Australia’s move to ban social media access for children under 16 has intensified a global debate, as governments around the world weigh tougher rules amid growing concerns over mental health, safety and screen addiction.
Indonesia will restrict access to social media platforms for children under 16, its communications and digital ministry said on Friday (6 March), becoming the latest country to introduce online guardrails aimed at reducing the risks of addiction and cyberbullying.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was pressed for answers in a Los Angeles courtroom as a youth social media addiction case probed how far Meta went in shaping young users’ behaviour on Wednesday.
Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg is expected to testify in a high-profile trial in Los Angeles examining claims that the company’s platforms contributed to youth addiction and mental health harm.
Spain’s government has instructed prosecutors to investigate social media platforms X, Meta and TikTok over the alleged creation and dissemination of AI-generated child sexual abuse material, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced on Tuesday.
Former U.S. President Barack Obama has criticised a video shared by President Donald Trump depicting him and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes, describing it as “deeply troubling”.
Portugal's parliament approved a bill on Thursday (12 February), on its first reading, requiring explicit parental consent for children aged 13 to 16-years old to access social media, in one of the first concrete legislative moves in Europe to impose such restrictions.
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said on Sunday (8 February) he was in favour of banning the use of social media by children under 15 of age, as a growing number of European countries consider similar restrictions.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk said the search at his social media platform X offices in Paris on Tuesday by French authorities was a "political attack".
TikTok has reached a confidential settlement in a landmark lawsuit over youth mental health, leaving Meta and YouTube to face a jury in California as the first major trial of its kind gets underway.
Britain’s government has launched a TikTok account featuring footage of raids on migrants suspected of working illegally, as part of an effort to persuade voters and potential arrivals that it is getting to grips with immigration.
Poland has asked the European Commission to investigate TikTok after artificial intelligence-generated content calling for the country to leave the European Union appeared on the platform, which Warsaw says was likely Russian disinformation.
Public spending watchdog says billions were wasted on temporary housing, while Downing Street confirms it will not follow Australia’s lead on age-restricting digital platforms.
American talk show host Oprah Winfrey has praised Australia's decision to ban social media for under-16s from next week, saying the move would help young people socialise more.
The European Parliament has approved a non-binding resolution calling for a minimum age of 16 for social media access across the EU, citing rising concerns about children’s mental health and online safety.
Meta will block all Australian users under the age of 16 from accessing Instagram, Facebook and Threads by 10 December, as the company moves to comply with a sweeping new law that bans minors from using major social media platforms.
Thousands of users in the United States, some parts of Europe and South America on the X (formerly twitter) platform have reported being unable to access the site due to Cloudflare outage.
Australia has launched a multimillion-dollar marketing campaign that depicts its world-first ban on social media for teenagers as "for the good of our kids" ahead of its December start date.
Snapchat will start charging users who store more than 5GB of photos and videos in its Memories feature, prompting backlash from long-time users.
YouTube has agreed to pay $24.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by U.S. President Donald Trump over the suspension of his account following the January 2021 Capitol riots, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
At least 19 people were reported dead and dozens more injured in Nepal’s capital on Monday according to the state media after police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at demonstrators attempting to storm parliament over a social media blackout and corruption.
Türkiye’s homegrown social media platform, Next Sosyal (officially known as Next Teknofest Sosyal), has officially surpassed 1 million users in less than one month, TEKNOFEST Executive Board Chair Selçuk Bayraktar announced on Saturday.
Russian authorities are moving to limit certain calling functions on Telegram and WhatsApp, the messaging service owned by Meta Platforms, the Interfax news agency reported on Wednesday, citing communications regulator Roskomnadzor.
The Dutch government has unveiled official guidelines aimed at limiting smartphone and social media use among children, responding to growing concerns about the negative impact of excessive screen exposure.
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