Digital media

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We have lost so much of ourselves to smartphones: can we get it back?

My use of mobile phones has been compulsive – has it been for better or for worse?• From a priest to a pensioner, a teenager to a tech CEO: can you guess our screen time?In 2003, the Stanford social scientist BJ Fogg published an extraordinarily prescient book. Persuasive Technology: Using Computers to Change What We […]

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Millions creating deepfake nudes on Telegram as AI tools drive global wave of digital abuse

Analysis finds at least 150 channels on messaging app that are distributing AI-generated images and videoMillions of people around the world are creating and sharing deepfake nudes on the secure messaging app Telegram, a Guardian analysis has shown, as the spread of advanced AI tools industrialises the online abuse of women.The Guardian has identified at

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‘This can’t be left to individual families’: how social media ban could affect under-16s

Parents, teachers and young people share their views on whether social media restrictions would work in the UKPressure is mounting on the UK government to introduce a ban on social media for under-16s, after a decisive vote in House of Lords in favour of Australian-style restrictions.Peers backed a Tory-led amendment to the children’s wellbeing and

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UK media groups should be allowed to opt out of Google AI Overviews, CMA says

News organisations hope proposals will increase leverage to get paid if content is used in AI summariesWeb publishers and news organisations could be given the power to stop Google scraping their content for its AI Overviews, under measures announced by the UK competition watchdog to loosen its grip on online search.Media organisations have experienced a

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Why I’m launching a feminist video games website in 2026

I’ve been a games journalist since 2007, but still there isn’t much video games coverage that feels like it’s specifically for people like me. So I’m creating a home for it: MothershipWhether you’re reading about the impending AI bubble bursting or about the video game industry’s mass layoffs and cancelled projects, 2026 does not feel

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Children need protecting from social media – and generative AI | Letters

Dr Madeline G Reinecke says any policy focused on protecting children must broaden its scope beyond traditional social media platforms, while Alexandra Cocksworth says real connections are crucial. Plus a letter from Ali OliverThe government’s consultation surrounding whether to ban social media for under-16s responds to widespread concern about digital harms (UK ministers launch consultation

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Snapchat’s parent company settles social media addiction lawsuit before trial

Snap’s chief executive had been due to testify in civil action also involving Meta, TikTok and YouTubeSnapchat’s parent company has settled a civil lawsuit shortly before it was due to start in California, but other large tech companies still face a trial under the case.Snap’s chief executive, Evan Spiegel, had been due to testify in

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My analogue month: would ditching my smartphone make me healthier, happier – or more stressed?

When I swapped my iPhone for a Nokia, Walkman, film camera and physical map, I wasn’t sure what to expect. But my life soon started to changeWhen two balaclava-clad men on a motorbike mounted the pavement to rob me, recently, I remained oblivious. My eyes were pinned to a text message on my phone, and

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Deactivate your X account – you won’t miss it when it’s gone | Letter

Why prolific poster Sam Nair decided it was time to kick the doom-scrolling into touchAs a past follower of Marie Le Conte (AKA the Young Vulgarian) on X, I read her column on leaving the platform with interest, complete empathy and self-reflection (To anybody still using X: sexual abuse content is the final straw, it’s

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Sacked TikTok workers in UK launch legal action over ‘union busting’

Moderators accuse social media firm of unfair dismissal after it fired hundreds in UK just before vote to form unionTikTok moderators have accused the social media company of “oppressive and intimidating” union busting after it fired hundreds of workers in the UK, beginning the process just before they were due to vote on forming a

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