The Download: failed social media bans, and extending pets’ lives

This is today’s edition of The Download our weekday newsletter that supplies an everyday dosage of what’s going on worldwide of innovation.

Kids are outmaneuvering social networks restrictions. That’s not an issue we require to fix.

— Michal Luria, Aliya Bhatia, and Danah Boyd

Social network restrictions are accumulating. In July, France signed up with Australia in limiting minors from accessing social networks– disallowing kids under 15 from significant platforms, before the restriction was obstructed by the nation’s leading court on human rights premises.

The UK intends to prohibit kids under 16 from accessing Facebook, TikTok, and other platforms in early 2027, and the EU has actually revealed its own strategy to restrict social networks for kids under 15.

Early lessons from Australia, which enacted a restriction in 2024, reveal that these sorts of age limitations are quickly prevented.

Here’s what we should do rather to keep kids safe.

Can’t bear to bid farewell to your family pet? Biotech’s got you covered.

— Jessica Hamzelou

I do not keep in mind much about Peppy, my very first and only animal feline. What I do clearly keep in mind, however, is the day she went missing out on. I was 10 years old, and I browsed all over for her, hunting close-by fields and woods up until sundown. I made posters. We never ever discovered her. I was ravaged.

Practically 30 years later on, animal owners have a broadening set of alternatives to possibly extend their years with their furry buddies. The possibilities consist of drugs, cloning, and even cryonics. Is that an excellent thing?

Customers can now access the complete 10 Climate Tech Companies to Watch, covering whatever from electrical buses to portable rubber dams.

The must-reads

I’ve combed the web to discover you today’s most fun/important/scary/ interesting stories about innovation.

1 Insurance is the next huge barrier for AI
AI business are acquiring billions of dollars of legal liabilities from the damage their items trigger. (WSJ $)
+ The FTC has actually sent out subpoenas to OpenAI and Anthropic over customer damages. (Axios
+ AI hacks leave a mess, and AI business still aren’t cleaning them up. (Wired $)
+ Who’s responsible when AI representatives go rogue? (MIT Technology Review)

5 Big Tech provided Trump $92 million for his ballroom
The president himself will not be investing a penny. (WP $)

9 The world’s main timekeepers have actually consented to ditch the leap 2nd
It’s a relocation that should cut the danger of time-based computer system problems. (The Guardian

10 Tesla has lastly revealed its flying cars and truck
It’s taken a years to get here– and still will not even be delivering next year. (CNBC

Quote of the day

“Tech business utilized to make an effort to support females … Now we’ve swung totally in the opposite instructions. Supporting ladies in tech has actually ended up being questionable. It’s ended up being political. It’s ended up being dangerous.”

— Startup creator Sara Mauskopt discusses why the cancellation of the Grace Hopper Celebration, among the most significant events of ladies in tech, strikes so hard, Bloomberg reports.

Another Thing

Inside the speculative world of animal facilities

In the mid-2000s, toads were fulfilling a gruesome end near Ede, a leafy old town in the Netherlands. Citizens reacted by constructing wildlife tunnels underneath the roadway to assist them reach their breeding ponds securely.

The crossings ended up being popular. A couple of years later on, scientists discovered the regional toad population had actually crashed from more than 10,000 to less than 1,000.

The case shows a larger international push to construct wildlife crossings and other types of “animal facilities.” Do they really assist animal populations recuperate? Check out the complete story to discover.

— Matthew PonsfordWe can still have good things