Struggling With Existential Anxiety? Study Shows Doomscrolling May Be to Blame
Spending too much time scrolling through sensationalized news and negative social media posts may lead you to question the meaning and purpose of life. In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers...
View ArticleHouse GOP Probes Meta’s Search Results Related to Trump Shooting
House Republicans have added Facebook’s parent company, Meta, to their investigation of online search platforms in relation to the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. Their top...
View ArticleAppeals Court Blocks Part of California’s Online Child Safety Law Due to Free...
A federal appeals court has upheld data privacy-related provisions of California’s online child safety law, while striking down those that required tech companies to assess and mitigate risks of...
View ArticleX to End Operations in Brazil Over ‘Censorship Orders’
Social media giant X will end operations in Brazil, although its service will remain available to users in the country for the time being. The decision comes as the company’s latest response to actions...
View Article‘Hate Speech’: LinkedIn Removes Posts Discussing Gender and Fairness in...
Professional networking platform LinkedIn has removed social media posts discussing the fairness of boxing at the Paris Olympics. Women’s Forum Australia CEO Rachael Wong has posted material about...
View ArticleAustralia Passes Laws to Criminalise the Creation, Spread of Explicit Deepfakes
People who make and share sexually explicit deepfake content now face imprisonment, after new laws passed Australia’s federal parliament. The Criminal Code Amendment (Deepfake Sexual Material) Bill...
View ArticleTelegram CEO Pavel Durov Reportedly Arrested at Paris Airport
Pavel Durov, the cofounder and CEO of the messaging and social media platform Telegram, was arrested at an airport in Paris, according to French media reports published on Aug. 24. He was arrested at...
View ArticleZuckerberg Says He Regrets Demoting COVID-19 Content
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that Facebook was pressured by the federal government to censor COVID-19 content and that he now regrets bowing to those demands. In an Aug. 26 letter sent to the chairman...
View ArticleIowa Court Rules TikTok Must Face Suit Alleging It Promotes Inappropriate...
A district court in Iowa rejected a petition from TikTok to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the state, which is accusing the company of enabling minors to access inappropriate content. In January, the State...
View ArticleTelegram CEO Charged by French Authorities, Released on Bail
French authorities on Aug. 28 issued preliminary charges against Telegram CEO Pavel Durov, accusing him of permitting alleged criminal activity on the messaging app. The charging decision comes four...
View ArticleBrazil Supreme Court Orders Shutdown of Elon Musk’s X
The Supreme Court of Brazil has ordered the full suspension of Elon Musk’s social media platform X in the country for refusing to name an in-country legal representative. Brazil’s Justice Alexandre de...
View ArticleAustralia’s Online Regulator Calls on Tech Giants to Reveal Child User Data
Australia’s online regulator has asked social media companies to disclose the number of children using their platforms, and how they are enforcing age limits. Eight companies have 30 days to respond to...
View ArticleAustralian Spy Chief Wants Backdoor Access to Encrypted Apps Amid Security Fears
Private chats considered suspicious by the government could become significantly less private, with Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) Director-General Mike Burgess in discussions...
View ArticleMeta Backs App Store Age Checks as Australia Considers Social Media Ban for...
Global tech giant Meta has proposed Australia implement an app store-based approach to age verification for social media platforms, arguing that existing industry measures have limitations. This comes...
View ArticleIndustrialising Addiction: SA Leader Speaks on Draft Bill to Block Under 14s...
South Australian Labor Premier Peter Malinauskas says a global movement is underway to prevent underage people from accessing social media. “They’re already in place in some areas, and the Commonwealth...
View ArticleBill to Ban Underage Kids From Social Media to Be Introduced to Australian...
Tech companies will likely find themselves in hot water for allowing minors on social media platforms under a new bill to be put forward by the Labor government. As part of the push, a trial for age...
View ArticleGoogle Antitrust Trial Begins With Opening Arguments, DOJ Witnesses
ALEXANDRIA, Va.—Opening arguments and initial testimony began in Virginia on Sept. 9 as the Justice Department (DOJ) sought to convince a judge that Google’s purported monopolization of the digital...
View ArticleDoxxers Could Face 7 Years’ Jail as Privacy Act Reforms Loom
Australia’s federal parliament will today introduce laws that could jail offenders for up to seven years for making people’s personal information public. The practice known as doxing involves taking...
View ArticleMisinformation Bill Back in Parliament: Critics Concerned Definition of...
The Labor government has brought back the Misinformation and Disinformation Bill to Parliament after it was delayed in late 2023. The proposed law will provide the country’s media watchdog, the...
View ArticleMeta Probed on Using Individual Data to Train AI
An Australian Senate committee has questioned tech giant Meta about the ethics of its decision to use photos of individuals to train artificial intelligence (AI) without user knowledge. Labor Senator...
View ArticleMusk Criticises Australia’s Misinformation Bill, Government Defends Sovereignty
The Australian government’s Misinformation Bill has drawn criticism from U.S. tech billionaire Elon Musk, as well as the federal opposition. The Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting...
View ArticleMusk Doubles Down on Criticism on Australian Misinformation Bill
Billionaire Elon Musk responded to the Australian prime minister and doubled down on the “fascist” label in reference to a planned misinformation crackdown. Under the proposed changes for the...
View ArticleBrazil’s X Ban: VPN Fines Mark New Internet Battlefield, Free Speech...
Brazil’s enforcement of its ban on social media platform X, through fines for using VPNs, defines a potential battleground between internet freedom and regulation, according to free speech and privacy...
View ArticleCourt Seems Skeptical of TikTok’s Challenge to Forced Divestment Law
WASHINGTON–A three-judge panel questioned TikTok’s claim that Congress violated the First Amendment with a law that would require its Chinese parent company, Bytedance, to divest itself of its U.S....
View ArticleMeta Launches Instagram Teen Accounts With New Safety Features, Parental...
Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram, announced the introduction of Instagram Teen Accounts, a new feature designed to enhance the safety of teens on the platform while providing more...
View ArticleFacebook Owner Meta Bans RT, Other Russian Media Over Alleged Foreign...
Meta said on Monday that it was banning RT, Rossiya Segodnya, and other Russian state media outlets from its social media platforms due to alleged foreign interference activity. Meta said that Russian...
View ArticleDe-Influencing: The Power to Say ‘No’ in the Age of Rampant Consumerism
Influencers once held the digital sceptre making us believe we needed everything from glow-in-the-dark yoga mats to miracle mascara that could make your lashes longer than a fishing line. But those...
View ArticleMicrosoft-Owned LinkedIn Using People’s Data to Train Artificial Intelligence...
Professional networking platform LinkedIn has confirmed that it automatically uses personal user data to train artificial intelligence (AI) models without first informing its members. The...
View ArticleFTC Says Social Media Giants Are Engaged in Mass Data Collection, Surveillance
Major social media and video streaming platforms are engaged in mass data collection and surveillance, putting people’s privacy at risk to generate billions of dollars in profit, the Federal Trade...
View ArticleTikTok Removes Accounts Linked to Russian Media Groups
Social media accounts belonging to Russian state media outlets have been removed from TikTok for allegedly “engaging in covert influence operations” ahead of the United States election in November....
View ArticleTelegram Agrees to Give Phone Numbers and IP Addresses to Authorities
The messaging app Telegram has agreed to disclose users’ phone numbers and IP addresses to law enforcement agencies in response to “valid legal requests.” CEO Pavel Durov—who was arrested last month in...
View ArticleProblematic Social Media Use, Gaming on the Rise Among Teenagers: Study
A new study has reported a rise in problematic social media use (SMU) among teenagers, drawing attention to addiction-like behaviours and the prevalence of daily gaming. The proportion of young people...
View ArticleLawmakers Unveil Bipartisan Bill Requiring Social Media Mental Health Warnings
Sens. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and Katie Britt (R-Ala.) introduced a bill on Sept. 24 requiring social media platforms to carry mental health warning labels. The Stop the Scroll Act is a bipartisan...
View ArticleAbbott Warns Against New Bill, Says Misinformation ‘Too Difficult to Define’
Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott warns the current government could inadvertently become a victim of its own Misinformation Bill, saying defining “misinformation” is too difficult. “This...
View ArticleBrazil’s Supreme Court Imposes Additional Fines on X, Sets Conditions for...
Brazil’s Supreme Court announced on Sept. 27 that Elon Musk-owned social media platform X must pay an additional $1.8 million fine, along with $3.4 million in existing penalties, before it can resume...
View ArticleNSW Police Banned From Using Telegram, WhatsApp, Signal
New South Wales (NSW) Police officers will find encrypted messaging apps such as Telegram, WhatsApp and Signal, along with more obscure ones like Wickr, Wire, and LINE, will no longer operate on their...
View Article60 Percent of Australians Taking Breaks From Social Media for Mental...
Australia is grappling with the complexities of social media regulation, particularly for the country’s youth, experts warn that current decisions will have lasting effects on society. During a recent...
View ArticleTexas AG Sues TikTok for Allegedly Violating Parental Consent Law
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against TikTok on Oct. 3 alleging that the video-sharing app violated a new state law aimed at protecting minors from harmful content and data...
View ArticleDozens of States Sue TikTok, Alleging Addictive Features for Youth
More than a dozen states are coming together to sue TikTok, joining many other states that had previously done so, California Attorney General Rob Bonta and New York Attorney General Letitia James...
View ArticleReligious Leaders Raise Concerns With Australian ‘Misinformation and...
Multiple Australian faith leaders have raised significant concerns about the Federal government’s proposed misinformation and disinformation legislation. The proposed law grants broad powers to the...
View ArticleBrazil’s Supreme Court Orders X to Be Reinstated in Brazil
Brazil’s Supreme Court has authorized the immediate reinstatement of the social media platform X in Brazil after the company met various legal requirements and complied with previous judicial orders....
View ArticleMisinformation Bill Will Turn Digital Platforms Into ‘Arbiters of Truth’:...
A Senate Committee has been told that the Labor government’s proposed misinformation bill will turn social media platforms into “arbiters of truth” while unnecessarily burdening small businesses....
View ArticleChristian Lobby Warns Misinformation Bill Could Hinder the Development of...
A conservative Christian advocacy group has said that the government’s impending Misinformation Bill could stifle the evolution of knowledge, impacting society as a whole. At a recent Senate inquiry...
View ArticleeSafety Commissioner Praises Apple’s Nude Image Reporting Feature for Children
A new feature from Apple enabling Australian children to report unwanted nude images directly to the company has been positively received by the eSafety Commission. Apple has announced it is rolling...
View ArticleTikTok Argues for Dismissal of Nebraska’s Suit Alleging the Social Media...
A Nebraska district court judge heard TikTok’s arguments on Oct. 23 regarding its motion to dismiss the state’s complaint, which alleges that the platform’s algorithm and content harm children. The...
View ArticleMeta, TikTok, and Google Cannot Evade School’s Lawsuit Alleging Harm to...
A California court allowed school districts to sue social media companies including Facebook and TikTok over accusations they harm the mental health of children and therefore force the districts to...
View ArticleHeartbroken Parent Calls for Social Media Regulations to Combat Drug Sales to...
Parents often believe home is the safest place for their children, but with the rise of social media, that may no longer be the case. Samuel Chapman and Laura Berman lost their 16-year-old son, Sammy,...
View ArticleX Restores Hebrew Account of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s Hebrew-language account on the social media platform X has been restored following a brief suspension. The account was inaccessible to users on Oct. 27....
View ArticleAmazon Invests in Creator Platform Spotter to Support Top YouTube Influencers
Amazon has invested an undisclosed amount in Spotter, a Los Angeles-based startup that specializes in helping content creators scale their YouTube channels. Alexandra Miller, a representative for...
View ArticleCourt Finds One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson Racially Vilified Greens Senator
A court has found One Nation Senator Pauline Hanson committed racial discrimination after told a Greens senator to “piss off back to Pakistan” on X. The message was aimed at Greens Senator and Deputy...
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