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Tony Blair and Nick Clegg hosted dinner giving tech bosses access to UK minister
Exclusive: Six tech leaders dined with investment minister, documents reveal, underlining growing influence of ex-PM’s consultancy Tony Blair and Nick Clegg hosted a private dinner earlier this year at which a select group of technology entrepreneurs were given access to a key minister, official documents have revealed. The former prime minister, who is a champion…
Inside the everyday Facebook networks where far-right ideas grow
The Guardian spent a year studying an online community trading in anti-immigration sentiment and misinformation. Experts say such spaces can play a role in radicalisation Far-right Facebook groups are engine of radicalisation in UK, data investigation suggests Far-right ideas are gaining ground. They are thriving in online worlds which are not easily visible to large…
Facebook and Instagram to charge UK users £3.99 a month for ad-free version
Subscription service is Meta’s response to regulatory warnings over crunching users’ data to serve targeted ads Facebook and Instagram users in the UK are to be offered advert-free versions of the social networks for up to £3.99 a month. Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta has responded to regulatory warnings over personalised adverts, in which users’ data is…
Instagram still poses risk to children despite new safety tools, says Meta whistleblower
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…
Meta exposé author faces bankruptcy after ban on criticising company
Exclusive: Sarah Wynn-Williams faces $50,000 fine every time she breaches order banning her from criticising Meta A former Meta executive who wrote an explosive exposé making allegations about the social media company’s dealings with China and its treatment of teenagers is said to be “on the verge of bankruptcy” after publishing the book. An MP…
Parents outraged as Meta uses photos of schoolgirls in ads targeting man
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…
How to Save the Internet by Nick Clegg review – spinning Silicon Valley
Instead of recognising that social media harms mental health and democracy, the former deputy PM and Meta executive repeats company talking points Nick Clegg chooses difficult jobs. He was the UK’s deputy prime minister from 2010 to 2015, a position from which he was surely pulled in multiple directions as he attempted to bridge the…
Impact of chatbots on mental health is warning over future of AI, expert says
Nate Soares says case of US teenager Adam Raine highlights danger of unintended consequences in super-intelligent AI The unforeseen impact of chatbots on mental health should be viewed as a warning over the existential threat posed by super-intelligent artificial intelligence systems, according to a prominent voice in AI safety. Nate Soares, a co-author of a…
Trump hosts US tech leaders at White House dinner – minus Elon Musk
Tesla CEO’s absence is marked departure from his constant presence at the White House in early days of Trump 2.0 As Donald Trump hosted leaders from the biggest US tech companies at a lavish White House state dining room dinner on Thursday night, there was one notable absence. Elon Musk, once inseparable from Trump and…
‘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
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…