UK TikTokers say goodbye to US followers as ban looms: ‘It’s a really beautiful community’

If TikTok disappears from the US, it won’t just be its 170 million American users who will lose out.British TikTokers and business owners have told the Guardian they will also lose a sizeable chunk of their audiences after a ban. The video app has become a key gateway to Americans for the UK’s online video creators, who make a living from accruing views and making sponsored content deals. With the ban scheduled to take effect on Sunday, a US-sized hole will appear in the global userbase.“In English-speaking markets, a lot of creators have sizeable US audiences that follow them,” says Thomas Walters, chief executive of Billion Dollar Boy, a UK-based advertising agency that pairs blue-chip advertisers with creators and influencers

Elon Musk knows little about UK and Germany and should not interfere – poll

Most people in the UK and Germany consider Elon Musk’s efforts to influence their national politics unacceptable and believe the US tech magnate does not know much about either country or the issues they face, a poll has shown.The survey, by YouGov, follows a spate of hostile statements by the billionaire owner of Tesla, SpaceX and the social media platform X attacking the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and their respective governments.The poll, of more than 2,200 people in each country, also found that majorities of 54% in both countries thought it was “not important” for their governments to cultivate a good relationship with Musk, and about 50% thought he was best ignored.The survey found that only 13% of respondents in both countries saw Musk’s interventions in their politics as acceptable, with 69% in the UK and 73% in Germany saying the opposite. Most also thought his meddling in US politics was unacceptable

Donald Trump reportedly weighing up TikTok ban delay

Donald Trump is considering suspending a TikTok ban in the US with an executive order when he enters the White House on 20 January, according to a report.The president-elect is exploring an executive order that would postpone enforcement of a sale-or-ban law due to come into force on 19 January, said the Washington Post. The report added, however, that Trump’s legal grounds for suspending a law passed by Congress are questionable.Under the terms of the law, the short video app’s US operation must be sold by its Chinese owners by Sunday. If a sale does not occur, new users will not be able to download TikTok from app stores

UK Meta staff ‘concerned’ over scrapping of factcheckers and DEI programmes

UK staff at Facebook owner Meta feel “concerned” and “let down” about the company’s decision to scrap factcheckers and diversity, equity and inclusion programmes, the trade union representing UK tech workers has warned the firm.The Prospect union, which represents a growing number of UK Meta employees, has written to Meta to express staff concern about the impact of the controversial decisions by chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg.“Staff of many years’ service at Meta have highlighted how incredibly let down they feel by their employer’s change of tone,” wrote Prospect assistant secretary Andrew Sturtevant to Meta.He added: “Our members are concerned over Meta’s future direction and the potential impact of policy changes on employees and on the company’s reputation.”In a letter addressed to Lizzie Runham, Meta’s HR director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Sturtevant warned the company it may struggle to hire and keep staff in light of recent announcements

Stronger age checks to come into force for online pornography sites in UK

Users accessing online pornography in the UK could soon be required to have their face scanned, under measures announced by Ofcom to stop children seeing the material.Enforcement guidelines released on Thursday, which will apply to social media platforms as well as sites such as OnlyFans and Pornhub, stipulate that children will no longer be able to simply assert they are 18 to view pornography online.The communications watchdog also said adults would have to start proving their age – with methods including facial age estimation, credit card checks or matching with a photo-ID.The requirements around the “highly effective” age checks will start coming into force this spring for several thousand services that display or publish their own pornographic content. The rules will bite on so-called peer-to-peer and social media services by July, with potential sanctions for breaches including fines of up to 10% of a company’s turnover