Insights.

Walk into any department store this Christmas and you’ll find shelves of smiling toys powered by AI. Teddy bears that “listen with love.” Dolls that promise to “grow with your child.” Robots that say they can help with maths, literacy and loneliness. These aren’t screens, and yet they’re wired just the same with microphones, sensors, data connections, companion apps, and, crucially, an invisible thread to corporate servers far beyond parental reach. Audio becomes text, text b

If you don’t want your emails, chats, and digital habits feeding into Google’s AI systems (yes, even when it doesn’t say “AI” outright) there’s something buried in your settings you need to switch off. Google isn’t going to wave a flag or drop you a notification about it. These so-called smart features ? That’s just AI hiding under another name. Predictive writing. Autocomplete. Auto-summarise. “Help me write.” They’re generative AI tools in everything but name. And they’re h

Meta Is Texting Teens Why Parents and Teachers Must Talk to Them Today They’ve begun sending messages via SMS, email and in-app notifications, warning young users they have just days left on Instagram, Facebook and Threads if they’re under 16. The law banning under-16s from these platforms officially starts on December 10, but Meta is moving early — accounts will begin disappearing from December 4. This is a big, complex shift. But it’s also the perfect opportunity for sca

Six years ago, I was invited to speak at a school where one of the students was already a well-known influencer who was having a profound effect on her peers. She was 11. Her platform? Skincare routines.  Today, it’s not just worse. It’s everywhere. “Get Ready With Me” videos are now a daily ritual for primary school girls. Morning routine. After-school routine. Night routine. Cleanser, toner, serum, lip mask, ice roller. Ten steps, tapped out by tiny gel nails on 10-year-old

In less than a month on December 10th the Australian Social Media Minimum Age Law starts being enforced. From 10 December 2025, social media platforms must stop Australians under 16 from having accounts and remove or deactivate existing under‑16 accounts. The legal duty is on the platforms, not on children or parents. Platforms must offer clear information, let users download their data, and provide simple review/appeal options if a mistake is made. They cannot make governmen

In a month, the age delay kicks in. For many families, that means TikTok and others go dark. For a generation of kids who’ve grown up dancing, lip-syncing, creating and sharing online, it might feel like something’s being taken away. But here’s what’s not being banned: The music. The movement. The joy of being silly, being seen, being together. Music and movement are how kids (and adults) let things out without having to explain. They help regulate emotion, build trust, and g

A 14-year-old girl in Greater Manchester was groomed across Discord and Snapchat by a man pretending to be six different people. Not one platform raised an alert. Not one system joined the dots. Karl Davies was just sentenced to 20 years in prison. But the real story isn’t what happened to him. It’s what didn’t happen online. Every major platform has moderation tools for content. None has a working protocol for how danger moves from app to app, erasing itself as it goes. When

We’re heading into a new chapter in the story between young people and social media. This past week we have become deeply concerned that many Australian children don't even know this is happening. From 10 December 2025, social media platforms will be legally required to block or remove accounts held by Australians under the age of 16. They’ll also need to use privacy-safe age-checking systems and give young people the right to download their data or challenge mistakes. It’s a

“I’m 16 but I look 14, so how will I get past the facial recognition? It estimates your age, and it will say I’m too young. Is there another way to confirm it, like a driver’s licence? Because social media is how I talk to all my friends, and I don’t use numbers.” This was an email I received this week. And it hasn’t left me. I could feel the panic through the text and the need for support. I received another 6 messages from this young person in the following hour through our

It started, as these things often do, with good intentions. One of the many Online Safety Educators that are popping up all over LinkedIn had seen something concerning online. We need to keep front of mind that we live in an attention economy where concern is currency. Outrage fuels algorithms and even posts intended as red flags often guide users directly to the thing they were told to fear. And not just kids. Adults too. We’ve seen it again and again: a new AI companion app

Last month Roblox announced a major expansion of age estimation across all users who access its communication features rolling out facial age estimation, ID verification, and verified parental consent by the end of the year. This will moves Roblox beyond outdated self-declaration models and into a future-proofed system that understands both today’s risks and tomorrow’s responsibilities. At its core it means that Roblox is implementing new controls that will limit communicatio

This isn’t just about erotica it’s about escalation and it’s already begun as we predicted. This is not a feature drop it’s a whopping big signal. A signal that the architecture of intimacy is being handed over to systems that simulate emotion but are incapable of understanding it. OpenAI announced less than 24hrs ago that they are preparing to loosen content restrictions on ChatGPT, opening the door to adult themes including erotica, as part of what CEO Sam Altman calls a br

The quiet unravelling after deepfake abuse and what we can do better. Today I was sent an article from the ABC that you can read here . The story doesn’t end with police involvement. It doesn’t end with headlines. It barely even begins there. What happens next off-camera, off-record, and often off-script is what should worry us most.There is a stark asymmetry in the aftermath of digital sexual harm. If the perpetrator is over the age of 18yrs they will face serious charges. I

This week, three developments grabbed my attention, and they’re not disconnected. They expose a pattern: innovation outpacing...

It used to be simple when a student won an award, made the team, spoke at assembly, and someone took a photo. That photo ended up in the...

Two decades ago, a Harvard sophomore stitched together a cruel little website. It raided student directories without permission, ripped...

The words free speech  carry a seductive power. They’re waved in protest signs, muttered in pub arguments, thrown into comment threads on...

The Social Media Minimum Age (SMMA) legislation was passed in 2024. Until last week, the details of how it would work were unclear. With...

Across Australia, more and more early childhood services are quietly shutting their lenses. No images sent home. In some centres, every...

This is one of those inflection points in tech history that should be lighting up every radar… product, policy, legal, safety,...

This morning, my partner called me from Italy on Signal. He rang to wish me a happy birthday. There was that comforting little delay, the...

What 1,000 Children Just Taught Us About the Future of Education By Kirra Pendergast When we talk about education, we default to the...

The screenshot below isn’t clickbait. It’s not even rare. It’s a mother’s real post to a support group on Facebook that was sent to me...

These images of “Big sis Billie” were generated using Meta AI on Meta’s Facebook Messenger service, in response to a Reuters...