Researchers say TikTok, X, and Meta aren’t providing data they’re legally required to. In the final weeks before Romania’s presidential vote in November 2024, TikTok accounts that had previously spent years posting about manicures or fashion suddenly started promoting a little-known politician named Calin Georgescu. His posts, espousing hard-line views on immigration and anti-Semitic tropes, were viewed 120 million times before the vote. Georgescu, who had previously been polling in the single digits, stunned observers by winning the election’s first round with 23 percent of the vote. In the Netherlands, Adriana Iamnitchi was watching closely. As chair of computational social sciences at Maastricht University, she leads the research into disinformation campaigns. She wanted to know how pro-Georgescu content was being monetized on TikTok through hidden influencer marketing and livestreamed political content. On October 28, 2025, a month before Georgescu won the first round, she and her team applied for access to TikTok’s Application Programming Interface (API) under the EU’s recent Digital Services Act (DSA). Their request was denied. TikTok said they had failed to prove they were e
Jul 25, 2026 → Aug 14, 2026
This article was published on August 14, 2026 Meta removed 756,000 accounts under the Australia social media ban. The line that matters sits in its final paragraph, where Meta asks that Apple and Google do the age checking instead.…
Read original at The Next Web →9 updates from 4 sources over 3 weeks.
This article was published on August 14, 2026 Meta removed 756,000 accounts under the Australia social media ban. The line that matters sits in its final paragraph, where Meta asks that Apple and Google do the age…
Read original at The Next Web →A U.S. Appeals court just dealt Meta a big blow in the company’s long fight against social media addiction lawsuits. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected an appeals request from Meta, basically allowing the…
Read original at Gizmodo →Judges tell Meta that Section 230 provides a defense, not immunity from lawsuits. Meta and TikTok tried to defeat thousands of social media addiction lawsuits in one fell swoop, but an appeals court rejected the attempt…
Read original at Ars Technica →X is attempting to fix that problem where your timeline is choked with the same content, especially spammy videos from YouTube or TikTok, that just cycles over and over. It’s calling the new plan its Original Content…
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Read original at The Guardian →This article was published on August 2, 2026 The updated bill widens the scope beyond social media and search to cover professional networking platforms, and increases the charge rate after industry consultation…
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Read original at The Guardian →Researchers say TikTok, X, and Meta aren’t providing data they’re legally required to. In the final weeks before Romania’s presidential vote in November 2024, TikTok accounts that had previously spent years posting…
Read original at Ars Technica →What this story stands on. Tier 0 is a primary record or the subject's own words; higher tiers must be attributed, never stated as bare fact.
This article was published on August 14, 2026 Meta removed 756,000 accounts under the Australia social media ban. The line that matters sits in its final paragraph, where Meta asks that Apple and Google do the age checking instead.…
View source →A U.S. Appeals court just dealt Meta a big blow in the company’s long fight against social media addiction lawsuits. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected an appeals request from Meta, basically allowing the social media giant and…
View source →Judges tell Meta that Section 230 provides a defense, not immunity from lawsuits. Meta and TikTok tried to defeat thousands of social media addiction lawsuits in one fell swoop, but an appeals court rejected the attempt in a ruling issued…
View source →X is attempting to fix that problem where your timeline is choked with the same content, especially spammy videos from YouTube or TikTok, that just cycles over and over. It’s calling the new plan its Original Content Rewards Program,…
View source →While some users say the wearables have changed their lives, critics voice fears over safety and privacy With more than 7m pairs reportedly sold in 2025, Meta’s Ray-Ban smartglasses are fast becoming one of the world’s most popular…
View source →This article was published on August 2, 2026 The updated bill widens the scope beyond social media and search to cover professional networking platforms, and increases the charge rate after industry consultation Australia has expanded its…
View source →Tier key: T0 = Primary source · T1 = Wire · T2 = Outlet report · T3 = Commentary
Sierra and Meta are developing Personal Agent Protocol, an open standard defining how personal AI agents authenticate with businesses and what those businesses let them do, with…
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