Mounting pressure to regulate children’s use of technology in the United States raises the question: Is childproofing the internet constitutional? In response to significant political pressure stemming from alarming revelations about youth experience with digital technologies, a wave of state laws have recently passed across the U.S. They address a variety of online harms affecting children, ranging from exposure […] … learn more→

In the early days of the internet, famously, no one knew if you were a dog. The internet was a place where you could be anyone. More importantly, it was also a place where you could find anything: that rare book, or the perfect pair of neon-pink tights, or a community for your unusual health condition. […] … learn more→

When it comes to our experience of the internet, “the times, they are a-changin’”, as Bob Dylan would say. You can’t quite recall how, but the internet certainly feels different these days. To some, it is “less fun and less informative” than it used to be. To others, online searches are made up of “cookie cutter” […] … learn more→

The United States’ most senior public health official, surgeon-general Vivek Murthy, believes social media platforms should come with warning labels. The United Nations’ education, science and culture agency says smartphones should be banned in schools. Chinese regulators are pushing to limit children’s smartphone use to just two hours a day. These are just a few high profile examples […] … learn more→

About one-third of the global population, around 3 billion people, don’t have access to the internet or have poor connections because of infrastructure limitations, economic disparities and geographic isolation. Today’s satellites and ground-based networks leave communications gaps where, because of geography, setting up traditional ground-based communications equipment would be too expensive. High-altitude platform stations – telecommunications equipment positioned high […] … learn more→

On Monday a US federal judge ruled Google has violated antitrust laws, saying the organisation is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly. Google disputes the ruling. Its president of global affairs, Kent Walker, said “this decision recognises that Google offers the best search engine, but concludes that we shouldn’t be allowed […] … learn more→

In an increasingly digitalized and interconnected world, concern about cybersecurity is growing among users. Just days ago, the global collapse of Microsoft left millions of users without access to critical tools in thousands of public and private companies . This incident shows us the vulnerability of our systems and the urgent need to adopt secure solutions. As a society, […] … learn more→

If you search “shrimp Jesus” on Facebook, you might encounter dozens of images of artificial intelligence (AI) generated crustaceans meshed in various forms with a stereotypical image of Jesus Christ. Some of these hyper-realistic images have garnered more than 20,000 likes and comments. So what exactly is going on here? The “dead internet theory” has […] … learn more→

Outside the world of open-source software, it’s likely few people would have heard about XZ Utils, a small but widely used tool for data compression in Linux systems. But late last week, security experts uncovered a serious and deliberate flaw that could leave networked Linux computers susceptible to malicious attacks. The flaw has since been confirmed […] … learn more→

Technological devices have been integrated into our daily lives to such an extent that some call them “Trojan horses of the 21st century.” Mobile phones, computers and tablets are part of the daily routine of children, adolescents, young people and adults. These devices have been progressively installed and surround us in a dense network that demands our […] … learn more→