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TikTok to strengthen age-verification technology across EU
Move comes as calls for Australia-style social media ban for under-16s grow around world TikTok will begin to roll out new age-verification technology across the EU in the coming weeks, as calls grow for an Australia-style social media ban for under-16s in countries including the UK. ByteDance-owned TikTok, and other major platforms popular with young…
Social media time does not increase teenagers’ mental health problems – study
UK study comes as ministers consider Australia’s ban on social media use for under-16s Screen time spent gaming or on social media does not cause mental health problems in teenagers, according to a large-scale study. With ministers in the UK considering whether to follow Australia’s example by banning social media use for under-16s, the findings…
Home Office TikTok account posting deportation footage accused of turning ‘brutality into clickbait’
Video of raids and migrant arrests shared by profile with slogan ‘restoring order and control to our borders’ A Home Office TikTok account posting footage of deportations and arrests set to dramatic music has been criticised for turning “brutality” into “clickbait”. An account called @SecureBordersUK was created on Tuesday with the slogan: “Restoring order and…
Kemi Badenoch says Tories would ban under-16s from ‘addictive’ social media
Conservative leader backs Australian-inspired policy to stop platforms ‘profiting from their anxiety’ UK politics live – latest updates The Conservatives are backing a ban on social media for under-16s in an attempt to prevent addictive platforms fuelling anxiety and distraction among teenagers. Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, said she did not like the word ban…
‘A gamechanger’: 200,000 UK small businesses sign up to TikTok Shop
Big brands such as Sainsbury’s and M&S also selling directly in app through links in videos and livestreams It is better known for its viral dances and for making hits out of forgotten songs, but the social media site TikTok is becoming a force to be reckoned with as a shopping platform. Major retailers such…
Tinsel and Home Alone back in style as TikTok seeks comfort in #90sChristmas
Emphasis this year is on nostalgia as present day feels ‘a bit more uncertain’, say trend experts Tinsel, DIY tree decorations, deep burgundy drapes – and Home Alone on VHS. Christmas has gone retro on TikTok, and in people’s living rooms. The app has reported a surge in Christmas decor videos, with an emphasis on…
TikTok signs Trump-backed deal to avoid US ban
Joint venture will take over part of app’s US operations, including data protection, algorithm security and content moderation Business live – latest updates US politics live – latest updates TikTok has reached a deal to form a joint venture that will allow it to continue operating in the US, five years after Donald Trump threatened…
The US supreme court’s TikTok ruling is a scandal | Evelyn Douek and Jameel Jaffer
The decision means TikTok now operates under the threat that it could be forced offline with a stroke of Trump’s pen Judicial opinions allowing the government to suppress speech in the name of national security rarely stand the test of time. But time has been unusually unkind to the US supreme court decision that upheld…
AI deepfakes of real doctors spreading health misinformation on social media
Hundreds of videos on TikTok and elsewhere impersonate experts to sell supplements with unproven effects TikTok and other social media platforms are hosting AI-generated deepfake videos of doctors whose words have been manipulated to help sell supplements and spread health misinformation. The factchecking organisation Full Fact has uncovered hundreds of such videos featuring impersonated versions…
Anti-immigrant material among AI-generated content getting billions of views on TikTok
Researchers uncovered 354 AI-focused accounts that had accumulated 4.5bn views in a month Hundreds of accounts on TikTok are garnering billions of views by pumping out AI-generated content, including anti-immigrant and sexualised material, according to a report. Researchers said they had uncovered 354 AI-focused accounts pushing 43,000 posts made with generative AI tools and accumulating…