Tech giants and nations stepped up measures to protect young users online as Poland moved to ban mobile phones in primary schools and Meta Platforms separately beefed up teen content controls globally.
Poland’s proposed ban, due to take effect on 1 September 2026, will apply to children aged 7 to 15 on school premises, including during breaks. According to Reuters, the proposed bill will also give schools a legal basis to create storage deposits for handsets.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the restriction aims to give parents and teachers more control over pupils’ device use. “We propose a ban on cell phone use in primary schools during lessons and breaks,” he said, adding, “this is not a perfect solution, we have no illusions about that, but we must address this serious problem, which is addiction to phones and the internet”.
Another bill proposed by Poland’s minister for digital affairs also imposes new obligations on pornography websites to restrict access by children.
Poland’s proposals come as social media platforms face mounting scrutiny over child safety across the globe.
Meta moves
Earlier today (2 June), Meta announced it is expanding its 13+ content settings for teen accounts on Instagram, Facebook and Messenger globally. The controls were initially launched in select countries in October last year and are designed to filter out content deemed inappropriate for underage users as the default for teenagers’ accounts.
A more restrictive “limited content” setting will also be made available on Facebook and Messenger later this year. In addition, Meta’s Instagram platform is also testing a feature to prevent teenage users from repeatedly seeing certain types of content to promote a more balanced social media feed.
In December, Australia became the world’s first country to ban social media for under-16s, while countries including the UK, Denmark, Greece, France, Malaysia, Norway and Spain are all weighing or advancing restrictions.
The post Poland plots phone school ban; Meta expands teen controls appeared first on Mobile World Live.
Meta Platforms reportedly acknowledged its controversial employee surveillance programme captures data from employees outside the US, raising fresh legal questions in Europe.
Reuters reported internal documentation it reviewed showed the company’s Model Capability Initiative (MCI) does capture data outside of the US.
MCI was introduced last month as a tool to record how US-based employees interact with their work computers by tracking mouse movements, clicks and navigation patterns across more than 200 apps and websites.
The goal of MCI is to use the employee-generated data to train AI agents capable of performing coding and white-collar tasks.
Meta told staff the programme is confined to US devices and stated safeguards are in place to protect sensitive information.
The news agency noted Meta acknowledged in a question-and-answer document provided to employees MCI will capture the contents of any emails or direct messages sent to US personnel, regardless of the sender’s location.
Meta spokesperson Dave Arnold told Reuters the company notified non-US employees the tool was running on the machines of US-based colleagues they might correspond with, describing the step as one of transparency.
A representative for Meta told Mobile World Live: “We’ve been clear that this tool is for US-based personnel only, and in the interest of transparency, we notified non-US employees that it was deployed on the computers of US colleagues they may email or chat with in the normal course of business.”
“We carefully considered and mitigated potential privacy risks in both the development and deployment of this tool, and we are committed to complying with applicable laws and regulations.”
New regulatory exposure
Reuters stated the disclosure introduces new regulatory exposure in Europe, where technology companies are already fighting a series of heated legal battles over data collection.
Under the EU’s GDPR rules, the news site explained companies must establish a clear legal basis for processing personal data, disclose what is being collected and satisfy strict conditions around sensitive categories of information.
Kleanthi Sardeli, a legal expert at privacy advocacy group NOYB, told the news site even limited or incidental capture of EU employee data could put Meta in breach of GDPR rules.
A key question, she said, is whether data originally gathered for work communications can lawfully be repurposed to train an AI model.
The post Meta tracking tool raises EU GDPR concerns appeared first on Mobile World Live.
O concelho de Olhão viu aprovadas quatro candidaturas às Novas 7 Maravilhas de Portugal, iniciativa que volta a destacar o património nacional e a sua importância para a identidade dos territórios.
Os Mercados Municipais de Olhão e o Salva-Vidas da Fuseta foram selecionados na categoria Século XX, enquanto o Auditório Municipal Maria Barroso e a Biblioteca Municipal José Mariano Gago integram a categoria Século XXI.
Estas distinções representam o reconhecimento do valor arquitetónico, histórico, cultural e social de quatro espaços emblemáticos do concelho, que testemunham diferentes momentos da evolução de Olhão e o compromisso do município com a valorização do seu património.
A Meia-Final Regional do Algarve terá lugar no próximo dia 27 de junho, em Olhão, constituindo uma oportunidade única para afirmar o património local perante todo o país.
O Município apela à participação de todos os cidadãos nesta votação, contribuindo para que Olhão continue a afirmar-se como um território de património, cultura e identidade.
O conteúdo Olhão com quatro candidaturas aprovadas às Novas 7 Maravilhas de Portugal aparece primeiro em Sempre à Mão.
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