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ONLINE SAFETY NEWS

Emphasising the potential for children’s well-being outside of social media is one way of ensuring digital detox. (Representative/ Express file photo by Praveen Khanna)

After Australia’s ban, a look at how other countries regulate social media use by children

December 15, 2025 4:54 pm

Denmark and Malaysia are already planning to impose total bans on social media for under-16s, and Australia’s experience may provide a regulatory template for these countries.

Jasmine Bentley, center, and Amelie Tomlinson, far right, watch a TikTok video with their friends in Melbourne, Australia, Nov. 13, 2025.

Australia’s teen social media ban kicks in from December 10: Five key points to know

December 08, 2025 3:32 pm

Several social media platforms, such as Instagram and Facebook, have already moved to deactivate hundreds of thousands of accounts belonging to young teens in Australia.

A new US study found that children who had a smartphone by age 12 were at a higher risk of depression, obesity and insufficient sleep than those who did not yet have one.

Indian govt orders smartphone makers to preload state-owned cyber safety app

December 02, 2025 8:52 am

The government said the app was essential to combat "serious endangerment" of telecom cyber security from duplicate or spoofed IMEI numbers, which enable scams and network misuse.

Did Meta shelve teen safety features to protect growth? What new court filing claims

November 25, 2025 8:46 am

Meta resisted safety changes for years to avoid hampering user engagement, alleges a new court filing that cites unredacted internal studies such as Project Mercury and Project Daisy.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes smart glasses will define the next era of personal technology. (Image: Instagram/@zuck)

Meta denies using porn to train AI models, says downloads were for ‘personal use’

November 03, 2025 9:44 am

Meta has been hit with a lawsuit amid reports that its AI chatbots were allowed to engage in romantic or sensual conversations with children.

Instagram shows more 'eating disorder adjacent' content to vulnerable teens, internal Meta research shows

October 22, 2025 9:33 am

Meta surveyed 1,149 teens over the course of the 2023-2024 academic year about whether and how often they felt bad about their bodies after using Instagram.