How would your social feed look if you controlled what you saw?
By David Marchese
Sexual violence prevention group Teach Us Consent is pushing for Australians to have the choice to "opt-in" to social media algorithms.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-08/chanel-contos-teach-us-consent-fix-our-feed/106107546
#SocialMedia #Technology #InternetCulture #Internet #Ethics #GovernmentandPolitics #DavidMarchese
Why Gen Z is flocking to SEC universities
Associated Press: Detroit’s own crime-fighter RoboCop finally stands guard in Motor City. “RoboCop has finally found a permanent home in Detroit. A statue looming 11 feet tall (3.3 meters) and weighing 3,500 pounds (1,587 kilograms) has been drawing fans since it began standing guard over the Motor City on Wednesday afternoon, after about 15 years in the making.”
The mentioning of the Oxford comma sends a strong outward-reaching signal that the author knows the Oxford comma.
Parents could grant Labor the grace the opposition won't on social media ban
By Clare Armstrong
Australia's social media age ban is one of the most significant attempts to rebalance the asymmetric power relationship between government and tech.
#GovernmentandPolitics #Parliament #SocialMedia #InformationandCommunication #InternetCulture #FederalGovernment #Internet #CommunityandSociety #ClareArmstrong
Mozilla Blog: Data War goes digital: Firefox’s card game is now online. “Billionaire Blast Off started with a simple premise: send billionaires into space and have fun doing it. With Data War, we created a fun and often chaotic game where you compete to win a one-way ticket to space for a data-hungry billionaire. We were thrilled that so many people at TwitchCon had a blast playing it. You […]
Search Engine Land: Google’s Year in Search 2025: These trending topics spiked big. “Searches starting with ‘tell me about…’ jumped 70% from 2024 to 2025, while ‘how do I…’ queries hit an all-time high with a 25% year-over-year increase, Google said.”
Australia's youngest senator was catfished on social media as a teen
By Evelyn Manfield
As the social media ban for teens looms, the parliament's most recent senator reveals she knows firsthand the dangers that can confront young people online.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-06/youngest-senator-reveals-she-was-catfished-online/106107346
#SocialMedia #FederalGovernment #GovernmentandPolitics #FederalParliament #InternetCulture #Teenagers #EvelynManfield
The Luigi Mangione trial is all about narrative control https://thever.ge/rvDH #InternetCulture #Entertainment #Creators #Culture #Policy #Tech #Law
Waze Blog: Drive with “SpongeBob” on Waze. “The world’s favorite sponge is jumping in as a navigator for an open-road adventure! To celebrate the upcoming release of ‘The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants’ in theatres December 19, SpongeBob is bringing his nautical charm, quick wit, and bursts of positivity to your daily drive.”
https://rbfirehose.com/2025/12/05/waze-blog-drive-with-spongebob-on-waze/
The Bulletin (Belgium): Jette station cat gets reviews on Google. “A railway station cat in Jette has been listed as a landmark on Google Maps, achieving a rating of 4.9 out of five stars with more than 50 reviews from users…. With a 4.9 star rating, Grijsje scores higher than nearby King Baudouin Park (4.5), Schievelavabo restaurant (4.2) and the local Delhaize supermarket (3.9).”
https://rbfirehose.com/2025/12/05/the-bulletin-jette-station-cat-gets-reviews-on-google/
The Bulwark: MAGA Influencers Take Heat Over Qatar Junket. “While the right’s feuding is certainly funny, the fight over the Qatar trip points to something larger. As Qatar and Israel increasingly grapple with one another for the loyalty of Republican personalities, even the most ridiculous MAGA influencers appear to be worth fighting over—and splashing out on.”
https://rbfirehose.com/2025/12/05/the-bulwark-maga-influencers-take-heat-over-qatar-junket/
Search engines will soon have to blur porn image results in Australia
By Clare Armstrong
Pornographic image results will be blurred and searches for self-harm information will redirect to mental health supports under new Australian online safety codes.
#InternetCulture #FederalGovernment #GovernmentandPolitics #FederalParliament #Pornography #SocialMedia #Children #ClareArmstrong
'A little bit of revenge': Offenders give insight into deepfake image abuse
By Pablo Viñales
Confronting accounts give a rare insight into the minds of perpetrators of deepfake image-based abuse, as part of a landmark study.
#CyberCrime #SocialMedia #LawCrimeandJustice #ScienceandTechnology #InternetCulture #Internet #PabloViales
The Conversation: Ctrl-alt-defy: How Ukrainians have used memes to counter Russia’s propaganda machine . “Ukrainian meme crusaders aim to counter Russian propaganda that justified Russia’s invasion. These propaganda efforts include paid detractors in Russian troll factories, as well as Russian and foreign vatniks — jingoistic proponents of Russian propaganda parroting unquestioningly what […]
Harvard Gazette: Think the viral meme of that legislator is funny?. “In this edited conversation, Susanna Siegel, the Edgar Pierce Professor of Philosophy, who has written about this dark side of American politics, explains how reveling in someone else’s setbacks — or accusing others of doing so — is poisonous to democracy.”
https://rbfirehose.com/2025/12/03/harvard-gazette-think-the-viral-meme-of-that-legislator-is-funny/
Gizmodo: Franklin the Turtle Becomes an AI Meme After Pete Hegseth Jokes About War Crimes. “The Washington Post released a damning report over the holiday weekend that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has been ordering the military to commit war crimes in the Caribbean. Hegseth responded by posting to X what appeared to be an AI-generated meme of the children’s book character Franklin shooting […]
The SF Standard: Marc Andreessen v. the pope: VC starts meme-war with Leo XIV. “The tech drama of the week is between billionaire Marc Andreessen and … the pope? Yup, the venture capitalist is going head-to-head with heaven’s vassal on earth. Andreessen this week decided to wage meme-fare (read: war but with sassy memes) against Pope Leo XIV.”
Coalition has 'no confidence' social media ban will work under Labor
By Clare Armstrong
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley says Australia's social media ban will not work under Labor, as the federal government rejects YouTube's claim it will make kids "less safe".
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-03/coalition-has-no-confidence-in-social-media-ban/106098732
#SocialMedia #FederalGovernment #GovernmentandPolitics #FederalParliament #Teenagers #InternetCulture #ClareArmstrong
Wikipedia's top 20 articles of 2025 sees Charlie Kirk and Trump head the list
By Caitlin Rawling
Wikipedia has released the list of the 20 most-read articles on its English-language site for the year.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-03/here-are-the-most-read-wikipedia-articles-of-2025/106097244
