#digital-safety

#digital-safety

Australia became the world's first country to ban social media for children under 16 in December 2025. The ban blocks children from using Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube, Reddit, Twitch, and Kick. It notably doesn't include WhatsApp or YouTube Kids. The Australian government has said these social media companies must take steps to keep children off their services.

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground.

Available for a one-time payment of the equivalent of $1.15 in US dollars, the app - with the evocative name of "Are You Dead?" - is basically a large countdown timer that you have to reset regularly, and which alerts an emergency contact if you let the time run out. As the BBC reports, the app's counter is set to two days by default. After downloading, a user simply has to open the app and tap a large button to reset it.

The Pew Research Center released a study on Tuesday that shows how young people are using both social media and AI chatbots. Teen internet safety has remained a global hot topic, with Australia planning to enforce a social media ban for under-16s starting on Wednesday. The impact of social media on teen mental health has been extensively debated - some studies show how online communities can improve mental health, while other research shows the adverse effects of doomscrolling or spending too much time online.

A draft of the measure, released in October, urged "the establishment of a harmonised European digital age limit of 16 years old as the default threshold under which access to online social media platforms should not be allowed unless parents or guardians have authorised their children otherwise." They also recommended setting a harmonised EU digital age limit of 13, under which no minor would be permitted to access social media. The same minimum age would apply to video-sharing platforms and so-called "AI companions," whose popularity among adolescents has raised concerns in several EU states.

When my daughter turned 16, I didn't hand her the car keys and hope for the best. She spent a few months in driver's ed, practicing parallel parking, checking blind spots, and learning to handle heavy traffic and bad weather. Like all new drivers, she needed guidance and practice before she could drive safely on her own. With generative AI tools, we all have something far more powerful than a car. And most of us aren't getting lessons at all.

According to a recent research study conducted by McAfee - the global leader in online protection - over half of Americans say they or someone they know has fallen victim to an online scam in the last year.

Email accounts have become more than a longstanding method of communication, morphing into the centre of your digital world as the user login for hundreds of services from shopping to socials.

"Never leave your phone unlocked around someone you don't fully trust, and always have a screen lock," Porcar told The Sun.