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July 08, 2026
 

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BIG TECH

The Los Angeles Superior Court building. A landmark trial being heard there over social media addiction is a critical test for thousands of similar cases, with potentially billions of dollars at stake, and it could ultimately force media companies to change how they interact with youths, one of their key audiences.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 10, 2026
Meta and Google pivot in addiction trial to accuser’s history
Lawyers for Meta have indicated they plan to demonstrate that her psychological trauma came from turmoil in her family and school life rather than social media.
This former GM and Foxconn factory in Lordstown, Ohio, seen here in October, is set to be converted by SoftBank for data center equipment manufacturing.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 3, 2026
SoftBank’s Ohio power plant delivers an AI sticker shock
The underlying message is that the old model of just building giant power plants to meet whatever new peak demand forecast we dream up is unsustainable.
French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech during the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi on Thursday.
WORLD
Feb 20, 2026
Macron is setting up a G7 showdown with Trump over social media
The French leader says protecting children from the harms of social media and artificial intelligence will be a priority for his country’s Group of Seven presidency.
The Nasdaq MarketSite in New York
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 19, 2026
Apple decouples from Nasdaq, offering alternative to AI-fueled volatility
Apple’s 40-day correlation to the Nasdaq 100 Index tumbled to 0.21 last week, the lowest since 2006.
Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s chief executive, arrives to testify in a tech addiction trial in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 19, 2026
Zuckerberg says ‘difficult’ to enforce Instagram age limits
The CEO of Meta Platforms was sharply questioned on the witness stand Wednesday about the company’s efforts to attract and engage teenage users.
Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri (center) leaves the LA County Superior Court after testifying in a social media trial in Los Angeles, California, on Monday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 12, 2026
Instagram chief defends youth mental health decisions at trial
Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, testified in Los Angeles as part of a trial on what plaintiffs ‌call “social media addiction” ‌in children and young adults.
Social media networking apps
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 11, 2026
YouTube lawyer sees no addiction from half hour of videos a day in trial
A 20-year-old Californian was presented by her lawyers as the face of a scourge that has allegedly poisoned millions of American youths — overconsumption of social media.
Parents from the United Kingdom — Mariano Janin and George Nicolaou — hold photos of their children, who were victims of bullying on social media, outside the Los Angeles County Superior Court in California, on Monday as landmark trial on the effects of social media on minors began.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 10, 2026
U.S. trial lawyer says Meta and YouTube ‘engineered addiction’ in children
A California court is hearing a landmark trial on the effects of social media on minors.
Parents who lost children to social media–related harms hold a vigil on Feb. 5 ahead of a social media addiction trial set to begin this week in Los Angeles.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 9, 2026
Arguments to begin in key U.S. social media addiction trial
The outcome in the case in the Los Angeles Superior Court could set the tone for a tidal wave of similar litigation across the United States.
A growing number of European countries are weighing a social media ban for minors.
WORLD / Society
Feb 5, 2026
Move to ban social media for kids gains traction in Europe
The European moves could trigger an aggressive response from U.S. President Donald Trump and his orbit.
A 14-year-old scrolls on his phone in Majadahonda, Spain, on Tuesday. Spain wants to prohibit social media for under-16s, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 4, 2026
Social media groups face European backlash as Spain and Greece weigh teen bans
They join countries such as ‍Britain and ⁠France in considering tougher stances on social media.
Website publishers argue that Google's artificial intelligence-generated summaries discourage clicks to their original pages, reducing traffic to their sites and, in turn, cutting their advertising revenue.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 29, 2026
U.K. proposes letting websites refuse being included in Google’s AI search
Website publishers, particularly media outlets, say artificial intelligence pilfers their content without compensation to feed its models.
Technology leaders at U.S. President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January included, from right, Sundar Pichai of Google, Jeff Bezos of Amazon and Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, inside the Capitol Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, on Jan. 20, 2025.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 26, 2026
Addictive by design? Social media giants face jury in child harm lawsuit
The companies are accused of addicting young users to content that has led to depression, eating disorders, psychiatric hospitalization and even suicide.
The Microsoft data center campus currently under construction in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, last year.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 15, 2026
Microsoft in record deal for soil carbon credits as data centers surge
The company has agreed with Indigo Carbon to buy a record 2.85 million soil carbon credits linked to regenerative agriculture in the United States.
The chat window for chatbot Grok on a laptop
WORLD
Jan 13, 2026
U.K.’s Starmer escalates threats against X, calling Grok ‘shameful’
The prime minister vowed to enforce a law that bans the sexualization of people’s images without consent.
Members of staff greet customers at the Apple Store in Tokyo's Omotesando shopping district.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 18, 2025
Apple opens iPhones to alternative app stores in Japan
Under Apple’s new rules, Japanese developers can launch their own app marketplaces on iPhones and pay Apple as little as 5% of sales.
Under a new law, Google and Apple will have to allow third parties to run independent app stores and offer their own payment options.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 15, 2025
What will change with Japan’s first attempt at regulating Big Tech?
While a previous law urged platforms to improve business practices and regularly report their endeavors, the new bill may alter the rules of the game.
A child looks at his phone in Melbourne on Nov. 27 ahead of Australia's ban on children under 16 from using social media.
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 11, 2025
Australian content creators feel sting of losing young fans to social media ban
Follower counts primarily on Instagram have dropped, creators said, while engagement patterns — likes, comments and views — have also changed.
The European Commission on Friday imposed a €120 million penalty on Elon Musk's X for breaching European Union online content rules.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 6, 2025
Europe continues Big Tech crackdown with X fine in defiance of Trump
Europe is forging ahead with its crackdown on Big Tech, levying fines on Alphabet's Google and Elon Musk's X and opening new investigations, asserting its sovereign right to enforce its laws in defiance of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg makes a keynote speech at an annual event at the company’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California, in September last year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 5, 2025
Meta’s Zuckerberg plans deep cuts for metaverse efforts
The metaverse effort was once framed as the future of the company and was the reason for the company changing its name from Facebook.
Japan needs caregivers. Young Indians are answering the call.
Young people in India's northeast are increasingly studying Japanese in hopes of building new lives and careers in Japan.
Prior to launch, Japan ‘strongly urged’ China to reconsider missile test in Pacific
A missile is fired from a Chinese Navy nuclear-powered submarine on Monday.
Suspected Asian fraud ring exec served fresh warrant in Japan
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and Osaka Prefectural Police have issued arrest warrants for three people, including a suspected fraud network leader, over alleged immigration and residency violations.
Japan might be giving the currency market the silent treatment
Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama has issued verbal warnings recently using the same language and the same tone, saying authorities “will take appropriate action at any time, as necessary.”
Japanese teen arrested for booting users off streaming service
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department has arrested a 15-year-old boy for allegedly creating a malicious program and canceling subscription accounts on the Bandai Channel.
Japan bets on character IP to drive global growth
Born on social media platforms in 2022, Opanchu Usagi has become a major hit, especially among Generation Z.
Filmmaker explores history of discrimination against foreign nationals in Japan
Takashi Nishihara, the director of "Now and Then," in Tokyo on Wednesday. The director has spent 10 years traversing politically charged terrain while exploring youth-driven grassroots political movements that scrutinize the status quo.
Japanese nail salons are tourists’ new obsession
Tourists in Japan have always been interested in quintessentially Japanese approaches to modern culture, and, increasingly, visits to nail salons have become the new hot thing.
Okinawa’s prized seaweed under threat as oceans warm
Local harvesters gather <i>mozuku</i> during low tide at Hyakuna Beach in the city of Nanjo, Okinawa Prefecture. As the planet warms, rising ocean temperatures are placing increasing pressure on the seaweed industry.
‘Defense,’ not ‘warfare,’ stressed as pacifist Japan beefs up capabilities
Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi attends an annual training session near Mount Fuji at Higashifuji Training Field in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, on June 7.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

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