Activities of those aged 0 to three often involve sensory exploration and embodied cognition, researchers find Although it has been argued that under-threes should not have any screen time at all, research has found that digital tech can offer “rich opportunities” for young children’s development. A two-year study, Toddlers, Tech and Talk, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and led by researchers from Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), working with Lancaster, Queen’s Belfast, Strathclyde and Swansea universities, looked at children’s interactions with everything from Amazon Alexa to Ring doorbells, in diverse communities across the UK, to find out how tech was influencing 0- to three-year-olds’ early talk and literacy. Continue reading...

Lawsuit alleges TikTok’s algorithm exposed teenagers to videos promoting suicide, self-harm and eating disorders Seven French families have filed a lawsuit against TikTok, accusing the platform of exposing their adolescent children to harmful content that led to two of them taking their own lives at 15, their lawyer said. The lawsuit alleges TikTok’s algorithm exposed the seven teenagers to videos promoting suicide, self-harm and eating disorders, lawyer Laure Boutron-Marmion told broadcaster Franceinfo on Monday. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org Continue reading...

Online services that promise to find people romantic matches have been likened to gambling products designed to keep customers hooked “Designed to be deleted” is the tagline of one of the UK’s most popular dating apps. Hinge promises that it is “the dating app for people who want to get off dating apps” – the place to find lasting love. But critics say modern dating is in crisis. They claim that dating apps, which have been downloaded hundreds of millions of times worldwide, are “exploitative” and are designed not to be deleted but to be addictive, to retain users in order to create revenue. Continue reading...

Posts lauding anything from running in the rain to tiredness and a comfy bed are springing up on Instagram and TikTok “What a privilege it is to run in the rain. What a privilege it is to have a house I need to clean.” Social media is usually criticised for being a toxic space, but an emerging trend is pushing back against negativity with gratitude. Posts entitled “What a privilege” feature everything from images of cosy beds (What a privilege it is to be exhausted after a long day) to videos of travelling (What a privilege it is to carry a heavy bag) to kitchen hobs (What a privilege it is to think about what to make for dinner everyday) have sprung up on Instagram and TikTok. Continue reading...

The platform’s billionaire owner has seen its value plunge as advertisers run shy, revenues drop and user numbers fall Two years ago, there was some trepidation among advertisers, anti-hate-speech groups and staff about Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter. Those concerns have been borne out: advertisers have sharply reduced spending on the platform, Musk has sued nonprofits over their coverage of a rise in controversial content and about eight out of 10 employees have been sacked. Continue reading...

The megalomaniacs who control X and Facebook are only able to pollute the public sphere and undermine democracy because of our deference to money There are two kinds of aphrodisiac. The first is power. A good example was provided by the late Henry Kissinger, who could hardly be described as toothsome yet was doted upon by a host of glamorous women. The other powerful aphrodisiac is immense wealth. This has all kinds of effects. It makes people (even journalists who should know better) deferential, presumably because they subscribe to the delusion that if someone is rich then they must be clever. But its effects on the rich person are more profound: it cuts them off from reality. When they travel, writes Jack Self in an absorbing essay: “The car takes them to the aerodrome, where the plane takes them to another aerodrome, where a car takes them to the destination (with perhaps a helicopter inserted somewhere). Every journey is bookended by identical Mercedes Vito Tourers (gloss black, tinted windows). Every flight is within the cosy confines of a Cessna Citation (or a King Air or Embraer)… The ultra-rich never wait in line at a carousel or a customs table or a passport control. There are no accidental encounters. No unwelcome, unapproved or unsanitary humans enter their sight – no souls that could espouse a foreign view. The ultra-rich do not see anything they do not want to see.” Continue reading...

X owner renews hostilities with Center for Countering Digital Hate after it is linked to US election interference row * UK politics live – latest updates A UK-founded anti-hate speech campaign group dragged into the Labour US election interference row has vowed to carry on its work after Elon Musk’s latest declaration of “war” against the organisation. The Center for Countering Digital Hate returned to the crosshairs of the world’s richest person this week after Musk alleged that it was violating laws against foreign interference in US elections. Continue reading...

You’ve decided you don’t want to post pictures of your baby online. What about all the requests for cute photos from grandparents? Welcome to Opt Out, a semi-regular column in which we help you navigate your online privacy and show you how to say no to surveillance. The last column covered how to protect your baby’s photos on the internet. You’re a parent, and you’ve decided publicly posting your baby’s face on the internet is just not for you. You’ve got a handle on how to actually protect your baby’s photos on the internet (perhaps because you’ve read our guide!). Now it’s just a matter of doing it. Continue reading...

Prime minister wants young people to be shielded from ‘power of the algorithm’ Norway is to enforce a strict minimum age limit on social media of 15 as the government ramped up its campaign against tech companies it says are “pitted against small children’s brains”. The Norwegian prime minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, conceded it would be “an uphill battle” but said politicians must intervene to protect children from the “power of the algorithms”. Continue reading...

Plus: World of Warcraft, polling and cats • Don’t get TechScape delivered to your inbox? Sign up here Hello, and welcome to TechScape. I’m Blake Montgomery, technology news editor at the Guardian US. Today in TechScape I’m deciphering Elon Musk’s global political goals, a remarkable documentary filmed within World of Warcraft, polling on support for school phone bans, and cats on TikTok. Thank you for joining me. First, let’s talk about Musk’s global politics. Over the weekend, Musk pledged to give away $1m a day to registered voters in battleground states in the US who sign his Pac’s petition in support of the first and second amendments. He awarded the first prize, a novelty check the size of a kitchen island, at a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday and the second on Sunday in Pittsburgh. He says he’ll keep doing it until the election on 5 November. The stunt is potentially illegal, experts say. Continue reading...