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Mattel’s New Autistic Barbie Sparks Wave of Comments Online
The first-ever autistic Barbie doll has been unveiled by toy company Mattel, garnering widespread reaction online. The doll — which comes with shifted eye gaze, noise-cancelling headphones and a fidget spinner — has been created with guidance from the autistic community to represent common ways autistic people may experience, process, and communicate about the world around them, Mattel said.
Other features include elbow and wrist articulation, “enabling stimming, hand flapping, and other hand gestures that some members of the autistic community use to process sensory information or express excitement”, a pink tablet and sensory-sensitive clothes.
The doll forms part of the Barbie Fashionistas collection, which features a diverse range of skin tones, hair textures, body types, and various medical conditions and disabilities.
“Barbie has always strived to reflect the world kids see and the possibilities they imagine, and we’re proud to introduce our first autistic Barbie as part of that ongoing work,” said Jamie Cygielman, global head of dolls at Mattel.
Disney Fined for Lax Standards in Misuse of Children’s Data
The Walt Disney Company agreed to pay a $10 million civil penalty as part of a settlement based on allegations that it violated child privacy laws. The case involves Disney Worldwide Services Inc and Disney Entertainment Operations LLC, and prevents the company from operating on YouTube in ways that violate the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and its implementing regulations in connection with Disney’s YouTube video content, the Justice Department said last week.
The settlement is based on a complaint filed in September by the Department of Justice after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) alleged the companies violated COPPA rules.
Disney, per the order and COPPA rules, must create a program that complies with YouTube’s privacy law. It also requires its websites, apps and other online services aimed at children under 13 to notify parents about the types of personal information collected, as well as gain parental consent before collecting the information.
Grok AI Scandal Sparks Global Alarm Over Child Safety
Grok, the built-in chatbot on X, is facing intense scrutiny after acknowledging it generated and shared an AI image depicting two young girls in sexualized attire.
In a public post on X, Grok admitted the content “violated ethical standards” and “potentially U.S. laws on child sexual abuse material (CSAM).” The chatbot added, “It was a failure in safeguards, and I’m sorry for any harm caused. xAI is reviewing to prevent future issues.”
That admission alone is alarming. What followed revealed a far broader pattern.
As criticism mounted, Grok confirmed it has begun limiting image generation and editing features to paying subscribers only. In a late-night reply on X, the chatbot stated that image tools are now locked behind a premium subscription, directing users to sign up to regain access.
Grok’s apology appeared only after a user prompted the chatbot to write a heartfelt explanation for people lacking context. In other words, the system did not proactively address the issue. It responded because someone asked it to. Around the same time, researchers and journalists uncovered widespread misuse of Grok’s image tools. According to monitoring firm Copyleaks, users were generating nonconsensual, sexually manipulated images of real women, including minors and well-known figures.
Sports Medicine Surgeon Explains Why Kids Need Timeout From Their Sports
While many kids dream of becoming a professional or Olympic athlete, there may be physical and emotional drawbacks to children in elementary and middle school training like one. Specializing — playing one sport year-round without enough time off to rest and recuperate—at a young age increases a child’s risk of injury (including serious problems like bone deformities) and can lead to burnout.
Charles Bush-Joseph, MD, is a sports medicine surgeon at Rush and team physician for the Chicago Bulls and Chicago White Sox. He explains why kids need a timeout.
A lot of kids who used to play two or three sports decided to focus instead on a single sport. This had always been the case with gymnastics and ice skating. For those sports, you always had to be a year-round athlete. So we already had a high incidence of both overuse injuries — from doing the same activity or motion over and over — and traumatic injuries in those kids.
But now, the same is true for soccer, baseball, softball and basketball. There’s a lot more pressure on the kids, physically and mentally, because the sport is a 12-month pursuit instead of three or six months.
