☀️ Happy Thursday! The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information. Sign up here!
In today’s email:
- Featured story: Political content about ICE is appearing in nonpolitical online spaces
- In other news: Rumors of major layoffs surround The Washington Post
- Looking ahead: TikTok, under new U.S. ownership, faces accusations of censoring political content
- Chart of the week: Weather is Americans’ most followed local news topic
🔥 Featured story
Following the killing of Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis on Saturday, political content has been appearing even in online spaces that typically steer clear of the news and focus on other topics – from pets and sports to hobbies like sewing or whiskey.
We’ve found that content about current events often permeates social media users’ online experience whether they want it to or not. While relatively few adults said in a 2024 Pew Research Center study that getting news is a major reason they use social media platforms – just 8% of Instagram users said this, for example – large majorities encounter news there anyway. At least two-thirds of X, Facebook, TikTok and Instagram users said they see people expressing opinions about current events on those sites.
📌 In other news
- Washington Post reporters appeal to Jeff Bezos as layoff rumors spread
- Bari Weiss announces new lineup of CBS contributors, including podcasters and independent writers
- After deep cuts to government funding for U.S. public media, donors and philanthropies stepped in
- Outgoing BBC boss concerned about the broadcaster’s future without changes to funding structure
- Canada in discussions about bringing news back to Facebook and other Meta platforms
- WhatsApp introduces higher-security option, including additional safeguards for public figures and journalists; Meta also to test premium subscriptions
- Top U.K. antitrust regulator rules Google must allow creators and publishers more control over how AI uses their content
- How McClatchy is discussing the use of AI internally
- California Post, offshoot of New York Post, launches in Los Angeles
📅 Looking ahead
Days after TikTok’s U.S. operations transferred to new owners, users have accused the platform of censoring content related to ICE raids and the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Some people have reported an inability to post content, which TikTok has blamed on technical issues. Meanwhile, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced plans to investigate the matter to see if TikTok has violated state laws.
One-in-five U.S. adults say they regularly get news on TikTok, according to a 2025 Center survey, up from 3% in 2020. Among TikTok users themselves, more than half (55%) regularly get news there. That share has more than doubled from 22% in 2020, indicating major growth in the presence of news on the platform over the past several years.
📊 Chart of the week
In the wake of major winter storms across the U.S., this week’s chart comes from our 2024 report on Americans’ experiences with local news. Of the local news topics we asked about, weather is the only one that most Americans follow often. Roughly two-thirds of U.S. adults (68%) say they often get news about local weather – double the share of those who often get news about local crime, the next-most followed topic.
👋 That’s all for this week.
The Briefing is compiled by Pew Research Center staff, including Naomi Forman-Katz, Christopher St. Aubin, Emily Tomasik, Joanne Haner, and Sawyer Reed. It is edited by Michael Lipka and copy edited by Anna Jackson.
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