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Instagram still poses risk to children despite new safety tools, says Meta whistleblower
September 25, 2025
Meta rejects review findings, which claim two-thirds of new features designed to protect young people are ‘woefully ineffective’ Children and teenagers are still at risk from online harm on Instagram despite the rollout of “woefully ineffective” safety tools, according to research led by a Meta whistleblower. Two-thirds (64%) of new safety tools on Instagram were…
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Australia may have to choose between a Chinese TikTok and one owned by Trump’s billionaire backers
September 24, 2025
Expert raises concerns about what US TikTok deal could mean for News Corp’s ‘worrying dominance’ in Australian media Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Would you rather a Chinese-owned TikTok or one run by a consortium of Trump-supporting billionaires? That’s the…
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Parents outraged as Meta uses photos of schoolgirls in ads targeting man
September 20, 2025
Exclusive: Instagram pictures of girls as young as 13 were posted to promote Threads site ‘as bait’, campaigner says Meta has used back-to-school pictures of schoolgirls to advertise one of its social media platforms to a 37-year-old man, in a move parents described as “outrageous” and “upsetting”. The man noticed that posts encouraging him to…
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How memes, gaming and internet culture all relate to the Charlie Kirk shooting
September 17, 2025
Kirk’s rise to fame was largely bolstered by being extremely online – and it seems the suspect has that in common Hello, and welcome to TechScape. Dara Kerr here, filling in for Blake Montgomery, who promises he’ll come back from vacation. Meanwhile, I’m looking at the memes, gaming and internet culture behind the shooting of…
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Snapchat allows drug dealers to operate openly on platform, finds Danish study
September 11, 2025
Social media platform accused of failing to filter out obvious usernames such as ‘coke’, ‘weed’ and ‘molly’ Snapchat has been accused by a Danish research organisation of leaving an “overwhelming number” of drug dealers to openly operate on Snapchat, making it easy for children to buy substances including cocaine, opioids and MDMA. The social media…
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‘Existential crisis’: how Google’s shift to AI has upended the online news model
September 7, 2025
Media sites are taking action on several fronts as traffic referrals dry up and AI companies plunder their content When the chief executive of the Financial Times suggested at a media conference this summer that rival publishers might consider a “Nato for news” alliance to strengthen negotiations with artificial intelligence companies there was a ripple…
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Parents could get alerts if children show acute distress while using ChatGPT
September 3, 2025
OpenAI to roll out new protection measures after facing a law suit on behalf of teenager who took his own life Parents could be alerted if their teenagers show acute distress while talking with ChatGPT, amid child safety concerns as more young people turn to AI chatbots for support and advice. The alerts are part…
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Trump threatens tariffs on countries that ‘discriminate’ against US tech
August 26, 2025
President’s move could hit UK’s digital services tax and measures in EU states such as France, Italy and Spain Business live – latest updates Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs and export restrictions on countries whose taxes, legislation and regulations target US big tech companies such as Google, Meta, Amazon and Apple. In a…
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‘If I felt Zuckerberg and Sandberg were monsters, I wouldn’t have worked at Meta’: Nick Clegg on tech bros, AI and Starmer’s half measures
August 23, 2025
When Britain’s former deputy PM took a job at Meta, nothing could have prepared him for the ‘cloying conformity’ of the tech world. So why does he still think social media is a force for good? • Read an exclusive extract from Nick Clegg’s new book here The rain is just starting to fall from…
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Hundreds of TikTok UK moderator jobs at risk despite new online safety rules
August 22, 2025
Cuts in trust and safety team part of switch towards artificial intelligence by social media app firm TikTok has put hundreds of UK content moderators’ jobs at risk, even as tighter rules come into effect to stop the spread of harmful material online. The viral video app said several hundred jobs in its trust and…
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