Technologies

Australia Bans Social Media for Kids Under 16. Which Sites Are Blocked?

The new Australian law restricts some social media platforms, but other services and AI chatbots are exempt.

While governments around the world continue to tackle the thorny issue of age verification for certain websites and platforms, Australia is taking a blunter approach. Starting today, the entire country will ban social media sites for all children younger than 16 years old.

The age-restricted apps include TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Snapchat, YouTube, Reddit, Kick and Twitch. Younger teenagers will still have access to the popular gaming platform Discord, Messenger Kids, WhatsApp, Pinterest, Kids Helpline, Google Classroom and YouTube Kids. The ban also doesn’t include AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, OpenAI’s Sora or Google Gemini.

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Australia is the first country to launch this kind of age-restricted social media ban. Several other countries, including China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Turkey, Uganda, Saudi Arabia and India have full or partial social media bans, typically for political and security reasons.

Other countries, including Denmark, France, Norway and Malaysia, are considering similar bans to Australia’s and will be monitoring the effectiveness of the Australian ban over the coming months.

Although many studies have been conducted worldwide about the psycho-emotional effects of social media usage on children, the ban was inspired by The Anxious Generation, a book by US psychologist Jonathan Haidt. Annabel West, the wife of South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas, encouraged her husband to consider a ban after reading Haidt’s book in 2024.

Tech companies must enforce Australia’s ban, or face massive fines

Apps can use age-assurance technology, such as facial and voice analysis, to verify that a consumer is at least 16 years of age. Social media companies can also check how long an account has been active and assess age by language style and community memberships.

Kids being kids, they will find workarounds — such as one 13-year-old who held up a photo of her mother’s face to fool the age verification. The Australian government said it will prevent kids from using false identity documents, AI tools or VPNs to fake their age and location.

Tech companies will face a $33 million fine, as outlined in the legislation, if they fail to enforce the under-16 ban.

Two 15-year-old Australians, supported by the Digital Freedom Project, are challenging the social media ban, and the country’s High Court could hear their case as early as February. They argue, in part, that the ban “will have the effect of sacrificing a considerable sphere of freedom of expression and engagement for 13-to-15-year-olds in social media interactions (including communications on personal and governmental matters, and the benefits to those young people of such interactions).”

TikTok said it will comply with the new laws, although noting that the restrictions “may be upsetting” to customers. Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, has already begun removing accounts of users under 16. Snapchat is ready to boot nearly half a million Australian kids from their accounts. Not surprisingly, X boss Elon Musk has criticized the change, writing in 2024 that the law “seems like a backdoor way to control access to the Internet by all Australians.”

Some experts are praising Australia’s ban

Donna Rice Hughes, president and CEO of Enough is Enough, a nonprofit with a mission to “make the Internet safer for children and families,” praised Australia for “taking a proactive stick approach to protect children from social media harms.”

Enough is Enough, which launched in 1992, has documented the myriad pitfalls of social media for children, including overuse, sexting, online exploitation, bullying, depression and more. The organization has published several internet safety guides and safety settings for social media apps.

“This ban should be an incentive for social media and other online platforms and services to be proactive in implementing safer-by-design technologies and default parental management tools before rushing to market with products that are potentially dangerous for children and teens,” Hughes told CNET.

Hughes added that Big Tech has only itself to blame for governmental intervention such as Australia’s.

“They’ve failed to do the right thing by our children from the start,” she said. “The carrot approach of voluntary industry efforts to prioritize child safety over profits hasn’t worked. A historic reality is that the first social media platforms to take off in the US and abroad, Facebook and Myspace, were developed for college-age students and older.”

The US does not have a sweeping age limit like Australia’s, but several states are developing new laws to regulate and restrict teens’ access to social media.

Technologies

Washington’s major crypto bill stalls as SEC forges ahead

The SEC has proposed new rules to simplify crypto custody for advisers and funds, aiming to update outdated requirements and expand investment options. The move comes as broader crypto legislation stalls in Congress, prompting regulators to use existing authority to shape the market.

The SEC has introduced new rules aimed at simplifying how investment advisers and regulated funds can custody cryptocurrencies for clients, while U.S. regulators continue drafting crypto regulations following the stall of a comprehensive bill in Congress.

Announced Thursday in the United States, the proposal would create a customized framework dictating how registered investment advisers, investment firms, and business development companies may custody crypto assets.

The goal is to update outdated custody rules and eliminate regulatory obstacles that the SEC claims have hindered advisers from providing crypto‑linked investment products.

Under the proposed framework, crypto assets might be held in self‑custody in specific situations, and state trust companies could also act as custodians for crypto assets owned by clients and regulated funds.

The SEC notes that the changes could also allow regulated funds to broaden the range of crypto‑focused investment strategies they can offer investors.

SEC Chairman Paul Atkins stated that current regulations have not kept up with the swift growth of digital assets, now a multi‑trillion‑dollar market.

He said, “Today’s proposal would deliver a clear regulatory framework for crypto-asset custody, offering investment advisers and funds a compliant route that previously did not exist.”

The proposal arrives as U.S. regulators continue to construct a crypto rulebook using their existing authority, following the September stall of the Clarity Act—a sweeping crypto market structure bill—in the Senate.

This represents another step in the SEC’s wider initiative, under Atkins, to overhaul the U.S. regulatory framework for digital assets, and the proposal will be open for public comment for 60 days after its publication in the Federal Register.

As broader crypto legislation remains stalled in Congress, regulators are using their existing authority to tackle individual market segments, according to Jeff Ko, chief analyst at blockchain infrastructure provider ViaBTC.

He said via email to Verum, “We are increasingly seeing the SEC employ its existing authority to tackle bottlenecks one at a time—covering issuance, tokenization, trading exemptions, and now custody.”

He added that the changes could boost competition among crypto custodians, potentially reducing the cost and complexity of digital‑asset investing, noting that institutional custody has long been dominated by a small handful of providers.

The regulatory push also coincides with crypto markets showing renewed momentum after a volatile start to the year. Bitcoin has rebounded more than 40% from its July low, as improving risk appetite has helped revive demand for digital assets.

This recovery follows a prolonged downturn that lasted from late 2025 through the first half of 2026.

Technologies

Passengers and crew foil co-pilot’s apparent attempt to crash FlyDubai flight to Israel

One of the pilots on a FlyDubai flight headed for Israel stabbed the second pilot, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

On-duty flight crew and passengers managed to foil a pilot’s apparent attempt to crash a FlyDubai flight, after reports emerged of a fight in the cockpit.

The incident on flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv happened when a co-pilot stabbed a pilot, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who praised the victim’s quick thinking.

“Despite being stabbed and seriously injured, he fought back, resisted, opened the cockpit door, and enabled passengers and crew to overpower the attacker — preventing a catastrophic mid-air disaster. He saved the lives of 174 people, including Israeli citizens and other nationals,” Netanyahu wrote in a post on X.

FZ1073 was diverted to the Tabuk airport in Saudi Arabia, the airline said, after being successfully secured and diverted by flight crew.

FlyDubai in a statement said that an “altercation” occurred on the flight deck of the plane, but did not mention a stabbing.

However, the airline added that the underlying reasons and motives for the clash is currently unknown, urging all parties to refrain from speculation.

The injured pilot was identified by Netanyahu as Indian national Smit Machchhar. No details have been released on the identity of the attacker, except that he was being interrogated by Saudi authorities.

The Indian embassy in Riyadh said on X that Machchhar is in a hospital in Tabuk, and is reported to be in stable condition.

The Israeli Prime Minister also identified the passenger who broke into the cockpit as Yaniv Hayun, calling him a “hero” and adding he deserved “a global medal of honor.”

Flight data from tracking site FlightRadar24 showed that the plane had experienced extreme altitude fluctuations before broadcasting a “general emergency” squawk code.

FZ1073 had dropped from over 14,000 feet in just 29 seconds, and FlightRadar24 also added that vertical speeds ranging from approximately -30,000 to +10,000 feet per minute were observed from the transponder data.

For context, vertical speeds during normal operations rarely exceed plus or minus 4,000 feet per minute, it added.

Technologies

South Korean President Lee resists Alaska LNG project after Trump highlights Seoul’s involvement

South Korean President Lee Jae‑myung has conditioned his country’s participation in the Alaska LNG project on financial viability and legal compliance, pushing back against President Trump’s push for the $50‑billion venture while other $200‑billion U.S. investments move forward.

South Korea’s $200 billion investment in the United States, which President Donald Trump said would transform America “for generations,” is not yet finalized in full.

The South Korean investment blueprint includes nuclear power plants, a natural‑gas power facility in Texas, and potentially the long‑planned Alaska liquefied natural gas project.

Trump posted on Truth Social late Wednesday that the two nations had agreed to move forward on the Alaska LNG venture, estimating its value at $50 billion. This prompted a response from South Korean President Lee Jae‑myung, who stressed that participation in some projects remains tied to commercial considerations.

In an X post Thursday local time, Lee said that involvement in the Alaska LNG project hinges on its financial viability and legal compliance. He added that investments in nuclear power plants would also require a plant‑by‑plant assessment of commercial feasibility.

The US‑South Korea joint statement Wednesday also noted that work on the project is contingent on “commercial reasonableness,” without detailing allocations toward the venture.

The Alaska LNG project aims to move natural gas roughly 1,300 km (800 miles) from fields on Alaska’s North Slope to the state’s southern region, where it would be liquefied for export to markets including Asia, according to Yonhap. The initiative has long faced scrutiny over its economics, given the substantial upfront capital required.

Industry Minister Kim Jung‑kwan labeled it “high‑risk” last year and said participation would be challenging unless the project could generate sufficient cash flow.

Overall, the investment package allocates $22.3 billion for a 6,472‑megawatt natural‑gas power plant in Encinal, Texas, which will supply electricity to nearby data centers. The venture will be led by developer Related Cos. and U.S. power provider NextEra Energy.

Trump said the investments would turn South Korea’s commitments into “huge construction projects” and create “tens of thousands of American jobs.”

“These are massive energy projects, adding power capacity in the United States,” Trump remarked. “This is new construction, new manufacturing, and great jobs for American workers.”

The two countries said they would seek to broaden Korean firms’ involvement in the Texas project across equipment supply, engineering, construction, and long‑term operations and maintenance. The U.S. also plans to give Korean companies opportunities to supply equipment, including turbines, for similar projects domestically.

Another $120 billion has been earmarked for plans to build eight large‑scale nuclear reactors in the United States. Of that sum, $100 billion is designated for construction costs and $20 billion for contingency reserves.

The nuclear accord was signed by both governments as well as Westinghouse Electric, Korea Electric Power Corp., and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power. The plan also calls for Korean firms to pursue a potential significant minority stake in Westinghouse, with terms subject to commercial negotiations.