Social media news

• The Guardian view on regulating pornography: a £1m fine does not prove the Online Safety Act is working | Editorial

  04-12-2025 19:36
  As technology advances, so does the problems it causes. Ministers as well as regulators need to be tough and proactiveAwareness of the harm caused by online pornography is rising. Last month, the government bowed to pressure from campaigners and pledged to make depictions of strangulation illegal. Research showing that a majority of children have viewed this kind of material is extremely disturbing, all the more so given evidence that viewing “choking” makes people – mostly men
  
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• Is your relationship solid – or sinking? The bird theory thinks it knows

  04-12-2025 18:00
  TikTokers say it will show the health of your relationship. Does it really show how we think about romance?What would you say if your partner told you they saw a bird today? Would you mumble noncommittally, or ask a follow-up question?You might be surprised to know that thousands of people on TikTok and Instagram would judge you if you chose the former. Continue reading...
  
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• Which apps are under-16s hoping will get around Australia’s social media ban? These are the platforms they’re migrating to

  04-12-2025 15:00
  As Meta begins deleting accounts and the deadline looms, children have already begun to flock to apps not covered by the banFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAs Australia prepares to block under-16s from accessing 10 of its largest social media platforms, less prominent companies have begun courting the teen market – in some cases paying underaged influencers to promote them.One teen TikTok influencer said in a
  
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• Pornography company fined £1m by Ofcom for not having strong enough age checks

  04-12-2025 09:38
  AVS Group, which runs 18 websites, has 72 hours to make changes required by UK’s Online Safety ActA pornography company that runs 18 adult websites has been fined £1m by the watchdog Ofcom for not having strong enough age checks, in the largest fine yet under the UK’s Online Safety Act.The Belize-based AVS Group has been hit with the punishment, plus a further £50,000 for failing to respond to information requests. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘Embodying the zeitgeist more than ever’: German sitcom character Stromberg revived for Merz era

  04-12-2025 06:00
  New film is based on TV series inspired by The Office, whose lead character is said to resemble the chancellorHe’s the middle-manager who talks as if he’s the CEO, a beacon of workplace inclusivity in his own head but a bigoted chauvinist as soon as he opens his mouth. And listening to him creates a mix of familiarity and embarrassment-by-proxy that turns out to be surprisingly pleasurable.Ricky Gervais’s cringe-making general manager of a soul-destroyingly dull Slough-based pa
  
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• ‘Making mental health crisis worse’: Young Nationals warn regional children will be cut off from family by social media ban

  04-12-2025 05:30
  Exclusive: President of National party’s youth branch says many children in regional and remote areas rely on social media to stay connectedFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe federal Nationals’ youth branch has called to dump the under-16s social media ban, amid a growing Coalition push against the world-leading laws coming into effect from next week.Coalition members including leader Sussan Ley, Andrew
  
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• Social media ban: Instagram and Facebook begin shutting down under-16 accounts in Australia as ban looms

  04-12-2025 01:09
  Ban due to take effect next week, but Meta has started deactivating accounts alreadyAustralia social media ban explained: everything you need to knowGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastFacebook and Instagram began shutting down half a million accounts of users under 16 years old on Thursday as the deadline for Australia’s social media ban looms.The under-16s social media ban is due to take effect from 10 December, but Meta alerted users last month that it would begin
  
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• Hundreds of Australians complain of wrongful social media account closures but ombudsman can’t help

  04-12-2025 00:00
  Increasing number of people asking for help to regain access to accounts, with Google topping digital platform-related complaintsFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastMore than 1,500 Australians in the past two-and-a-half years have complained to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman about digital platforms, with a third complaining about wrongful account terminations.But the TIO – which is responsible for compl
  
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• Spotify Wrapped is taking over our feeds, but you don’t have outsource your relationship with music to AI | Liz Pelly

  03-12-2025 14:00
  The streamer’s annual charts are just another version of the tech that’s alienating us from our inner lives. Hold on to your musical memories and reclaim ownership of your tasteI like year-end list season. I like an opportunity to remember and reflect on the records that stuck with me over the course of a year – especially when there is a chance to recommend something that others may have overlooked. I like looking through friends’ favourites for albums that I missed comp
  
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• Anti-immigrant material among AI-generated content getting billions of views on TikTok

  03-12-2025 07:00
  Researchers uncovered 354 AI-focused accounts that had accumulated 4.5bn views in a monthHundreds of accounts on TikTok are garnering billions of views by pumping out AI-generated content, including anti-immigrant and sexualised material, according to a report.Researchers said they had uncovered 354 AI-focused accounts pushing 43,000 posts made with generative AI tools and accumulating 4.5bn views over a month-long period. Continue reading...
  
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• YouTube says it will comply with Australia’s under-16s social media ban, with Lemon8 to also restrict access

  03-12-2025 06:49
  Australia’s under-16s social media ban might take weeks to work but all platforms are on notice, government saysAustralia social media ban explained: everything you need to knowGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastYouTube will comply with the federal government’s under-16s social media ban, but its parent company Google has warned the laws “won’t keep teens safer online” and “fundamentally misunderstands” how children use the intern
  
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• Communications minister Anika Wells defends $95,000 trip to UN general assembly in New York – video

  03-12-2025 05:30
  The Coalition is calling on the communications minister, Anika Wells, to explain nearly $95,000 in costs for a trip to attend the United Nations general assembly in New York at the height of the Optus triple-zero outage saga. Appearing at the National Press Clubon Wednesday, Wells says the trip was 'incredibly important', and that it fuelled a 'global momentum' in the lead-up to the under-16s social media ban. Wells’ travel cost taxpayers nearly $35,000, while flights for her staff member
  
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• Australia social media ban: when is it, how will it work and what apps are being banned for under-16s?

  03-12-2025 04:25
  Will the ban be delayed or postponed, and how will age verification work? Platforms will need to deactivate accounts for users under 16 and stop teens from making accounts until they are that age, or face fines of up to $50m. Here’s everything you need to knowGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralia’s world-first social media ban for children under the age of 16 is just a week away.The tech platforms – large and small – are working on function
  
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• Australia’s eSafety commissioner rejects US Republican’s assertion she is a ‘zealot for global takedowns’

  03-12-2025 00:13
  Julie Inman Grant says Australia’s Online Safety Act ‘does not impinge upon Americans’ freedom of speech’Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralia’s online safety regulator has rejected assertions from a key US Republican congressman that she is a “zealot for global takedowns”, as the eSafety commissioner faced questions from the Australian parliament on a Guardian investiga
  
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• Australia's world-first under-16s social media ban is the painful culmination of the Coalition refusing to stand up for the principles of individual liberty and limited government they once stood for, writes Kosha Gada. - facebook.com

  02-12-2025 21:25 via news.google.com
  Australia's world-first under-16s social media ban is the painful culmination of the Coalition refusing to stand up for the principles of individual liberty and limited government they once stood for, writes Kosha Gada.  facebook.com
  
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• The rise of deepfake pornography in schools: ‘One girl was so horrified she vomited’

  02-12-2025 11:00
  The use of ‘nudify’ apps is becoming more and more prevalent, with hundreds of teachers having seen images created by pupils, often of their peers. The fallout is huge – and growing fast‘It worries me that it’s so normalised. He obviously wasn’t hiding it. He didn’t feel this was something he shouldn’t be doing. It was in the open and people saw it. That’s what was quite shocking.”A headteacher is describing how a teenage boy, sitting o
  
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• Instagram’s age-verification identified a moustachioed adult as over 16 – but how did it go with a 13-year-old?

  02-12-2025 00:57
  Meta platform allows users under 16 in Australia to change their date of birth – but only after clearing a ‘video selfie’ or providing government IDFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastInstagram’s process for determining whether a user is over 16 is relatively quick and painless if you’re clearly an adult – but how does it work if a 13-year-old tries to change their account’s dat
  
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• ‘Mansplaining’ was once a contender for word of the year. Here’s why we should stop using it

  01-12-2025 18:33
  ‘Rage bait’ is Oxford word of the year in 2025. But I think we should be able to decommission words that have brought more trouble than they’re worth, starting with the 2015 runner-upThe Oxford word of the year has been chosen, and it’s “rage bait”. It was a close-run contest with “aura farming” – that just means charisma, for which a number of perfectly fine words already exist – and “biohack”, a non-specific lifestyle impr
  
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• EsDeeKid: why do people think the Liverpudlian rapper might actually be Timothée Chalamet?

  01-12-2025 16:23
  The incognito hip-hop act known as EsDeeKid has been identified by online sleuths as Chalamet in disguise. The pair even have the same scarf – case closedName: EsDeeKid.Age: Unknown. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘Rage bait’ named word of the year by Oxford University Press

  01-12-2025 11:26
  Existence of phrase – to describe content intended to make you angry – shows people are aware of manipulation tactics used online, says Oxford Dictionary publisherGood news for those who find their blood pressure rising as they scroll through their online news feeds: the Oxford English Dictionary’s publisher has highlighted the term they might need to describe how they often feel, naming “rage bait” as its word of the year.According to the Oxford University Press&rs
  
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• British Man Who Posted Photo of Himself Holding Shotgun on Social Media While on Vacation in Florida Arrested After Returning Home - The New York Sun

  30-11-2025 16:26 via news.google.com
  British Man Who Posted Photo of Himself Holding Shotgun on Social Media While on Vacation in Florida Arrested After Returning Home  The New York Sun
  
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• Kyle Dubas or Corey O'Connor? Penguins social media team posts funny video to clear up the confusion - CBS News

  30-11-2025 15:55 via news.google.com
  Kyle Dubas or Corey O'Connor? Penguins social media team posts funny video to clear up the confusion  CBS News
  
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• Liverpool fans swarm social media to make Alexander Isak point during West Ham fixture - Rousing The Kop

  30-11-2025 15:53 via news.google.com
  Liverpool fans swarm social media to make Alexander Isak point during West Ham fixture  Rousing The Kop
  
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• How to support your child through the social media ban – listen, be on their side and don’t try to justify the new rules - The Guardian

  30-11-2025 15:02 via news.google.com
  How to support your child through the social media ban – listen, be on their side and don’t try to justify the new rules  The Guardian
  
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• How to support your child through the social media ban – listen, be on their side and don’t try to justify the new rules

  30-11-2025 15:00
  Experts weigh in on how to manage a teen or tween who is about to lose access to their accountsGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailAs if parenting children and teenagers isn’t complex enough, the monumental rise of social media has presented this generation of parents with a new raft of challenges. They must reckon with restricting, delaying or understanding their children’s use of a technology that they themselves did not grow up with. And so as many as two-thirds of parents,
  
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• If I was young I wouldn't work & would leave the UK, Jeremy Clarkson says - The Irish Sun

  30-11-2025 14:51 via news.google.com
  If I was young I wouldn't work & would leave the UK, Jeremy Clarkson says  The Irish Sun
  
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• Vecna’s hourglass body to Will Byers’ glow-up: Fans flood social media with memes as Stranger Things 5 Vol 1 drops - livemint.com

  30-11-2025 14:44 via news.google.com
  Vecna’s hourglass body to Will Byers’ glow-up: Fans flood social media with memes as Stranger Things 5 Vol 1 drops  livemint.com
  
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• Social media detox linked to better mental health - Fox News

  30-11-2025 14:23 via news.google.com
  Social media detox linked to better mental health  Fox News
  
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• Scrolling social media can actually cause 'brain rot' according to surprising new study - Indy100

  30-11-2025 14:01 via news.google.com
  Scrolling social media can actually cause 'brain rot' according to surprising new study  Indy100
  
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• Rebel nuns refuse to give up social media in convent dispute - Premier Christian News

  30-11-2025 13:58 via news.google.com
  Rebel nuns refuse to give up social media in convent dispute  Premier Christian News
  
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• Ruben Amorim's brutal response to Man Utd star who 'mocked him on social media' - Daily Express

  30-11-2025 13:28 via news.google.com
  Ruben Amorim's brutal response to Man Utd star who 'mocked him on social media'  Daily Express
  
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• Man Utd star 'who ridiculed Ruben Amorim on social media' dropped by Red Devils boss - dailystar.co.uk

  30-11-2025 13:27 via news.google.com
  Man Utd star 'who ridiculed Ruben Amorim on social media' dropped by Red Devils boss  dailystar.co.uk
  
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• Lawless youths can still buy deadly machetes on social media in seconds - as UK’s knife crisis spirals out of control - The Sun

  30-11-2025 13:04 via news.google.com
  Lawless youths can still buy deadly machetes on social media in seconds - as UK’s knife crisis spirals out of control  The Sun
  
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• Politicians want social media to shut up - The Spectator Australia

  30-11-2025 13:00 via news.google.com
  Politicians want social media to shut up  The Spectator Australia
  
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• Man United star who 'ridiculed Ruben Amorim on social media' dropped for Crystal Palace - Manchester Evening News

  30-11-2025 12:53 via news.google.com
  Man United star who 'ridiculed Ruben Amorim on social media' dropped for Crystal Palace  Manchester Evening News
  
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• Ruben Amorim drops Man Utd star who 'ridiculed him on social media' vs Crystal Palace - The Mirror

  30-11-2025 12:51 via news.google.com
  Ruben Amorim drops Man Utd star who 'ridiculed him on social media' vs Crystal Palace  The Mirror
  
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• Fame, Followers, and Flesh: How Sexualized Social Media Is Shaping Ghana’s Future - Modern Ghana

  30-11-2025 12:41 via news.google.com
  Fame, Followers, and Flesh: How Sexualized Social Media Is Shaping Ghana’s Future  Modern Ghana
  
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• 'Not fully accepted': Confusion on social media ban just days away - The New Daily

  30-11-2025 12:39 via news.google.com
  'Not fully accepted': Confusion on social media ban just days away  The New Daily
  
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• Coworkers Share Their Opinions On A Social Media Post, And It Gets So Heated That The Friendship Might Be Over And The Workflow Is Suffering - TwistedSifter

  30-11-2025 12:18 via news.google.com
  Coworkers Share Their Opinions On A Social Media Post, And It Gets So Heated That The Friendship Might Be Over And The Workflow Is Suffering  TwistedSifter
  
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• Stranger Things 5 Vol. 1: Fans flood social media with hilarious memes; from Vecna's 'hourglass' look to Will's glow-up - WION

  30-11-2025 12:13 via news.google.com
  Stranger Things 5 Vol. 1: Fans flood social media with hilarious memes; from Vecna's 'hourglass' look to Will's glow-up  WION
  
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• Psychotic delusions are evolving to incorporate smartphones and social media algorithms - PsyPost

  30-11-2025 12:13 via news.google.com
  Psychotic delusions are evolving to incorporate smartphones and social media algorithms  PsyPost
  
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• Ex-England U21 star forced to release statement slamming 'nonsense' rumours - The Sun

  30-11-2025 11:54 via news.google.com
  Ex-England U21 star forced to release statement slamming 'nonsense' rumours  The Sun
  
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• 'Your Christmas is perfect. Stop letting social media make you think otherwise' - Isle of Man Today

  30-11-2025 11:01 via news.google.com
  'Your Christmas is perfect. Stop letting social media make you think otherwise'  Isle of Man Today
  
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• Granit Xhaka sends passionate social media message to Sunderland fans after Bournemouth win - Sunderland Echo

  30-11-2025 10:00 via news.google.com
  Granit Xhaka sends passionate social media message to Sunderland fans after Bournemouth win  Sunderland Echo
  
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• Australia’s social media ban. Experts warn of dark web risk. - Holistic News

  30-11-2025 08:38 via news.google.com
  Australia’s social media ban. Experts warn of dark web risk.  Holistic News
  
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• Lam Shamsiyya: sparking social change in Egyptian media - meer.com

  30-11-2025 08:01 via news.google.com
  Lam Shamsiyya: sparking social change in Egyptian media  meer.com
  
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• Susan Egelstaff: Social media abuse is ruining sport and harming athletes' careers - Glasgow Times

  30-11-2025 07:15 via news.google.com
  Susan Egelstaff: Social media abuse is ruining sport and harming athletes' careers  Glasgow Times
  
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• Youth workers are spreading health messages on social media: how to support what they do in South Africa - The Conversation

  30-11-2025 06:49 via news.google.com
  Youth workers are spreading health messages on social media: how to support what they do in South Africa  The Conversation
  
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• Controversial influencer sparks outrage with social media post: 'It's disgusting' - Yahoo

  30-11-2025 06:30 via news.google.com
  Controversial influencer sparks outrage with social media post: 'It's disgusting'  Yahoo
  
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• Police investigate list of elected MPs circulating on social media - AKIpress News Agency

  30-11-2025 06:17 via news.google.com
  Police investigate list of elected MPs circulating on social media  AKIpress News Agency
  
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