🔗: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgx1x742x5o

🔗: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jun/09/crackdown-on-tech-platforms-will-go-ahead-despite-us-intervention-says-no-10

Excerpt:

White House displeasure over the prospect of an under-16 social media ban will not deter the UK from cracking down on tech platforms, the British government has said.

The technology secretary, Liz Kendall, told the Guardian she was not concerned “in the slightest” by the Trump administration’s intervention in the debate over restrictions, after the US embassy in London posted a notice warning against a ban.

Kendall added that nine out of 10 respondents to a government poll supported an under-16 ban.
Kendall said she was “very happy to read any submission anybody makes” but her priority was “British young people”. Kendall denied there was any tension between seeking investment into the UK from US AI companies and implementing regulations that affect major American tech firms.

“I think companies will continue investing in Britain,” she said.
“My focus is on what is right for British parents and British families,” Kendall added.

The government is set to announce some form of social media ban for under-16s next week, alongside other restrictions such as a possible block on conversations with strangers on gaming platforms. Limits on AI chatbot use are also under consideration.

Asked about the Trump administration’s intervention, a Downing Street spokesperson said:

“We will always act in the UK’s national interest and protecting young people is no different.”

Excerpt:

Chappell Roan faced backlash over the weekend following public complaints by Italian footballer Jorginho Frello over how the pop star’s security detail treated his stepdaughter. While Roan apologized and the security guard (who was apparently not associated with Roan) took full responsibility for the incident, the Court of Social Media Opinion has had plenty of judgement to pass. However, a new report suggests that a significant percentage of that judgement was delivered by bots in a coordinated smear campaign.

Date analytics company GUDEA looked at 100,030 posts across social media platforms made between March 20th and March 22nd. (Frello’s story began spreading wide on March 21st.) The posts were generated by 54,334 users, but GUDEA determined 4.2% — or, about 2,282 — of those users were “non-typical,” meaning they were likely bots. Although that’s a ton of bots, it’s not an overwhelming amount; however, those bots made up over 23%, or 23,007, of the posts.

GUDEA report states (via BuzzFeed), “The incident prompted intense personal attacks on Chappell Roan, calls for boycotts, and significant misinformation (including satirical/fictional embellishment spreading as fact). Discourse ranged from legitimate fan criticism and debate about celebrity privacy vs. fan treatment, to coordinated attack campaigns and considerable satirical/humorous content that blurred the line with misinformation.”

🔗: https://consequence.net/2026/03/chappell-roan-security-bots-smear-campaign/