By Mark Kennedy, Entertainment Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --Tyler Perry has won awards from the NAACP and BET. Now he's getting a big one from the Television Academy: He and his foundation are the recipients of the 2020 Governors Award.
The prize, picked by the academy board of governors, honors Perry "for his unprecedented achievements in television and his commitment to offering opportunities to marginalized communities."
Perry has so far created 22 feature films, over 20 stage plays, 13 television shows and two bestselling books. The Atlanta-based producer was one of the first major filmmakers to power back up production in the wake of the coronavirus health crisis.
"Tyler Perry has changed the face of television and inspired a new generation of content creators. He pioneered a new brand of storytelling that engages people of color both in front of and behind the camera, and his shows have resonated with a global audience," said Governors Award selection committee Chair Eva Basler in a statement.
The award honors an individual or organization in the television arts and sciences whose achievement is "so exceptional and universal in nature that it goes beyond the scope of annual Emmy Awards recognition."
Previous recipients of the Governors Award include "Star Trek," "American Idol," "Masterpiece Theater" and Comic Relief.
California governor signs law to protect children from social media addiction
California will make it illegal for social media platforms to knowingly provide addictive feeds to children without parental consent beginning in 2027 under a new law Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Friday.
California follows New York state, which passed a law earlier this year allowing parents to block their kids from getting social media posts suggested by a platform's algorithm. Utah has passed laws in recent years aimed at limiting children's access to social media, but they have faced challenges in court.
The California law will take effect in a state home to some of the largest technology companies in the world. Similar proposals have failed to pass in recent years, but Newsom signed a first-in-the-nation law in 2022 barring online platforms from using users' personal information in ways that could harm children. It is part of a growing push in states across the country to try to address the impacts of social media on the well-being of children.
"Every parent knows the harm social media addiction can inflict on their children — isolation from human contact, stress and anxiety, and endless hours wasted late into the night," Newsom said in a statement. "With this bill, California is helping protect children and teenagers from purposely designed features that feed these destructive habits."
The law bans platforms from sending notifications without permission from parents to minors between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m., and between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. on weekdays from September through May, when children are typically in school. The legislation also makes platforms set children's accounts to private by default.
Opponents of the legislation say it could inadvertently prevent adults from accessing content if they cannot verify their... Read More