Scroll downtime: Teens face two-hour cap on social media apps
A two-hour cap on social media apps for teenagers is being considered by the British Government.
Peter Kyle, the Technology Secretary, suggested he was considering new limits on scroll time for young people in an attempt to tackle 'addictive' behaviour.
It comes as ministers examine a package of potential
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Otago Daily Times
an hour ago
- Otago Daily Times
Northern Irish rioters attack police for second night
Officers stand guard behind police vehicles during clashes on the second night of riots in Ballymena. Photo: Reuters Hundreds of masked rioters attacked police and set homes and cars on fire in the Northern Irish town of Ballymena on Tuesday, in the second successive night of disorder that followed a protest over an alleged sexual assault in the town. Police in Northern Ireland sporadically come under attack when tensions rise in parts of the British region, 27 years after a peace deal ended three decades of sectarian bloodshed there. Calm was restored to Ballymena, located 45 kilometres from the capital Belfast, about 1am on Tuesday (local time), police said. Officers in riot gear and driving armoured vans responded earlier with water cannon and non-lethal rounds, known as attenuated energy projectiles, after being attacked by petrol bombs, scaffolding and rocks that rioters gathered by knocking down nearby walls, a Reuters witness said. One house was burned out and a police officer vomited after leaving another in a different part of the town that rioters had attempted to set alight, the witness added. A number of cars were set on fire and one lay upside down in flames as police sirens blared throughout the town past midnight. The first night of rioting on Monday saw four houses damaged by fire, and doors and windows smashed in other homes and businesses, in what police said was being investigated as racially motivated hate attacks. Fifteen officers were injured. Hundreds of protesters had gathered in Ballymena earlier on Monday after two teenage boys appeared in court that day, accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl in the County Antrim town. Local media reported that the charges were read to the teenagers via an interpreter. Separate protests on Tuesday blocked off some roads in Belfast, another Reuters witness said. Police said they also dealt with sporadic disorder in the towns of Newtownabbey and Carrickfergus, as well as some incidents in north Belfast. The British government and local politicians condemned the violence. "The terrible scenes of civil disorder we have witnessed in Ballymena again this evening have no place in Northern Ireland," Britain's Northern Ireland Minister Hilary Benn said on X.
Scoop
2 hours ago
- Scoop
Free Speech Union Warns Stalking And Harassment Bill Risks Abuse, Changes Make It Worse
The Crimes Legislation (Stalking and Harassment) Amendment Bill suffers from the common fault of slogan laws with good intentions, without realism about the risks of misuse. The announced expansion of what is considered a 'specified act' goes in the wrong direction, says Stephen Franks, Council Member of the Free Speech Union. 'We've already seen the broad and vague terminology in the Harmful Digital Communications Act being used to silence legitimate dissent many times. This Bill is likely to be similarly abused. 'Truth should be a defense for 'damaging, or undermining [a person's] reputation, opportunities, or relationships'. That would save the centuries-long principle that protects the public interest in learning home truths about powerful people and wrongdoers. It is not enough to say the Bill lets you argue that truth is for a proper purpose. We know that courts have not held that telling the truth is presumptively a proper purpose. 'The broad definition of 'specified acts' as inducing fear or distress, combined with the low threshold for establishing a 'pattern of behaviour', already leaves wide scope for misuse against legitimate surveillance, and dissent. Likewise, the inclusion of 'contacting or communicating with a person' is vague and has the potential to be weaponised. 'By prioritising the term 'fear or distress' without a clear objective override, the Bill raises similar issues to 'hate speech' legislation. The law does not recognise that some people ought to be ashamed ('distressed') by exposure of their own conduct. 'The Government's decision to increase the timeframe for establishing a 'pattern of behaviour' from contact twice over 12 to 24 months also widens the net, making it more likely that isolated or infrequent expressions of dissent could be criminalised. 'We submitted our concerns in February, urging the Justice Select Committee to narrow their definitions, to clarify 'specified acts', and to provide better defences that would let the courts protect free speech. We call on the Minister of Justice to protect Kiwis' speech rights as well as victims of stalking and harassment.'
Scoop
3 hours ago
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PM Must Stop Changes Further Failing Children
Press Release – New Zealand Labour Party Christopher Luxon must step in and cancel boot camps and restore funding to frontline community providers before its too late, Labour childrens spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime said. Today's damning report on Oranga Tamariki shows Māori children are being left with little chance of success, or even survival, after their experiences in the state care system, and Minister for Children Karen Chhour is making it worse. 'This report is the first of its kind and reveals a disturbing and urgent problem which can no longer be ignored by the Prime Minister who has overseen dangerous changes to Oranga Tamariki during his term in government,' Labour children's spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime said. 'The Government has cut early intervention, continued with botched bootcamps that have never worked, and taken away funding from community-run services that help children and whānau. 'Christopher Luxon has allowed an ACT Minister to recklessly erode the services that have been built up to support children. 'As well as repealing Section 7AA, Karen Chhour has removed a key target for placement of children with whanau, and removed the target for investment for services provided by Iwi organisations. 'The Government has taken away actions specifically put in place to address the significant disparities for Māori children in care. 'Christopher Luxon must step in and cancel boot camps and restore funding to frontline community providers before it's too late,' Willow-Jean Prime said.
