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Tag: social media

  • Following Australia’s lead, Denmark plans to ban social media for children under 15

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    COPENHAGEN, Denmark — As Australia began enforcing a world-first social media ban for children under 16 years old this week, Denmark is planning to follow its lead and severely restrict social media access for young people.

    The Danish government announced last month that it had secured an agreement by three governing coalition and two opposition parties in parliament to ban access to social media for anyone under the age of 15. Such a measure would be the most sweeping step yet by a European Union nation to limit use of social media among teens and children.

    The Danish government’s plans could become law as soon as mid-2026. The proposed measure would give some parents the right to let their children access social media from age 13, local media reported, but the ministry has not yet fully shared the plans.

    Many social media platforms already ban children younger than 13 from signing up, and a EU law requires Big Tech to put measures in place to protect young people from online risks and inappropriate content. But officials and experts say such restrictions don’t always work.

    Danish authorities have said that despite the restrictions, around 98% of Danish children under age 13 have profiles on at least one social media platform, and almost half of those under 10 years old do.

    The minister for digital affairs, Caroline Stage, who announced the proposed ban last month, said there is still a consultation process for the measure and several readings in parliament before it becomes law, perhaps by “mid to end of next year.”

    “In far too many years, we have given the social media platforms free play in the playing rooms of our children. There’s been no limits,” Stage said in an interview with The Associated Press last month.

    “When we go into the city at night, there are bouncers who are checking the age of young people to make sure that no one underage gets into a party that they’re not supposed to be in,” she added. “In the digital world, we don’t have any bouncers, and we definitely need that.”

    Under the new Australian law, Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Reddit, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X and YouTube face fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) if they fail to take reasonable steps to remove accounts of Australian children younger than 16.

    Some students say they are worried that similar strict laws in Denmark would mean they will lose touch with their virtual communities.

    “I myself have some friends that I only know from online, and if I wasn’t fifteen yet, I wouldn’t be able to talk with those friends,” 15-year-old student Ronja Zander, who uses Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok, told the AP.

    Copenhagen high school student Chloé Courage Fjelstrup-Matthisen, 14, said she is aware of the negative impact social media can have, from cyberbullying to seeing graphic content. She said she saw video of a man being shot several months ago.

    “The video was on social media everywhere and I just went to school and then I saw it,” she said.

    Line Pedersen, a mother from Nykøbing in Denmark, said she believed the plans were a good idea.

    “I think that we didn’t really realize what we were doing when we gave our children the telephone and social media from when they were eight, 10 years old,” she said. “I don’t quite think that the young people know what’s normal, what’s not normal.”

    Danish officials are yet to share how exactly the proposed ban would be enforced and which social media platforms would be affected.

    However, a new “digital evidence” app, announced by the Digital Affairs Ministry last month and expected to launch next spring, will likely form the backbone of the Danish plans. The app will display an age certificate to ensure users comply with social media age limits, the ministry said.

    “One thing is what they’re saying and another thing is what they’re doing or not doing,” Stage said, referring to social media platforms. “And that’s why we have to do something politically.”

    Some experts say restrictions, such as the ban planned by Denmark, don’t always work and they may also infringe on the rights of children and teenagers.

    “To me, the greatest challenge is actually the democratic rights of these children. I think it’s sad that it’s not taken more into consideration,” said Anne Mette Thorhauge, an associate professor at the University of Copenhagen.

    “Social media, to many children, is what broadcast media was to my generation,” she added. “It was a way of connecting to society.”

    Currently, the EU’s Digital Services Act, which took effect two years ago, requires social media platforms to ensure there are measures including parental controls and age verification tools before young users can access the apps.

    EU officials have acknowledged that enforcing the regulations aiming at protecting children online has proven challenging because it requires cooperation between member states and many resources.

    Denmark is among several countries that have indicated they plan to follow in Australia’s steps. The Southeast Asian country of Malaysia is expected to ban social media account s for people under the age of 16 starting at the beginning of next year, and Norway is also taking steps to restrict social media access for children and teens.

    China — which manufacturers many of the world’s digital devices — has set limits on online gaming time and smartphone time for kids.

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  • US could demand five-year social media history from tourists before allowing entry

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    Tourists from Europe and other regions could be asked to provide a five-year social media history before given entry to the United States, according to a new proposal from the US Customs and Border Protection service (CBP). The new rule would affect visitors from countries who normally enjoy relatively easy entry to the US via the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA).

    The new proposal cites an executive order issued by President Trump from January titled “Protecting the United States From Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats.” In his first year in office, Trump has been hyper-focused on strengthening US borders and reducing what he calls illegal immigration.

    The US state department will conduct “online presence” reviews for applicants and their dependents and require privacy settings on social media profiles to be made “public.” Applicants must list all the social media handles they’ve used over the last five years and if any information is omitted, it could lead to the denial of current and future visas. The CBP didn’t say what information they were looking for or what could be disqualifying.

    On top of the social media information, CBP may require applicant’s telephone numbers and email addresses used over the last five and 10 years respectively, along with information about family members.

    The new conditions are liable to increase ESTA wait times and drastically boost the cost of enforcing it. The CPB’s document suggests that an additional 5,598,115 man-hours would be required per year, or around 3,000 full-time jobs plus all the costs that entails. Right now, the ESTA application costs $40, allows people to visit the US for 90 days at a time and is valid for a two-year period.

    The mandatory social media reporting and other requirements could discourage travelers. Some Australian tourists who were coming to the US for the upcoming World Cup have now said that they’ve abandoned those plans, according to The Guardian, with one person calling the new rules “horrifying.”

    However, when asked if the proposal could lead to a tourism decline in the US, Trump said he wasn’t concerned. “No. We’re doing so well,” he told a reporter. “We want to make sure we’re not letting the wrong people come enter our country.”

    The CPB emphasized that the new conditions were only a proposal for now. “Nothing has changed on this front for those coming to the United States [currently],” a spokesperson told the BBC. “This is not a final rule, it is simply the first step in starting a discussion to have new policy options to keep the American people safe.”

    If implemented, the rule would affect people from 40 countries, including the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Australia and Japan. The largest number of tourists to the US come from Canada and Mexico, accounting for nearly half of the total — however, visitors with passports from those two countries don’t require a visa or ESTA approval. Travel to the US was down three percent this year compared to 2024 as of August 2025, according to the National Travel and Tourism Office.

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    Steve Dent

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  • Following Australia’s Lead, Denmark Plans to Ban Social Media for Children Younger Than 15

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    The Danish government announced last month that it had secured an agreement by three governing coalition and two opposition parties in parliament to ban access to social media for anyone under the age of 15. Such a measure would be the most sweeping step yet by a European Union nation to limit use of social media among teens and children.

    The Danish government’s plans could become law as soon as mid-2026. The proposed measure would give some parents the right to let their children access social media from age 13, local media reported, but the ministry has not yet fully shared their plans.

    Many social media platforms already ban children younger than 13 from signing up, and a EU law requires Big Tech to put measures in place to protect young people from online risks and inappropriate content. But officials and experts say such restrictions don’t always work.

    Danish authorities have said that despite the restrictions, around 98% of Danish children under age 13 have profiles on at least one social media platform, and almost half of those under 10 years old do.

    The minister for digital affairs, Caroline Stage, who announced the proposed ban last month, said there is still a consultation process for the measure and several readings in parliament before it becomes law, perhaps by “mid to end of next year.”

    “In far too many years, we have given the social media platforms free play in the playing rooms of our children. There’s been no limits,” Stage said in an interview with The Associated Press last month.

    “When we go into the city at night, there are bouncers who are checking the age of young people to make sure that no one underage gets into a party that they’re not supposed to be in,” she added. “In the digital world, we don’t have any bouncers, and we definitely need that.”

    Under the new Australian law, Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Reddit, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X and YouTube face fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) if they fail to take reasonable steps to remove accounts of Australian children younger than 16.

    Some students say they are worried that similar strict laws in Denmark would mean they will losing touch with their virtual communities.

    “I myself have some friends that I only know from online, and if I wasn’t fifteen yet, I wouldn’t be able to talk with those friends,” 15-year-old student Ronja Zander, who uses Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok, told the AP.

    Copenhagen high school student Chloé Courage Fjelstrup-Matthisen, 14, said she is aware of the negative impact social madia can have, from cyberbullying to seeing graphic content. She said she saw video of a man being shot several months ago.

    “The video was on social media everywhere and I just went to school and then I saw it,” she said.

    Line Pedersen, a mother from Nykøbing in Denmark, said she believed the plans were a good idea.

    “I think that we didn’t really realize what we were doing when we gave our children the telephone and social media from when they were eight, ten years old,” she said. “I don’t quite think that the young people know what’s normal, what’s not normal.”


    Age certificate likely part of the plan

    Danish officials are yet to share how exactly the proposed ban would be enforced and which social media platforms would be affected.

    However, a new “digital evidence” app, announced by the Digital Affairs Ministry last month and expected to launch next spring, will likely form the backbone of the Danish plans. The app will display an age certificate to ensure users comply with social media age limits, the ministry said.

    “One thing is what they’re saying and another thing is what they’re doing or not doing,” Stage said, referring to social media platforms. “And that’s why we have to do something politically.”

    Some experts say restrictions, such as the ban planned by Denmark, don’t always work and they may also infringe on the rights of children and teenagers.

    “To me, the greatest challenge is actually the democratic rights of these children. I think it’s sad that it’s not taken more into consideration,” said Anne Mette Thorhauge, an associate professor at the University of Copenhagen.

    “Social media, to many children, is what broadcast media was to my generation,” she added. “It was a way of connecting to society.”

    Currently, the EU’s Digital Services Act, which took effect two years ago, requires social media platforms to ensure there are measures including parental controls and age verification tools before young users can access the apps.

    EU officials have acknowledged that enforcing the regulations aiming at protecting children online has proven challenging because it requires cooperation between member states and many resources.

    Denmark is among several countries that have indicated they plan to follow in Australia’s steps. The Southeast Asian country of Malaysia is expected to ban social media account s for people under the age of 16 starting at the beginning of next year, and Norway is also taking steps to restrict social media access for children and teens.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – December 2025

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  • What Happened in Apartment 4C?

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    Watch CBS News



    When a man goes missing, his friends turn to social media to track his final hours. What they learn is horrific. “48 Hours” correspondent Erin Moriarty investigates.

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  • Australia’s new social media ban for kids started with a mom saying, “Do something!”

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    With the world’s first social media ban for teenagers under 16 now in effect in Australia, its initial political architect is celebrating a new less-digital era for millions of children — and sharing that the legislation was personally inspired by his wife, for their four children. 

    “She read a book called ‘The Anxious Generation,’ by Jonathan Haidt,” said Peter Malinauskas, the premier of the state of South Australia. “And I will never forget the night she finished reading the book and she put it down on her lap and she turned to me and said, ‘You better do something about this!’” 

    Within seven months, and with strong public support, that idea fast became law across the land, winning support from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Ten major apps including TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit and Facebook have complied to bar everyone 16 and under from their accounts and from setting up new accounts. 

    “Heaven forbid they might talk to one another a bit more, pick up the phone and have a chat rather than just being obsessed with the screen,” said Maulinauskas. 

    The ban puts the onus of responsibility on social media companies rather than parents with a penalty of up to $33 million if found to be in breach. It allows for each company to decide how best to adhere, which must be “multi-layered,” using more than one kind of identity verification, which could include traditional methods including national IDs and passports but also artificial intelligence — controversial over possible inaccuracies — to scan facial features for age. 

    Malinauskas readily admits there will be growing pains. 

    “People will find ways around it and lots of things will go wrong, and that’ll be highlighted in coming days and weeks in Australia,” he said, “but on balance, this is a reform that parents want so they can do their job more easily.” 

    He says officials from North America, Europe and Asia have been speaking with him about advancing similar legislation in Canada, the United Kingdom and Japan. Malaysia is already on track to be the next country to ban those under 16 from social media in 2026. 

    Yet in Australia, the law already faces a legal challenge. The country’s High Court accepted a legal challenge from two 15-year-olds who assert the ban violates their freedom of communication. The case could be heard as early as February. 

    Malinauskas blames those companies for putting all children through “a global experiment” over the past decade with “social media addiction and overuse because many of these platforms have had addictive algorithms.” 

    “I’m really proud, really proud that we’ve been able to see South Australia and then Australia lead a reform that’s going to make a big difference to young people’s lives,” he said. 

    “And the reason why politicians are looking at it is because parents know something’s not right. You know, there is no better judge of what’s in the best interest of a child than a parent, right?” 

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  • How a British couple sparked a global movement for a smartphone-free childhood

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    Suffolk, England – For parents Daisy Greenwell and Joe Ryrie, freedom means looking up at the world around them instead of down at their phones, and they’re determined to pass that sense of non-digital liberty on to their children.

    Their daughter started asking for a smartphone when she was just eight years old, because her classmates were getting them. The pressure to have a phone at such a young age surprised Greenwell, and pushed her to look more closely at the trend.

    She found a growing body of research suggesting that heavy smartphone use may negatively impact young people’s mental health. 

    The more she read, the more concerned she became, so Greenwell decided to take action. She posted a question on Instagram: What if we could switch the norm? What if parents united to create a “smartphone-free childhood?”

    The response was immediate.

    “That post went viral,” she told CBS News. “Thousands of parents joined the group overnight.”

    Daisy Greenwell and Joe Ryrie are the co-founders of Smartphone Free Childhood. The grassroots parent-led movement now has chapters in 39 countries. 

    CBS News


    Within a couple weeks, Greenwell said there were smartphone-free childhood groups in every county in England. One year later, the grassroots campaign has expanded far beyond the U.K. borders. 

    The group — Smartphone Free Childhood — now has chapters in 39 countries.

    For Greenwell, Ryrie and the thousands of families who’ve joined the movement, the goal is simple: More time outdoors, and a childhood lived offline as much as possible.  

    In the U.S., the movement even inspired a cautionary viral advertisement, highlighting the dangers of giving children unrestricted access to the internet. A parent in the ad tells their child: “There’s a box in the corner with all the pornographic material ever made. I’m trusting you not to look in there, okay?”

    The backlash against youth consumption of social media has drawn the attention of governments globally. On Wednesday, Australia became the first country in the world to enact a ban on social media accounts for children under the age of 16. The law compels huge tech companies such as Meta and TikTok to enforce age restrictions, or face hefty fines. 

    In the U.K., national Culture Minister Lisa Nandy said the government would be keeping a “close eye” on Australia’s social media ban, but added that there were no current plans to replicate the legislation.

    At a grassroots level, however, parents who join Greenwell and Ryrie’s movement are asked to sign a pact: No smartphones for the kids before they turn 14, and no social media before 16.

    “This isn’t an anti-tech movement, it’s a pro-childhood movement. We’re not saying no smartphones ever. We’re just saying children don’t need unrestricted internet access in their pockets 24/7,” Ryrie told CBS News. 

    When asked what she’d tell busy working parents who rely on phones for convenience, Greenwell acknowledged the challenge. 

    “It’s really tough,” she said. “But delaying the smartphone is free, it’s simple, and it gives your child the best chance to thrive.”

    Many families are turning to basic “brick phones” as alternatives — devices that allow calls and texts, but limit internet access. Sales of such “dumb” devices have risen 150% among 18-24 year olds in the United States, according to a study by the peer-reviewed journal Partners Universal Innovative Research Publication.

    Despite the momentum, Greenwell says there’s still a cultural norm to disrupt, and available data highlights that point. One in four British kids between the ages of 5 and 7 already own a smartphone, according to the U.K.’s independent media regulator Ofcom.

    Greenwell said she believes real change can be driven from the community level. 

    “If children know several classmates are also delaying smartphones, the peer pressure dissolves,” she told CBS News. “It becomes easier for families to wait a few years. A brick phone in the meantime isn’t that hard. We can do this.”

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  • Elon Musk’s X social media platform fined $140 million for violating EU transparency rules

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    European Union regulators on Friday said it is fining Elon Musk’s social media platform X $140 million (120 million euros) for violating regulations aimed at protecting internet users in the trading bloc from digital abuses. 

    The European Commission said that X breached “transparency obligations” under the Digital Services Act (DSA). The fine represents the EU’s first move to sanction a company for violating the law since the law was enacted in 2022. 

    In a statement issued Friday, the commission accused X of using its ‘blue checkmark’ in a way that deceives users. Anyone can pay to get the verification, making it hard for users to judge the authenticity of the accounts they engage with on the social media platform, the EU said. This could expose users to scams and “other forms of manipulation by malicious actors,” the commission noted.

    The European Commission also took aim at X’s ads repository, which it said fails to meet accessibility requirements under the DSA. Internet platforms in the EU are required to provide a database of all the digital advertisements they have carried, with details such as who paid for them and the intended audience. That goal is to help researchers detect scams, fake ads and coordinated influence campaigns.

    X has 60 days to tell the European Commission how it plans to address the group’s concerns.

    Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr took issue with the fine and defended X. “Once again, Europe is fining a successful U.S. tech company for being a successful U.S. tech company,” he wrote on X Friday in a post shared by X owner Elon Musk.

    X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    The DSA requires platforms to remove “illegal content,” among other restrictions, with companies that fail to comply at risk of hefty fines. The law has been a thorn in the side of American tech companies and members of the Trump administration, who claim the sweeping rule violates free speech. 

    During a speech in Munich this February, Vice President J.D. Vance said the EU’s content moderation policies amount to “authoritarian censorship,” according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a nonprofit think tank.

    Edited by

    Alain Sherter

    The Associated Press

    contributed to this report.

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  • The WIRED Guide to Digital Opsec for Teens

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    Expand your mind, man. Opsec is really all about time travel—taking small, protective steps now before you have a disaster on your hands later. If you’re not on auto-delete, then an explosive, emotional text exchange with the person you’re currently dating—or, ahem, photos you sent to each other—will hang around forever. It’s normal for things to change and for relationships of all types to come and go. You may trust someone and be close to them now but grow apart in a year or two.

    If you imagine an even more extreme scenario where you’re being investigated by the police, they could obtain warrants to search your digital accounts or devices. People have to go to great lengths to maintain their opsec if they’re trying to hide activity from law enforcement. To be clear, this guide is definitely not encouraging you to do crimes. Don’t do crimes! The goal is just to understand the value of keeping basic opsec principles in mind, because if some of your digital information is revealed haphazardly or out of context, it could, theoretically, appear incriminating.

    You probably intuitively understand a lot of this. Don’t give your password to friends, duh.) So this guide is going to largely skip the obvious and emphasize more subtle, unintended consequences of failing to practice good opsec.

    Memorable Opsec Fails

    “Signalgate,” 2025: US officials discussed war plans in a group chat on the mainstream, secure messaging app Signal. Then they accidentally added a journalist to the chat. Subsequently, US defense secretary Pete Hegseth famously (embarrassingly) messaged the chat, “we are currently clean on OPSEC.” At least some members of the chat were also potentially using a modified, insecure version of Signal. All extremely not clean on opsec.

    Gmail Drafts Exposed, 2012: Then-CIA director David Petraeus and his paramour shared a Gmail account to hide their communications by leaving them for each other to see as draft messages. Kind of ingenious given that this was before most texting or messaging apps offered timed disappearing/ephemeral messages, but the FBI figured out the strategy.

    Identities

    Opsec is all about compartmentalizing, and that’s the hardest part. Failure to compartmentalize is often how criminals get caught or how information that was meant to stay secret gets exposed. Think of your online life like rooms in a house. Each room has a separate key. If someone breaks into one room, they can grab everything there, but you don’t want them to be able to run wild beyond that room.

    You can have multiple identities online and compartmentalize the activities of each, but it takes forethought to maintain the separation. There’s the real you who uses your main Gmail or Apple ID for personal and family stuff and social accounts where you use your real name, plus school and maybe work. Another compartment is your school email and school file storage. Then there’s your more adaptable, online personas who may have semi-anonymous handles, like jnd03 for Jane Doe. Friends know that these accounts are yours and classmates can probably guess them. Finally, there may be a pseudonymous you: alt accounts with no obvious link to real you—like Jane Doe using the handles “_aksdi0_0” or “peter_mayfield01.”

    Rules of Separation

    You have accounts under your real name, but you probably also need pseudonymous accounts. Tight compartmentalization will prevent people from doxing your pseudonymous accounts. But that’s easier said than done.

    Obviously, don’t recycle usernames across platforms. If JaneD03 is your Instagram handle, don’t use it or a similar name for your anonymous Reddit account. Don’t even reuse passwords—but especially don’t reuse passwords between real and pseudonymous accounts. To prevent a compromised pseudonymous account from revealing your name, don’t use your main email address; instead, use a unique, pseudonymous one. Gmail “dot tricks” (jane.doe@, j.ane.doe@) don’t count, because they all equally reveal your master account.

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    JP Aumasson, Lily Hay Newman

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  • 5 Side Hustles You Can Do Entirely on Social Media

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    Social media, for many people, can be a way to stay in touch with friends, an ego exercise, or a vehicle to argue with strangers. But for some especially focused users, it can be a side hustle with income potential. Converting your feed into something that generates cash isn’t the easiest side hustle—and it takes time. But if you can build a large enough following, it can be a lucrative side business.There are a number of social media-focused side hustles. Here are a handful to consider.

    Social media is one of the most direct marketing paths for companies – and they’re regularly looking for exposure. Some companies will pay posters to feature or review their products. The amounts vary, depending on your follower count and the overall focus of your social media account. (If you tend to post about politics, for example, that could limit the products that want exposure on your feed.) Pay scales range from $50 to $500 per post for microinfluencers. Those with larger followings can demand a lot more. To find companies looking for sponsored posts, you can either reach out directly (usually to smaller brands) or join influencer marketplaces like AspireIQ or Collabstr.

    Influencer

    One of the nice things about social media is you can build a channel dedicated to something you’re passionate about—from toys to concerts to hobbies. If your content resonates with people, and you’ve built a good sized following, you’re likely to get on the radar of marketing professionals in that industry (or, again, could reach out yourself). You can also earn a percentage of ad revenues.

    Once you get to 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours within a 12-month period, YouTube will let you join the Adsense program to earn a portion of the ad revenue on your videos. If TikTok is your outlet of choice, you’ll need at least 100K authentic video views in the last 30 days to be eligible to join the company’s Creator Fund. And Instagram offers monetization features like Badges and Subscriptions once you cross the 10,000-follower mark.

    Live Streaming

    Live streaming is especially popular in the video game world, and there are several ways to monetize that audience. Popular methods for doing so include TikTok gifts, YouTube SuperChats, or Twitch subs. If games aren’t your thing, consider using live streams to offer tutorials, host Q&As with notable people (or even yourself if you’ve gained enough followers) or focus on some sort of personality-driven project that captivates viewers.

    Digital Product Sales

    Just like QVC lets entrepreneurs show off and sell their products, social media can let side hustling creators show off their goods. Best of all, aside from the promotional work done on social media and the process of coming up with ideas, there’s not a lot of additional responsibilities you’ll need to shoulder.

    Using a dropshipping company, you can set up an online store and have a third-party supplier manufacture and ship the product to the customer, freeing you from having to worry about things like storage, fulfillment or upfront production costs. Your responsibility will be to come up with a concept that appeals to customers and convince them, via your feeds, to buy those goods. Set up a site on Shopify (Basic plans cost $29 per month) or some other service to start. 

    Prefer to keep your social media feed uncommercialized, but you’ve realized you have a talent for developing posts that turns heads? That’s a skill companies are always on the lookout for, and social media consultants are a side hustle that’s increasingly in-demand. You’ll need to be able to do more than capture attention. You’ll also need to monitor engagement metrics and increase interaction. But this is a job that’s more creative than materials-intense. Sites like Upwork and Freelancer.com are a good place to start looking for clients.

    The final deadline for the 2026 Inc. Regionals Awards is Friday, December 12, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply now.

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  • Australia will enforce a social media ban for children under 16 despite a court challenge

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    MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The Australian government said young children will be banned from social media next month as scheduled despite a rights advocacy group on Wednesday challenging the world-first legislation in court.

    The Sydney-based Digital Freedom Project said it had filed a constitutional challenge in the High Court on Wednesday to a law due to take effect on Dec. 10 banning Australian children younger than 16 from holding accounts on specified platforms.

    Communications Minister Anika Wells referred to the challenge when she later told Parliament her government remained committed to the ban taking effect on schedule.

    “We will not be intimidated by legal challenges. We will not be intimidated by Big Tech. On behalf of Australian parents, we stand firm,” Wells told Parliament.

    Digital Freedom Project president John Ruddick is a New South Wales state lawmaker for the minor Libertarian Party.

    “Parental supervision of online activity is today the paramount parental responsibility. We do not want to outsource that responsibility to government and unelected bureaucrats,” Ruddick said in a statement.

    “This ban is a direct assault on young people’s right to freedom of political communication,” he added.

    The case is being brought by Sydney law firm Pryor, Tzannes and Wallis Solicitors on behalf of two 15-year-old children.

    Digital Freedom Project spokesperson Sam Palmer could not say whether an application would be made for a court injunction to prevent the age restriction taking effect on Dec. 10 before the case is heard.

    Technology giant Meta last week began sending thousands of Australian children suspected to be younger than 16 a warning to downland their digital histories and delete their accounts from Facebook, Instagram and Threads before the ban takes effect.

    The government has said the three Meta platforms plus Snapchat, TikTok, X and YouTube must take reasonable steps to exclude Australian account holders younger than 16 or face fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($32 million).

    Malaysia has also announced plans to ban social media accounts for children under 16 starting in 2026.

    Malaysian Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said this week his Cabinet approved the move as part of a broader effort to shield young people from online harm like cyberbullying, scams and sexual exploitation. He said his government was studying approaches taken by Australia and other countries, and the potential use of electronic checks with identity cards or passports to verify users’ ages.

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  • OnlyFans’ Policewoman Faces Suspension for Uniform Videos

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    The Argentine Federal Police has suspended OnlyFans creator and policewoman Nicole Gabriela V. for posting unsavory content in her police uniform. The 20-something is a police officer in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her suggestive videos and photos gained traction across Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), and TikTok.

    OnlyFans “policewoman” suspended after her videos take over social media

    Nicole Gabriela V. risks losing her job after her suggestive videos gained traction on social media platforms.

    As per local media, the OnlyFans creator works as a policewoman in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her verified Instagram page @itsoficialnicole contains many suggestive photos and videos of her dressed in uniform. However, she seems to have deactivated her account due to recent events. (via National World)

    Gabriela V. has been in the police service for three years and also has a sizable OnlyFans fan following. In multiple photos and videos, she has participated in professionally inappropriate activities like using handcuffs, choking, and looking seductively into the camera.

    Many fans also criticized the policewoman for her risqué videos, warning her that her misuse of the uniform could land her in legal trouble. Some even called her out for disrespecting law enforcement.

    In another now-deleted video, Gabriela V. was seen role-playing with an unknown person. The other individual offered her a c***om, and she gave him a flirty expression and handcuffed him. Users have since called out her distasteful skit on social media. In another skit shared on November 14, Gabriela V. and another woman were seen playing pool in a sexually suggestive manner, giving seductive expressions to the camera.

    Meanwhile, the 12B Neighborhood Police Station in Buenos Aires confirmed Nicole Gabriela V.’s “irregular conduct” and launched an internal investigation. The report states that her unsavory conduct “significantly affects the prestige of the institution.”

    The report further noted that the OnlyFans creator has made “improper use of the assigned police clothing and equipment,” violating the Public Security Law 5688. After Internal Affairs stepped in, the Office of Transparency and External Control took up the case. Consequently, Gabriela V. will remain suspended until the investigation is completed.

    At the time of writing, Nicole Gabriela V. seems to have deactivated her social media accounts.

    The post OnlyFans’ Policewoman Faces Suspension for Uniform Videos appeared first on Mandatory.

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  • Australia will enforce a social media ban for children under 16 despite a court challenge

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    MELBOURNE, Australia — The Australian government said young children will be banned from social media next month as scheduled despite a rights advocacy group on Wednesday challenging the world-first legislation in court.

    The Sydney-based Digital Freedom Project said it had filed a constitutional challenge in the High Court on Wednesday to a law due to take effect on Dec. 10 banning Australian children younger than 16 from holding accounts on specified platforms.

    Communications Minister Anika Wells referred to the challenge when she later told Parliament her government remained committed to the ban taking effect on schedule.

    “We will not be intimidated by legal challenges. We will not be intimidated by Big Tech. On behalf of Australian parents, we stand firm,” Wells told Parliament.

    Digital Freedom Project president John Ruddick is a New South Wales state lawmaker for the minor Libertarian Party.

    “Parental supervision of online activity is today the paramount parental responsibility. We do not want to outsource that responsibility to government and unelected bureaucrats,” Ruddick said in a statement.

    “This ban is a direct assault on young people’s right to freedom of political communication,” he added.

    The case is being brought by Sydney law firm Pryor, Tzannes and Wallis Solicitors on behalf of two 15-year-old children.

    Digital Freedom Project spokesperson Sam Palmer could not say whether an application would be made for a court injunction to prevent the age restriction taking effect on Dec. 10 before the case is heard.

    Technology giant Meta last week began sending thousands of Australian children suspected to be younger than 16 a warning to downland their digital histories and delete their accounts from Facebook, Instagram and Threads before the ban takes effect.

    The government has said the three Meta platforms plus Snapchat, TikTok, X and YouTube must take reasonable steps to exclude Australian account holders younger than 16 or face fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($32 million).

    Malaysia has also announced plans to ban social media accounts for children under 16 starting in 2026.

    Malaysian Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said this week his Cabinet approved the move as part of a broader effort to shield young people from online harm like cyberbullying, scams and sexual exploitation. He said his government was studying approaches taken by Australia and other countries, and the potential use of electronic checks with identity cards or passports to verify users’ ages.

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  • The Viral ‘DoorDash Girl’ Saga Unearthed a Nightmare for Black Creators

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    When DoorDash delivery driver Livie Rose Henderson posted a video alleging that one of her customers sexually assaulted her in October, it set off a firestorm of reactions.

    Henderson’s TikTok claimed that when she was dropping off a delivery in Oswego, New York, she found a customer’s front door wide open and inside, a man on the couch with his pants and underwear pulled down to his ankles. Henderson was dubbed the “DoorDash Girl,” and her video accrued tens of millions of views, including some supportive and consoling responses to what she said she had endured on the job as a young woman. Many others on the platform made commentary videos that called into question Henderson’s alleged victimhood, defended the customer, and spread misinformation, with TikTok’s algorithm seemingly amplifying these “hot takes.” Then, following Henderson’s November 10 arrest—she has been charged with unlawful surveillance and the dissemination of unlawful surveillance imagery—a new wave of reactions emerged. (Police have dismissed her sexual assault allegation.)

    None of these responses came from Black content creator and journalist Mirlie Larose.

    But Larose opened TikTok one day to find dozens of messages from friends and supporters alarmed by a video of her responding to the situation in favor of the customer and DoorDash’s decision to terminate Henderson. (Henderson was fired for sharing a customer’s personal information online, DoorDash spokesperson Jeff Rosenberg tells WIRED.) As Larose stared at the video in disbelief, for a split second she second-guessed herself as she became flushed with anxiety about the comment section “tearing her apart.”

    “Did I film this?” she asked. “It’s my face, it’s my hair.”

    “Then, within three or four seconds, I noticed something’s off. There’s no way I said this. I didn’t [want to] talk about this topic,” Larose tells WIRED. The video had been AI-generated.

    The situation highlights an increasingly common form of digital blackface, buoyed by the rise of generative AI. The term, popularized by culture critic Lauren Michele Jackson, describes various contemporary types of “minstrel performances” on the internet. This looks like the overrepresentation of reaction GIFs, memes, TikToks, and other visual and text-based media that use Black imagery, slang, gestures, and culture. TikTok’s reliance on attention-grabbing short-form video content, coupled with apps like Sora 2, has made it far easier for non-Black creators and bot accounts to adopt racialized stereotypical Black personas using deepfakes. This is also known as digital blackfishing.

    In the midst of the DoorDash/Henderson controversy, users on TikTok began to notice two videos in particular: one from a bot account and another from an actual Black content creator parroting the same script. They adopted seemingly DARVO (Deny, Attack, and Reverse Victim and Offender) positions, minimizing the allegations Henderson made and justifying her termination: “I saw the original video posted by the DoorDash girl, and … I understand why DoorDash fired you and why you’re blocked from the app.” The videos go on to say, “As for the guy, I can see why everyone is saying he did it on purpose. But when you look at the original video, that couch is not in eye view unless you angle yourself and look over, and if you really want to break it down, he’s inside his house.” In a statement on Facebook, the Oswego City Police Department said the male was “incapacitated and unconscious on his couch due to alcohol consumption” and that the video was taken outside his house. Police also said they “determined that no sexual assault occurred.”

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  • Australian Teenagers Ask High Court to Block Social Media Ban

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    SYDNEY (Reuters) -A constitutional challenge against Australia’s social media ban on children younger than 16 has been filed in the nation’s highest court, two weeks before the world-first law is set to take effect.

    A campaign group called the Digital Freedom Project said on Wednesday it launched proceedings in the High Court of Australia in a bid to block the law, with two 15-year-olds, Noah Jones and Macy Neyland, as plaintiffs in the case.

    More than one million accounts held by teenagers under 16 are set to be deactivated in Australia when the ban on platforms including YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat and Meta’s Facebook and Instagram starts on December 10.

    In a statement on Wednesday, the Digital Freedom Project said the ban “robs” young Australians of their freedom of political communication, an implied right in the constitution. Australia does not have an express right to free speech.

    “The legislation is grossly excessive,” the statement said.

    Neyland said the law would ban young people from expressing their views online.

    “Young people like me are the voters of tomorrow … we shouldn’t be silenced. It’s like Orwell’s book 1984, and that scares me,” she said.

    The Digital Freedom Project’s president is John Ruddick, a member of the Libertarian Party in the New South Wales state Parliament.

    After news of the legal challenge broke, Communications Minister Anika Wells told Parliament the centre-left government, led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, would not be intimidated by threats and legal challenges.

    “Despite the fact that we are receiving threats and legal challenges by people with ulterior motives, the Albanese Labor government remains steadfastly on the side of parents, and not of platforms,” Wells said.

    Australian media has reported that YouTube also threatened to launch a High Court challenge on the grounds the ban burdened political communication.

    Governments and tech firms around the world are closely watching Australia’s effort to implement the ban, one of the most comprehensive efforts to police minors’ social media access.

    The ban was passed into law in November 2024 and is supported by the majority of Australians, according to opinion polling.

    The government said research showed the over-use of social media was harming young teens, including causing misinformation, enabling bullying and harmful depictions of body image.

    Companies that fail to comply with the ban could face penalties of up to A$49.5 million ($32.22 million).

    ($1 = 1.5361 Australian dollars)

    (Reporting by Christine Chen in Sydney; Editing by Michael Perry)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Cyberattack on CodeRED forces Douglas County Sheriff’s Office to seek new alert network

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    The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office has stopped using its CodeRED system to alert residents of orders to evacuate or shelter in place or of other emergencies after learning of a cyberattack on the network and a data breach.

    Sheriff’s Deputy Daniel Carlin said Monday that the county stopped using CodeRED Nov. 21 when it learned of the data breach. Two weeks before that, the sheriff’s office started getting notifications that the system was down, but couldn’t get confirmation.

    Carlin said CodeRED, accessed through an app, lost a lot of customers’ information. “We don’t trust continuing to use them.”

    Although the data haven’t been published online, the sheriff’s office is encouraging all CodeRED users to contact credit bureaus to ensure their personal information has not been compromised. The sheriff’s office was among hundreds of agencies affected by the nationwide cybersecurity attack.

    Douglas County is talking to representatives of similar alert systems and hopes to have a new network locked in within the next week or two, Carlin said. Until then, the sheriff’s department will go door-to-door in cases of a need to evacuate or shelter in place and use social media and other means to alert people, he added.

    Douglas County is one of several counties that use CodeRED to alert residents of evacuation orders and other emergencies. Weld County also is looking for a new alert provider since CodeRED went down. The Park County Sheriff’s Office decommissioned the platform as well.

    It’s unclear how many other Colorado counties use CodeRED. A message left with the company seeking more information went unreturned as of 5 p.m.

    Some counties also use the state-run Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, or IPAWS, to notify people of wildfires and other emergencies.

    “CodeRED was a great system for us to alert the public very fast,” Carlin said. “Easy access is of concern, but we 100% believe we can mitigate it via door-to-door knocks and social media posts.”

    He said that residents will likely have to sign up for the system because their information won’t automatically be transferred.

    Sign up to get crime news sent straight to your inbox each day.

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  • Trump Is Boosting MAGA X Accounts Operating Overseas

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    A new feature on X has revealed that a number of major MAGA accounts on the platform are operated by people based overseas. And in the days since these accounts were exposed, President Donald Trump has continued boosting several of them.

    Many of the accounts, which have large followings and claim to be conservative people based in Texas or “America First” accounts “promoting good resisting evil,” are actually operated everywhere from Chile and Nigeria to Russia and across Eastern Europe.

    These accounts largely post about divisive issues, including immigration, gender, and Israel. In one instance, a verified account called MAGA NATION with almost 400,000 followers and the American flag in its screen name was revealed to be operated from a non-EU country in Eastern Europe. Many of the accounts feature the names of members of the Trump family, including an Ivanka Trump news account with over 1 million followers that was based in Nigeria. The account has since been suspended.

    On Saturday, Trump shared on Truth Social a screenshot of an X post from an account called “Fan Trump Army.” The account has over 500,000 followers and features an image of Trump as its profile picture. The account operator, according to the new X location feature, is based in India. The account is followed by several people convicted for their parts in the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, as well as disgraced former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

    In recent days, the account holder changed their bio to read: “An Indian who loves America, President Trump, Musk!” An earlier version of the account’s bio, however, made no mention of the account being run by someone in India.

    On Sunday, Trump shared another screenshot of an X post on Truth Social, this time from a verified X account with the screen name: “Commentary Donald J. Trump.”

    “Would you support the idea of foreign-born citizens be barred from running for office? Yes or No,” reads the screenshot. The post also featured a picture of Representative Ilhan Omar with Omar Fateh, a Somali-American lawmaker in Minnesota who unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Minneapolis earlier this month. The account has a picture of the president as its profile picture with a bald eagle in front of the American flag as its background picture. According to X’s new feature, the account appears to be run from somewhere in Africa. (In some cases, X doesn’t specify the country, only the continent or region.)

    In responses to Trump’s post, many called for a ban on foreign-born citizens holding political office, with some posters going further and calling for Omar and Fateh to be deported.

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    David Gilbert

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  • Trump slams ABC after Jimmy Kimmel’s latest monologue

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    NEW YORK CITY, New York: President Donald Trump escalated his criticism of ABC and late-night host Jimmy Kimmel this week, posting on social media that the network should “get the bum off the air.” The post came shortly after Kimmel’s latest episode aired.

    Trump has also attacked ABC’s chief White House correspondent, Mary Bruce, over questions she asked during an Oval Office meeting. His press team later sent out a 17-point memo listing complaints about ABC News.

    This newest clash with Kimmel comes two months after ABC briefly suspended the comedian for comments he made after the assassination of GOP activist Charlie Kirk. The network reinstated him after backlash.

    Kimmel opened his show on November 19 with a harsh monologue targeting Trump, spending several minutes on Jeffrey Epstein and Congress’ recent decision to release more of Epstein’s correspondence. He joked about “Hurricane Epstein” and questioned what Trump knew and when he knew it.

    Trump replied at 12:49 a.m. with a Truth Social post attacking Kimmel’s talent and ratings and criticizing ABC affiliates who previously pushed for his suspension. ABC declined to comment. Kimmel’s ratings have increased since returning to the air.

    Trump has also criticized other late-night hosts, recently calling for NBC to fire Seth Meyers.

    The conflict comes as the Epstein story continues to frustrate the White House. Trump insulted multiple reporters over the topic in recent days, including calling one “piggy.”

    On November 19, the White House released a statementaccusing ABC News of bias and listing grievances going back to Trump’s first term. Complaints included fact-checking during the 2024 debate, past reporting errors about the E. Jean Carroll case, and comments made by former ABC journalists.

    Following is the White House statement in full, unedited:

    ABC “News” is not journalism — it’s a Democrat spin operation masquerading as a broadcast network. The network’s longstanding commitment to hoaxes, character assassinations, and outright fiction targeting only one side of the political aisle is a deliberate deception to wage war on President Trump and the millions of Americans who elected him to multiple terms.

    ABC “News” has a long, rich tradition of peddling lies, conspiracies, and outright opinion thinly veiled as fact:

    • In 2017, ABC suspended investigative reporter Brian Ross after he falsely reported that President Trump had directed Michael Flynn to contact Russian officials before the 2016 election.
    • In 2020, ABC suspended veteran correspondent David Wright after he was caught identifying himself as a “socialist” and admitting the network pushes an anti-Trump agenda and airs stories designed for profit, not news.
    • In 2020, George Stephanopoulos — longtime Democrat operative turned wannabe “journalist” — failed to ask Joe Biden about his son Hunter’s infamous laptop or the swirling allegations of impropriety.
    • In 2024, Stephanopoulos repeatedly lied about President Trump’s legal cases. After being sued for promoting these defamatory lies, the network agreed to settle for $16 million and issue a statement of regret.
    • In October 2024, the network erroneously “fact checked” President Trump at least five times during the presidential debate — but failed to call out his opponent a single time.
    • Following President Trump’s historic 2024 election victory, 90% of the network’s coverage of his cabinet nominees was negative.
    • In January, ABC News gave 27 times more coverage to President Trump’s pardons of January 6 defendants than of Biden’s last-minute pardons to his corrupt family members.
    • In January, ABC News editorialized in a partisan way that President Trump’s personnel directives were “retribution.”
    • In February, ABC News mischaracterized the Trump Administration’s effort to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse in the bloated federal bureaucracy as an “attack on veterans.”
    • In April, ABC News peddled the debunked lie that the Trump Administration was unilaterally deporting U.S. citizen babies.
    • In June, ABC News’s senior national correspondent Terry Moran smeared White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller as a “world-class hater” whose “hatreds are his spiritual nourishment” — just one entry in a long series of Moran’s obvious liberal bias during his tenure.
    • In June, ABC News aired what it called a “violent Border Patrol detention” — but failed to mention the detained illegal immigrant had been chasing federal agents with a weed whacker.
    • In June, ABC News praised violent Los Angeles rioters for “self-policing” — as local businesses and property were being harmed — during coverage critical of President Trump’s National Guard deployment.
    • In July, ABC News used its special coverage of the One Big Beautiful Bill signing ceremony to falsely claim the legislation would “mostly” benefit “the wealthiest Americans” and repeat the debunked talking point that millions of Americans would “lose their healthcare.”
    • In July, ABC News refused to cover the Office of National Intelligence’s announcement of a landmark investigation into Obama-era politicization and manufacturing of intelligence assessments.
    • In July, ABC News dismissed the vicious MS-13 gang — whose motto is literally “kill, rape, control” — as a “clique.”
    • In September, Stephanopoulos repeatedly — and falsely — insisted that people had somehow “died” because of the Trump Administration’s decision to shutter a bloated, wasteful bureaucratic agency.

    ABC News has not responded publicly to the criticism.

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  • Malaysia to ban social media for children under 16 next year

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    KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysia plans to ban social media accounts for people under 16 starting in 2026, joining Australia and a growing number of countries pushing tighter digital age limits for children.

    Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said Sunday the Cabinet approved the move as part of a broader effort to shield young people from online harm like cyberbullying, scams and sexual exploitation. He said the government is studying approaches taken by Australia and other countries, and the potential use of electronic checks with identity cards or passports to verify users’ ages. He did not say when exactly the ban will be enforced.

    “I believe that if the government, regulatory bodies, and parents all play their roles, we can ensure that the Internet in Malaysia is not only fast, widespread and affordable but most importantly, safe, especially for children and families,” he said.

    Since January, major social media and messaging platforms with at least 8 million users in Malaysia are required to obtain a licence as part of a broader tightening of state oversight over digital platforms. Licensed platforms must implement age verification, content-safety measures and transparency rules, reflecting the government’s push for a safer digital space.

    Australia’s parliament enacted the world’s first ban on social media for children that will begin Dec. 10, setting the minimum age at 16. Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X and YouTube as well as message board Reddit and livestreaming service Kick face fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) for systemic failures to prevent children younger than 16 from holding accounts.

    Australia’s move is being closely watched by countries that share concerns about social media impacts on young children.

    Denmark’s government also announced earlier this month plans to ban access to social media for anyone under 15, though details on how the measures would be enforced remain unclear. Norway is also moving forward with a proposed law that would set a minimum age limit of 15 for accessing social media platforms.

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  • Australia’s Teen Social Media Ban Pushes Content Creators to Look Abroad

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    SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia is home for YouTube star Jordan Barclay, the place where he was born, went to school and built a company worth $50 million by age 23 that produces gaming content for 23 million subscribers.

    Now, with a world-first social media ban on Australian children younger than 16 set to take effect on December 10, he is thinking of leaving his Melbourne studio and moving abroad.

    “We’re going to move overseas because that’s where the money is going to be,” said Barclay, whose seven YouTube channels include EYstreem, Chip and Milo, and Firelight.

    “We can’t afford to keep doing business if advertisers leave Australia.”

    Nine participants interviewed by Reuters in Australia’s social media industry, estimated to generate annual revenue of A$9 billion ($5.82 billion), did not put a dollar figure on the ban’s impact but agreed it could lead to a drop in advertisers and views.

    YouTubers, who get paid 55% of ad revenue and up to 18 Australian cents per 1,000 views, could be hit hardest, said social media researcher Susan Grantham at Griffith University.

    “If it is one clean sweep and all these accounts disappear, then instantaneously, it’s going to be detrimental to the influencer economy.”

    The law requires companies to block the accounts of more than a million people under the cut-off age, punishing “systemic breaches” with penalties of up to A$49.5 million.

    While teenagers can still watch YouTube without an account, the site’s algorithm will fail to drive traffic to popular posts, reducing views.

    Equally, creators on YouTube, TikTok and Meta’s Instagram stand to lose earnings through promotions if the number of their followers fall, Grantham said.

    Advertisers are also on edge about campaigns targeting younger audiences, said Stephanie Scicchitano, general manager at Sydney-based talent agency Born Bred Talent.

    FEWER SPONSORSHIP DEALS AS BAN DEADLINE NEARS

    Barclay’s company Spawnpoint Media sells advertising to companies such as Lego and Microsoft, but clients’ interest in sponsorship deals has declined as the ban approaches, he said.

    “They’re worried about what the ban could mean later,” he said. “If it expands, if it grows … it makes sense for us to invest overseas and not here.”

    The United States could be among his options, he said, pointing to more favourable laws and government support in such markets.

    Some creators are already leaving to avoid the curbs, such as influencers the Empire Family, who told followers in October they were relocating to Britain.

    The careers of those creating content featuring children younger than 16, such as family vloggers and child influencers, were particularly at risk, said Crystal Abidin, the director of the Influencer Ethnography Research Lab.

    “They agree that in order to continue, it’s an easy decision to immigrate,” she said.

    Children’s musicians Tina and Mark Harris, whose Lah-Lah YouTube channel has 1.4 million subscribers, said, “Any negative impact on income is going to hurt.”

    CONCERN ABOUT LASTING REPUTATIONAL HARM

    But their main concern was lasting reputational damage from the government’s description of YouTube’s harm to children.

    “Parents will get the jitters and stay away from YouTube in droves,” Mark Harris said.

    “Maybe that’s hyperbole, we just don’t know.”

    Initially exempted from the ban, Alphabet-owned YouTube was added later at the urging of Australia’s internet regulator, which said 37% of minors reported seeing harmful content on YouTube, the worst showing for a platform.

    The ban “does a disservice” to creators of high-quality content for children, said Shannon Jones, who runs Australia’s largest YouTube channel, Bounce Patrol, with more than 33 million subscribers.

    Byron Bay creator Junpei Zaki, 28, whose output is mostly drawn from interactions with 22 million followers across TikTok and YouTube, expects the ban to cause a “guaranteed drop” in likes and comments from Australia.

    “It … does feel like I’m ignoring my Australian audience that helped get me here, because they can’t interact.”

    HIT MAGNIFIED FOR SMALLER CREATORS

    Zaki estimates he will lose 100,000 followers to the ban, a blip in his global reach, but warned that smaller creators with domestic audiences would be hit harder.

    At the House of Lim food stall in Sydney’s west, 15-year-old owner Dimi Heryxlim has built a following by posting vlogs of his routine running the kitchen after school.

    Losing access to his TikTok and Instagram accounts “will be a bad thing”, he said, as some customers recognise him from his videos, but he plans to return as soon as he turns 16.

    “If I can’t get my account back, I’ll just get a new account and start everything from scratch,” said Heryxlim.

    ($1 = 1.5475 Australian dollars)

    (Reporting by Christine Chen in Sydney; Editing by Byron Kaye and Clarence Fernandez)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • X’s new location transparency feature unleashes questions about origins of MAGA accounts

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    A new transparency feature on X has stirred confusion, anger and a wave of online sleuthing after users discovered that the platform was suddenly displaying the surprising locations where certain accounts are based.

    Over the weekend, users noticed that clicking an account’s join date now opens a tab that shows the country or region in which the account is located.

    X’s head of product, Nikita Bier, teased the feature last month as a way to help users verify the authenticity of content they read and limit the influence of troll farms, which often run political accounts from outside the countries they target.

    But as soon as the feature appeared live for users, X was flooded with viral posts showing that numerous high-engagement, MAGA-branded accounts that present themselves as those of patriotic Americans appear to instead be based overseas in Eastern Europe, Thailand, Nigeria and Bangladesh.

    An account that calls itself “ULTRAMAGA 🇺🇸 TRUMP🇺🇸2028,” claiming to be based in Washington, D.C., is listed as being based in Africa. Another now-deleted account with a President Donald Trump-inspired username — “Trump Is My President” — was listed as being based in Macedonia. And an account with the username @American, complete with a profile picture featuring a bald eagle over an American flag, is apparently based in South Asia.

    But the posts that stirred the biggest frenzy came Friday morning, when screenshots and screen recordings claiming the U.S. Department of Homeland Security account was listed as being based in Israel quickly went viral. The department and Bier have both denied the speculation, claiming the posts are spreading misinformation.

    X users circulated images and videos that alleged to show the location field displaying “Tel Aviv, Israel.” The account information feature abruptly disappeared Friday night, fueling speculation that X had pulled the tool to suppress the DHS controversy. NBC News did not view the account’s location before the feature went away Friday and has not confirmed the authenticity of the posts.

    The situation unfolded amid mounting backlash from across the political spectrum to U.S. officials’ support for Israel, which many commentators have lamented as appearing to prioritize a foreign entity over America.

    DHS initially responded with a meme-like image of Trump, looking stunned, which neither confirmed nor denied the discourse about its account location.

    On Sunday, it followed up with an official denial.

    “I can’t believe we have to say this, but this account has only ever been run and operated from the United States,” DHS posted. “Screenshots are easy to forge, videos are easy to manipulate. Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

    Reached for comment, a spokesperson for DHS pointed NBC News to the same social media statement.

    The account information feature returned soon after Friday’s brief shutoff, with Bier announcing a global rollout Saturday. But the feature, which previously listed both an account’s current location and its location on the date of its creation, no longer shows the latter.

    Bier also responded to the speculation by telling a user to “stop spreading misinformation,” saying X’s account information feature was temporarily shut off “because the account creation country was incorrect on a very small subset of old accounts, due to IP ranges changing over time.” He did not clarify whether such an error was present on DHS’ account specifically.

    Still, he responded to some of the posts showing the DHS account as being based in Israel, calling the claim “fake news.”

    “Location was not available on any gray check [government] account at any point,” he wrote in response to one screen recording, which X has now labeled as “manipulated media.” “Furthermore, the DHS has only shown IPs from the United States since account creation.”

    As of Sunday morning, however, the location information is available again on the DHS account. This time, it reads: “United States.” But DHS appears to be the only gray-check government account that displays the location where it is based, as other government accounts now display only their dates of account creation and account verification.

    Bier and X did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

    Bier said in a post that there are still “a few rough edges” around the feature that should be resolved by Tuesday.

    “If any data is incorrect, it will be updated periodically based on best available information,” he wrote. “This happens on a delayed and randomized schedule to preserve privacy.”

    Here are five things to know about Elon Musk.

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