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Perez Hilton Hospitalized After Apparent Self-Harm During Livestream

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Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton was hospitalized after appearing to harm himself during a TikTok livestream Tuesday, authorities said.

“We can confirm that Perez is receiving medical care, and our family’s focus right now is on his well-being,” a statement published Wednesday on Hilton’s website said.

The message, attributed to the Perez Hilton Team and Family, continued: “Many of you have reached out with concern for Perez, and we are incredibly grateful for the overwhelming outpouring of love, support, and prayers.”

In a subsequent update, Hilton’s family said he was able to communicate, a development that had given them reason to remain hopeful about his condition.

“Our family wants to once again thank everyone who has reached out with prayers, kind messages, and support for Perez. Your compassionate humanity during this profoundly heartbreaking time has meant more than words can express.”

The family described the situation as “incredibly difficult and emotional” and said it would release further updates once additional information had been confirmed.

“We respectfully ask for your continued prayers, understanding, and grace as Perez continues to recover,” the statement said.

Deputies went to Hilton’s home Tuesday evening after the sheriff’s office received multiple calls regarding a disturbing livestream, according to a statement issued by the agency Wednesday morning. After arriving, officers spoke with Hilton’s family members and determined that he was alone inside the residence.

Dispatch audio obtained by People indicated that emergency responders were sent to investigate reports of a “possible suicide.” According to the audio, authorities entered Hilton’s home at approximately 11 p.m. and were traveling to a nearby hospital with him about 30 minutes later.

Hilton was hospitalized under Florida’s Baker Act, a sheriff’s office spokesperson confirmed. The law permits authorities to involuntarily hold a person for up to 72 hours when that individual is believed to pose a threat of harm to themselves or others.

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Rather than immediately engaging with Hilton, deputies monitored the situation and worked to “prioritize de-escalation by creating time, distance, and opportunities for communication,” the sheriff’s office said. The agency described the strategy as an approach intended to reduce the possibility of further harm.

Mental health professionals were later brought in to provide support to Hilton’s family.

Dante Rusciolelli, a representative for Hilton, said Wednesday that he had no further information about the blogger’s condition.

“Our focus remains on Perez’s health, recovery, and the privacy of both him and his family during this incredibly difficult time.”

Golden Artists Entertainment said in a separate statement that its representatives had not been able to reach Hilton directly Tuesday, despite repeated attempts. The company later said it still had no additional confirmed information about his condition.

TikTok said its automated moderation technology detected that Hilton’s livestream violated the platform’s community guidelines within minutes of the broadcast beginning. The company’s U.S.-based human moderation team was then notified to review the stream.

The initial livestream was shut down after approximately 15 minutes, TikTok said. Several additional streams that Hilton started were removed within 90 seconds. TikTok also said it contacted law enforcement about the situation.

Before the livestream was removed, graphic footage that appeared to show Hilton covered in blood had begun circulating on other social media platforms. His account was deactivated before TikTok formally banned it for violating rules prohibiting self-harm content.

Dan Romer, research director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, told The New York Times that he could not determine why Hilton chose to broadcast the apparent act. Romer has published research examining the relationship between self-harm and social media.“Often when people do self-harm, they are reaching out for help,” he said.

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Such attempts to attract attention are more commonly directed toward friends or relatives, Romer said. Hilton, however, may regard his sizable internet audience “as part of his social circle.”

Referring to the numerous viewers who contacted authorities about the livestream, Romer added, “they intervened and got him some help.”

Bryan Freedman, an attorney and friend who previously represented Hilton for two decades, told People he was working to verify that Hilton was receiving appropriate care.

“I, like many others, feel very concerned for Mario’s health, and I am trying to confirm that he is receiving the care that he needs to fully address the causes and conditions which led to this incident. It feels like a moment that deserves kindness and compassion.”

Hilton, whose legal name is Mario Lavandeira, became one of the best-known figures in online celebrity gossip during the mid-2000s through PerezHilton.com. The website’s blunt commentary about celebrities and popular culture helped turn its creator into a recognizable public figure in his own right.

Hilton, the older of two children raised in a working-class Cuban-American family, initially pursued a career as an actor. He later worked as a publicist and became a reporter for Star magazine before finding widespread fame through his website.

His rise was propelled by relentless self-promotion and provocative public statements that frequently attracted media coverage. As his audience grew, Hilton produced a steady stream of unrestrained commentary about entertainers, relationships and celebrity scandals.

By 2006, Hilton said he was spending 17 hours each day creating and publishing items for the website. The business had become highly lucrative by the following year, when a single advertisement on the site could bring in $9,000 per week.

“I’m like Madonna, I’m not afraid to offend,” Hilton said in a 2007 interview with The New York Times.

Hilton’s relationship with TikTok has been turbulent in the past. The platform banned him in 2020 for violating its community guidelines.

Hilton said at the time that losing his account had been emotionally difficult. He said he had been “very depressed” and that the social media app “gave me something to really look forward to every day.”

Earlier this year, Hilton publicly discussed another serious health crisis. In March, he said on social media that he had spent three weeks in the hospital while being treated for an ulcer and sepsis.

Hilton said that during the hospitalization, “God presented himself to me.” The following month, Hilton announced through social media that he had returned to TikTok. In the announcement, he expressed gratitude to both the platform and Jesus.

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U.K. Unveils Overnight Social Media Limits for 16- and 17-Year-Olds

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A monthlong experiment restricting teenagers’ social media use found that an overnight curfew offered the best balance between improving their well-being and allowing them to stay connected with friends.

More than 300 teenagers and parents from across the U.K. participated in the trial, which tested three different interventions. Some teenagers were limited to 15 minutes of social media use each day, others were blocked from accessing apps between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m., and a third group removed selected platforms entirely.

Participants reported benefits including improved mood, lower stress, greater energy during the day, better sleep and increased concentration. At the same time, the teenagers described a “social and emotional trade-off,” as social media remained an important way to communicate with friends who were not subject to the same restrictions.

The overnight curfew ultimately emerged as the most popular option, with participants viewing it as less socially disruptive than sharply limiting daily use or deleting apps altogether.

The findings are now informing a new set of online safety measures proposed by the U.K. government Wednesday for 16- and 17-year-olds.

Under the proposal, social media accounts belonging to older teenagers would come with an overnight curfew enabled by default beginning at midnight. The restriction would remain in place until 6 a.m., making platforms including Instagram, TikTok and YouTube unavailable through the affected accounts during those hours unless users changed their settings. Features intended to encourage prolonged use, including autoplay and infinite scrolling, would also be automatically disabled.

Teenagers would still be allowed to turn off or adjust those default settings. The measures are expected to come into force by spring 2027.

Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said the changes would be “crucial in helping young people get the sleep they need, focus on school and college, and spend more quality time with family and friends, all of which are fundamental to building a happy, healthy and fulfilling adult life.”

Online Safety Minister Kanishka Narayan similarly defended the proposals, arguing that the curfew and restrictions on autoplay would make Britain “the most robust place in the world when it comes to regulating” technology companies.

The proposal is part of a broader international effort to place tighter limits on children’s access to social media as technology companies face increasing scrutiny over the safety and potentially addictive design of their platforms.

It also joins an increasingly complicated collection of online safety measures already available to families, including optional parental controls on children’s devices and child-focused versions of major services such as YouTube.

“There have been concerns about the way services keep children and young people engaged on their phones for long periods, and that this can impact their sleep, amongst other effects,” Lorna Woods, a professor of internet law at the University of Essex, told the BBC.

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In June, outgoing U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced plans for a more sweeping restriction: a blanket social media ban for children under 16. The ban would cover major services including TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and X.

The U.K. announcement followed Australia’s move in December to become the first country in the world to enforce a legal social media ban for users under 16.

The government plans to present its latest proposals to Parliament by the end of 2026, to implement them alongside the under-16 ban the following spring.

It also announced plans for additional safeguards governing children’s use of artificial intelligence chatbots, including requirements for providers to introduce regular breaks for users under 18.

European Union officials are also advancing restrictions aimed at younger users. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Monday that the region would move forward with age limits for social media platforms to reduce use among children and teenagers.

Technology companies, meanwhile, have defended the safeguards already built into their platforms. Ali Law, TikTok’s director of public policy and government affairs in Northern Europe, said during a Tuesday appearance with CNBC that the app was designed with the safety of younger users in mind.

According to Law, TikTok has more than 50 preset protections for users under 16. Those measures include a one-hour daily screen-time limit and a full-screen prompt appearing at 10 p.m. that encourages teenagers to stop using the app and take a break.

“All of these are little default aspects, little nudges to make sure that people have a balanced and healthy relationship with our app, because that works in our interests…because if people are using it for too much and are burnt out, they’re not going to get value from it.”

Other technology companies have argued that responsibility for verifying users’ ages should not rest solely with individual platforms. Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has previously called for age verification to be handled by device manufacturers.

Apple has since introduced device-level age checks that ask people using iPhones and iPads with the latest operating software to verify their ages.

Baroness Beeban Kidron, a longtime advocate for device-level safety and age-verification measures, criticized the government for focusing too heavily on restricting children’s access rather than changing the products themselves. She said the objective should not be “banning children from tech” but “banning tech from putting toxic products in the hands of children.”

The ability of teenagers to disable the proposed protections has drawn criticism from campaigners, opposition politicians and online safety experts who question whether the default settings will have a meaningful effect.

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Ellen Roome, who believes her 14-year-old son, Jools Sweeney, died in 2022 after participating in a dangerous online challenge, argued that an optional restriction would be too easy for teenagers to circumvent.

“I just think it’s not good enough really just to have a product you can switch off, it’s a bit like offering a 17-year-old a bottle of alcohol and then moving it slightly out of arm’s reach, they can just drag it back in. I really wish they could go stronger and harder on these things.”

Andy Burrows, chief executive of the Molly Rose Foundation, welcomed the attention given to older teenagers but said the announcement remained too narrow.

“While we welcome these measures for older teens, this latest move is yet another piecemeal set of announcements, not the comprehensive plan for children’s safety that’s required,” Burrows said.

Some experts have also warned that a blanket nighttime restriction could unintentionally cut vulnerable teenagers off from support. Sonia Livingstone, a professor specializing in children’s digital rights at the London School of Economics, said a distinction should be made between curbing disruptive platform features and completely blocking access.

“If it’s a curfew on companies using push notifications to wake someone up in the night, absolutely have a curfew,” Livingstone told the BBC.

“But if it’s a curfew that prevents a child in need of support or help or comfort reaching out to trusted sources in the middle of the night, I think that’s quite harmful potentially.”

Dame Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner for England, said young people generally oppose outright bans but support protections from features that encourage compulsive use.

“We have to listen to young people. They don’t want a ban, but they do want to be protected from addictive, infinite scrolling,” she said.

De Souza added that she wanted more details on how the curfew would be enforced and said she would press the communications regulator, Ofcom, to fully exercise its authority over online safety.

Social media analyst Matt Navarra dismissed the proposal as “not a curfew,” but a “mildly annoying settings prompt with a government press release attached.”

“The UK Government is calling this ‘world-leading’ online safety, but with no VPN restrictions, it’s leaving the side door open and putting up a sign asking teens not to use it,” Navarra said.

The government does not currently plan to restrict virtual private networks, which can disguise a user’s location and have previously been used to evade online controls, including Australia’s social media restrictions. Officials said VPNs remain important to whistleblowers, minority communities and families seeking privacy.

Government-commissioned research also found little evidence that large numbers of children were using VPNs to bypass age-verification systems.

“We have decided not to limit VPNs today, and that’s the primary conclusion for now, but it is something we will continue to review,” Narayan said.

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UK To Ban Kids From Social Media, Ministers Lobby With US To Avoid Backlash 

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The UK has announced that they will be banning social media for kids under the age of 16. Some of the world’s biggest technology companies, including Meta, YouTube, and Snapchat, have spoken out against this decision, claiming that it will only work to push teenagers to more harmful platforms. The ban was announced by Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday. 

A spokesperson for Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said: “As we’ve seen in Australia, bans risk isolating teens from online communities and information, and driving them to unregulated alternatives that lack built-in protections and parental controls.”

YouTube echoed Meta’s sentiment in their own statement: “Blanket bans push kids out of such curated, supervised, beneficial experiences and towards anonymous, less-safe services.”

And Snapchat said: “Because the majority of time spent on Snapchat is in private messaging between friends and family, an outright ban that disconnects teens from those relationships doesn’t make them safer – it may simply push them to less safe platforms.”

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During Starmer’s announcement at a press conference this week, he said that “social media makes children unhappy, it’s making it easier for billies to harass and abuse them, and it could even be harming their mental health.” He then emphasized the argument that the ban was not anti-tech. 

“I do not accept, and I will never accept, that you can’t be both pro tech and AI, and at the same time say we must protect our children,” he said. 

The plan mimics the one enacted earlier this year in Australia, however, it includes both a ban on all main social media platforms, and separate restrictions on online services such as gaming apps such as removing the option to chat with strangers. 

Under this new ban, kids under the age of 16 will not be able to download Snapchat, YouTube, TikTok, X, Facebook, and Instagram. They also will not be able to livestream. Teenagers under the age of 18 will also not be able to use any romantic chatbots designed to simulate sexual relationships. 

“This is not something I do lightly, and I will not present it as cost-free, as if social media has [brought no] benefits to young people, because clearly that is wrong. But the government is always about choices, and it’s clear to me that a total ban is the right choice,” Starmer said.

In Australia, many teenagers have found ways around the bans, which has even led to lawsuits against certain social media platforms for not doing enough to enforce keeping young teens and children off their apps. While this can obviously happen in the UK as well and it is a concern, Starmer stated that it wasn’t the point behind this objective. 

“We don’t say: ‘Oh, look, a teenager managed to get a drink somehow, so let’s not bother banning alcohol sales for children.’ We don’t do that, do we? I just don’t accept that,” he said. 

“Our laws are rules, but they’re also an expression of our values. They shape the social contract, and so this will change the conversations that parents have, and the expectations of children over time.”

“It will make a huge difference. It will make our children safer. It will make our children happier. It will give them more time, more security, full freedom to grow up, more opportunity, and that, at the end of the day, is what this government is about,” he added. 

The other side to this is combating the giant companies that are widely against these bans, which is intertwined with talking to the US government and president and reassuring them that this isn’t a targeted ploy towards US tech companies. 

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UK ministers have been working on a lobbying operation to prevent backlash from the Trump administration. The administration had previously threatened the UK with “a big tariff” if the government does not drop its digital services tax, so they’re moving extra cautiously when it comes to this ban. 

“I honestly think that across world leaders there has always been a recognition that leaders have to take steps to protect children,” Starmer said. “In relation to President Trump, I spoke to him on Saturday, I’ll see him again this afternoon and, yes, of course, we’ll discuss this and many other issues, and lots of other leaders are very interested in it.”

Elon Musk, who owns X and has worked closely with the president, said “this censorship law is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The real goal is to enable the UK government to track everyone.” 

Ministers are working on every detail of this ban and what it will entail. They’ve announced late-night social media curfews for 16-and-17-year-olds. One of the workarounds that teenagers have used in Australia is using virtual private networks (VPNs) to circumvent geographical internet controls, so the UK is looking into regulating those networks as well. 

This move will have a major impact on young people. In the UK, among 13-to-15-year-olds about 90% have a social media account, and have stated that their main resource for getting the news is YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram, according to reports from the Guardian. 

The UK’s technology secretary, Liz Kendall, echoed Starmer’s sentiment regarding the importance of protecting children and their mental health and not having such a focus on how teens can work around the bans. 

“I have no doubt children who are currently on social media, for whom it’s an integral part of their lives, will try and get around the ban, and many will succeed,” she said. 

“But we do think we need to draw this line in the sand, give greater clarity to parents and greater protections for children.”

“I’ve never thought that the ban will be a complete silver bullet … It will be as much about resetting expectations and social norms for children who are seven, eight, nine, 10, now that they won’t be going on social media until they’re 16,” she told the BBC.

“This is a huge statement of our values, who we are as a country, and it’s a way of actually bringing our country together,” Starmer said.

Quenlin Blackwell On Creating Her Internet Empire And Remaining Authentic 

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If you’ve been a frequent internet/social media user within the past decade, you know who Quenlin Blackwell is. Initially rising to fame a decade ago as a teenager while living in Texas on Vine, Blackwell has been extremely intentional with how she’s grown and changed along with the internet.

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Meta, TikTok, YouTube, And Snapchat Not Complying With Child Social Media Ban In Australia 

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In December 2025, Australia enacted a law that banned kids under the age of 16 from having accounts on social media. Now, the continent is considering legal action against platforms Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube over allegations that they’re not making enough of an effort to keep children off of the sites. 

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Experts have stated, according to reports, that Australian courts can decide what steps the platforms can reasonably take in order to meet the requirements of the law. 

Julie Inman Grant, Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, released a compliance report that demands 10 platforms remove all Australian account-holders younger than the age of 16. 

With the law enacted, 5 million Australian accounts have been deactivated. However, a significant number of Australian children continued to maintain their accounts or created new accounts and bypassed each platform’s age assurance systems, according to the report. 

Inman Grant said in a statement her office had “significant concerns about the compliance of half of those 10 platforms.” Grant’s office was gathering evidence against five platforms that haven’t taken “reasonable steps” to prevent children from having accounts.

Courts could potentially order fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars ($33 million) for systemic failures to comply. eSafety is the power deciding on whether to initiate court action against any of the platforms by the middle of the year. 

Reddit, X (formerly Twitter), Kick, Threads, and Twitch are age-registricted platforms that aren’t under investigation. Communications Minister Anika Wells stated that the five main platforms being looked into are allegedly not complying with the Australian law on purpose. 

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“Social media platforms are choosing to do the absolute bare minimum because they want these laws to fail.”

“This is the world-leading law. We’re the first in the world to do it. Of course they don’t want these laws to work because they want that to be a chilling effect on the dozen countries that have come out since Dec. 10 to follow Australia’s step,” Wells told reporters. 

eSafety has emphasized “poor practices” from these platforms. For example, they all allow unlimited attempts for a user to pass their age assurance methods, and even prompt the user to try to pass the age assurance methods. 

Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram, told AP that they were “committed” to complying with Australia’s social media ban. “We’ve also been clear that accurately determining age online is a challenge for the whole industry.”

Snapchat’s parent company, Snap Inc., said that they have locked 450,000 accounts to align with the law and are continuously doing so daily. “Snapchat remains fully committed to implementing reasonable steps under the legislation and supporting its underlying goal of improving online safety for young Australians,” they said in a statement. 

Lisa Given, information sciences expert at RMIT University in Melbourne, stated: 

“If a tech company has said: look, we put in age assurance, we’ve done all these steps. That’s reasonable. Even though the aged assurance technologies are flawed, whose fault is that? Should they be held accountable for a piece of technology that is not 100% and likely not going to be 100% foolproof any time soon?” 

“That’s really the crux of it: what the courts will deem reasonable,” she said.

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Mark Zuckerberg Defends Meta In Landmark Trial Regarding Social Media Addiction 

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Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently testified during a landmark trial in Los Angeles Superior Court regarding social media addiction and safety, particularly in teenagers and kids.

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TikTok To Remain Operational In The US After Deal With China Is Reached 

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The Trump administration announced this week that a deal has officially been reached with China to keep TikTok operational in the United States, after a yearlong effort that began back when Trump was in office for his first term, CNN reports. 

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in Madrid this week that a framework agreement has been reached, and Trump is set to speak with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Friday in order to finalize the deal. 

“President Trump played a role in this, we had a call with him last night, we had specific guidance from him and we shared it with our Chinese counterparts. Without his leadership and the leverage he provides, we would not have been able to include the deal today,” Bessent said.

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The Trump administration did not specifically name the US-backed buyer, but it’s expected to be the Oracle executive chairman Larry Ellison. Back in January, Trump stated that he would “champion” Ellison in buying TikTok’s US assets. 

Both Chinese and US diplomats have been holding meetings in Spain this week to hold trade discussions and talk about other matters. Bessent is leading the latest rounds of talks, and emphasized how TikTok was one of the major subjects being addressed. 

“We were very focused on TikTok and making sure that it was a deal that is fair for the Chinese and completely respects US national security concerns, and that’s the deal we reached,” said US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

“Of course, we want to ensure that the Chinese have a fair, invested environment in the United States, but always that US national security comes first.”

China’s top trade negotiator and vice minister of commerce, Li Chenggang, stated that the US and China held “candid and in-depth exchanges,” and have reached a “basic framework consensus” in order to keep TikTok operational in America. 

The framework includes “resolving TikTok-related issues through cooperation, reducing investment barriers, and promoting-relevant economic and trade cooperation,” Li told the media in Madrid. 

Deputy director of China’s Cyberspace Administration, Wang Jingtao, stated that the deal could also include methods that would ensure entrusted operation of TikTok’s US user data and intellectual property rights, David Goldman of CNN reports. 

Throughout the year, Trump has extended a self-imposed deadline to reach a deal with China so that ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, would sell at least part of the US’s TikTok business to an American-backed owner. 

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On January 18th, TikTok briefly shut down in the US, but a day before Trump took office, January 19th, the president said he would sign an executive action to ensure US companies wouldn’t be punished for having TikTok on their app stores or servers. 

Once the order was signed on January 20th, the ban on TikTok in the US was delayed for 75 days. The deadline was extended again in June to September 17th, and was expected to be extended again. 

Many investment groups throughout the US have expressed their interest in purchasing TikTok throughout the year, including former LA Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and famous “Shark Tank” investor Kevin O’Leary. 

Despite the interest, TikTok in general is likely to cost in the tens of billions, which is why industry analysts are reporting someone like Ellison is more likely to lead the charge for purchasing, as he would lead a group of investors. Additionally, Oracle also has an established relationship with TikTok. 

In 2020, Oracle began hosting TikTok’s US data, and during Trump’s first administration, the company and social media platform briefly reached a deal of acquisition, but it was eventually blocked. 

CNN reported that US officials said a meeting between Trump and Xi wouldn’t be happening if there wasn’t a TikTok deal in place. The agreement would also make it more likely that both leaders will sit down in October when Trump visits Asia, the officials said. 

Regarding the deal, Trump posted online: “The big Trade Meeting in Europe between The United States of America, and China, has gone VERY WELL! It will be concluded shortly.”

“A deal was also reached on a ‘certain’ company that young people in our Country very much wanted to save. They will be very happy! I will be speaking to President Xi on Friday.”

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TikTok Facing New Privacy Investigation From Europe Over China Data Transfers 

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Popular social media app TikTok is facing a new privacy investigation from the European Union due to user data being sent to China, regulators stated this week. 

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The Data Protection Commission opened up the inquiry as a follow up to a previous investigation that ended earlier this year with a 530 million euro ($620 million) fine. The fine was enforced after it was found that TikTok put its user’s data at risk of being exposed and spied on by allowing remote access from China. 

TikTok’s European headquarters are based in Dublin, Ireland, so the Irish national watchdog will be serving as TikTok’s lead data privacy regulator in the 27-nation EU. 

During a previous investigation, TikTok told the regulator that they didn’t store European user data in China, and the data itself was remotely accessible by staff in China. 

Later on, it backtracked and stated that some data had been stored on Chinese servers, and the watchdog responded by stating they would consider regulatory action, according to the Associated Press.

“As a result of that consideration, the DPC has now decided to open this new inquiry into TikTok,” the watchdog stated.

“The purpose of the inquiry is to determine whether TikTok has complied with its relevant obligations under the GDPR in the context of the transfers now at issue, including the lawfulness of the transfers,” the regulator said, referencing the General Data Protection Regulation which is the European Union’s privacy rules.  

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TikTok is owned by China’s ByteDance, and has been under scrutiny from multiple nations over how they handle personal user information and data. Western officials specifically believe that the app poses a security risk which the EU has also cited. 

“Our teams proactively discovered this issue through the comprehensive monitoring TikTok implemented under Project Clover,” the company said in a statement. 

“We promptly deleted this minimal amount of data from the servers and informed the DPC. Our proactive report to the DPC underscores our commitment to transparency and data security.”

Under the GDPR, European user data can only be transferred outside of the bloc if there are safeguards in place. These safeguards ensure a certain level of protection, and only 15 countries or territories are deemed to have an equal data privacy obligation as the EU.

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YouTube Should Be Included In Australia’s Social Media Ban For Kids Under 16, Commissioner Says 

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Australia’s online safety chief has stated that YouTube should be included on the list of social media platforms that are banned for kids under the age of 16. The eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, is urging the government to include the video-sharing platform to the new regulations which apply to apps like TikTok and Instagram. 

Grant is also recommending that the government update the under-16s social media ban to be more specific, and regulate things like stories, streaks, chatbots, and artificial intelligence which can also pose a major risk to young developing minds. 

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The ban was initially brought to legislation in December 2024, and will come into effect in December 2025. It’s currently unclear how exactly these online platforms will verify users’ ages, and the government has even stated that current confirmation technology is “not guaranteed to be effective.” 

At the time of its initial creation, then communications minister Michelle Rowland alluded that YouTube would be a part of the social media sites included in the ban. The Guardian Australia reported, however, that YouTube’s global chief executive personally lobbied with Rowland to give an exemption to the site which is owned by Google. 

Grant spoke with communications minister Anika Wells, offering advice over including YouTube in the ban and why it’s important:

“Given the known risks of harm on Youtube, the similarity of its functionality to other online services, and without sufficient evidence demonstrating that Youtube predominately provides beneficial experiences for children under 16, providing a specific carve out for Youtube appears to be inconsistent with the purpose of the Act.” 

Rowland said that YouTube was exempt from the ban because the site can be used to give young people access to “education and health support.” Grant said this reasoning is “not consistent with the purpose of the obligation to reduce the risk of harm.”

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Grant is planning to dissect this concern further in her press club speech, and will be referencing a relevant survey involving 2,600 children aged 10 to 15. 

“Alarmingly, around seven in 10 kids said they had encountered harmful content, including exposure to misogynistic or hateful material, dangerous online challenges, violent fight videos, and content promoting disordered eating.”

“Children told us that 75% of this harmful content was most recently encountered on social media. YouTube was the most frequently cited platform in our research, with almost four in 10 children reporting exposure to harmful content there.”

“This also comes as the New York Times reported earlier this month that YouTube surreptitiously rolled back its content moderation processes to keep more harmful content on its platform, even when the content violates the company’s own policies,” Grant will say. 

“Platform after platform are winding back their trust and safety teams and weakening policies designed to minimise harm, making these platforms ever-more perilous for our children.”

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Teenage Skincare Routines From Social Media Offer Little Benefits And Could Actually Be Harmful

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New research has shown that skincare routines shared on social media by teenagers actually offer little to no benefit, and could instead increase the risk of skin irritations and the development of allergies in young people.

Dr. Molly Hales and her team conducted the research from Northwestern University. The group stated that there has been a rise in young girls specifically watching, sharing, and taking advice from complicated skin care routines that involve a multitude of unnecessary steps for their young and developing skin. 

Kids are using moisturizers, toners, acne treatments, and anti-aging products in routines that are expensive and potentially harmful. Through analyzing multiple videos on TikTok specifically, the team also found that a majority of these routines are complex and require a lot of time, with some videos showing girls waking up as early as 4:30 am to start getting ready.

“The risks associated with using these products, especially in young girls, far outweighs whatever marginal benefit you may get from using the active ingredients,” Dr. Hales told reporters.

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“The danger is when girls get the message that this is something that they have to do to take care of their skin and to protect their health. These products don’t increase the health of your skin and they probably worsen your skin integrity over time.”

Dr. Hales and her team conducted their research by creating two TikTok accounts that they designed to be like an average 13-year-old’s account. They adjusted their algorithms to gather a sample of 100 skincare routines that were filmed by younger people. 

Of 83 different creators, 82 were girls aged between seven to 18-years-old. “Almost all content creators had clear, light skin without visible blemishes. [The videos] made frequent reference to aspirational beauty ideals that may be tied to whiteness.”

On average, the skincare routines involved six products, were from the same brands, and had a cost of about $168, according to the study. On the more extreme end, some regimens involved more than a dozen products and totaled more than $500.

Dr. Hales stated that it’s recommended that younger people use a gentle cleanser once, maybe twice, a day and then use a sunscreen to protect their skin. 

One of the biggest issues with tweens and teens using excessive amounts of skincare products is that they’re putting active ingredients on their skin that’s not necessary and potentially harmful. The reason they’re using so many of them, however, is because they view the products as trendy and aesthetically pleasing. 

The way influencers are advertising these products emphasizes a message of anti-aging, and is causing teenagers to worry about aging when they’re not even fully developed themselves. 

The study showed that many products contain ingredients like citric acid, which carries a risk for irritation and increased sensitivity to the sun. A lot of the ingredients in skincare products are meant to combat specific skin issues in adults such as hyperpigmentation, acne scarring, sun spots/damage, and more.

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Sunscreen is one of the most important products that everyone can benefit from using. SPF products not only protect the skin from sun damage, but light damage in general, as well as a multitude of issues that people may experience either growing up, or in adulthood. 

However, the team found that only about 26% of the videos they reviewed discussed daytime skincare with the inclusion of sunscreen. 

The more products one uses in their skincare routine, regardless of age, the more likely it is that you’re adding products with the same active ingredients on top of each other, which increases the risk of skin irritation, sensitivity, and vulnerability. 

Among the top 25 videos reviewed in the study, 76% had at least one potential contact allergen, the most common being some sort of fragrance. 

Dr. Tess McPherson, who is a part of the British Association of Dermatologists, was not involved in the study but noted how important it was. She discussed how there has been an increase in young people going to dermatologists for skin irritation.  

“Younger and younger children are seeking skincare products when they don’t need them, they’re not helpful. This is a very concerning statement on society and how we view how skin should look.”

“We’re certainly seeing a huge increase in people wanting something they call perfect or flawless skin, which we know is unachievable [and] unhelpful – it doesn’t make people happy,” she said.

A spokesperson for TikTok told the Guardian: 

“This type of content is common across all media, and the authors admit they did not assess its impact on teen wellbeing. However, they did find actual benefits to teen self-expression, parent-teen bonding, and building a supportive community on TikTok.”