Kirat Assi: ‘Bobby tried to destroy my hopes, my dreams, every part of my life’

She had been ‘catfished’ for years, and now her hit podcast tells the story of tracing the scammer and her quest for justice

As a new year dawns, expect a fresh assault on big tech

Democracies have finally begun to confront the internet giants and their unrivalled and untrammelled power

Facebook’s very bad year. No, really, it might be the worst yet

From repeated accusations of fostering misinformation to multiple whistleblowers, the company weathered some battles in 2021

Mark Zuckerberg adds 110 acres to controversial 1,500-acre Hawaii estate

The $17m purchase for the Facebook founder includes the Ka Loko reservoir, considered high-risk and in need of repairs

TechScape: looking back at our tech predictions of years past

In this week’s newsletter: let’s scroll back and see how right – or wrong – we were about the future of tech

Social media is a bad feelings machine. Why can’t we just turn it off for good?

I owe my career to Twitter, but two years reporting on the pandemic has made me realise disinformation costs lives, says Guardian journalist Sirin Kale

‘I do surfing’: an AI-generated Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook’s bad year

The Facebook CEO won’t talk to the Guardian. So we built a Zuckerbot and interviewed it instead

No comfort at the bottom of the feed: how to prevent information overload in the time of Covid

Experts explain techniques to navigate pandemic news so you can avoid being swamped while keeping up to date

Killed by a pill bought on social media: the counterfeit drugs poisoning US teens

Accidental deaths soar among young people amid a proliferation of fentanyl-filled pharmaceuticals sold on platforms such as Snapchat and Instagram

Facebook bans seven ‘cyber mercenary’ companies from its platforms

Company will also send warnings to 48,000 people believed to be targeted by malicious activity after investigation

The Guardian view on online safety: holding big tech to account

Editorial: Regulation of the social media businesses that have changed our world is overdue. Children in particular need protecting

MPs call for online safety bill overhaul to protect children and penalise tech firms

Committee’s report says sweeping changes needed to tackle an industry that has become the ‘land of the lawless’