Pro-democracy campaigners suggest ‘pre-buttal’ is more powerful than factchecking in fighting falsehoods
Truth, the progressive California politician Hiram Johnson once said, is the first casualty of war. His oft-cited remark was supposedly made in 1918 in reference to the first world war, which had by then caused millions of human casualties.
More than a century later, truth is again caught in the crossfire, this time as a casualty of 21st-century culture wars.
Continue reading...Beeban Kidron says it is not ‘nanny state’ to prevent firms investing billions on making platforms addictive from targeting under-18s
A leading online safety campaigner has urged the UK government to “detoxify the dopamine loops” of addictive social media platforms as tech companies prepare to implement significant child protection measures.
Beeban Kidron, a crossbench peer, asked the technology secretary, Peter Kyle, to use the Online Safety Act to bring forward new codes of conduct on disinformation and on tech features that can lead to children becoming addicted to online content.
Continue reading...Vatican invites 1,000 social media missionaries to digital jubilee conference
Mixing prayer and gospel with poetry, art and bodybuilding, the rising stars in the influencer world are not just those flaunting fashion and travel but also Roman Catholic priests spreading the word of God.
Pope Francis latched on to the trend and, just months before his death in April, made the mission of evangelising on social media a priority for the church.
Continue reading...Actor says she is latest in long list of artists, activists and celebrities to be threatened by US president
Rosie O’Donnell has shrugged off a threat from Donald Trump to revoke her US citizenship on the grounds that she is “a threat to humanity”.
The New York-born actor and comedian said on Sunday that she was the latest in a long list of artists, activists and celebrities to be threatened by the US president.
Continue reading...President also says he may visit Xi Jinping or Chinese leader could come to US after Trump last month extended app sale deadline for third time
Donald Trump has said he will start talking to China on Monday or Tuesday about a possible TikTok deal.
The United States president said the US “pretty much” had a deal on the sale of the TikTok short-video app.
Continue reading...Detention of 18-year-old man part of anti-terror police force’s first case linked to involuntary celibate movement
An 18-year-old French man suspected of planning attacks on women has been charged in the country’s first case of a terror plot linked to the misogynist “incel” movement, officials said.
The suspect was arrested on Friday by the DGSI domestic intelligence agency near a public high school in the southeastern city of Saint-Etienne.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Leon Australia calls itself ‘Australia’s #1 Interactive Gaming and Sportsbook since 2008’ but is licensed in a tiny island off Africa
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Social media influencers have been inadvertently promoting a gambling company that poses as an Australian outfit but is instead licensed and regulated from a tiny island off the east coast of Africa.
The influencers, including someone claiming to be “Australia’s #1 biological male” and a duo called DegenerateAngelss, have also shared financial inducements from the bookmaker that encourage Australians into opening accounts with it.
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Continue reading...Online video hosting service accuses the nation’s online safety boss Julie Inman Grant of ignoring parents and teachers
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YouTube has criticised calls for it to be included in the under-16s social media ban, accusing the nation’s online safety boss of ignoring parents and teachers.
The eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, has urged the government to rethink its decision to carve out the video sharing platform from the minimum social media age which will apply to apps such as TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram.
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Continue reading...Operators of trial insist age assurance ‘can be done’ but preliminary report finds age verification tools ‘not guaranteed to be effective’
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Technology to check a person’s age and ban under 16s from using social media is not “guaranteed to be effective” and face-scanning tools have given incorrect results, concede the operators of a Australian government trial of the scheme.
The tools being trialled – some involving artificial intelligence analysing voices and faces – would be improved through verification of identity documents or connection to digital wallets, those running the scheme have suggested.
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Continue reading...Radiographers voice concerns about being filmed without consent and say trend could violate other patients’ privacy
NHS staff have voiced concern about the growing numbers of patients who are filming themselves undergoing medical treatment and uploading it to TikTok and Instagram.
Radiographers, who take X-rays and scans, fear the trend could compromise the privacy of other patients being treated nearby and lead to staff having their work discussed online.
Continue reading...Department’s rapid response team is weaponizing the social platform to champion defense secretary and attack rivals
While it’s true no president or political leader has ever used social media quite as prolifically as Donald Trump, no recent secretary of defense has ever weaponized X or any other platform, quite like former Fox & Friends weekend host, Pete Hegseth.
Hegseth is actively reshaping the Pentagon in his own image since taking over, prompting a social media policy that has taken a dramatic turn towards supporting Hegseth’s every move and public appearance.
Continue reading...Survey shows correlation between use of Chinese-owned platform and approval of unification with China
Taiwanese people who spend large amounts of time on TikTok are more likely to agree with some pro-China narratives, a survey has suggested.
The study, conducted by the Taiwan-based DoubleThink Lab, surveyed people across Taiwan in March, asking a series of questions about politics and democracy in Taiwan and China, and their views on unification of the two sides.
Continue reading...Believed to have originated as an insult by Israel supporters, neologism is now used to campaign against war in Gaza
The term was coined to disparage Ireland’s solidarity with Palestine but has been adopted as a badge of honour that now adorns T-shirts, hoodies, pins and social media bios: welcome to Paddystine, home of the Paddystinians.
Irish activists have embraced the neologism as a galvanising term to campaign against Israel’s war in Gaza and to pressure the Irish government to do more to end the conflict.
Continue reading...Celebrity used trips to ancient Maya cities to advertise his own-brand snacks, drawing criticism from Mexico’s archaeology and history institute
Mexico is seeking compensation from YouTube celebrity MrBeast’s production company, accusing it of using images of the country’s ancient archaeological sites to advertise a chocolate brand.
A video of the social media star visiting Maya ruins has been viewed around 60m times since 10 May on YouTube, where he has 395 million subscribers.
Continue reading...UK judge rejects Robert Albon’s application for parental right of three-year-old girl he had with woman in Durham
An unregistered sperm donor who says he has fathered more than 180 children has failed to gain custody of a three-year-old child he had with a Durham woman, who said she was left “broken” and “suicidal” by their encounter.
Robert Albon, who goes by the pseudonym “Joe Donor” and has appeared on This Morning and in a Channel 4 documentary, applied to have the girl live with him after a court deemed her mother was unable to look after her.
Continue reading...The draft bill is modelled on Australian laws and would force digital platforms to verify the age of users or face heavy fines
New Zealand’s prime minister has proposed banning children under 16 years old from using social media, in an effort to protect young people from harms such as exposure to violent content and cyberbullying.
Christopher Luxonsaid on Tuesday the draft law would force social media companies to verify users were at least 16 before allowing them to create an account, or face fines of up to NZ$2m ($1.2m).
Continue reading...The president’s little used social media platform offers him a forum for his nonstop haranguing and score-settling
No political leader has used social media quite like Donald Trump. But his recent posts on Truth Social, the social media platform he founded in 2021, have become increasingly bizarre: the president using the lack of scrutiny afforded by the platform’s small user base to truly let loose.
In the hundreds of “Truths” since he took office, Trump has variously used Truth Social to reimagine himself as a king and to urge Americans to “BE COOL!” as the stock market tanked in the wake of his trade war, the president’s seemingly random use of capital letters, punctuation and inaccurate spelling consistent across the messages.
Continue reading...Communications regulator has brought in more than 40 new rules for tech firms designed to keep under-18s safe
Ofcom announces new rules for tech firms to keep children safe online
The UK communications watchdog has set out more than 40 measures to keep children safe online under a landmark piece of legislation.
The Online Safety Act has a strong focus on protecting under-18s from harmful content and the codes of practice published by Ofcom on Thursday are a significant moment for regulation of the internet.
Continue reading...Digital media minister Clara Chappaz says TikTok videos promoting extreme thinness ‘revolting and unacceptable’
The French government is seeking to take action against a TikTok group promoting extreme thinness among young women and girls.
France’s minister for digital media, Clara Chappaz, has reported #SkinnyTok to the country’s audiovisual and digital watchdog and the EU over concerns that the trend is body-shaming victims into anorexia and that algorithms are targeting the most vulnerable.
Continue reading...High-end bar with Middle East-style nut filling is rationed in shops as price of raw kernels surges
Product promotion on TikTok is now powerful enough to influence the vast agricultural economies of the US and Iran – at least when it comes to the consumption of high-end confectionery.
A chocolate bar stuffed with a creamy green pistachio filling has become incredibly popular after a series of video clips shared on the social media site. The first bit of footage praising the taste of the expensive so-called “Dubai chocolate” was posted at the end of 2023 and has now been viewed more than 120m times, to say nothing of the many follow-up videos.
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