Kalakshar US

The breadth and reach of Australia’s pioneering social media ban grows as livestream platform Twitch has now been added to the list of banned platforms for users under 16 years of age. The nationwide ban is the first of its kind and encompasses Facebook, X, TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube and recently Reddit.

According to the BBC, Australia’s eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said Twitch had been included because it was “a platform most commonly used for livestreaming or posting content that enables users, including Australian children, to interact with others in relation to the content posted.”

No other platforms are expected to be added before the law goes into effect next month. Grant also said on Friday that Pinterest would not be included in the ban because the core purpose of the platform was not online social interaction.

Under the ban, platforms are expected to take “reasonable steps” to prevent underage users from accessing their platforms, and face steep fees for failure to comply. While VPNs may provide a workaround in some instances, the law still creates an enormous barrier to entry for users under 16.

Earlier this month, Denmark announced its lawmakers had reached a bipartisan agreement to enact a similar ban for users under 15, though details were scarce. In the US, several states have attempted to enact such a ban including Texas and Florida, though these measures either failed to pass or are held up in court. Even laws that don’t go as far, such as Utah’s law requiring parents to grant permission for teens to open social media accounts, are facing stiff opposition on First Amendment grounds.

Concern around minors’ social media continues to grow in the zeitgeist as evidence mounts surrounding the potential ill effects these platforms have on their youngest users.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/australia-is-adding-twitch-to-its-social-media-ban-for-children-202033276.html?src=rss 

Apple TV+ is offering six months of access for only $36 for Black Friday. The deal is live now for new and eligible returning subscribers and runs through December 1, giving you a chance to stream shows like Silo, The Morning Show and For All Mankind for less. It’s a short-term offer, so you’ll want to grab it while it’s available. The biggest caveat to the deal is that you must subscribe directly through Apple and not through a third-party service.

Apple TV+ continues to build one of the strongest lineups in streaming. Its library includes standout originals like Ted Lasso, Severance, Slow Horses, For All Mankind, Foundation and Silo, along with newer releases such as The Studio and Dope Thief. On the film side, you’ll find the 2022 Best Picture winner CODA, plus Killers of the Flower Moon, Blitz and Tetris.

Apple’s streaming service has earned plenty of recognition since launch. Apple TV+ shows picked up 10 Emmy Awards in 2024, including a win for Slow Horses for outstanding writing in a drama series.

Apple TV+ also offers a polished streaming experience. All content is ad-free and available in up to 4K HDR, with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos support where available. The app works on nearly every device, from iPhone and iPad to smart TVs, PlayStation, Xbox and Roku. You can also download episodes and movies to watch offline, which is handy for travel or long commutes.

If you’re already invested in Apple’s ecosystem, the integration is seamless. You can share your subscription with up to five other people through Family Sharing, and playback syncs across devices so you can start a show on your iPhone and finish it on your TV. Apple TV+ is also part of the Apple One bundle if you prefer to manage multiple Apple services under a single plan.

This deal is available to new and qualified returning subscribers, meaning those who haven’t had an active subscription in the past 30 days. You’ll need to sign up directly through Apple rather than a third-party service or carrier. Once the three-month period ends, the plan renews at the standard $13 per month, so be sure to cancel before the renewal date if you don’t want to continue.

With a growing slate of original series, award-winning films and a slick interface, Apple TV+ has turned into one of the best streaming services for premium content. And with this limited-time deal, you can catch up on its biggest hits without paying full price.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/apple-tv-black-friday-deal-get-six-months-of-access-for-only-36-203322621.html?src=rss 

My colleagues on Engadget’s buying advice team have put out great recommendations for physical gadgets like this humble fabric shaver that are on sale for Black Friday. I, however, am an evolved being who swims in the digital ether, so my top product of the year lives only online — though DeleteMe will still improve your life wherever you are. From now until December 5, DeleteMe is offering 30 percent off all subscriptions with the coupon code BFCM30OFF25.

Chances are you’ve seen at least one public-facing “people search” site. You know the ones: they usually have names like 411.info or Find.people, and you can type in a person’s name and find all the info the site has been able to scrape on them. If you search your own name, it’s hard to avoid immediately running to the kitchen to make yourself a tinfoil hat. The most annoying thing is that these “data broker” sites are perfectly legal to run and use.

However, that’s also their Achilles’ heel. If they want to operate in the open, brokers legally have to include a way for you to remove yourself from their database. Most of them make it as aggravating and time-consuming as possible, but the option is there.

That’s where DeleteMe comes in. All you have to do is sign up and enter all the data you want removed from brokerage sites. DeleteMe handles the rest. It searches for your information on people database sites, automatically sends opt-out requests, bugs the broker if they don’t comply quickly enough and gives you a weekly report on how it’s doing. You do have to be OK with DeleteMe itself having your data, but I trust them way more than the randos over at violate.privacy.

It’s so much faster than handling all the opt-out requests yourself, which — if you’ve ever tried it — rapidly becomes a full-time job. Since I’ve been using DeleteMe, I almost never get spam calls or texts anymore, except in short bursts before its crawlers catch my name on another site. And yes, it doesn’t work on shady data brokers who don’t follow the rules, but it’s still a massive reduction of your online footprint.

The only problem is that it’s pretty expensive, so I strongly recommend jumping on this Black Friday deal. A few months on DeleteMe should be long enough for you to see if it reduces spam for you — and I’m betting it will.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-most-effective-anti-spam-tool-ive-ever-used-is-on-sale-for-black-friday-190526952.html?src=rss 

Google has started inserting ads into query results from its AI Mode, which was originally spotted by an SEO consultant named Brodie Clark. These ads show up in the bottom of search results in the Gemini-powered AI Mode. They are labeled as “sponsored” content, but otherwise look similar to other links whipped up by the chatbot.

Google says this is just a test and that ads shouldn’t be showing up for all users. The company also told 9to5Google that there are no current plans to fully update AI Mode to incorporate ads. Those are nice words, but AI has to make money somehow and ads seem to be a good way to do that.

For now, the software seems to be prioritizing organic links over sponsored links, but we all know how insidious ads can be once the floodgates open. AI presents an especially slippery slope here, as these chatbots are often advertised as personal assistants. I don’t really want a personal assistant barking ads at me 24/7.

Incidentally, there doesn’t seem to be any way to hide the aforementioned sponsored links. Google Search lets users hide sponsored results once they scroll past them.

It sure looks like our free ride is already coming to an end, as AI companies are really speedrunning through that whole enshittification thing. X recently announced that it would be incorporating ads into query results. 

There are also rumors that OpenAI has been hiring people to turn ChatGPT into an ad platform. That company’s recently-launched AI social media slop factory Sora reportedly burns through $15 million a day generating videos of Sam Altman eating pizza in space or whatever. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/google-starts-testing-ads-in-ai-mode-192800265.html?src=rss