Exclusive: Channel 4 launches video on Spotify May 20, 2025 Channel 4 has become the first UK broadcaster to bring video programming to the streaming platform, in a move that will see episodes from its youth-focused digital brand. While Spotify continues to broaden its video offerings beyond just music and podcasts, Channel 4 is seeking to expand its reach among a younger audience through new [...]
EU targets TikTok in escalating global tech crackdown May 2, 2025 Tiktok has been fined €530m (£451.9m) by Ireland’s data watchdog for illegally transferring European user data to China, and failing to properly inform users. The landmark ruling intensifies the EU’s scrutiny of global tech firms and their data flows to countries with intrusive surveillance regimes. The fine, the third largest ever under the EU’s general [...]
Tariffs delay deadline for TikTok sale…again April 10, 2025 TikTok, the beloved video platform that has had Washington in a twist, is back in limbo. What was once just a viral dance platform has now become emblematic – a rope in a high stakes geopolitical tug-of-war. An initial ban over national security concern was introduced, then reversed, and ultimately the app has been treading [...]
More than 30,000 migrants crossed Channel since Starmer took office April 5, 2025 More than 30,000 migrants have crossed the English Channel in small boats since Sir Keir Starmer became Prime Minister, according to the latest government figures. A total of 154 people made the crossing in four boats on Friday, according to the Home Office. This brings the migrants total for the year so far to 6,796, [...]
Rory Sutherland: ‘I now understand how teenage celebrities feel like’ April 3, 2025 Spend enough time scrolling through on YouTube, TikTok or Instagram these days and it’s won’t take long for you to come across the most unlikely social media sensation of the last couple of years – Rory Sutherland. This 59-year-old Cambridge graduate and advertising executive has become a well-known face ever since an enterprising film student [...]
No10 communications chief to quit after nine months March 28, 2025 Sir Keir Starmer’s director of communications, Matthew Doyle, is set to quit No10 Downing Street after nine months in the job. Doyle, who served as the Prime Minister’s communications chief in opposition, is understood to be stepping down immediately after feeling he had stabilised the government’s communications strategy after a rocky first few months in [...]
Schiehallion: Value of Spacex stake in Baillie Gifford trust skyrockets March 26, 2025 Baillie Gifford’s Schiehallion trust marked up the value of its holdings in Elon Musk’s Spacex by 86 per cent last year, as the trust worked to close the gap between its share price and underlying assets. The valuation of Spacex, which makes up 9.4 per cent of Schiehallion’s portfolio, has increased by more than 600 [...]
Sidemen charity match proves importance of entertainment in sport March 10, 2025 On Saturday afternoon at Wembley Stadium, 90,000 fans packed out the home of football for a charity match featuring online celebrities the Sidemen. Having begun with games at Southampton in 2016 and Charlton’s The Valley, the Sidemen – a group of seven YouTubers who have banded together to grow their brand, and whose most notable [...]
US ban looms, yet TikTok’s ad revenue soars March 6, 2025 TikTok’s advertising revenue is set to exceed $30bn this year, despite looming uncertainty over a potential US ban. WARC Media’s latest insights suggest that this could jeopardise almost $12bn in ad spend. The platform’s ad business is growing rapidly, helping to cushion the blow should a ban take effect in the US, which accounts for [...]
UK watchdog probes Tiktok over child data practices March 3, 2025 The UK’s data watchdog has launched a major investigation into Tiktok, Reddit and Imgur, raising new concerns over how social media platforms handle children’s personal information. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is scrutinising the video platform’s use of teenage user data to recommend content, amid growing fears that its algorithm could expose young people to [...]