UK MPs reject Under 16 social media ban proposal, Starmer says safety must be improved

MPs have rejected a proposal to ban under-16s from using social media for the second time, as the prime minister summoned tech bosses to demand tougher action on internet safety. The House of Commons sided with the government against a Lords amendment to the children’s wellbeing and schools bill that imposed a new age limit on using social media platforms, amid pressure from parents and campaign groups for greater urgency in tackling online harms. They voted by 256 to 150, a majority of 106, against a change to the bill brought by the Conservative peer Lord Nash. Guardian 

The Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has told social media bosses “things cannot go on like this” in a meeting at Downing Street discussing children’s safety online. Executives from Meta, Snap, YouTube’s parent company Google, TikTok and X are expected to be questioned by Sir Keir and technology secretary Liz Kendall on how they are making their platforms safer for children. Sir Keir said while he believed social media could be made safer for British children, curbing access would be “preferable to a world where harm is the price of participation”. BBC 

Sony has notified owners of its recent BRAVIA television models that significant changes to the built-in TV Guide for its OTA (Over the Air) TV antenna users and related menu features will take effect starting in late May 2026. The update affects a range of premium sets released between 2023 and 2025, marking another instance of feature adjustments for older smart TV hardware as manufacturers shift focus toward newer product lines…After the cutoff date, program information may fail to display on certain channels. CordCuttersNews

Last week, Anthropic surprised the world by declaring that its latest model, Mythos, is so good at finding vulns that it would create chaos if released. Now, under the title of Project Glasswing, over 50 selected companies and orgs are allowed to test the hyped up LLM to find security holes in their own products. But just how many problems have they really discovered? According to VulnCheck researcher Patrick Garrity, the answer is…drumroll…maybe 40. Or maybe none at all. The Register 

One of Britain’s biggest battery storage manufacturers has collapsed into administration, leaving all employees without jobs. According to the administrator’s statement, no further goods or services should be supplied to the company. GivEnergy Ltd, which designs and produces energy storage systems for homes and businesses across the UK and internationally, appointed Christopher Brooksbank of CB Business Recovery as administrator on April 9 in Leeds. The firm has stopped trading entirely and dismissed its entire workforce. GB News 

Grayson Perry Has seen the Future (Channel 4) and he doesn’t like it. After watching this programme, neither do I. AI is going to transform humanity, and it’s in the hands of people who seem oddly blasé about the consequences….Perry is a good-natured interviewer, and perhaps he’s the best guide for this, because, without his ability to see the absurd, this whole topic could be terrifying. When he met people who predicted that AI will seize the opportunity to kill humans, it was good for the blood pressure that this conversation was being conducted by a wacky artist with Worzel Gummidge hair. Telegraph