As Australia introduces its ban on under-16s accessing social media — including YouTube — we examine the emergence of the age-restricted internet in countries around the world. They’re supposed to protect kids from online harms, but do the restrictions actually work? And what effects do age verification measures such as AI-powered facial scanning have on adults?

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Tech Gets Real is a show about staying in control in a time of rapid technological change. I'm veteran tech journalist David Meyer, and I've been covering topics like online privacy and freedom for two decades.

To contact me, please email david@techgetsreal.com or connect on:

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REFERENCES:

Australian regulators say the world will follow https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/australia-says-world-will-follow-social-media-ban-meta-starts-blocking-teens-2025-12-04/

Teens can get around facial age estimation tools https://www.crikey.com.au/2025/12/04/social-media-ban-parents-help-teens/

Wikipedia loses its challenge against the UK’s Online Safety Act https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjr11qqvvwlo

UK regulator suggests age-restricting VPNs https://www.theverge.com/tech/827435/uk-vpn-restrictions-ban-online-safety-act

KOSA remains controversial in the US https://www.theverge.com/policy/837123/house-energy-commerce-kids-online-safety-package-hearing

Adult websites need age verification across most of the US https://www.404media.co/missouri-age-verification-law-porn-id-check-vpns/

Apple AI chief John Giannandrea is out, with Google and Microsoft vet Amar Subramanya taking over many of his responsibilities. Here’s why Apple’s AI strategy should be all about thinking small, to play to the company’s privacy strengths.

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Tech Gets Real is a show about staying in control in a time of rapid technological change. I'm veteran tech journalist David Meyer, and I've been covering topics like online privacy and freedom for two decades.

To contact me, please email david@techgetsreal.com or connect on:

Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/superglaze.bsky.social

Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@superglaze

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/davidmeyerwrites

REFERENCES:

Apple’s announcement about Giannandrea’s retirement https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2025/12/john-giannandrea-to-retire-from-apple/

Apple pulls Apple Intelligence news summaries https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/17/apple-suspends-ai-generated-news-alert-service-after-bbc-complaint

Apple delays big AI Siri update to 2026 https://www.pcmag.com/news/apple-explains-why-it-delayed-ai-siri-confirms-it-wont-arrive-until-2026

DeepSeek’s distillation breakthrough https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/21/deepseek-trained-ai-model-using-distillation-now-a-disruptive-force.html

The twisted nature of Elon Musk’s Grok AI shows how chatbots can be turned into tools of disinformation. But the tactics deployed by a Russian disinformation campaign called Pravda also point to a future where the “machine web” provides ways to push lies into AI models from beneath.

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Tech Gets Real is a show about staying in control in a time of rapid technological change. I'm veteran tech journalist David Meyer, and I've been covering topics like online privacy and freedom for two decades.

To contact me, please email david@techgetsreal.com or connect on:

Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/superglaze.bsky.social

Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@superglaze

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/davidmeyerwrites

REFERENCES:

Grok’s white genocide claims https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/may/14/elon-musk-grok-white-genocide

Grok’s antisemitism https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jul/09/grok-ai-praised-hitler-antisemitism-x-ntwnfb

Grok’s gross claims about Musk’s supremacy https://www.404media.co/elon-musk-could-drink-piss-better-than-any-human-in-history-grok-says/

French authorities investigating Grok over Holocaust denial https://www.lemonde.fr/en/pixels/article/2025/11/19/french-authorities-charges-x-over-holocaust-denial-comments-by-ai-chatbot-grok_6747630_13.html#

Pravda network feeding Wikipedia and AI models https://dfrlab.org/2025/03/12/pravda-network-wikipedia-llm-x/

Harvard researchers on Pravda https://misinforeview.hks.harvard.edu/article/llms-grooming-or-data-voids-llm-powered-chatbot-references-to-kremlin-disinformation-reflect-information-gaps-not-manipulation/

Google’s “machine web” vision https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250611-ai-mode-is-google-about-to-change-the-internet-forever

The European Commission’s so-called Digital Omnibus would gut the GDPR, the EU’s tough online privacy law. Doing so would just be the latest example of capitulating to President Donald Trump and his Big Tech pals, including AI companies. Instead, Europe should be making sure it can break free of US tech and finally achieve digital sovereignty.

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Tech Gets Real is a show about staying in control in a time of rapid technological change. I'm veteran tech journalist David Meyer, and I've been covering topics like online privacy and freedom for two decades.

To contact me, please email david@techgetsreal.com or connect on:

Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/superglaze.bsky.social

Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@superglaze

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/davidmeyerwrites

REFERENCES:

Final version of Digital Omnibus proposal https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/digital-omnibus-regulation-proposal

Leaked draft of Digital Omnibus proposal https://cdn.netzpolitik.org/wp-upload/2025/11/EU-Kommission-Digital-Omnibus-A-Data-Act-und-DSGVO.pdf

Trump administration threatening Europe with NATO withdrawal over tech rules https://www.businessinsider.com/jd-vance-nato-support-eu-regulation-x-musk-free-speech-2024-9

Dave Keating on Europe's various moves to appease Trump https://davekeating.substack.com/p/eu-bends-to-us-pressure-again-by

A leaked draft proposal shows the European Commission wants to remove key protections from the tough General Data Protection Regulation. The changes in the so-called Digital Omnibus would make it easier for AI companies to train their models on people’s personal data, even sensitive information like medical data.

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Tech Gets Real is a show about staying in control in a time of rapid technological change. I'm veteran tech journalist David Meyer, and I've been covering topics like online privacy and freedom for two decades.

To contact me, please email david@techgetsreal.com or connect on:

Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/superglaze.bsky.social

Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@superglaze

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/davidmeyerwrites

REFERENCES:

Leaked Commission proposal https://cdn.netzpolitik.org/wp-upload/2025/11/EU-Kommission-Digital-Omnibus-A-Data-Act-und-DSGVO.pdf

Paul Nemitz’s LinkedIn comment https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7391511950519840769?commentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Acomment%3A%28activity%3A7391511950519840769%2C7391530716725071873%29&dashCommentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afsd_comment%3A%287391530716725071873%2Curn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7391511950519840769%29

Noyb analysis of leaked draft https://noyb.eu/en/eu-commission-about-wreck-core-principles-gdpr

Lukasz Olejnik’s analysis https://blog.lukaszolejnik.com/european-commission-proposal-to-overhaul-the-gdpr-risks-user-privacy/

The AI data centre boom is becoming a significant factor in water shortages and power outages, with the technology adding to the energy-grid stress caused by things like electric vehicles and air conditioning. With electricity demand soaring, solar and wind power are the best solutions for building out more capacity quickly. But AI’s thirst needs different solutions.

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Tech Gets Real is a show about staying in control in a time of rapid technological change. I'm veteran tech journalist David Meyer, and I've been covering topics like online privacy and freedom for two decades.

To contact me, please email david@techgetsreal.com or connect on:

Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/superglaze.bsky.social

Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@superglaze

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/davidmeyerwrites

REFERENCES:

NYT on data centre water outages and power cuts https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/20/technology/ai-data-center-backlash-mexico-ireland.html

Guardian on Arizona data centre protests https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/15/tucson-arizona-ai-data-center-project-blue

James Ball on AI’s current environmental impact https://www.transformernews.ai/p/ai-energy-water-use-environment-argument-wrong

Visual Capitalist chart on data centre boom https://www.visualcapitalist.com/charted-the-growth-of-global-data-center-capacity-2005-2025/

My Fortune article on the nuclear industry’s AI hopes https://fortune.com/2024/11/21/tech-nuclear-energy-google-microsoft-amazon-ai/

Europe has talked about “tech sovereignty” from America before, but Donald Trump’s second term has made the issue an urgent one. Luckily, a time of massive flux in the tech industry has made it more viable than ever for the EU to declare independence from the US.

Tech Gets Real is a show about staying in control in a time of rapid technological change. I'm veteran tech journalist David Meyer, and I've been covering topics like online privacy and freedom for two decades. In TGR, I provide short, jargon-free guides to help you navigate the new AI era.

To contact me, please email david@techgetsreal.com or connect on:

Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/superglaze.bsky.social

Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@superglaze

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/davidmeyerwrites

REFERENCES:

EU tech sovereignty summit in November https://www.politico.eu/article/france-germany-united-states-big-tech-sovereign-digital-transition/

Survey about Big Tech being more powerful than the EU https://peoplevsbig.tech/large-majority-of-french-german-and-spanish-public-back-tough-eu-stance-on-big-tech-despite-risk-to-trump-relations/

Snowden’s claims about intel sharing https://www.infoworld.com/article/2192246/nsa-created-european-bazaar-to-spy-on-eu-citizens-snowden-tells-european-parliam.html

Problems with Europe’s sovereign cloud https://eliatra.com/blog/the-sovereignty-illusion-why-awss-european-cloud-cannot-escape-us/

The AI bubble is real – even Sam Altman and Jeff Bezos say so – and it’s already affecting you, because fear of the bubble bursting is leading companies to shove AI down your throat. And when it does burst, things will get ugly.

If you like this, please hit like and subscribe, and share it with others who might find it useful.

Tech Gets Real is a show about staying in control in a time of rapid technological change. I'm veteran tech journalist David Meyer, and I've been covering topics like online privacy and freedom for two decades. In TGR, I provide short, jargon-free guides to help you navigate the new AI era.

To contact me, please email david@techgetsreal.com or connect on:

Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/superglaze.bsky.social

Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@superglaze

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/davidmeyerwrites

REFERENCES:

OpenAI pledges to spend $1 trillion on AI infrastructure https://www.ft.com/content/a169703c-c4df-46d6-a2d3-4184c74bbaf7

OpenAI is world’s most valuable private company https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/openai-becomes-worlds-most-valuable-private-company-500b-valuation-report

OpenAI’s revenue and losses in the first half of 2025 https://www.techinasia.com/news/openais-revenue-rises-16-to-4-3b-in-h1-2025

AI accounts for huge chunk of markets https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/22/business/stock-market-nvidia-trump.html

Business return on AI investment remains uncertain https://www.techpolicy.press/generative-ais-productivity-myth/

Altman’s bubble comments https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/18/openai-sam-altman-warns-ai-market-is-in-a-bubble.html

Bezos’s bubble comments https://www.ft.com/content/8d80f601-4725-489a-8d6e-39099a01f9cb