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Australian social media ban for under 16's now in place
The social media ban for those under the age of 16 in Australia has come into effect. The divisive new law has seen any people under 16 blocked from a slew of social media platforms, such as Snapchat, TikTok, Reddit, YouTube, Instagram and more. These platforms will be responsible for ejecting those under 16 from their platforms, rather than the individual or parent, and will face fines of up to A$49.5 million for serious or repeated breaches. The government says firms must take "reasonable steps" to keep kids off their platforms and should use multiple age assurance technologies. These could include government IDs, face or voice recognition, or so-called "age inference", which analyses online behaviour and interactions to estimate a person's age. While some parents and teachers are celebrating the move, hoping it will deliver lower rates of distraction in classrooms and cyberbullying, others have concerns, especially about how age verification will work moving forward. Some cybersecurity experts have already flagged concerns about privacy and safety, as ID verification becomes required to prove that an account holder is over the age of 16. Platforms can also use age interference technology, which looks at pat
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Grindr shareholders withdraw bid after talks end
Grindr Inc’s two largest shareholders have reportedly withdrawn their planned US$3.46 billion (A$5.36 billion) offer for the company soon after it ended talks due to worries about how they would fund the bid. Ray Zage and James Lu, who own more than 60% of the same sex dating app’s shares, said they had received strong interest from lenders and investors to support the transaction, according to a Reuters story. They had offered $18 per share last month, which was a 51% premium over the company's stock price at the time. Grindr said the Special Committee of its Board of Directors had decided to cease engagement with respect to a non-binding, unsolicited take-private proposal from Zage and Lu. “The Special Committee made this determination due to continued uncertainty as to the financing for the Proposal,” the company said in a news release. The Committee had decided that further talks and discussions were not in the best interests of shareholders, but remained confident about Grindr’s ability to create significant value for all shareholders as the management team executed its long-term strategic plan. Zage said he intended to buy more Grindr shares and urged the board to expand stock buyback and consider dividends
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Pinterest stocks post 2nd worst day following earnings
Pinterest stock had its second-worst day ever, with shares plummeting by 21%. This only trails a 23.6% drop in May 2022 and follows lacklustre third-quarter earnings, during which advertising took a hit from large retailers dealing with tariffs. The company posted earnings per share of 38 cents. While this was up from last year’s 32 cents per share, it fell short of the LSEG estimate of 42 cents per share. “Tariff-related weakness showed up for the first time in our digital ads universe and will reinforce PINS’ lack of customer diversity for the bears and higher macro sensitivity,” RBC wrote in an analyst note. Even more concerning was the geographic breakdown, where United States and Canada revenue hit US$786 million, falling short of StreetAccount’s US$799 projection. Pinterest CFO Julia Donnelly said the platform "some pockets of moderating ad spend" from "larger U.S. retailers" dealing with margin pressure from tariff-related costs during the earnings call. She also said she expects headwinds to intensify under President Donald Trump’s new trade policies. This comes as Pinterest fights an uphill battle against social media sites like Instagram and TikTok, causing many banks to lower their price targets fol
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Snap shares soar on revenue beat, Perplexity deal
Snap reported a major surge in revenue last quarter and said it would partner with Perplexity AI, sending shares up as much as 26.7% in after-hours trading. The Snapchat parent's revenue rose 10% year-over-year to US$1.51 billion, beating LSEG estimates of $1.49 billion. Its loss per share was $0.06, compared with a loss of $0.09 one year ago. “Our focus on performance, creativity, and simplicity is helping advertisers achieve stronger results while giving our community more ways to communicate,” said Snap CEO Evan Spiegel. The increase in revenue was “driven by improved advertising demand and the rapid expansion of our direct revenue streams,” the company wrote. Snap’s operating loss was $103.54 million, rising from a loss of $153.25 million. Its adjusted EBITDA was up 38% to $182.04 million. Snapchat reached 943 million monthly active users during the quarter, growing by 7% year-over-year. Daily active users increased 8% to 477 million. The company said daily active users could decline in the fourth quarter, however, due to social media age restriction policies taking effect in countries like Australia. Its Q4 guidance projects revenue of $1.68-1.71 billion, with adjusted EBITDA of $280-310 million. Snap
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Meta shares plunge on Q3 result, outlook
Shares in Meta Platforms plunged after it announced a large drop in net income for the third quarter of the 2025 financial year (Q3 FY25) and flagged a big increase in investment and expenses in FY26. The parent company of social media platforms, including Facebook, said net income fell 83% to $2.709 billion in the three months ended 30 September 2025 as the provision for income taxes rose 788% to $18.954 billion due to a one-time charge. Diluted earnings per share dropped 83% to $1.05. The tax rate soared to 87% from 12% due to a one-off tax related to a non-cash reduction in deferred tax assets, without which it would have been 14%, Chief Financial Officer Susan Li told the earnings call. In the absence of the tax charge, net income would have increased to $18.64 billion and diluted EPS would have increased to $7.25, compared to the reported figures of $2.71 billion and $1.05. Meta said income from operations grew 18% to $20.535 billion (A$31.24 billion) in Q3 on revenue, which climbed 26% to $51.242 billion. Meta said it expected a significant reduction in its U.S. federal cash tax payments for the rest of 2025 and future years due to the implementation of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. "We had a strong qu

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Trump approves TikTok sale plan to US-led investors
More details about a possible change in TikTok’s ownership have emerged as President Donald Trump signed an executive order approving a deal that would prevent the popular Chinese-owned video app being outlawed in the United States. Vice President JD Vance said the app would be valued at about US$14 billion (A$21.4 billion) in the proposed sale, below analysts’ estimates of $30 billion to $35 billion and a fraction of the $330 billion that TikTok's Chinese parent, ByteDance, values itself at. Trump said his plan for TikTok's U.S. operations to be sold to U.S. and global investors would address the national security requirements of a so-far unenforced 2024 law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its Chinese owners. He said Oracle Corporation founder Larry Ellison, Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell, Fox Corporation and News Corporation Chairman Emeritus Rupert Murdoch and other “world-class investors" would be part of the deal with ByteDance retaining less than 20%. But the ownership details varied in other news articles, with Reuters reporting in this story that three investors, including Oracle and private-equity firm Silver Lake, would buy 50% and a CNBC article naming Abu Dhabi-based MGX as an investor. Trump sai
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Ellison, Dell and Murdoch to take over TikTok: Trump
A group of high-profile investors including Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Lachlan Murdoch plan to take control of TikTok, according to United States President Donald Trump. Trump named them during an interview as being part of a deal to keep the social media platform operating in the United States, where the President wants it banned unless it is sold by Chinese parent ByteDance. Trump said in an interview on Fox News’ The Sunday Briefing the group consisted of “very prominent people” and “American patriots” who would “do a really good job” overseeing TikTok’s U.S. operations, according to media reports. “You know, they’re very well-known people. And Larry Ellison is one of them. He’s involved. He’s a great guy. Michael Dell is involved. I hate to tell you this, but a man named Lachlan is involved,” Trump was quoted as saying. Ellison, the Oracle Corporation founder and world’s richest person, and Dell, the CEO of Dell Technologies, are Republican donors and have been previously linked to the TikTok talks while Murdoch is the Executive Chair of Fox Corporation. The Murdoch investment would come through Fox Corp with neither Lachlan nor his 94-year-old father Rupert investing as individuals, according to this Reute
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US, China reach deal to keep TikTok operating in US
The United States and China have reached a deal for TikTok to continue operating in the U.S., President Donald Trump said. A new company will reportedly be formed to manage TikTok’s U.S. operations, with U.S. investors owning an 80% stake. Trump has also signed an executive order delaying the enforcement of the TikTok ban for a fourth time. “We have a deal on TikTok, I've reached a deal with China, I'm going to speak to President Xi on Friday to confirm everything up,” Trump said. The new entity operating TikTok’s U.S. business will be controlled by a consortium including Oracle, Andreessen Horowitz, and Silver Lake, per the Wall Street Journal. TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, will hold a roughly 20% stake in the company, and one board member will be chosen by the U.S. government. U.S. TikTok users will change to a new app, which is reportedly being tested by TikTok. This app will include a recreated version of TikTok’s flagship algorithm, licensed from ByteDance. The deal is set to close in 30 to 45 days, CNBC reported. The fourth delay in the TikTok ban’s enforcement will expire on 16 December. Oracle, a current TikTok cloud partner, would continue to handle all U.S. users’ data. A U.S. law to
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US, China etch TikTok deal with Oracle as likely suitor
United States and Chinese officials announced on Monday they have reached a framework agreement to transfer TikTok to U.S.-controlled ownership - just two days before a 17 September deadline that could have shuttered the app for 170 million American users. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, speaking from the Madrid trade talks, confirmed that "commercial terms have been agreed upon" between two private parties, though he declined to specify ownership structure details. The framework preserves what Bessent described as TikTok's "Chinese characteristics" while addressing core U.S. security concerns. It means ByteDance might retain some involvement - but American hands will control operations. Similar scrutiny could extend to other Chinese-owned applications like WeChat, CapCut, and Temu, creating both regulatory risks and acquisition opportunities across the tech sector. ByteDance's willingness to negotiate suggests pragmatism, yet Reuters previously reported that if forced to choose between selling with the algorithm or shutting down completely, ByteDance would prefer closure rather than surrender its core technology. A preservation of "Chinese characteristics" does, however, hint at a compromise on algorithm contr