Marco Rubio’s Hot Take

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (right) helpfully pointed out "... that China wants to become the most powerful country in the world, and they want to do so at our expense. Obviously, we are Americans; we're not going to allow that to happen". 

This was said in an interview aired on the Fox News Channel program "My View with Lara Trump" on July 28, 2026.

Cue the dramatic gasp. A classic case of stating the obvious.  

While China is undoubtedly a rising global superpower, it is not yet the most powerful country on the planet. However, it is closing in rapidly; it's simply a matter of time.

Get used to it, Rubio!

😂😂😂

A historic opening round of six top-flight Scottish Premiership matches wrapped up at Celtic Park yesterday with the Celtic-Dundee fixture. 

Of course, the Scottish champions won, albeit a narrow 1-0 victory over the Dees. After a drab first half, Sweden midfielder Benjamin Nygren met a magnificent cross from Kieran Tierney on 52 minutes for the game's only goal. 

As Celtic head honcho Martin O'Neill said: "The most important thing is to win the game".

Seedance 2.0 Ignites Global Buzz with Hyper-realistic AI Video

In a traditional Chinese courtyard, a young Jackie Chan dressed in black engages in a high-speed chase with Jet Li, clad in white. Set to the stirring theme "A Man Should Strengthen Himself", the two leap from courtyard walls into an interior hall, launching into a meticulously choreographed fight packed with close combat and technical precision. 

The sequence, however, is not from a newly released action blockbuster. It is a short video generated by Seedance 2.0, the latest AI video model developed by ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok. 

The model has attracted widespread attention from global industry professionals. Many international media outlets were also quick to take notice following its official release on Thursday. 

In an article published the same day, Forbes wrote that the model "nails real world physics and hyper-real video generation" and said "Seedance 2.0 offers a level of creative control that mimics a human director". 

Reuters said in China, the model has been compared to DeepSeek and won praise for its ability to produce cinematic storylines with just a few prompts. 

Still, the model has also faced controversy – particularly over its highly realistic rendering and the use of real human likenesses without authorization, an issue common across many video-generation AI systems. 

The debate surrounding Seedance 2.0 is rapidly expanding beyond technical performance. Analysts said it may accelerate structural shifts not only in the entertainment industry but also within the video-generation AI sector itself. 

Within days of trial access being circulated, social media feeds across X were flooded with demonstration clips. Filmmakers, AI engineers and digital artists dissected frame rates, lighting transitions and motion coherence – and many were amazed at how quickly the technology had matured. 

For some in Hollywood, the reaction went beyond curiosity. Filmmaker Charles Curran said on X after testing Seedance 2.0 that with 20 minutes and $60, he successfully generated a trailer for a film featuring characters from the US game Halo. 

Rhett Reese, a Hollywood writer and producer involved in Deadpool 1 & 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine, reposted a Seedance-generated clip depicting a fight between Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise, writing bluntly: "I hate to say it. It's likely over for us". 

He added: "In next to no time, one person is going to be able to sit at a computer and create a movie indistinguishable from what Hollywood now releases". 

"In the past, we hoped to surpass big companies' models in niche areas through better algorithms", a former film producer now working as a product manager at an AI startup told the Global Times. 

"Now, Seedance 2.0 suggests ByteDance have achieved a major algorithmic breakthrough. Combined with the vast high-quality training data from Douyin and TikTok, the advantage could be overwhelming for most companies". 

Just one year after DeepSeek stunned the global tech community in 2025 with a high-performance open-source AI model, China's AI sector has once again demonstrated rapid advancement at the start of 2026. 

For many observers, the back-to-back breakthroughs are not isolated events, but signals of a gradually maturing innovation ecosystem that is beginning to deliver sustained momentum. 

Analysts attribute much of this progress to China's policy orientation, development philosophy in the AI field and strategic resolve – one that combines technological self-reliance with open collaboration.

Open-source AI models developed in China are expanding their global influence, breaking overseas technology monopolies while lowering entry barriers for the industry. Behind their growth lie China's institutional strengths, vast market environment, corporate dynamism and long-term strategic focus.

US TikTok Users Rethink App

Many TikTok users across the US are rethinking their relationship with the platform since its ownership and terms and conditions have recently changed, with some citing censorship and lack of trust as reasons why they’re removing themselves from the app. 

TikTok, the short-form video platform owned by Chinese company ByteDance, has faced scrutiny after the decision to create a new US-based entity, TikTok USDS Joint Venture, in an effort to avoid being banned in the country. Investors in the majority US-owned venture include Oracle, which is owned by Donald Trump ally Larry Ellison, the private equity-group Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi’s MGX, who will own 80.1% of the new entity. ByteDance will own the remaining 19.9%. 

The announcement was made five years after Trump first threatened to ban the popular app in the US during his first term in office. TikTok’s new deal has been accompanied by changes to app’s terms and conditions, reports of technical issues and a growing debate among users and creators about privacy and censorship. 

The daily average of US users deleting the TikTok app has increased 195% from January 22 to January 28 compared to the previous 90 days, according to data collected by Sensor Tower, a market intelligence firm. 

Very many social media users have voiced concern over language in the app’s terms and conditions, which specifically point out the types of data that TikTok may collect on its users, including “racial and ethnic origin” and “sexual life or sexual orientation, status as transgender or nonbinary, citizenship or immigration status, or financial information”. 

That language was present in the previous version of platform’s terms, which were updated in 2024, but one noticeable new feature in the terms is the explicit acknowledgment that TikTok collects precise location data (unless you opt out), as reported by Mashable. 

After the killing of Alex Pretti – the second fatal shooting in January – in Minneapolis, Minnesota, amid a major crackdown by ICE agents on January 24, some content creators expressed concern that videos condemning the federal agency were being suppressed by TikTok. 

Even California governor Gavin Newsom voiced concern about potential TikTok censorship this past week, writing on X: “Following TikTok’s sale to a Trump-aligned business group, our office has received reports, and independently confirmed instances, of suppressed content critical of President Trump”. Newsom announced that the state will be launching an investigation into the platform and whether it is violating California law by censoring anti-Trump content.

If anybody decides to ditch TikTok, it's not the end of the world because there are other short-video social media apps worth checking out: Upscrolled, Skylight, Loops, Instagram Reels, Facebook Reels, YouTube Shorts, Snapchat Spotlight, Lemon8 and of course, Xiaohongshu/RedNote.

Around the World, People Are Starting to See China Positively

The West's demonization of China is slowly and steadily losing its power, with yet another survey showing the preference for Chinese global leadership growing steeply, while preference for US dominance falls. 

A multi-country Economist survey asked 32,000 people whether they preferred China or the US as the world’s leading power. 

“The share of respondents favouring China jumped by 11 percentage points to an average of 33%. Meanwhile, support for America slipped below a global majority to 46%”, the Economist reported on November 13. 

The findings echo those of a much larger survey in May this year, in which China was even more strongly preferred by most respondents. The Democracy Perception Index surveyed 120,000 people and showed a more pronounced swing towards China. 

It’s also worth noting that a third, separate survey showed young people in Africa having a strong preference for China (which builds infrastructure and provides jobs) than the West (which is seen as an extractor of wealth). In that 2022 survey, paid for by South Africa’s Ichikowitz Family Foundation, more than 70% of young adults from 15 African countries saw China as the foreign power with the biggest positive impact on their lives. 

This matters. By 2050, 80% of the world’s youth will be from Africa. 

Interestingly, the Economist results were sharply skewed by age. People aged 65 and up, the newspaper-reading generation, still felt very negatively towards China, giving the US a 30-point lead. 

In contrast, young people, who are largely free from the influence of legacy media, feel most positive towards the country. In the eyes of young adults (18 to 24) China gets 39% support, meaning it has almost caught up with US (41%), and will likely soon overtake it. 

“Many youngsters use Chinese products and services, like the video-sharing sensation TikTok, or follow social-media influencers who have visited China”, the Economist said. 

Having seen mainland China, Hong Kong and Xinjiang for themselves through social media on their phones, young people around the world are no longer fooled by US-led hoaxes about China as a nightmare tech dystopia, about the debunked “Uyghur genocide”, about Hong Kong having become “a police state”, and so on. 

The loss of funding for USAID and Radio Free Asia is also having a huge beneficial effect on enabling people to get a clearer, less distorted image of China. 

Two matches yesterday that have an impact on the two teams I support. 

Arsenal trounced Tottenham 4-1 in the Premier League and Aberdeen beat Hearts 1-0 in the Scottish Premiership. This means the gap between the English table toppers and Liverpool has now widened to eleven points. And Hearts are ahead of the Scottish champions by just 4 points although Celtic still have a game in hand.

Malaysian Football is Ranked #123

Sinar Daily had erred in their calculations and so, they got Malaysia's FIFA ranking all wrong. [Refer my September 12 post "Malaysia's FIFA Ranking is Expected to Improve"].

Malaysia's national football team, nicknamed Harimau Malaya, is ranked 123rd globally with 1,148.23 points, moving up just two spots from their 125th position in July. As per the FIFA update on September 18.

And if they continue their winning streak, they can certainly expect to break into the world's top 120 teams. 

Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order laying out a proposed deal for a US version of TikTok that would see Chinese ownership reduced to 20 percent and put control in the hands of the president’s allies. 

At a signing ceremony at the White House, Trump said the US version of the app would be run by “highly sophisticated” investors including Larry Ellison, the founder of cloud giant Oracle, tech investor Michael Dell and media tycoon Rupert Murdoch. Investment firm Silver Lake Management and Silicon Valley powerhouse Andreessen Horowitz are also thought to be part of the deal. 

“The proposed divestiture would allow the millions of Americans who enjoy TikTok every day to continue using it while also protecting national security”, Trump stated in the order, which affects TikTok’s approximately 170 million American users. 

The president confirmed that the US version of TikTok would feature a homegrown model of the app’s prized algorithm, often described as TikTok’s “secret sauce” that helped it grow into one of the world’s most popular platforms in just a few years. 

The new set-up for TikTok is in response to a law passed under Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, that has forced its Chinese owner ByteDance to sell its US operations or face a ban in its biggest market. US policymakers, including Trump in his first presidency, have warned that China could use TikTok to mine data from Americans or exert influence through its state-of-the-art algorithm. 

Trump has repeatedly delayed enforcement through successive executive orders, most recently extending the deadline until December 16, 2025. Thursday’s order extended that deadline still further, granting a 120-day enforcement delay to complete the transaction by January 23. 

Vice President JD Vance, the one-time venture capitalist who led the team to find a solution for TikTok, said the US entity would be valued at about $14 billion (which, I think, is undervalued), though he added that it would ultimately be up to the investors to figure out its price. 

When asked if the Chinese authorities had signed off on the deal, Trump claimed that President Xi Jinping gave his green light in a phone call on September 19, 2025. 

TikTok did not respond to a query seeking comment and confirmation, and Beijing has remained largely silent on any deal. 

After the Trump-Xi call, state broadcaster CCTV said Xi emphasised to his US counterpart that China supports market-based negotiations that align with Chinese laws.

I just think the US is getting ahead of itself. 😜😜😜

Donald Trump Gives TikTok Third Reprieve

US President Donald Trump has extended the deadline for TikTok's sale in the US for a further 90 days. 

The idea of banning TikTok actually originated with Trump in 2020, who said the Chinese-owned app posed a danger to national security. It quickly became a bipartisan issue and Congress overwhelmingly voted to ban the app last year unless it is sold by its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. 

Trump’s first executive order giving TikTok a reprieve came on his first day in office – just three days after the supreme court ruled to uphold the ban. Trump issued the second executive order in April. The deadline for the sale or ban was then set for June 19. Now, TikTok has until September 17.  

Trump switched his stance on TikTok after joining the app while campaigning for president last year, amassing nearly 15 million followers and hosting the TikTok CEO, Shou Zi Chew, at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Chew also attended Trump’s inauguration. 

Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Vice Chairman Mark Warner, a Democrat, criticized Trump's decision. "Once again, the Trump administration is flouting the law and ignoring its own national security findings about the risks posed by a PRC-controlled TikTok", Warner said in a statement. 

"An executive order can't sidestep the law, but that's exactly what the president is trying to do", Warner added.

Why lah the criticism? Trump is always flip-flopping wad!

Ne Zha 2 English Dub Sets Sights on Global Market

Chinese blockbuster “Ne Zha 2” has shattered records but that's not the end of it because, CMC Pictures are reportedly preparing an English-dubbed version, setting the stage for an even broader international push.

The distributors have already secured 1,000 screens in North America and 162 in Australia for the film. For the upcoming English dub, their president Catherine Ying promised the marketing approach will shift significantly with “targeted TV advertising and social media including YouTube and TikTok”, along with a “bigger marketing budget” to reach non-Chinese audiences. 

I don't know when is the release date because there was no mention of it. But you can be sure that when it happens, this goliath of a movie will see ticket sales spiral again!

The above aside, Ne Zha 2 extended its theatrical screening in the Chinese mainland for the third time by another month to May 31, according to movie data platform Beacon Pro. Already, the Chinese animation's global box office has now reached CNY15.7 billion ($2.15 billion), as per Yicai Global on Tuesday.

Shanghai, China:

Indeed, a picture paints a thousand words!

A Dig at Indian Start-ups

India's Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal's comments in New Delhi about the country's start-up ecosystem triggered a massive debate on social media. 

On April 03, at the second Start-up Mahakumbh, a government-led start-up conclave, Goyal (right) warned that the country risks falling behind global peers unless entrepreneurs shift focus from quick commerce to high-impact innovation. 

Poking fun at the rise of food delivery apps, artisanal brands and online betting apps in the country, he compared them with the innovations being made by the "other side", which many took to mean China. He said that while "they" were making leaps in machine learning, robotics and building "next-gen factories that can compete with the rest of the world", India's start-ups were still largely focussed on lifestyle products like gluten-free ice creams. 

His remarks sparked a flurry of sharp reactions from sections of the start-up universe, for a sector that is prone to patting itself on the back, they serve a timely note of caution. They are a reality check for not only the private ecosystem − which encompasses sections of India Inc, universities, and private capital − but also the government which position themselves as a valuable stakeholder in the start-up story. 

To be sure, Goyal also praised the pace at which new businesses were popping up in the country, hailing India as the third-largest start-up ecosystem in the world. He also urged Indian investors to do more to support Indian creators. But he seemed to want to see more happen, and faster.

Still, there are successful start-ups (On scale, not profit) and which include Flipkart, Ola, Paytm, Zomato, and BYJU'S. These companies have not only disrupted traditional industries, but also become strong players in their respective sectors. 

According to Amit Gupta writing in LinkedIn on February 16, 2023, it has to be said that many of these start-ups continue to be loss-making and not sustainable even after years of existence. This is despite the fact that India is home to a massive population and market size, which presents a significant opportunity in itself. 

In contrast, the Chinese companies that are dominating the global headlines are involved in cutting edge high-tech research. They are competing in global markets, rivaling even US giants across a range of sectors like BYD (automobiles), TikTok (social media) and Shein (fast fashion).

India's Business Standard newspaper carried a write-up by Abhijeet Kumar on April 04, informing that China’s start-up dominance was not an accident − it was the result of deliberate government policies, aggressive funding, and a domestic market structured for scale. 

Unlike India, where start-ups face regulatory hurdles, China’s government actively fostered innovation. As a result, by 2023, China accounted for 40 percent of global venture capital funding, dwarfing India’s 5 percent. Beijing’s $1.4 trillion tech investment plan (2015–2025) far outstripped India’s $150 billion allocation. In 2024 alone, China slashed $361 billion in taxes and fees for high-tech firms, including $80.7 billion in R&D deductions.

Both India and China, with their approximately 1.4 billion-strong populations, offered start-ups a vast testing ground before expanding internationally. In 2024, Alibaba’s Singles’ Day sales hit $203.6 billion − surpassing the value of India’s entire e-commerce market, which stood at $147.3 billion. Meanwhile, TikTok, developed by ByteDance, reached one billion users before entering Western markets, while India’s ShareChat still struggles to cross 400 million.

FYI:

I don't think we should discount India yet. I'm still optimistic that the country can rewrite its story. But for now, China remains in a different orbit − and India, for sure, faces a steep climb ahead.

TikTok Gets Another 75-day Reprieve

US President Donald Trump on Friday announced on social media that he would sign an executive order to grant TikTok another 75-day extension period under the "sell or ban" law. 

Trump said that his administration has been working hard to push for a deal to "save TikTok" and that "significant progress" has been made, but more work is needed to reach an agreement. 

Trump’s extension marks the the second time that he has given the popular short video platform a temporary reprieve from the ban. On the day Trump took office on January 20, he issued an executive order to delay the TikTok ban by 75 days "to permit my Administration an opportunity to determine the appropriate course of action with respect to TikTok", Xinhua reported. 

The executive order granted TikTok a 75-day extension period under the "sell or ban" law. This extension period was originally set to expire on April 05. In April 2024, then-president Joe Biden signed a "sell or ban" bill passed by both houses of Congress, which required TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, to sell TikTok to a non-Chinese company within 270 days, or the app would be banned in the US after January 19, 2025. 

TikTok’s owner, ByteDance admitted on Saturday that they are involved in negotiations with the US government but have yet to execute any agreement. But the Chinese technology company acknowledged that any agreement will be subject to approval under Chinese law.

Celtic needed two wins to clinch their 13th Scottish Premiership title in 14 seasons. But alas, yesterday, bottom side St Johnstone, for the first time since May 2016, beat Celtic 1-0.

And, 743.5km away, another shocker as Fulham capitalising on some dreadful defending by Liverpool, beat them 3-2. The defeat at Craven Cottage was the Reds' first in 26 league games and just their second of the Premier League campaign.

The Reds had gone ahead through Alexis Mac Allister's superb 25-yard strike in the 14th minute but three Fulham goals in 13 minutes turned the game on its head before half-time.

Luis Diaz pulled one back for the visitors in the 72nd minute, stabbing into the bottom corner from fellow substitute Conor Bradley's pass, but Liverpool were unable to force an equaliser.

The table leaders stay 11 points clear at the top with seven games remaining and need a maximum of 11 more points to secure a record-equalling 20th league title.

Donald Trump Wants to Do a TikTok Deal with China

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would be willing to reduce tariffs on China to get a deal done with TikTok's Chinese parent ByteDance to sell the short video app used by 170 million Americans. 

ByteDance have an April 05 deadline to find a non-Chinese buyer for TikTok or face a US ban on national security grounds that was supposed to have taken effect in January under a 2024 law. 

The law is the result of misconceived consternation and misplaced concern in Washington that TikTok's ownership by ByteDance makes it beholden to the Chinese government and that Beijing could use the app to conduct influence operations against the United States and collect data on Americans. 

And if you recall on January 20, his first day in office, Trump had warned that he could impose tariffs on China if Beijing failed to approve a US deal with TikTok. 

Didn't I tell you he's a bully?

Hmmm, I can't help but notice that these days, a lot of my posts point to Trump. It's getting too much sometimes. I think I need to get away from him for awhile. 

Let's make today a Let's Laugh Day!

😂😂😂

After all, the most wasted of all days is one devoid of laughter!

Donald Trump Receives Praise for TikTok Reprieve

The TikTok app voluntarily shut down service in the US just hours before a Sunday deadline, cutting off access to tens of millions of users after the Supreme Court this week upheld a law that effectively banned it over concerns about its ties to China.

[On a different note, ByteDance’s other apps, including video editor CapCut and social platform Lemon8, were also removed from US app stores. And as TikTok went offline, rival Chinese app RedNote emerged as the most downloaded free app on Apple’s App Store, with millions of Americans adopting the “#tiktokrefugee” hashtag as they switched platforms]. 

The law passed by Congress last year had given TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance until January 19 to divest from TikTok or be cut off from the Apple or Google Play stores as well as hosting services. 

TikTok said a sale wasn't possible and challenged the law in court, but it was rejected by a unanimous Supreme Court on Friday.

[But lest Americans forget, it was Donald Trump (right), who in 2020, tried to ban TikTok during his first term over national security concerns]. 

On the same day, he had claimed he spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping about TikTok. A Chinese summary of the call did not mention that it was a topic of discussion.  

On Sunday, Trump posted on social media that he would restore TikTok, first writing "SAVE TIKTOK" and then vowing to issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time – it's only a reprieve! – before the law takes effect. Further, he said there would be no liability for companies that helped keep TikTok from going dark before the order went into effect. 

In the meantime, TikTok said Sunday that it was in the process of reinstating access after Trump vowed to try to pause the ban by executive order on his first day in office.

TikTok CEO Chew Shou Zi expressed gratitude to Trump earlier in the week, thanking him for his efforts to keep the app accessible to approximately 170 million users in the US. And CNN reported, citing anonymous sources, that Chew planned to attend both Trump’s victory rally on Sunday and his inauguration today. 

Surely, this must tell us something. I betcha Chew groveled at Trump's feet and sucking up to him.

Anyway, according to a post on his social media platform, Trump said he would seek US acquisition of a 50% stake in TikTok through a joint venture. 

The TikTok story continues.

US TikTok Refugees Flee to Chinese Alternative App Xiaohongshu

With TikTok facing an imminent shutdown in the United States, American content creators have taken flight – to another Chinese social media app. Xiaohongshu, known as Little Red Book in English, surged to the top of the Apple App Store downloads yesterday, as users flocked to its Instagram-meets-Pinterest style layout. 

 

“Oh, you don’t want the Chinese to have our very sensitive personal data?” influencer Jen Hamilton (left) asked sarcastically in a video sent to her 3.9 million followers on TikTok, advertising her move. 

 

The US government passed a law last year that forced TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance to either sell the wildly popular platform or shut it down. It goes into effect Sunday. 

 

While critics of the legislation have argued it curtails free speech, the US government have alleged TikTok allows Beijing to collect data and spy on users and is a conduit to spread propaganda. China and ByteDance strongly deny the claims. 

 

Users like Hamilton aren’t concerned. “It is impossible how little I care that the Chinese (have) my data,” she said in her video, sharing a joke about a user that “changed their username to their social security number” so alleged spies could “get promoted faster”. 

 

“Come on over”, she urged her fellow “TikTok refugees”.  I would actually refer them as intrepid pioneers!

 

That Xiaohongshu’s platform is almost entirely in Mandarin seems not to be deterring curious Americans. TikTok has some 170 million users in the United States. 

 

Dubbed China’s answer to Instagram – which is blocked by Chinese regulators – and serving as a product search engine, Xiaohongshu boasts roughly 312 million monthly active users in 2023, making it the fastest-growing social media platform in China. 

 

At present, the platform serves as a go-to space for user-generated content, digital community-building and word-of-mouth advertising. While many Western social networks were created to keep up with friends’ lives, most Xiaohongshu users use the platform to search and share new products and services; post product or service reviews based on personal experiences or even gossip about local happenings. 

 

And Xiaohongshu’s “game changer” algorithm – users often cite its precision and effectiveness in detecting their content preference – is a big part of the app’s allure. This “algorithm” serves as a recommendation system responsible for curating a user’s uniquely personalised “For You” page that matches their interests.

 

If you are Chinese Malaysian and fluent in Mandarin, chances are you have a Xiaohongshu account. According to Xiaohongshu’s official data as of February 2023, there are more than 2.5 million Xiaohongshu users in Malaysia, which is the second highest country outside of China after Taiwan.

 

Though it may lack the global name recognition of Western social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram or X, Xiaohongshu has since become the go-to platform for Millennials (those born 1981 to 1996) and Gen Z (those born 1997 to 2012) Mandarin-speaking communities since its launch.

US Appeals Court Ruling Mandates ByteDance Divestment

A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled on Friday in favor of upholding a law requiring China-based ByteDance to divest its popular short video app TikTok in the United States by early next year or face a ban.

 

TikTok and its parent ByteDance sued in federal court to block a US law passed in April that would force ByteDance to divest of TikTok. They argued that the law would harm free speech.

 

The ruling could be appealed to the Supreme Court before the ban takes effect on January 19.

 

This is interesting: How shopping malls are being transformed into apartments in the US.

 

Given that many malls in metropolitan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia are already failing and dying a slow death, e.g., Summit USJ Mall, One City Mall, Atria Shopping Gallery, Quill City Mall, Jaya Shopping Centre, Cheras Central Mall and Endah Parade Mall – this could be a viable option. 

 

It's better than leaving them be and turning involuntarily into "ghost" malls.

Australia Passes World-first Law Banning Under-16s From Social Media

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (left) describes social media as “a platform for peer pressure, a driver of anxiety, a vehicle for scammers and, worst of all, a tool for online predators”.

And so, the country approves a law that will aim to do what no other government have, and many parents have tried to: stop children from using social media. The new law was drafted in response to what Albanese, says is a “clear, causal link between the rise of social media and the harm [to] the mental health of young Australians”. 

On Thursday, parliament’s upper house, the Senate, passed a bill by 34 votes to 19 banning under-16s from social media platforms.

The "Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024" bans social media platforms from allowing users under 16 years of age to access their services, threatening companies with fines of up to AU$50 million ($32 million) if they fail to comply. 

However, it contains no details about how it will work, only that the companies will be expected to take reasonable steps to ensure users are aged 16 or over. The detail will come later, through the completion of a trial of age-verification systems using biometrics and government IDs in mid-2025. Reportedly, the legislation will not exempt underage users with parental consent or those who already have active accounts.

The bill won’t come into force for another 12 months.

The said bill also does not specify to which companies the legislation would apply, though communications minister Michelle Rowland has said that Snapchat, TikTok, X, Instagram, Reddit and Facebook are likely to be part of the ban. YouTube will not be included because of its “significant” educational purpose, she said.

A YouGov survey released on Tuesday showed 77% of Australians backed the ban. Each of Australia’s eight state and territory leaders supports the ban, though Tasmania’s leader suggested it end at 14.

Hello Kitty Turns 50

On Friday, the “CEO of supercute”, Hello Kitty celebrated her 50th birthday. 

The cat-like character became popular in the 1970s and has remained a global phenomenon ever since, popular with adults, children, and celebrities alike. Even at 50, the character continues to be loved by many, adorning lines of merchandise from clothing to stationery and makeup, as well as appearing in animated series and films, comics, video games and books.

Sanrio, the Japanese company that own the character, make almost $4 billion in Hello Kitty sales annually, according to the Economist. It is estimated she has earned her creators $80 billion over her lifetime.

And according to the Guardian, the character is ranked as the second-highest grossing media franchise in the world behind Pokémon and ahead of Mickey Mouse and Star Wars.

Celebrities love her too: Paris Hilton was photographed carrying a diamante-encrusted Hello Kitty handbag, Katy Perry wore a corset with her face plastered on it at the 2009 Brit Awards, and Lady Gaga wore a gown made of Hello Kitty plushies that same year.

If you don't already know, Hello Kitty is now also a TikTok superstar, with more than 3.5 million followers on her account and 27.9 million likes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yesterday, Liverpool had to come from behind to secure a decisive 2-1 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion at a rocking Anfield and go two points clear at the top of the Premier League on the day their two title rivals both suffered defeat. Yes, Newcastle and AFC Bournemouth beat Arsenal 1-0 and Manchester City 2-1 respectively.

Mohamed Salah went to the rescue, firing the winner for the Reds with his trademark curling shot from the right in the 72nd minute after Cody Gakpo had cancelled out the Seagulls' opener two minutes earlier. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A convincing show of clinical attacking play on Saturday saw six-goal Celtic booking a pl ace in the Scottish League Cup final and ending Aberdeen's unbeaten start to the season in devastating fashion.

Cameron Carter-Vickers opened the scoring when he thumped in Arne Engels' corner in the twenty-ninth minute. Kyogo Furuhashi doubled their lead three minutes later after a brilliant piece of play from Daizen Maeda, laying the ball to him to smash in off the bar. The provider then turned scorer in the fortieth minute as Nicholas Kuhn sublimely slipped him the ball.

The Dons staged a two-goal comeback at Celtic Park a fortnight ago, but there was no chance of a revival at Hampden when Maeda knocked in a back-post rebound in the 49th minute before Nicolas Kuhn hammered in a goal his display merited in the 59th minute. And again, Maeda had his third and Celtic's sixth when he tapped home Alistair Johnston's ball across the face of goal with five minutes left.

The Swarm of Life

A magical underwater image of western toad tadpoles has won the 2024 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.

 

The winning image, “The Swarm of Life” by Canadian photojournalist Shane Gross, was chosen from a record-breaking 59,228 entries, according to a statement from the organizers, published Tuesday. 

 

“Shane captured the image whilst snorkelling for several hours through carpets of lily pads in Cedar Lake on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, making sure not to disturb the fine layers of silt and algae covering the bottom of the lake”, the organizers said.

 

“A near threatened species due to habitat destruction and predators, these tadpoles start their transition into toads between four and twelve weeks after hatching, but an estimated 99% of them will not survive to adulthood”.

 

Just so you know, the western toad (Scientific name: Anaxyrus boreas) is a large toad species, between 5.6 and 13 cm (2.2 and 5.1 inches) long, native to western North America. Normally encountered during the wet season on roads, or near water at other times. Breeding occurs between March and July in mountainous areas, and as early as January in lower-elevation regions. The female lays up to 17,000 eggs stuck together in strings that adhere to vegetation and other objects along water edges.

 

Jury chair Kathy Moran, former deputy director of photography at National Geographic magazine, said the judges were “captivated by the mix of light, energy and connectivity between the environment and the tadpoles”. 

 

The popular social media platform TikTok has been accused of harming and failing to protect young people in a slew of new lawsuits filed by US states.

 

The legal action, filed on Tuesday in New York, California, and eleven other states, as well as the District of Columbia, add to continuing legal challenges the short-form video hosting service is already embroiled in in the United States. 

 

The latest filings accuse the company of intentionally using addictive software to keep children watching as long as possible, as well as of misrepresenting the effectiveness of its content moderation.

#Blockout2024

The growing protests against Israel’s war on Gaza have now spawned a cyberspace movement that has erupted in the past few days, targeting celebrities who are seen as being insensitive towards, or even supportive of, the death and destruction in Gaza. 

 

The campaign that took off after the Met Gala in New York, USA on May 06 has earned the names: Blockout 2024, celebrity block list and digitine. The idea is to block famous celebrities on social media networks such as Instagram, X and TikTok.

 

The Blockout 2024 is an online movement where social media users are carrying out a digital boycott of famous celebrities ranging from Hollywood actors to social media influencers for their silence on Israel’s war on Gaza, or in some cases, their purported support for the war. Various TikTok, Instagram and X users have begun circulating lists of celebrities and their businesses to block. 

 

The point of the move is to reduce the earnings the celebrities make through ads on social media platforms. I read that social media users were upset when images of the lavishly dressed celebrities surfaced online at the annual fundraiser. They pointed out that some of these celebrities had never made online statements or addressed the continuing war on Gaza, where Israel’s relentless bombardment has killed more than 35,000 people, most of them women and children. 

 

On May 07, a video surfaced of TikTok influencer Haley Kalil, lip-syncing the words “let them eat cake”, outside the Met Gala. Kalil has 9.9 million followers on her TikTok account @haleyybaylee.

 

Those infamous words, often attributed to Marie Antoinette, the queen of France during the French Revolution, have in popular imagination become synonymous with an elite so disconnected with the lives of citizens unable to find even bread that they suggest cake as an alternative. 

 

Kalil’s video stirred anger because of the backdrop of the starvation crisis in Gaza. Insufficient food has been on the rise over the seven months of war.

 

Only two days before the Met Gala, Cindy McCain, the head of the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) said in a news interview that northern Gaza is experiencing “full blown famine”.

 

Users online have now started calling the Blockout, the “digitine” or the digital guillotine, leaning into the French Revolution reference.

 

Besides Kalil, other celebrities on the blocklists include Israeli actor and former soldier Gal Gadot, American media personality and socialite Kim Kardashian, American actors Zendaya and Noah Schnapp, American singer Taylor Swift and British singer Harry Styles. 

 

While there have been online movements in the past to unfollow some of the celebrities that are now being blocked, experts have said blocking is more effective as a protest strategy than unfollowing.

 

The effect of unfollowing on a celebrity’s overall audience and engagement metrics is minimal, Eddy Borges-Rey, an associate professor in residence at Northwestern University in Qatar told Al Jazeera. His research work examines social media and algorithms. 

 

“Social media celebrities heavily rely on high visibility and engagement to attract and maintain advertising deals”, he said, adding that when someone unfollows a celebrity, they simply stop seeing the celebrity’s posts in their feed. 

 

The content can still indirectly show up through their search pages or algorithm-driven feeds such as the Instagram Explore page or the “For You” pages on TikTok and X. Since even non-followers view the celebrity’s content if they have not blocked the celebrity, this does not significantly hurt the celebrity’s reach. 

 

On the other hand, “if someone blocks the celebrity, they completely cut off all interaction with their content”, explained Borges-Rey. This decreases the celebrity’s audience size, leading social media algorithms to deprioritise their content. As more people block a celebrity, their posts become less visible across the platform, even to those users who have not blocked the celebrities.

 

“A reduction in visibility can lead advertisers to perceive the celebrity as less valuable, potentially cutting back on the amount they are willing to pay for ads on the celebrity’s profile, thereby directly affecting their ad revenue”, he added.

 

While the Blockout started only a few days ago and the number of people who have blocked a particular account does not show, celebrities have started to lose followers. 

 

On Saturday, NPR reported that Taylor Swift (right) lost roughly 300,000 followers on TikTok and about 50,000 followers on Instagram over the past week.

 

“They [celebrities] live off of our attention”, an X user @DrKarimWafa posted. “If they don’t have any, they cease to exert their influence”.