Australia is set to become the first country in the world to ban children under age 16 from having accounts on most social media platforms. Supporters of the hard-line ban believe it has already influenced social media giants to clean up their act, but there are concerns that tech-savvy kids will easily be able to dodge the restrictions. 

Reducing ‘pressures and risks’ 
As of this coming Wednesday, 10 platforms will become age-restricted: Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Reddit, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, Twitch, X and YouTube. Children under 16 will still be able to see publicly available content on the platforms, but they won’t be able to have their own accounts or see logged-in content. 

Australian teenagers are already receiving notifications from Facebook and Instagram advising them to save their data before access to their accounts is revoked. Companies that fail to take “reasonable steps” to comply will face penalties of up to $32.5 million. 

The Australian government says the ban is intended to reduce the “pressures and risks” children can be exposed to on social media. It follows a study commissioned by the government that found 96% of kids ages 10 to 15 used social media and 70% had been exposed to harmful content and behavior. 

Migrating to gaming apps 
Supporters say the ban is already working. What “appears to drive self-regulation” among social media giants is the “credibility of the threat of government,” said Timothy Koskie at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), so Australia’s “muscular and maximalist” approach has “already achieved results.” Meta announced Instagram “teen accounts” for young users around the world in September 2024, TikTok and Snapchat have expanded their age-related account controls, and YouTube has further restricted access to streaming for teens. 

But it’s a no-brainer that Australian teens will migrate to other platforms, such as gaming apps with chat functions, where “you can still engage with people,” said Tama Leaver, an internet studies professor at Australia’s Curtin University, to The Nightly. And age-verification technology is not infallible. A joint study by the University of Melbourne and Princeton University found that teenage volunteers are able to pass the checks with tricks including “pointing the camera at video game characters, pulling silly facial expressions” and wearing “cheap disguises,” said ABC. And VPN providers are “expecting a surge” in Australian users next week.

Using popular weight-loss drugs like Ozempic during pregnancy is not recommended. But stopping the medications just before conception or in the early stages of pregnancy may come with some risks, according to a study published in JAMA. And without further research, say experts, the data paints a complicated picture of the relationship between GLP-1s and pregnancy.

What did the study find?
In a review of medical records for almost 150,000 pregnancies, 65% of the 448 people who discontinued GLP-1s before or during pregnancy gained more weight than recommended, compared with 49% of the 1,344 who did not take GLP-1s. Discontinuing the drugs also resulted in a higher risk of preterm delivery, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, and gestational diabetes, which is linked to a greater risk of developing Type 2 diabetes later in life. 

But the analysis has “key limitations,” said Live Science. Those who did and did not take the drugs “may not have been completely comparable,” which means the study may underestimate the benefits of reducing obesity before pregnancy.

The research team was “reassured that there were no changes in infant birth weight,” said lead study author Jacqueline Maya to Medscape Medical News. However, they were “concerned that there were increases in the risk of obstetric outcomes.” Still, given the limitations of observational studies, they could not determine whether stopping the medications directly caused the adverse outcomes.

What remains unanswered?
According to Maya, the study highlights potential risks that would need closer monitoring and “underscores the need for new strategies to support patients during the transition off these medications,” said The Washington Post. One question that still needs to be answered is the optimal timing for discontinuing GLP-1s to ensure optimal pregnancy outcomes, said Maya to Medscape Medical News. These medications are known to be “beneficial for weight, blood sugar and cardiovascular health,” so the focus needs to be on “finding ways to support women who come off these medications for pregnancy.”

Residents are transported through West Java, Indonesia’s waterlogged streets after heavy rain caused the Citarum River to overflow. The country is at the epicenter of floods that have killed more than 1,600 people, with hundreds more missing, across South and Southeast Asia.
Timur Matahari / AFP / Getty Images

Just because it’s December doesn’t mean you are required to watch holiday-themed television. Some of this month’s releases include the second season of a dystopian video game adaptation, a behind-the-scenes look at history’s most profitable concert tour, and a hot love story between two hockey players.

‘Heated Rivalry’
It’s officially cold season, but if you are craving content that will steam things up in a hurry, look no further than the aptly titled “Heated Rivalry.” The story “begins in 2008, before mainstream acceptance of queer relationships, and speeds through the years,” said The Cut. “Every so often, a match brings the nemeses to the same city, where they face off in the rink, then disappear to a hotel room for kinky illicit sex.” (on HBO Max now)

‘Taylor Swift: The End of an Era’
Taylor Swift’s “Eras” concert tour broke all kinds of records and earned the distinction of being the highest-grossing tour of all time. Now, the pop star is rewarding her fervid fans with a peek behind the curtain of her life as a showgirl: a six-episode docuseries that delves behind the scenes. (Dec. 12 on Disney+)

‘Fallout’
In its witty first season, Amazon’s “Fallout” (pictured above) transported viewers to a nuclear wasteland where survivors lived in underground bunkers. The series, “one of the most faithful and best video game adaptations,” said The Verge, is “ploughing further into its postapocalyptic mythology” in the second season, said Empire. (Dec. 17 on Prime)