This Month
Think you’re cultured? Try this 2024 life and arts quiz
Test your knowledge of what went down this year with 40 questions from the Financial Times.
- Ludovic Hunter-Tilney
Trump hints at change of heart on TikTok ban
The role of the popular social media app in last month’s election victory may have convinced the president-elect to give parent company ByteDance a reprieve.
- Gram Slattery
You’ve seen this book everywhere. TikTok is responsible
The romance novel “Icebreaker” has sold almost 2 million copies since publisher Anthea Bariamis discovered it on BookTok, a forum turning the fiction industry on its head.
- Lucy Dean
‘What choice do they have?’: US CEOs bend the knee to Trump
From Hollywood to Silicon Valley and Wall Street, senior executives have been bending over backwards to meet Donald Trump since he won the election.
- James Politi and James Fontanella-Khan
- Opinion
- Crime
Why Luigi Mangione stars in a new era of villainy
What explains the public fascination with the man charged with murdering UnitedHealthcare chief Brian Thompson?
- Jo Ellison
Publishers prepare to take on TikTok over news
News publishers have successfully campaigned to have TikTok-owner ByteDance included in the government’s revised media bargaining rules.
- Tess Bennett
- Updated
- Social media
Media groups to push Meta for payment after Labor announces TikTok tax
Apple and Microsoft could also be caught by the policy with their Apple News and LinkedIn products if they meet the $250 million Australian turnover threshold.
- Ronald Mizen and Amelia McGuire
Tech giants to be punished if they don’t pay for news
The big stick approach set to be announced on Thursday would force recalcitrant platforms to the negotiating table or risk being hit with penalties.
- Ronald Mizen
Manhunt for US executive’s killer becomes a search for motive
Luigi Mangione, charged with last week’s gruesome New York murder, has drawn a wave of morbid admiration.
- Oliver Barnes, Zehra Munir and Aiden Reiter
TikTok owner ByteDance takes early lead in race to capitalise on AI
The company has purchased enough cutting-edge Nvidia graphics processing units to build advanced AI models, according to numerous sources.
- Eleanor Olcott
- Opinion
- Cryptocurrencies
How to keep up with mainstream meme coin mania
The explosive rise of social media has already shifted the workings of politics and democracy. We are now seeing how it can move asset prices in digital assets.
- Gillian Tett
US appeals court upholds TikTok law forcing its sale
The ruling now increases the possibility of an unprecedented ban in just six weeks on the social media app, used by 170 million Americans.
- David Shepardson and Mike Scarcella
The ill-fitting nightclub top behind a multimillion-dollar business
When Annabel Hay’s fashion tape let her down on a nightclub dance floor, her wardrobe malfunction became a fast-growing company selling modesty-saving glue.
- Updated
- Amelia McGuire
Why is my teen talking about ‘ocean aliens’?
A rumour has been circulating online that recent US congressional hearings uncovered the existence of aliens living in our oceans. Could it be true?
- Rachael Bolton
Squirrels, pigmy hippos: Crypto’s boom has gone too far
Memecoin tokens based on online viral moments outpaced bitcoin over the past month, but critics say they reflect market froth.
- Updated
- Nikou Asgari
November
‘Black Friday sale on VPNs’: Social media ban faces early obstacles
Big tech has 12 months to comply with new laws that block children under 16 from accessing platforms, setting up Australia as a high-profile test case for the globe.
- Tess Bennett
Australia bans social media for under 16s. What do other countries do?
Australia has approved a social media ban for children aged under 16, one of the world’s toughest regulations targeting Big Tech.
- Reuters
- Analysis
- Explainers
Worried about the social media ban for kids? Read this
The pioneering age-limit laws are set to be approved by the Senate on Thursday. Here’s what we know (and just as importantly what we don’t know) about how they will work.
- Paul Smith
Big tech’s warning on rushing teen ban on social media
The government’s proposed ban allowed the industry just a day to make fresh submissions in response to a bill introduced to parliament last week.
- Max Mason
‘Nanny state’: Top techies slate rushed social media laws
Australia’s tech sector was stunned at being given only 24 hours to respond to new social media laws, and warns they are ill-defined and risk unintended consequences.
- Paul Smith