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Children in UK report online sextortion attempts in record numbers
Exclusive: Call for nudity-detection tech on phones as number of under-18s reporting blackmail attempts rises by 34% • ‘I felt ashamed and scared’: how an online friendship became a sextortion nightmare Children are reporting online sextortion attempts in record numbers in the UK, as campaigners urge tech companies to do more to stamp out the…
UK social media users less active on tech platforms due to rise of video apps
Ofcom research shows people also concerned old posts could affect personal or professional life Social media users in the UK are becoming less active on tech platforms due to the rise of video apps and fears that posts could come back to haunt them, according to the communications watchdog. Ofcom said just under half of…
Meta, Tiktok and Google under investigation for allegedly disobeying Australia’s social media ban
Nearly 70% of under-16s with accounts on Instagram, Snapchat or TikTok had maintained access, survey finds The Australian government has accused big tech firms like Meta, TikTok and Google of disobeying the landmark ban on under-16s using social media, after the country’s online safety office warned many children had accounts. A survey of 900 Australian…
Pinterest CEO calls for ban on social media for youth under 16
Bill Ready pointed to Australia’s social media ban for under-16s as a model, though it does not apply to his company Pinterest’s CEO called on world leaders to ban social media for youth under 16 in a LinkedIn post on Friday. “We need a clear standard: no social media for teens under 16, backed by…
‘IG is a drug’: jury to deliberate as US trial over social media addiction wraps up
Meta and YouTube accused of creating harmful products in trial seen as a bellwether for attitudes towards social media The first-ever jury trial over the potential harms of social media wrapped up on Thursday. Lawyers for Meta and YouTube have argued their platforms are safe for the vast majority of young people, while lawyers for…
Hundreds of UK teenagers to pilot social media bans and restrictions
Trials to form part of three-month consultation on Keir Starmer’s plans to tackle negative effects of smartphone use Hundreds of teenagers will be enlisted to trial social media bans in the coming months with overnight digital curfews and daily screen time limits also tested as part of Keir Starmer’s plan to crack down on the…
Instagram to alert parents if teens repeatedly search self-harm terms
Feature for supervised accounts rolls out as Meta platform faces US trials over alleged harms to children Instagram will start alerting parents if their kids repeatedly search for terms clearly associated with suicide or self-harm. The announcement on Thursday comes as Instagram’s parent company, Meta, is in the midst of two trials over harms to…
Leave big tech behind! How to replace Amazon, Google, X, Meta, Apple – and more
A handful of companies monopolise the web, with unprecedented access to our data. But there are many more ethical – and often distinctively European – alternatives There’s not much to love about big tech these days. So many ills can be laid at its door: social media harms, misinformation, polarisation, mining and misuse of personal…
‘Marketplace for predators’: Meta faces jury trial over child exploitation claims
New Mexico attorney general accuses Meta of failing to safeguard children against trafficking and sexual abuse Meta’s second major trial of 2026 over alleged harms to children begins on Monday. The landmark jury trial in Santa Fe pits the New Mexico attorney general’s office against the social media giant. The state alleges that the company…
Can you guess our screen time? A priest, pensioner, tech CEO and teenager reveal all
From the person who scrolls on the toilet to the one without any social media, what do their digital habits tell us? • Will Storr: we have lost so much of ourselves to smartphones – can we get it back? Dayeon, 16: the teenager who spends less than an hour a day on screens Continue…