Australia Bans Social Media for Kids Under 16: Potential World Precedent
Last week Australia voted to ban social media for consumers under the age of 16, setting in motion a rule that will take effect next year. While TikTok, X, Instagram, Reddit, Snapchat and Facebook – for sure – are included in the ban, interestingly YouTube is not, with lawmakers deciding YT has significant educational quality. Fines are meaningful – $32 million, although the mechanics of enforcement have yet to be ironed out.
Meanwhile, in the US, social media companies earn $11 billion annually from advertising revenue off children and teens. There currently exist two online safety bills – both with strong bipartisan support – working their way through Congress. These bills focus more on parental controls and algorithmic settings for teens – as opposed to an outright ban.
It remains to be seen how Australia’s bar-setting could influence the rest of the world.
Amazon Builds Dominant AI Ecosystem: 2025 Could Be Year of AI Media Activation
2025 will be the year of AI activation. The challenge to growing AI is that all that computing power needs chips. This week Amazon announced plans for “Ultracluster,” a massive AI supercomputer made from hundreds of thousands of Trainium chips produced in Austin, Texas. Amazon’s investment will diversify the chip market, currently pretty much monopolized by Nvidia, whose chips are produced in Taiwan.
The hope is that Amazon’s chips and super computer will force computing costs down.
So if you’re weary of pitches from AI adtech and martech – just wait.
Radio Stations Shuttered
God bless Stephen King – master book author – for his attempts to save another legacy industry, terrestrial radio. And terrestrial radio with a rock format, which is old-school on steroids.
This week, King announced the closure of three Maine radio stations WZON, WZLO and WKIT.
Radio is a tough business these days, and small-town radio, while vital to the communities they serve, struggles with a viable business model. King lost millions of dollars over the years to keep the stations alive, and now it’s time for him to get his personal affairs in order.
“Independent, locally owned radio stations used to be the norm,” said Ken Wood the stations’ general manager,. “They’re only a few left in Maine and we’re lucky we had these three as long as we did.”