Robinson and Farage’s ‘civil war’ narrative is warping voters’ minds. How is any government supposed to counter it?

Whatever the reality of Britain today, our social media feeds are full of anger, violence and disorder – and that’s the reality politicians must confront, says Guardian columnist John Harris

Online misinformation putting women off contraceptive pill, study finds

Researchers say social media myths drive ‘nocebo effect’ of side-effects that are real but psychological in origin

Virulent debater and clickbait savant: how Charlie Kirk pushed a new generation to the right

The far-right activist, who was fatally shot this week in Utah, galvanized young conservatives through online antics and inflammatory views

French lawmaker calls for criminal inquiry into TikTok’s effect on children

Move comes after parliamentary committee finds platform like a ‘slow poison’ to young people

Snapchat allows drug dealers to operate openly on platform, finds Danish study

Social media platform accused of failing to filter out obvious key usernames such as ‘coke’, ‘weed’ and ‘molly’

Labour comms director helped write manifesto while still working at TikTok

Exclusive: James Lyons rewrote 2024 election pledges ‘over evenings and weekends’ before his exit from social media company

At least 19 killed in ‘gen Z’ protests against Nepal’s social media ban

Many demonstrators say they are also on the streets over corruption and nepotism they allege is rampant

Big tech not stopping online sharing of child abuse images, eSafety commissioner says, amid new online codes

Neasures to protect children from harmful content such as AI chatbots to be implemented at the same time as the under-16s social media ban

‘Food is political’: the TikTok star shining a light on South African cuisine’s hidden gems

Nick Hamman wants to help the local economy by enticing people to seek out township barbecues and family-run sandwich shops

‘Existential crisis’: how Google’s shift to AI has upended the online news model

Media sites are taking action on several fronts as traffic referrals dry up and AI companies plunder their content

Conspiracies, costume changes, and three-hour deep dives: inside the wild west of YouTube video essays

Mixing dense political ideas with allusions to Twilight and Donald Duck, these films have become a thrilling DIY artform – one entirely conceived, written, filmed and performed by their stars

Mother of Brianna Ghey joins Kate Winslet in call for smartphone ban in schools

Esther Ghey urges government to introduce legal ban and says current guidance creates ‘postcode lottery’

Parents could get alerts if children show acute distress while using ChatGPT

OpenAI to roll out new protection measures after facing a law suit on behalf of teenager who took his own life

Why more and more people are tuning the news out: ‘Now I don’t have that anxiety’

Emotional toll of constant negative news and unlimited access to ‘doomscrolling’ has led to record-high news avoidance

Ready to give up social media? ‘Advice pollution’ might just get you there

I almost admire the confidence it must take to tell people what to do online. But I long for the days when the internet wasn’t just lists of bossy self-optimisation plans, writes Guardian columnist Emma Beddington