Alarming rise of social media use among toddlers December 2, 2025 Almost 800,000 children under the age of five are now likely to be using social media platforms in the UK, intensifying concerns around the country’s ability to protect the younger generation online. The figures, based of Ofcom’s recent research, reveal an alarming rise in very young children using platforms intended for teenagers or adults. It [...]
TikTok wants you to stop doomscrolling (on its own app) November 19, 2025 TikTok has spent years perfecting the dark art of keeping you glued to your phone, but now it wants to help you put the phone down. In a move that feels almost existential, the company announced on Wednesday the rollout of a new so-called ‘Time and Well‑Being’ centre designed to help people step away from [...]
Yoti revenue surges amid boost from Online Safety Act rules November 18, 2025 Yoti has seen a surge in revenue as the identity verification business was boosted by fresh rules introduced under the Online Safety Act. The London-based business posted a 55 per cent rise in turnover to £20.3m for the year to end March, according to accounts filed with Companies House. “Regulatory issues are central to the [...]
Supernova: Ex-Saatchi Sir John Hegarty backs social network September 25, 2025 Sir John Hegarty, the creative heavyweight behind Saatchi & Saatchi, TBWA London and Bartle Bogle Hegarty, has become an investor and creative adviser to social network Supernova. The platform, created by former Saatchi adman and BAFTA winner Dominic O’Meara, bills itself as “social media for grown-ups”, promising to donate a share of every ‘like’ to [...]
Brits bypass Online Safety Act with VPNs, report finds September 11, 2025 The government’s flagship Online Safety Act is already being bypassed at scale, with a new survey showing nearly one in three Brits are still accessing adult content without age checks in place. Research by verification and anti-fraud platform Sumsub, which polled 2,000 UK consumers, found widespread scepticism about whether Ofcom and ministers can enforce the [...]
Spotify creating new UK jobs after redundancies September 1, 2025 The UK arm of Spotify is creating new UK jobs this year after shedding more than 200 jobs in 2024 as its profit continued to rise despite a fall in revenue, it has been revealed. The division of the Swedish audio streaming giant cut its workforce from 1,039 employees during its latest financial year, according [...]
TikTok sheds London staff in major AI push August 22, 2025 TikTok is set to lay off hundreds of staff in its content moderation and security team in London, a decision that has sparked concern just as the UK’s Online Safety Act comes into force. The company, owned by ByteDance, is centralising its “trust and safety” operations globally and plans to increasingly rely on artificial intelligence [...]
Should we be worried about Instagram’s map feature? August 20, 2025 Instagram’s new location-sharing feature, dubbed ‘Instagram Map’, has been rolled out to 170m users, but a journey through the platform reveals a perplexing reality: it’s a digital ghost town. While Instagram’s parent, Meta, has billed the feature as a “new, light way to connect”, many users are finding themselves alone on the map, prompting a [...]
Brits call for VPN ban for minors to curb Online Safety Act loopholes August 20, 2025 A majority of Britons believe children under 18 should be banned from using Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) following a recent surge, a survey has found. Research from YouGov found that 55 per cent of the public supports a ban for minors, while only 20 per cent think they should be allowed to use them. This [...]
UK backs down on plans to force Apple to share encrypted user data August 19, 2025 The British government has backed down on plans to force Apple to share encrypted user data, according to President Trump’s intelligence chief. Tulsi Gabbard told the Financial Times that the government has agreed to abandon its demands for a “back door” for data. US vice-president JD Vance reportedly intervened to broker the exemption for the [...]