in for an amazing gig. In fact, even stars have to apply to jobs, just like the rest of us. Just ask Charlie Puth, wholl be singing The Star-Spangled Banner at Super Bowl LX Sunday night.
It shows how humility fuels success for even someone at the top of their gamein this case, a dream opportunity for one of pops biggest stars on entertainments biggest stage.
In a recent Rolling Stone interview, the We Dont Talk Anymore singer spoke frankly last month about how he applied and auditioned to sing the national anthem, and how hes elated for the gig.
He shared that performing the national anthem at the Super Bowl was a dream goal and seemed like he didnt expect any preferential treatment: I applied. I auditioned for it, but I made up my own audition because Ive always wanted to do it. He adds, because I love it musically, he told the magazine: Its the best song. Musically, its so special.”
“I actually have always wanted to do this, and I recorded a little demo, just me singing with the Rhodes and sent it to Roc Nation. Ive been told Jay-Z loved it, and it got Goodell and they all said that I could do it,” the 34-year-old said.
The New Jersey native is a prime example of how even high-achievers and applicants at the height of their industry audition or apply for jobs. Its that blend of humility and experience that can lead people to great things: Humility can be a very impressive personality trait, and the kind of authenticity that shows in Puths Rolling Stone answers is the kind that tells a hiring manager youre grateful for the opportunity, and communicates real passion. Theres even research to back up that humility is a trait that can make you a more desirable candidate for a job.
Puth kept that humility when talking about iconic Super Bowl performances from the past: “Im going to be inspired by what Whitney did, but I cant ever touch what she did, he told Rolling Stone. I just wanna show people that I can do it. I feel like people dont really think of me as, like, a stand-alone vocalist at times.
To channel your inner Charlie Puth humility, try these strategies:
Balance it with confidence: Thats especially the case for leaders. Have trust in your talents, but also be adaptable, empathetic, and open to learning from other people in your field.
Model it for others: Sometimes deciding to be a model of supportive collaboration, trustful integrity, and taking responsibility can bring out your inner humility, which others can in turn learn from and be inspired by.
Talk less about yourself: An easy way to unlock inner humility, this also helps you not compare yourself too much to others.
Another element of a professional business persona is not to respond negatively to those who arent happy with your achievements.
Puth responded with grace on X back in December after a snide social media post from a doubter. Striking a diplomatic tone, he wrote: Ill never claim to be as good of a singer as Whitney Houston ever was. But I assure you were putting a really special arrangement togetherin D major. Itll be one of my best vocal performances.
Design culture loves the fantasy of blue sky thinking. No constraints. No limits. Pure imagination. It sounds liberating, but it often produces design that only works in ideal conditions for an ideal user who does not exist. Blue sky leads to paper designgreat ideas that never come to market.
The truth is simple: Constraints fuel creativity. The most valuable constraint is the human one.
When designers embrace real limits like limited dexterity, low lighting, fatigue, mobility restrictions, sensory sensitivities, small living spaces, and tight budgets, they stop designing for abstraction. They start designing for reality. That is where innovation becomes inevitable. That is where design becomes a successful game changer in business strategy.
WHY CONSTRAINTS CREATE BETTER PRODUCTS
Constraints do powerful things.
First, they force clarity. When you cannot assume perfect vision, perfect grip, perfect posture, or perfect attention, you have to prioritize what truly matters.
Second, they reveal opportunity gaps. The friction points that average user personas miss become visible. Those friction points are where unmet demand lives.
Third, they raise the bar for usefulness. A product that performs under constraint often performs exceptionally well under normal conditions. That is why so many accessible innovations become mainstream.
THE EDGE IS WHERE THE BREAKTHROUGH BEGINS
Many of the features we now take for granted started as solutions for constrained conditions. Curb cuts were designed for wheelchairs, then they became indispensable for strollers, luggage, delivery carts, bikes, and scooters. Captions support deaf and hard of hearing communities, and they also help everyone in loud environments, quiet environments, and multilingual contexts.
This pattern is not accidental. Designing for the edge forces teams to solve for higher friction. Once solved, the benefit cascades outward.
A PRACTICAL CONSTRAINT FRAMEWORK
If you want constraints to generate innovation instead of frustration, treat them as design inputs early, not late-stage fixes.
Start with four questions:
1. What are the most common constraints in the users environment? Noise, glare, cold, clutter, time pressure.
2. What are the most common constraints in the users body? Dexterity, strength, mobility, stamina.
3. What are the most common constraints in the users mind? Cognitive load, stress, distraction, ambiguity.
4. What emotional constraints does the user bring with them? Fear of making mistakes, embarrassment, loss of confidence, and the desire for dignity, capability, and control.
When those four constraints are treated as defaults, products stop proving they work and start proving they care. That shift is what separates good design from beloved products. Design as if those constraints are the default, not the exception. For every body, they are, or become, the default at different times and phases of life.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WORKS AND WORKS WELL
A product can technically work yet still fail. It can be compliant, yet frustrating. It can be usable, yet unloved. It can function, but make people feel like there is something wrong with them. Constraints help solve that gap because they push the product beyond minimum viability and toward genuine excellence.
When you design under constraint, you make fewer assumptions. You write clearer cues into the form. You reduce steps. You decrease error. You create comfort. You remove shame. You build trust.
CONSTRAINTS ARE NOT A LIMITATIONTHEY ARE THE BRIEF
The brands that lead next will not be those chasing novelty for noveltys sake. They will be the ones willing to design inside real human boundaries and treat those boundaries as creative partners. Inclusion is not a constraint layered on top of design. It is the constraint that makes design better. When you stop trying to escape limits, you start making products that people can actually live with, love, and keep.
Ben Wintner is CEO of Michael Graves Design.
Over the years, Ive written and spoken extensively about my belief that design has the power to change the world. I find daily inspiration in the many individuals and organizations leaning away from design as pure aesthetics and embracing design as a powerful tool for promoting the wellbeing of both people and the planet.
I refer to wellbeing as holistic health. It includes holistic health of the people: end usersthose using the products, and makerssuppliers, producers, and manufacturers. Also, of the planet, because no design is isolated; it is always dependent on and embedded in systems. Our choices have far-reaching impact. Upstream decisions about a designs materials, energy, and water requirements for manufacturing and operations, and end of life, for example, matter as much as the final form or user interface. For a design to truly promote wellbeing, all aspects across supply chain and user behavior must consider the physical, psychological, and environmental wellbeing of all stakeholderspeople and planet alike.
We are at a critical moment in human history, and organizations must go beyond business as usual to design products and systems that are deeply, truly ethical. In my work over three decades, Ive spoken continuously about this with leading voices in business, science, technology, innovation, and design who are championing this shift toward responsibility and integrity. Here, I want to share some of the insights Ive gained on how design can actively support wellbeingmaintaining beauty, while also promoting justice.
FORM FOLLOWS FEELING
In season 7, episode 10 of my podcast, FUTURE OF XYZ, I hosted Suchi Reddy, founder of Reddymade, an architecture, design, and public art studio based in New York City. We continued our conversation on a panel during Archtober on the topic of designing for wellbeing.
Suchi is an expert on neuroaesthetics, the study of how art, architecture, and design affect the brain and body. Renowned for design that utilizes principles of neuroaesthetics, Suchis practice emphasizes how environments influence our emotional and physiological states. When designers tap into that, they are able to create spaces and objects that are not only beautiful, but profoundly enriching to users lives.
Rather than imposing a predetermined style, Suchi believes design should emerge from feelings, comfort, need, memory, and neural response. By centering design on purpose first, the aesthetics then gain depth, richness, and endurance. When we design to feel, not just to look beautiful, aesthetics become more meaningful and design becomes more human.
In her studio, Suchi translates these principles into projects ranging from small objects for large corporate gifting (like a stone dish and incense inspired by memory and scent) to large-scale architecture including residences, cultural institutes, and commercial showrooms. She asks: How much stimulus does a person need? Where do they feel safe? How can proportion, texture, light, and movement be calibrated to support wellbeing?
True aesthetic beauty invites emotional attachment, encourages reuse, and resists disposability. Thus, high-quality, durable, purpose-rooted design is a potent tool for promoting both human and ecological wellbeing.
DESIGN FOR A NET-POSITIVE FUTURE
Design that promotes wellbeing, as Ive so far defined it, is inherently sustainable. That said, far too many products today are marketed as sustainable, yet the evidence goes no further than the consumer messaging. Real environmentally-conscious design has sustainability woven into its DNA, beginning with the materials and means of production, and carrying through the products full lifecycle. During our October conversation about design as a catalyst for wellbeing, Suchi and I were joined by Sergio Silva, vice president of design and innovation at Humanscalean ergonomic design company and a leading voice in environmental ethics. Sergio argues that true sustainable design not only mitigates harm, but must be regenerative to truly advance wellbeing This means taking a systems-based approach and pushing for circular, climate-positive models.
Humanscale, for instance, uses lifecycle analyses to identify environmental impact. When negative impact cant be fully avoided, they deploy a handprint strategy: Measure the carbon footprint, scale it through sales, and invest in positive initiatives (like solar for nonprofits or water restoration) until the positive impact exceeds the negative. They dont buy carbon offsets or other more nebulous claims. This is a human-centered, forward-thinking approach that reflects a shift from doing less harm to doing more good. Its a vision for design where every decision, material, and process contributes to a healthier, more equitable world.
DESIGN WITH CONSCIENCE
Grace Farms Design for Freedom initiative is a groundbreaking movement uniting industry leaders to eradicate forced labor from global architecture, design, and construction. I have been lucky enough to attend the projects annual conference twice, and have been deeply inspired by the work theyre doing.
Founded by the interdisciplinary Grace Farms Foundation in New Canaan, Connecticuta center dedicated to advancing human flourishing through nature, arts, justice, community, and faithDesign for Freedom challenges the industry to not only address its enormous environmental impact, but to confront an often-overlooked ethical crisis embedded within the built environments supply chain.
Even today, achieving a truly transparent, slavery-free building requires systemic transformation. The construction industry remains one of the least regulated sectors in this regard, with an estimated 75% of U.S. construction firms owned and operated by a single individual with no payroll. Plus, the sheer complexity of sourcing, from raw minerals to composite materials to hard and technological finishes, makes it nearly impossible to ensure that every component is free from forced labor. Design for Freedom exposes these concerns, providing remarkable tools, solutions, and support to help designers, builders, engineers, and business leaders transition into a forced labor-free future.
CLOSING THOUGHT
To design for wellbeing means more than creating products or spaces that nurture users happiness and enhances beauty. It requires a holistic understanding tat wellbeing encompasses everyone and everything involved in the design and creation process from end-to-end: material suppliers, manufacturers, implicated communities, and the planet. Every design decision carries real impact, and to ignore that is to overlook the very essence of ethical design. Design can and should be a catalyst for wellbeingalways.
Lisa Gralnek is global head of sustainability and impact for iF Design, managing director of iF Design USA Inc., and creator/host of the podcast, FUTURE OF XYZ.
