Zeppelin Witheridge charged with public nuisance over ‘Scientology speedrun’ social media trend
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A social media stunt that treats churches like video games has gone from TikTok to the dock, landing an alleged teenage “speedrunner” in court.
Zeppelin Witheridge, 18, has been accused of using a police car as a BMX ramp after a viral challenge went awry at the Church of Scientology in Brisbane’s CBD.
Continue reading...Albanese defends plan forcing Meta, Google and TikTok to make deals with Australian news publishers through a levy
The Trump administration has described Australia’s moves to make big tech companies pay for news online as “extortion” but Anthony Albanese defended the plan by saying it was about protecting and rewarding media outlets for the work they produce.
Labor’s plan to encourage Meta, Google and TikTok to make deals with Australian news publishers, or face a 2.25% levy, is likely to be supported by the Coalition and Greens in parliament. But a bigger problem may be the ire of Donald Trump, who has strongly opposed extra regulation being imposed on US-based tech companies. A major tech industry lobby group on Wednesday urged the White House to consider retaliatory trade measures.
Continue reading...Advisers say to ‘assume the cameras are always rolling’ as exchanges can be decoded in seconds and posted online
Royals and celebrities are being warned by their representatives and advisers to watch what they say when they are out of the house – or palace – as a lip-reading phenomenon means videos can be posted online and translated in seconds.
Prince William was recently embroiled after a video of him speaking to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was translated by an expert lip-reader who was working as part of a forthcoming Channel 5 documentary, Lip-Reading the Royals.
Continue reading...Player is captain of NHL’s Ottawa Senators
Tkachuk expresses regret over Trump joke
US ice hockey star Brady Tkachuk has said he does not appreciate an AI video released by the White House that shows him insulting Canadians.
Tkachuk played in the Americans’ victory over Canada at the Winter Olympics on Sunday, which secured the US men their first gold medal since 1980. In the wake of that win, the White House’s TikTok account published video of Tkachuk saying: “They booed our national anthem, so I had to come out and teach those maple syrup eating fuckers a lesson.”
Continue reading...Met urges pupils not to get involved and asks platforms to ban accounts promoting ‘fights’ with images of weapons
Pupils aged 11 to 16 are being encouraged to join in school fights in posts circulating on TikTok and Snapchat, prompting police to urge children not to get involved.
The Metropolitan police have asked social media platforms to ban accounts promoting “school wars”, while headteachers have warned parents about the posts.
Continue reading...Abdalmonim Alrabea has appeared in hundreds of videos in which he expresses support for paramilitary group accused of committing genocide
A British citizen based in Sheffield appeared in a TikTok live broadcast laughing along while a notorious fighter from Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces group boasted about participating in mass killings in the city of El Fasher.
The video, broadcast on 27 October, is just one of hundreds posted to social media in which 44-year-old Abdalmonim Alrabea expresses support for the RSF and the ethnically targeted atrocities it has committed in Sudan’s western Darfur region.
Continue reading...TikTok video shows woman speaking into camera and reacting to a loud thud before she says ‘I just hit somebody’
Authorities are investigating a newly surfaced video that suggests a woman who hit and killed a man while driving in the Chicago suburb of Zion, Illinois, on Monday night was livestreaming on TikTok at the time of the crash.
The video in question was reportedly taken by a user in Zion, and it shows a woman behind the wheel of a car reacting to a loud thud by saying, “Fuck, fuck, fuck … I just hit somebody.”
Continue reading...Scott Bessent said plan was part of framework for trade deal but did not share details on transferring app’s ownership
US treasury secretary Scott Bessent claimed on Sunday that the US and China have finalized the details of a deal transferring TikTok’s US version to new owners.
“We reached a final deal on TikTok,” Bessent said on Sunday on CBS’s Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan. Alluding to Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, Bessent continued: “We reached [a deal] in Madrid, and I believe that as of today, all the details are ironed out, and that will be for the two leaders to consummate that transaction” during a meeting scheduled for Thursday in Korea.
Continue reading...Fayaz Khan, 26, was also sentenced at Southwark crown court for entering the UK illegally on a small boat
A man who threatened on TikTok to kill the Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, has been jailed for five years.
Fayaz Khan, an Afghan national whose real name is believed to be Fayaz Husseini, made the threat last October in a video that Farage and a high court judge described as “pretty chilling”.
Continue reading...MGX, chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, will take 15% stake, with social media firm valued at $14bn
The Abu Dhabi royal family is to take a stake in TikTok’s US business after Donald Trump signed an executive order brokering a deal valuing the social media company at $14bn (£10.5bn).
MGX, a fund chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, will take a 15% stake and gain a board seat when TikTok US is spun out.
Continue reading...Trump’s statement suggests preliminary agreement between leaders in the first direct contact between them since June
Donald Trump said on Friday that he and Xi Jinping had agreed to approve a deal over TikTok.
“He approved the TikTok deal,” Trump said about Xi to reporters in the Oval Office, suggesting the leaders signed off on a preliminary agreement. But Trump offered no details about the agreement or when it would be signed.
Continue reading...Move comes after parliamentary inquiry into social media platform’s psychological effects on minors
A French lawmaker has asked the state prosecutor for a criminal investigation into whether TikTok was responsible for “endangering the lives” of its young users.
Arthur Delaporte, a Socialist MP, said he co-chaired a six-month French parliamentary inquiry into TikTok’s psychological effects on minors and heard testimony from families, social media executives and influencers.
Continue reading...Many demonstrators say they are also on the streets over corruption and nepotism they allege is rampant
At least 19 people have been killed during protests in Nepal over a government ban on dozens of online platforms including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and X.
The government has faced mounting criticism after imposing a ban on 26 prominent social media platforms and messaging apps last week because they had missed a deadline to register under new regulations.
Continue reading...US president was concerned over app’s Chinese ownership, but has softened after believing it won him 2024 election
The White House launched an official TikTok account on Tuesday, as Donald Trump continues to permit the Chinese-owned platform to operate in the US despite a law requiring its sale.
“America we are BACK! What’s up TikTok?” read a caption on the account’s first post, a 27-second clip, on the popular video-sharing app.
Continue reading...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...In a social media trend, the airline’s joyful advert jingle is being played over cheerless summer holiday footage
You’re the boss of a travel company, it’s early summer and your brand is going viral. Millions of people are watching and sharing social media clips of people on holiday, the soundtrack to which is your company jingle.
It sounds like a PR dream, but is it?
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...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...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...South Korean skincare retailers want to capitalise on viral sales of beauty ranges by opening stores across the UK
Korean beauty products are moving from phone screens to UK high streets as social media drives sales of skincare with the help of eye-catching ingredients such as snail slime and salmon sperm.
Retailers are looking to capitalise on the TikTok and Instagram trend for skincare and makeup ranges from South Korea – known as K-beauty – by opening physical stores and launching brands in a push to get consumers to pick up products that havegone viral online.
Continue reading...