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Social media still pushing suicide-related content to teens despite new UK safety laws
August 20, 2025
Researchers who set up dummy accounts as 15-year-old girl were bombarded with self-harm and depression posts Social media platforms are still pushing depression, suicide and self-harm-related content to teenagers, despite new online safety laws intended to protect children. The Molly Rose Foundation opened dummy accounts posing as a 15-year-old girl, and then engaged with suicide,…
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UK traffic to popular porn sites slumps after age checks introduced
August 14, 2025
Figures from digital data company show effect of strict rules brought in last month under Online Safety Act British visits to popular pornography sites have slumped following the introduction of strict age checks last month, data shows. Daily visits to Pornhub, the UK’s most used porn site, fell from 3.6m on 24 July, the day…
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Cat soap operas and babies trapped in space: the ‘AI slop’ taking over YouTube
August 11, 2025
Nearly one in 10 of the fastest growing channels globally consist of mass-produced, surreal AI-generated videos Babies trapped in space, zombie football stars and cat soap operas: welcome to YouTube in the era of AI video. Nearly one in 10 of the fastest growing YouTube channels globally are showing AI-generated content only, as breakthroughs in…
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FBI and NSPCC alarmed at ‘shocking’ rise in online sextortion of children
August 10, 2025
Snapchat logged about 20,000 cases last year of adults grooming children online, more than other social media platforms combined Tech companies including Snapchat and Facebook reported more than 9,600 cases of adults grooming children online in the UK in just six months last year – the equivalent of about 400 a week. Law enforcement agencies,…
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We’re being deafened by digital noise. Pause it and you hear the sound of democracy in crisis | Rafael Behr
August 6, 2025
Politics is struggling to cope with the pace of technological change – and that is affecting every single one of us Returning from holiday, asked where I have been, I want to say “offline”. The more precise answer is France, where the internet is available. But I tried not to use it compulsively because there…
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Social media battles and barbs on both sides of Atlantic over UK Online Safety Act
August 4, 2025
Farage accuses government of being ‘so below the belt’ as right wing doubles down on censorship claims The UK’s Online Safety Act has been greatly anticipated. Amid mounting concerns about the ease of accessing harmful content online, rules were drawn up to force social platforms to protect children from posts and videos that incite hatred…
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UK Online Safety Act risks ‘seriously infringing’ free speech, says X
August 2, 2025
Elon Musk’s social media platform says lawmakers made a ‘conscientious decision’ to increase censorship Elon Musk’s X platform has said the UK’s Online Safety Act (OSA) is at risk of “seriously infringing” free speech as a row deepens over measures for protecting children from harmful content. The social media company said the act’s “laudable” intentions…
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As Australia’s teen social media ban looms, here’s how the platforms are lobbying for an exemption
July 30, 2025
Meta, YouTube, TikTok and Snapchat are running ads and events saying their services are safe for children – with the possibility of a legal challenge Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The Australian government will imminently announce which social media platforms will be included in the under-16s ban. The social…
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