This Month
Calls to ban Facebook and Instagram in Australia
The heads of major media organisations say Meta’s refusal to renew about $70 million in commercial deals with news outlets will likely lead to job losses and newspaper closures.
- Updated
- Hannah Wootton
- Opinion
- AFR Magazine
Instagram and TikTok are threatened, so fashion is switching channels
Snap, Pinterest and Substack are poised to pick up where other social media platforms once dominated.
- Lauren Sams
US surgeon-general urges tobacco-style warnings on social media
Vivek Murthy’s call to action comes as regulators and legislators increasingly scrutinise links between social media use and children’s mental health.
- Cristiano Lima-Strong and Aaron Gregg
Social media set to overtake TV as top source of news
The survey findings come as a Labor-led parliamentary committee demands tech firms and media companies face questions about the influence of such platforms.
- Sam Buckingham-Jones
Social media ban on kids faces big technical hurdles: experts
Australia has bipartisan support for a 16-year-old limit for using social media, as Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton argued about who was first to demand it.
- Paul Smith
- Opinion
- AI
Why the growing ‘slop’ on your social feeds is dangerous
Like the other type of slop, AI-assisted search comes together quickly, but not necessarily in a way critical thinkers can stomach.
- Benjamin Hoffman
eSafety drops case against Musk’s X over bishop stabbing video
The online safety watchdog has abandoned its court case against X after suffering a legal setback.
- Tess Bennett
May
TikTok video about finance bros is a viral hit
A 19-second song poking fun at old stereotypes has become a viral hit.
- Crystal Tse
Why age restrictions on social media ‘won’t happen overnight’
Australia’s eSafety Commissioner says it is difficult to judge the correct age to ban kids from social media.
- Tess Bennett
What type As are doing when they want a real challenge
Running 42.2 kilometres continuously will always be impressive. But for a rising number of extreme exercisers, it is no more than a starting point.
- Euan Black
Why young women are falling out of love with dating apps
Gen Z is a priority for Tinder and Bumble but threats and unsolicited material from potential suitors often turn users off.
- Stephanie Stacey
- Opinion
- UK
The humble email sign-off is not what it used to be
It is not exactly clear when the sign-off turned into yet another tool in the arsenal of self-promotion deployed in so much of modern corporate life, but I do not see it fading any time soon.
- Pilita Clark
Elon Musk’s X accountable for hate speech posts in Australia: ruling
The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal has rejected the platform formerly called Twitter’s argument that it should not be held responsible for anti-Muslim posts here because it is US-based.
- Alex Mitchell
- Analysis
- Analysis
X ruling marks the spot for online police
Elon Musk has overreach by Australia’s eSafety commissioner to thank for an important victory in the courts.
- Michael Pelly
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Meme stock stupidity is back at the dumbest possible time
The $6 billion jump in the value of crappy US retailer GameStop is a sign of pure speculative excess.
- James Thomson
Musk triumphs over Australian government on stabbing videos
The ruling raises questions about whether the eSafety Commission has sufficient powers to do its job or if it bungled its case against Elon Musk’s X.
- Nick Bonyhady
15 minutes to get around X’s stabbing video ban, court hears
Lawyers for the social network argued that they had complied with a government take-down notice, which they said was invalid, by blocking footage in Australia.
- Nick Bonyhady
Labor goes to war with Meta in far-reaching inquiry
Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg and X owner Elon Musk could be called on to face federal parliament, as part of a new inquiry into social media algorithms.
- Tom McIlroy
Why everyone’s mad at Apple’s new iPad ad
Apple’s crushing of human creativity has sparked backlash, but its new iPad Pro ad has also inspired some surprising video responses.
- Will Oremus
How TikTok changed fashion
Trends in what people wear, whether hemlines, colours or the way they think about and shop for clothes, no longer begin with designers or even influencers.
- Rachel Tashjian
