Meta 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...
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