Media & Communication

RSF has joined the MFR) — a consortium of press freedom organisations — and several Ukrainian and international media organisations in opposing amnesty for crimes committed against journalists as part of a deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Gary Goldman, who has battled Disney in court over the franchise, thinks the viper Gary De’Snake is based on him.

The lawsuit said the Defense Department’s new set of rules for journalists “violates the Constitution’s guarantees of due process, freedom of speech and freedom of the press.”

Reform leader suggests he would boycott BBC, saying he has had letter from Dulwich pupils defending him Nigel Farage has turned on broadcasters for questioning him about his alleged teenage racism and antisemitism as the number of school contemporaries who recalled such behaviour to the Guardian reached 28.In an angry performance at a press conference in London, the Reform leader suggested he would boycott the BBC and said ITV had its own case to answer, as he repeatedly shouted “Bernard Manning”. Continue reading...

The paper says new rules limiting questions, movement and sourcing violate press freedoms and chill independent reportingUS politics live – latest updatesThe New York Times said on Thursday it is suing the US defense department and the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, after the Trump administration imposed restrictions for the press on access privileges and source-based reporting at the Pentagon.Journalists assigned to cover the Pentagon were asked in October to agree to new rules telling them not to solicit information that had not been approved by Hegseth. The extra restrictions were also designed to limit their movements around the military command headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, j..

Ireland, Spain, Slovenia and the Netherlands pull out after decision not to hold vote on Israel’s participationIreland, Spain, Slovenia and the Netherlands will boycott next year’s Eurovision after Israel was given the all-clear to compete in the 2026 song contest despite calls by several participating broadcasters for its exclusion over the war in Gaza.No vote on Israel’s participation was held on Thursday at the general assembly of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the body that organises the competition. Continue reading...

Some users jump generations in expanded Wrapped review while Taylor Swift tops UK streams for third yearIt has given some in middle age dubious hope that they have their finger on the cultural pulse. Meanwhile, some younger users have been told their listening habits suggest they are well into retirement.Spotify has confected a wave of intrigue over what our musical preferences suggest about our vintage, with its “your listening age” feature causing delight and consternation. Continue reading...

Saudi Arabia’s investment in Twitter increased its influence in Silicon Valley while being used at home to shut down critics of the regimeBy Jacob Silverman. Continue reading...

AVS Group, which runs 18 websites, has 72 hours to make changes required by UK’s Online Safety ActA pornography company that runs 18 adult websites has been fined £1m by the watchdog Ofcom for not having strong enough age checks, in the largest fine yet under the UK’s Online Safety Act.The Belize-based AVS Group has been hit with the punishment, plus a further £50,000 for failing to respond to information requests. Continue reading...

Ban due to take effect next week, but Meta has started deactivating accounts alreadyAustralia social media ban explained: everything you need to knowGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastFacebook and Instagram began shutting down half a million accounts of users under 16 years old on Thursday as the deadline for Australia’s social media ban looms.The under-16s social media ban is due to take effect from 10 December, but Meta alerted users last month that it would begin shutting down accounts from 4 December.Do you know more? Email josh.taylor@theguardian.com Continue reading...

As technology advances, so does the problems it causes. Ministers as well as regulators need to be tough and proactiveAwareness of the harm caused by online pornography is rising. Last month, the government bowed to pressure from campaigners and pledged to make depictions of strangulation illegal. Research showing that a majority of children have viewed this kind of material is extremely disturbing, all the more so given evidence that viewing “choking” makes people – mostly men – more likely to do it in real life. This week, the Guardian examined the distressing effects of deepfake pornography in schools, and interviewed the women behind the successful campaign to criminalise th..

Broadcaster ‘absolutely gutted’ to be gazumped by Paramount but walked away from international rugby as it seeks to balance the booksIt has been a tough couple of weeks for TNT Sports, with the loss of three days of Ashes cricket due to England’s two-day defeat in Perth following on from some bruising rights negotiations.On the eve of the first Test, the Guardian revealed TNT had lost UK rights to the Champions League to Paramount+, with Sky Sports picking up the decent consolation prize of Europa League rights, while this week it emerged that TNT has also lost the rights to international rugby union with ITV having paid £80m for the inaugural Nations Championship. Continue reading...

Twenty years on, the social media-savvy contestants will have greater power. His brutal approach to judging them will have to change, tooThere is a moment in the trailer for Simon Cowell’s new Netflix show, The Next Act, that is almost touching in its adherence to the way things once were. Cowell, who we see on a variety of beige sofas primly clutching his knees, talks about how to curate a new boyband, 20 years after the launch of his first TV talent show. “There is a huge risk here,” he says, heavy with drama. “If this goes wrong, it will be: ‘Simon Cowell has lost it.’” In fact, as anyone who has an eye on dwindling audience figures for his existing shows knows, for the vast..

From Ewan Roy in Succession to Sideshow Bob in The Simpsons, here are 15 truly unforgettable characters who elevated their shows – when they eventually turned upMike Hannigan was the only character to truly feel like a seventh Friend. He was the perfect match for Phoebe, a lightning rod for her kookiness and providing the solid family she’d never had. It wasn’t just the fact that he was played by Paul Rudd that managed to win over the viewers. His profile was nowhere near what it would later become, so the audience weren’t responding to star power in the same way they had, say, to Bruce Willis, Tom Selleck or Reese Witherspoon. Mike had to play the long game, put in the graft and win..