Snapchat failing to act on suicide and self-harm content, unreliable period tracking apps driving abortion rises


The social media site Snapchat is “fundamentally failing to act on suicide and self-harm content”, according to the Molly Rose Foundation. Just 2% of reported suicide and self-harm content on Snapchat was removed between January and July last year, according to Snapchat’s latest transparency report. There were 289 posts relating to suicide and self-harm that were proactively discovered and dealt with by the company. Sky News 

The UK’s competition watchdog has launched an investigation into Google to probe whether it has too much power in online search. Google accounts for 90% of web searches – the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is looking at whether it is using that dominant position to harm competition or choice for users. It is its first investigation after gaining new powers to investigate and enforce changes at firms it determines to have “strategic market status” in digital markets. BBC 

The popularity of software such as Flo, which predicts peak fertility, is being fuelled by growing hesitancy over using the Pill or other hormonal contraception. But researchers found six times as many women who used so called fertility awareness methods sought a termination in 2023 than did so in 2018. At the same time, the proportion wanting an abortion after using hormonal contraception fell from 19 per cent to 11 per cent. There were a record 252,000 abortions in 2022. The Sun 

Apple has been accused of dominating the tech market with a “total shutout” of competitors as it faces claims it overcharged customers of the UK App Store, a court has heard. The claim alleges that the tech company is abusing its dominant position in the app market and that its 30% commission fee is in breach of European and UK competition laws. The claim has been brought against the company by Dr Rachael Kent, an academic at King’s College London, on behalf of herself and about 19.6 million other iPhone and iPad users in the UK. Guardian 

The Samsung Galaxy S25 leaks are certainly showing no signs of stopping as we head towards the Samsung Unpacked launch event on January 22 – and a newly leaked render gives us another look at the design of the Ultra model. This comes from well-known tipster @UniverseIce, and is notable because it puts an image of the Galaxy S25 Ultra next to images of its two immediate predecessors: the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (from 2023), and the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (from 2024). Tech Radar 

Samsung announced new size 14 and 15 US ring sizes for its Galaxy Ring today. In addition, Galaxy Ring will debut in 15 new markets from February, including Cyprus, Czechia, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mauritius, New Zealand, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Taiwan, Vietnam and Zambia. This will bring the total number of markets where Samsung offers its Galaxy Ring to 53.

Samsung Galaxy Ring now comes in two new sizes

Samsung also announced new Galaxy Ring features coming to the Samsung Health app. These include the Sleep environment report, Sleep time guidance and Mindfulness tracker. GSM Arena 

Schools, the NHS and local councils will be banned from making ransomware payments under government proposals to tackle hackers. In a crackdown on such cyber-attacks, operators of critical national infrastructure will be barred from bowing to demands when criminal gangs hold IT systems hostage. Payouts by private companies will have to be reported to the government and could be blocked if they are made to sanctioned groups or foreign states. The Guardian 

 

Chris Price