https://techxplore.com/rss-feed/internet-news/ en-us The latest news on the internet, world wide web, web 2.0 and science technology. Jury selection began on Wednesday in Los Angeles for another landmark trial about the alleged harms of social media on young users, with Meta and, for the first time, Snap as defendants. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-meta-snap-trial-case-social.html Internet Wed, 28 Oct 2026 06:30:02 EDT news712386431 Article 39 of the EU Digital Services Act (DSA) requires very large online platforms (VLOPs) and very large online search engines (VLOSEs), including social media platforms like Instagram, shopping platforms like Temu and app stores like Google Play, to provide a database of all advertising shown and transparency as to who paid for each ad, which user demographics were targeted and how many users were reached in each country. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-shown-ad-platforms-wont-eu.html Internet Tue, 27 Oct 2026 18:00:22 EDT news712312968 One day, you may be able to easily smell what you are looking at when browsing online. Sending smells over the internet has long been a dream, and while it may seem far-fetched, researchers have now taken a major step toward making it a reality. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-scientists-aromas-internet.html Internet Thu, 22 Oct 2026 14:33:22 EDT news711898331 Details have been published of a critical flaw in the programming language PHP, which is the backbone of more than 70% of all websites. Left unfixed, the flaw would allow hackers to easily take over and compromise millions of websites and the information held on their servers. In response, multiple European governments and operators including the Port of Rotterdam have taken websites offline. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-critical-flaw-affecting-websites-cybersecurity.html Internet Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:20:06 EDT news711879082 A crowdsourced verification system used by Elon Musk's X failed to flag a vast majority of false claims related to the U.S. midterm elections—including those promoted by the billionaire—a study said Wednesday. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-community-flag-election-falsehoods.html Internet Thu, 22 Oct 2026 06:20:01 EDT news711863942 Artificial intelligence has found critical security flaws in a major programming language called PHP, with many websites taken offline Thursday as organizations worldwide scramble to fend off would-be hackers. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-websites-php-ai-hacking.html Internet Thu, 22 Oct 2026 05:00:05 EDT news711862993 A University of Bath-led study has found that TikTok's standard reporting system fails to act on most reports made against accounts advertising and offering illegal drugs for sale to U.K. users. The vast majority of TikTok accounts identified by researchers as connecting drug sellers with potential buyers in the U.K. remained publicly accessible 14 days after being reported for suspected breaches of the platform's rules on illegal drugs, according to the new study published in the International Journal of Drug Policy. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-tiktok-violation-decision-uk-accounts.html Internet Tue, 20 Oct 2026 13:40:02 EDT news711719601 As humans and AI models roam the internet, they encounter lots of junk: clickbait headlines, misinformation, hashtags. Research by Dr. Zhengzhong Tu and his colleagues indicates that this junk-filled environment could be a cause for concern. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-llms-frivolous-online-content-brain.html Internet Mon, 19 Oct 2026 13:40:09 EDT news711633967 People's online behavior has changed in response to legislation to prevent children from viewing harmful content—raising possible privacy and security risks, research suggests. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-online-safety-vpn-privacy.html Internet Fri, 16 Oct 2026 08:53:22 EDT news711359567 Google announced Thursday it will start displaying links to websites and articles more prominently and higher up in search results powered by artificial intelligence (AI), as brands and news publishers warn of a sharp decline in their traffic. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-google-boosts-news-link-visibility.html Internet Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:30:01 EDT news711339544 The Albanese government has introduced its digital duty of care legislation to parliament today. The bill includes an "off switch" to allow social media users to opt out of recommender algorithms. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-algorithm-chinese-social-media-hints.html Internet Thu, 15 Oct 2026 10:20:02 EDT news711277636 Frequent use of short-video apps is associated with lower satisfaction with one's quality of life, particularly regarding perceptions of the wealth gap, according to research published in the International Journal of Mobile Communications that examined the effects of digital media consumption. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-frequent-short-video-tracks-greater.html Internet Tue, 13 Oct 2026 13:20:02 EDT news711114494 The internet can encounter a strange type of failure in which a router seems to function normally but silently drops some data packets. Network engineers refer to these issues as "black holes." In these cases, data enters the network, yet some of it vanishes without the router informing the network or the sender. Often, these problems go unnoticed until users start experiencing connection issues or data loss. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-ai-silent-internet-outage.html Internet Sat, 10 Oct 2026 09:40:15 EDT news710410750 New research has found that 88% of parents support Australia's under-16 social media ban, despite the majority using social media every day themselves. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-parents-social-media-daily.html Internet Thu, 08 Oct 2026 07:20:12 EDT news710661482 Just because Google and Apple are now calling it Lake America doesn't mean everyone has to. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-tech-lake-america-backlash-fuels.html Internet Thu, 08 Oct 2026 05:00:01 EDT news710652695 The way cloud computing systems are designed and built is just as important in defending against cyberattacks as the security measures and safeguards companies put in place, researchers said in a new study. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-cloud-plays-crucial-role-ability.html Internet Mon, 05 Oct 2026 09:00:12 EDT news710407682 Years after the risks of social media for kids first became apparent, U.S. states this summer reached an accord hailed as a turning point for child safety. Meanwhile, a new generation of children has begun engaging with an even more potent technology: artificial intelligence. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-reckoning-social-media-addiction-late.html Internet Mon, 05 Oct 2026 07:00:01 EDT news710400737 For the first time, researchers have identified and named key players facilitating the growing problem of AI-generated explicit sexual imagery online. The study "The Backbone of Abuse" has been published in the Journal of Online Trust and Safety. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-technology-dominate-infrastructure-nonconsensual-ai.html Internet Wed, 30 Sep 2026 12:00:27 EDT news709981283 For many of us, "Let me just ask the chatbot" has become an everyday phrase. Where we used to turn to Google to find information, AI chatbots have become a common way to get answers to everything from what to make for dinner and how to word a difficult email to the boss to what it means when interest rates rise. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-ai-chatbots-narrow-slice-knowledge.html Internet Mon, 28 Sep 2026 12:20:12 EDT news709813561 TikTok on Friday agreed to pay Alabama at least $100 million and enact time limits and other restrictions for teen users, avoiding a trial with a settlement modeled on Instagram owner Meta's recent agreement with U.S. states. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-tiktok-teen-limits-settlement-meta.html Internet Sat, 26 Sep 2026 05:50:02 EDT news709618447 If you're one of Google Discover's millions of daily users, you've doubtless come across all manner of content without actively searching for it. A Spanish user, for instance, might see headlines promising to reveal the secret recipes of avant-garde chef Ferran Adrià, what time 46-year-old TV presenter Pilar Rubio goes to bed, the latest unmissable deals from Lidl or the new car that will allow them to say "adiós" to annual inspections. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-google-online-personalized-content.html Internet Wed, 23 Sep 2026 09:00:15 EDT news709372143 Meta has disrupted more than 3.7 million scam-linked accounts, pages and other content this year based on information provided by Singapore police, the company said Wednesday. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-meta-million-scammers-accounts-singapore.html Internet Wed, 23 Sep 2026 05:40:03 EDT news709357004 Most people associate network performance with bandwidth, the amount of data that can be transferred per second. However, for many of today's digital services, latency is just as important. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-reveals-internet.html Internet Mon, 21 Sep 2026 09:36:03 EDT news709202150 Meta on Thursday moved to remove AI-generated videos targeting two women, including a British politician, after the tech giant's Oversight Board blasted its "fundamentally inadequate" safeguards against proliferating deepfakes. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-oversight-board-blasts-inadequate-meta.html Internet Fri, 18 Sep 2026 03:40:02 EDT news708918199 The EU laid out plans Thursday for strict age limits for children to access social media, games and AI assistants—and to force companies to make platforms safe before minors use them. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-kids-social-media-eu-law.html Internet Thu, 17 Sep 2026 13:20:02 EDT news708869210 The European Union will ban children under 13 from social media and allow only limited, supervised access until age 15 under plans unveiled Wednesday by EU chief Ursula von der Leyen. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-eu-chief-unveil-social-media.html Internet Wed, 16 Sep 2026 05:00:16 EDT news708750945 The European Union is set to propose curbing access to social media, video-sharing platforms, chatbots and online games for children younger than 15, according to a draft legal document seen by AFP. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-eu-curbing-social-media-online.html Internet Tue, 15 Sep 2026 15:00:10 EDT news708699066 Millions of students every day turn to AI chatbots for help with schoolwork, emotional support and personal advice—often unaware of where their conversations and other personal information end up. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-microsoft-commits-ai-privacy-students.html Internet Tue, 15 Sep 2026 04:41:59 EDT news708666069 There is a modern adage: If you don't want it on the internet, don't put it on the internet. However, a review of research into social media privacy in the International Journal of Management Concepts and Philosophy has found that legal and ethical protections are not keeping pace with the volume of personal information collected and shared online. Moreover, much inferred information that people don't deliberately share can now be gleaned by interested third parties from their social media activity. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-social-media-expose-politics-religion.html Internet Fri, 11 Sep 2026 14:20:01 EDT news708349032 It's time for the European Union to kill those pesky cookie banners seeking users' consent on websites, nearly 20 groups and academics demanded Thursday. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-cookie-banner-digital-rights-groups.html Internet Thu, 10 Sep 2026 04:20:02 EDT news708231804