In this extended episode of Tech Gets Real, veteran digital policy expert Heather Burns joins the show to chat about the UK’s plans to ban social media for under-16s, and to force Apple and Google to conduct surveillance on the photos people take on their phones. It’s a fascinating conversation about how safety tech vendors may have defeated digital rights advocates in the battle for the attention of British politicians.

Heather Burns’s book, Understanding Privacy https://www.amazon.com/-/en/Heather-Burns-ebook/dp/B0C9JSW7S7

Heather’s website https://heatherburns.tech/

Heather’s profile on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/heatherburnstech.bsky.social

Tech Gets Real is a show about staying in control in a time of rapid technological change, presented from a European perspective. I'm veteran tech journalist David Meyer, and I've been covering tech policy for two decades. If you like this, please hit like and subscribe, and share it with others who might find it useful.

REFERENCES:

BBC on Makerfield by-election https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yzgpe2ld3o

UK government announcement on client side scanning https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-plans-to-stop-children-taking-sharing-or-viewing-nude-images

UK government announcement on social media age limit https://www.gov.uk/government/news/social-media-to-be-banned-for-under-16s-in-landmark-government-move-to-givekids-their-childhood-back

Deutsche Welle on Elon Musk suing German broadcaster ZDF https://www.dw.com/en/elon-musk-sues-zdf-hunt-for-migrants-belfast/a-77571443

My ISMG article on the client-side scanning news https://www.govinfosecurity.com/uk-vows-device-level-controls-for-smartphone-underage-nudes-a-31933

Politico on Italy’s Meloni rejecting social media age ban https://www.politico.eu/article/meloni-says-social-media-ban-for-kids-is-no-panacea/

Edrith blog post on age ban arguments https://www.edrith.co.uk/p/social-media-ban-responses-to-10

Southport public inquiry website https://www.southport.public-inquiry.uk/