‘Protecting children is right’: Starmer takes on Big Tech with social media ban for under-16s Politics Keir Starmer has announced a ban on social media for under-16s, arguing that platforms are harming children’s wellbeing and fuelling a generation of unhealthy online habits. The Prime Minister said social media was making children “unhappy”, making it easier for bullies to harass and abuse young people and potentially damaging their mental health. Speaking at [...]
HSBC is the only UK name on $13 trillion list of top global brands Banking The rise of AI has shaken up an influential ranking of global big-name firms, as the competition to become one of the world’s elite brands becomes fiercer than ever, according to an influential index tracking the corporate elite. The Kantar Brandz Top 100 – which ranks the value of brands – unveiled on Thursday, is [...]
Meta can read your Instagram DMs from today Tech Instagram users are waking up to a major privacy rollback after Meta officially switched off end-to-end encrypted direct messages, giving the tech giant far greater visibility into private conversations shared across the app. From today, users who previously enabled Instagram’s optional encrypted chats will lose access to the feature entirely, with all messages reverting back [...]
Should you build an AI clone of your CEO? No! April 22, 2026 As Meta launches an AI avatar of Mark Zuckerberg, Paul Armstrong writes why cloning your boss means cloning mistakes.
Meta spies on workers’ every click to build the AI that will replace them April 22, 2026 Meta will be installing tracking software on its employees’ computers to capture their every keystroke and mouse movement, using the data to train the very AI models the company hopes will one day do workers’ jobs for them. According to Reuters, Meta confirmed the programme – known as the Model Capability Initiative – (MC) in [...]
Meta trial lawyer to advise UK as scrutiny of social media design grow April 12, 2026 A US trial lawyer who led a landmark case against Meta is set to advise the UK government, as ministers consider tougher action on the impact of social media platforms. Matthew Bergman, who represented a young claimant in a high-profile Los Angeles lawsuit, is expected to be consulted as part of ongoing discussions around online [...]
Worried about AI taking your job? Zuckerberg is building one to do his March 23, 2026 While much of the debate around AI has swirled around which jobs it may inevitably replace, Big Tech behemoth Mark Zuckerberg is placing the technology at the helm of his trillion dollar business. The Meta chief executive is developing a personal AI agent designed to assist with his role, retrieving information, and cutting through layers [...]
Pressure shifts back to Big Tech as Ofcom delays social media ban March 12, 2026 Tech firms have been warned to strengthen protections for young people online after MPs rejected a proposal to ban under-16s from social media this week. Communications regulator Ofcom and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) have written to major platforms, asking for details of how they plan to improve safety measures for children. Companies like Facebook, [...]
Meta strikes AMD chip deal as AI spend continues to boom February 24, 2026 Meta has agreed a multiyear deal to buy up to six gigawatts of AI computing power from AMD, in an agreement valued at more than $100bn (£74.5bn) that could see the social media group take a stake of up to 10 per cent in the US chip giant. The companies said on Tuesday that Meta [...]
UK under-16s social media ban could land before year end February 16, 2026 Sir Keir Starmer is considering banning under-16s from social media within months, as ministers crack down on children’s online activity following a deepfake scandal on Elon Musk’s Grok. The prime minister has insisted that “no platform gets a free pass” on child safety, with a formal consultation on tougher social media protections launching in March. [...]