Meta says it has taken down about 20 covert influence operations in 2024

Firm names Russia as top source of such activity but says it is ‘striking’ how little AI was used to try to trick voters

From Nigel Farage to farmers, Labour’s social media strategy is a flop. Here’s how to fix it

The party must realise that if it doesn’t emotionally engage with voters, someone else with a viral TikTok video will, writes content creator Sophia Smith Galer

Protecting or restricting? The effect of social media bans on the big dreams of young Australians

Australia is about to find out if stopping under-16s accessing sites will protect against harmful content or stifle creativity and block opportunity

Meta to force financial advertisers to be verified in bid to prevent celebrity scam ads targeting Australians

Exclusive: Businesses to require financial services licence number to post Facebook ads while individuals will need government-issued ID

‘Child poverty has got a lot worse’: outgoing charity boss lambasts Tory failures and social media giants

Peter Wanless of the NSPCC calls for more preventive action on child poverty, a ban on ‘morally repugnant’ smacking and favours guardrails online rather than bans

Instagram actively helping spread of self-harm among teenagers, study finds

Researchers say parent company Meta is failing to remove explicit images on the social media site

‘His Facebook was a shrine to my face’: the day I caught my catfish

I stumbled on a profile with my picture as the photo. What was this man doing with my identity? I set out to track him down …

Australian-style social media ban for under-16s ‘a retrograde step’, say UK charities

Child safety experts say similar move in Britain would penalise young people for the failings of tech companies

‘Teenage girls are feeling vulnerable’: fears grow over online beauty filters

Studies suggest children are having their self-esteem harmed by filters that ape the effects of cosmetic surgery

How Australia’s tough social media ban compares to laws in other countries

Laws will bar under-16s from accessing social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit and X

Romanian court orders recount of presidential election’s first-round votes

Also, presidential office says officials detected online efforts to influence vote won by little-known far-right candidate

A spy story from Gary Lineker’s Goalhanger gang

The podcast studio behind the Rest Is … universe goes deep on the 1953 Iran coup in The Rest Is Classified. Plus: five of the best expert advice podcasts

Reddit overtakes X in popularity of social media platforms in UK

Discussion platform takes fifth place in rankings and is the fastest growing large social media platform in the UK

Richard Hartley

Technology, Photography & Film

A spy story from Gary Lineker’s Goalhanger gang