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They include the United Kingdom, which plans to implement a ban for kids under 16, and France, which has approved a social media ban for kids under 15. But France’s top court, the Constitutional Council, struck down the social media ban on Friday. The court ruled the ban is too broad and infringed upon freedom of expression and privacy rights. Countries around the world have introduced age verification systems that are operating at “various levels of efficacy,” said Heidi Tworek, a professor of history and public policy at the University of British Columbia, shortly after the Canadian bill was introduced. They include Australia, which has age restrictions for social media, and the U.K., where there is a mandatory verification system controlling access to adult content. In December 2025, Australia introduced a law that requires social media platforms to take reasonable steps to keep kids under 16 from using their services. Australia’s rules apply to multiple platforms, including Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitch, X, YouTube and Reddit. But the rules have gaps. In a report released in March, the country’s online safety commissioner said that while millions of accounts had been removed or restricted, “a substantial number of children

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“We are two or three Snapchat messages away from a fatality.” That’s the assessment from Glasgow youth workers, who say Scotland is “years behind” the curve in tackling teenage violence. Community development worker Jamie O’Neill began working with youngsters in the Kingsway area of Glasgow several years ago. His organisation was recently forced to suspend youth work temporarily after he was injured while attempting to intervene in a dispute. Jamie believes social media has accelerated youth violence in recent years, with teenagers participating in group chats involving more than 100 people from across Glasgow. He says speaking directly to vulnerable young people remains the best way of understanding what’s unfolding on the ground. ‘We’re way behind’ STV News Youth worker Jamie O’Neill STV News He argues agencies are “way behind” in understanding the role technology now plays in fuelling disputes. “Social media is hugely important. If something is shared, we’ll find information quicker through a young person rather than an agency. “There’s pressure to stay in the group chat and play up. “What you’re seeing in the group chat you think is real. ‘I’m going to get you tomorrow after school’, ‘maybe I should take a knife with me?’ They’re

Bozeman Police reports Wednesday included: • Caller said she hit someone Tuesday on an I-90 exit but doesn’t know who. She was told she would be called back if there is a report of a similar accident in that area at 5:30 a.m. • Officers transported a student to school who had missed a connecting bus. • A student reported receiving harassing chats via snapchat. She did not have any idea who the sender was and did not believe they were a fellow classmate or friend. She was advised to block the username and if the harassment continues via a new username or other means of communication, BPD will investigate. • Officers assisted with a student who was missing in a school. The student was found hiding, was warned for their behavior and referred to their case manager and counselor. • A caller had an “interaction” with a stranger who was verbally mean to him as he walked through an alley to his vehicle. The man then returned and spit on his car. • Officers were dispatched to an apartment because a male didn’t want to let his girlfriend leave. They talked to both parties and were told they just

FILE - This combination of 2017-2022 photos shows the logos of Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and Snapchat on mobile devices. On Friday, Jan. 6, 2023, Seattle Public Schools filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court, suing the tech giants behind TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat, seeking to hold them accountable for the mental health crisis among youth. AP Photo/undefined PARIS (AP) — A top court in France on Friday struck down a law banning children under 15 from using social media, saying it infringes on fundamental freedoms. The Constitutional Council ruled that provisions in the ban “disproportionately infringe freedom of expression and communication" and haven't provided legal guarantees to ensure those rights, according to a press release summarizing the decision. Article continues below this ad France last month became the first country in the European Union to pass a blanket ban on the platforms amid rising worldwide concerns about the harmful effects of digital content on kids. Both chambers of the Parliament had voted in favor of the measure, which also banned the use of mobile phones in high schools. The legislation was one of the final major measures adopted under French President Emmanuel Macron’s presidency before he leaves office

FILE - This combination of 2017-2022 photos shows the logos of Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and Snapchat on mobile devices. On Friday, Jan. 6, 2023, Seattle Public Schools filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court, suing the tech giants behind TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat, seeking to hold them accountable for the mental health crisis among youth. AP Photo/undefined PARIS (AP) — A top court in France on Friday struck down a law banning children under 15 from using social media, saying it infringes on fundamental freedoms. The Constitutional Council ruled that provisions in the ban “disproportionately infringe freedom of expression and communication" and haven't provided legal guarantees to ensure those rights, according to a press release summarizing the decision. Article continues below this ad France last month became the first country in the European Union to pass a blanket ban on the platforms amid rising worldwide concerns about the harmful effects of digital content on kids. Both chambers of the Parliament had voted in favor of the measure, which also banned the use of mobile phones in high schools. The legislation was one of the final major measures adopted under French President Emmanuel Macron’s presidency before he leaves office

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey sentenced Zelek to 27 and a half years in federal prison. Judge Blakey also ordered Zelek to pay ...

A teenager confronted her alleged rapist about whether he had confessed to his girlfriend about cheating with an underage girl, a jury has been told. The series of messages was detailed at the start of Lachlan Young’s trial in the Victorian County Court on Thursday after he pleaded not guilty to raping the 16-year-old girl. Lachlan Young is accused of raping a 16-year-old girl. He has pleaded not guilty. Anita Lester Young, 24, met the teen at a small house party in the Ballarat suburb of Sebastopol on February 4, 2024, prosecutor Andrew Buckland told the jury. The pair chatted, exchanged Snapchat details, and as the other partygoers went to bed, the local man asked the teen if she “wanted to do things”, the jury was told. The girl said no because she was tired, and she went to bed, but they continued to send Snapchat messages to each other, Buckland said. The girl told Young she was only 16, and he allegedly still asked to have sex with her, saying, “Just five minutes, and I’ll make it worth it”. The teen agreed to meet Young in the backyard, and she consented to some sexual touching. But when Young said “wanna

The Trace Newsletter A social media campaign challenging the idea that guns make kids more safe appears to be breaking through. Snapchat, the disappearing-message app, holds an unusual appeal for young people. Nearly half of teenagers ages 13 to 17 say they use Snapchat every day, according to a December 2025 Pew report, compared with 25 percent of adults who said they’ve ever used the platform — a decline from 2024, at that. Those stats were probably in mind when the violence prevention organization Project Unloaded launched a Snapchat messaging campaign on the dangers of guns. The organization’s Safer Not Using Guns campaign originally launched in 2022, with the goal of challenging the idea that guns make kids safer. Four years later, it seems the campaign is changing minds. An analysis conducted this past spring found that 13- to 17-year-olds — the youngest of whom, I was alarmed to realize, are members of Generation Alpha — on SnapChat who were aware of the campaign were more likely to say that guns come with a lot of risks. In her latest story, Fairriona Magee breaks down the analysis, and the larger implications for violence prevention among teens. From The Trace Snaps

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