International
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spoke on his country’s social media ban for teens, garnering praise from the U.N. in New York on Wednesday.
Passed November 2024, the law prevents teens from ages 13 to 15 from creating social media accounts.
The Australian government expects tech companies to leverage artificial intelligence and behavioral data to estimate user age rather than sweeping verification requirements.
According to Reuters, the proposition cited studies suggesting “harms to mental health from the over-use of social media among young teens, including misinformation, bullying and harmful depictions of body image.”
Australia’s ban is the first of its kind worldwide.
“It isn’t foolproof, but it is a crucial step in the right direction,” Albanese said at the Protecting Children in the Digital Age event in New York. “The challenge we face is constantly evolving, and different countries are tackling it in different ways.”
Albanese hopes the law will give teens “three more years of being shaped by real-life experience, not algorithms.”
In her speech, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she was “inspired by Australia’s example.”
“We in Europe are watching and will be learning from you,” Leyen said. “It is up to us to step up for the next generation.”
National
San Francisco city officials shut down Find My Parking Cops, an app designed to help San Francisco residents avoid parking tickets, just four hours after its launch on Wednesday.
The app, developed by Riley Walz, scraped the city’s public-facing registry of parking citations to track enforcement officers in real time as they delivered citations.
Find My Parking Cops also hosted a leaderboard ranking each officer’s contributions with one earning the city $15,000 in the four hours the app was live.
Officials caught on to Walz’s mischief within hours and made parking citations hidden from the public, rendering his app useless.
“Ahhhhhh … the MTA just changed their site so I am no longer getting data,” Walz texted The San Francisco Standard at 2:34 p.m. on Wednesday.
San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency spokesperson Erica Kato clarified the purpose of citations and said the change is to protect city employees:
“Citations are a tool to ensure compliance with parking laws, which help keep our streets safe and use our limited curb space efficiently and fairly,” Kato said. “We welcome creative uses of technology to encourage legal parking, but we also want to make sure that our employees are able to do their jobs safely, and without disruption.”
With access to the live information stream now lost, Walz plans to make his archive downloadable so people can find where they are statistically most likely to get a ticket.
Local
Eagle’s Nest, a 37-foot viewing platform that will serve as a centerpiece, has arrived at Uncommon Ground Sculpture Park in Edmond, Oklahoma.
The centerpiece is only the first exhibit of the $50 million project set to open this fall.
“Today marks an exciting milestone as we see this focal point of the park take shape,” Melissa Pepper, executive director of the Uncommon Ground Sculpture Park, told KOCO 5.
Mayor Mark Nash hopes the opening of the park will have a positive impact on Edmond’s economy as it draws visitors.
“We are bringing in the Eagle’s Nest,” Nash said. “This isn’t just about public art. This isn’t just about another park in Edmond. This is an opportunity for Edmond to have a real draw on Route 66.”
The city of Edmond has appropriated $10 million for the infrastructure of the park and committed to $900,000 annually for upkeep.
The 62-acre park fueled by public and private funds will be home to 60 sculptures along with parks, ponds, playgrounds, and a stage.
Leaders have fundraised 75% of $50 million required to finish the project.
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