Preparing to restrict social media access for children under 15s, Greece plans to use the Kids Wallet app as its enforcement tool amid rising European concern over youth safety.
The Ministry of Digital Governance intends to rely on the Kids Wallet application, introduced last year, as a mechanism for enforcing the measure instead of developing a new control framework.
Government planning is advanced, yet the precise timing of the announcement by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has not been finalised.
In addition to the legislative initiative in Greece, the European debate on children’s online safety is intensifying.
Spain recently revealed plans to prohibit social media access for those under sixteen and to create legislation that would hold platform executives personally accountable for hate speech.
Such moves illustrate how governments are seeking to shape the digital environment for younger users rather than leaving regulation solely in private hands.
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The Supreme Court of India has delivered a forceful warning to Meta after judges said the company could not play with the right to privacy.
The court questioned how WhatsApp monetises personal data in a country where the app has become the de facto communications tool for hundreds of millions of people. Judges added that meaningful consent is difficult when users have little practical choice.
Meta was told not to share any user information while the appeal over WhatsApp’s 2021 privacy policy continues. Judges pressed the company to explain the value of behavioural data instead of relying solely on claims about encrypted messages.
The case stems from a major update to WhatsApp’s data-sharing rules that India’s competition regulator said abused the platform’s dominant position.
A significant penalty was issued before Meta and WhatsApp challenged the ruling at the Supreme Court. The court has now widened the proceedings by adding the IT ministry and has asked Meta to provide detailed answers before the next hearing on 9 February.
WhatsApp is also under heightened scrutiny worldwide as regulators examine how encrypted platforms analyse metadata and other signals.
In India, broader regulatory changes, such as new SIM-binding rules, could restrict how small businesses use the service rather than broadening its commercial reach.
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The European Commission plans to decide by early 2026 whether OpenAI’s ChatGPT should be classified as a vast online platform under the Digital Services Act.
OpenAI’s tool reported 120.4 million average monthly users in the EU back in October, a figure far above the 45-million threshold that triggers more onerous obligations instead of lighter oversight.
Officials said the designation procedure depends on both quantitative and qualitative assessments of how a service operates, together with input from national authorities.
The Commission is examining whether a standalone AI chatbot can fall within the scope of rules usually applied to platforms such as social networks, online marketplaces and significant search engines.
ChatGPT’s user data largely stems from its integrated online search feature, which prompts users to allow the chatbot to search the web. The Commission noted that OpenAI could voluntarily meet the DSA’s risk-reduction obligations while the formal assessment continues.
The EU’s latest wave of designations included Meta’s WhatsApp, though the rules applied only to public channels, not private messaging.
A decision on ChatGPT that will clarify how far the bloc intends to extend its most stringent online governance framework to emerging AI systems.
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The Second International Submarine Cable Resilience Summit opened this week in Porto, Portugal, bringing together senior officials from governments, international organisations, and industry to address the growing risks facing the underwater cables that carry most of the world’s internet traffic. The event highlighted how submarine cables have become critical infrastructure for the global digital economy, especially as societies grow more dependent on cloud services, AI, and cross-border data flows.
Opening the summit, Ambassador João Mira Gomes, Permanent Representative of Portugal to the United Nations Office at Geneva, explained that Portugal’s infrastructure minister was absent due to ongoing storm recovery efforts, underlining the real-world pressures facing critical infrastructure today. He recalled Portugal’s long history in global connectivity, noting that one of the earliest submarine cables linking Portugal and the United Kingdom was built to support the port wine trade, a reminder that communication networks and economic exchange have long evolved together.
Professor Sandra Maximiano, co-chair of the International Advisory Body for Submarine Cable Resilience, placed the discussions in a broader historical context. She pointed to the creation of the International Telecommunication Union in 1865 as the first global organisation dedicated to managing international communications, stressing that cooperation on submarine cables has always been a ‘positive-sum game’ in which all countries benefit from shared rules and coordination.
Maximiano also highlighted Portugal’s strategic role as a cable hub, citing its extensive coastline, large exclusive economic zone, and favourable landing conditions connecting Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Asia. She outlined key projects such as the Atlantic CAM system linking mainland Portugal with Madeira and the Azores using a resilient ring design and smart cable technology that combines telecommunications with seismic and oceanographic monitoring. Existing and planned systems, she said, are not just data pipelines but foundations for innovation, scientific cooperation, and strategic autonomy.
A major outcome of the summit was the adoption of the Porto Declaration on Submarine Cable Resilience, developed with input from more than 150 experts worldwide. The declaration sets out practical guidance to improve permitting and repair processes, strengthen legal frameworks, promote route diversity and risk mitigation, and enhance capacity-building, with special attention to the needs of small island states and developing countries.
ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin framed these efforts within a rapidly changing digital landscape, announcing that 2026 will be designated the ‘year of resilience.’ She warned that the scale of global digital dependence has transformed the impact of cable disruptions, as even minor outages can ripple across AI systems, cloud platforms, and autonomous services. Resilience, she argued, now depends as much on international coordination and preparedness as on cable design itself.
From the European Union perspective, European Commission Vice-President Henna Virkkunen outlined upcoming EU measures, including a submarine cable security toolbox and targeted funding through the Connecting Europe Facility. She stressed the importance of regional coordination and praised Portugal’s active role in aligning EU initiatives with global efforts led by the ITU.
Closing the opening session, Ambassador Gomes linked cable resilience to broader goals of development and peace, warning that digital divides fuel inequality and instability, and reaffirming Portugal’s commitment to international cooperation and capacity-building as the summit moves the global conversation from policy to action.
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OpenAI faced a wave of global complaints after many users struggled to access ChatGPT.
Reports began circulating in the US during the afternoon, with outage cases climbing to more than 12.000 in less than half an hour. Social media quickly filled with questions from people trying to determine whether the disruption was widespread or a local glitch.
Also, users in the UK reported complete failure to generate responses, yet access returned when they switched to a US-based VPN.
Other regions saw mixed results, as VPNs in Ireland, Canada, India and Poland allowed ChatGPT to function, although replies were noticeably slower instead of consistent.
OpenAI later confirmed that several services were experiencing elevated errors. Engineers identified the source of the disruption, introduced mitigations and continued monitoring the recovery.
The company stressed that users in many regions might still experience intermittent problems while the system stabilises rather than operating at full capacity.
In the following update, OpenAI announced that its systems were fully operational again.
The status page indicated that the affected services had recovered, and engineers were no longer aware of active issues. The company added that the underlying fault was addressed, with further safeguards being developed to prevent similar incidents.
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Snapchat has blocked more than 415,000 Australian accounts after the national ban on under-16s began, marking a rapid escalation in the country’s effort to restrict children’s access to major platforms.
The company relied on a mix of self-reported ages and age-detection technologies to identify users who appeared to be under 16.
The platform warned that age verification still faces serious shortcomings, leaving room for teenagers to bypass safeguards rather than supporting reliable compliance.
Facial estimation tools remain accurate only within a narrow range, meaning some young people may slip through while older users risk losing access. Snapchat also noted the likelihood that teenagers will shift towards less regulated messaging apps.
The eSafety commissioner has focused regulatory pressure on the 10 largest platforms, although all services with Australian users are expected to assess whether they fall under the new requirements.
Officials have acknowledged that the technology needs improvement and that reliability issues, such as the absence of a liveness check, contributed to false results.
Institutions in the EU have begun designing a new framework to help European armies share defence information securely, rather than relying on US technology.
A plan centred on creating a military-grade data platform, the European Defence Artificial Intelligence Data Space, is intended to support sensitive exchanges among defence authorities.
Ultimately, the approach aims to replace the current patchwork of foreign infrastructure that many member states rely on to store and transfer national security data.
The European Defence Agency is leading the effort and expects the platform to be fully operational by 2030. The concept includes two complementary elements: a sovereign military cloud for data storage and a federated system that allows countries to exchange information on a trusted basis.
Officials argue that this will improve interoperability, speed up joint decision-making, and enhance operational readiness across the bloc.
A project that aligns with broader concerns about strategic autonomy, as EU leaders increasingly question long-standing dependencies on American providers.
Several European companies have been contracted to develop the early technical foundations. The next step is persuading governments to coordinate future purchases so their systems remain compatible with the emerging framework.
Planning documents suggest that by 2029, member states should begin integrating the data space into routine military operations, including training missions and coordinated exercises. EU authorities maintain that stronger control of defence data will be essential as military AI expands across European forces.
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The smooth functioning of the global internet depends on a largely unseen but critical system, the undersea fibre-optic cables that carry nearly all international data traffic. These cables, laid across the ocean floor, support everything from everyday online communication to global financial transactions.
Tomas Lamanauskas, Deputy Secretary-General of ITU, has stressed that submarine cables are the backbone of global connectivity and that their resilience must be strengthened as societies become ever more dependent on digital networks. From their origins as 19th-century telegraph lines, undersea cables have evolved into high-capacity systems capable of transmitting hundreds of terabits of data per second, forming a dense web that connects continents, economies, and communities.
Today, more than 500 commercial submarine cables stretch for roughly 1.7 million kilometres beneath the seas. Although these cables are relatively thin, their installation is complex, requiring detailed seabed surveys, environmental assessments, and specialised cable-laying vessels to ensure safe deployment and protection.
Despite their robust design, undersea cables remain vulnerable. Natural hazards such as earthquakes and underwater landslides pose risks, but around 80% of cable faults are caused by human activities, including ship anchors and fishing trawlers.
When cables are damaged, the effects can be immediate, disrupting internet access, emergency communications, financial services, and digital healthcare and education, particularly in remote or island regions.
Repairing or replacing damaged cables is often slow and costly. While faults can usually be located quickly, repairs may be delayed by complex permitting procedures and coordination across multiple jurisdictions.
With some cables installed during the dot-com boom now approaching the end of their lifespan, ITU is increasingly focused on fostering international cooperation, setting standards, and promoting best practices to ensure that these hidden networks can continue to support global connectivity in the years ahead.
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Hamad Bin Khalifa University has unveiled the UNESCO Chair on Digital Technologies and Human Behaviour to strengthen global understanding of how emerging tools shape society.
An initiative, located in the College of Science and Engineering in Qatar, that will examine the relationship between digital adoption and human behaviour, focusing on digital well-being, ethical design and healthier online environments.
The Chair is set to address issues such as internet addiction, cyberbullying and misinformation through research and policy-oriented work.
By promoting dialogue among international organisations, governments and academic institutions, the programme aims to support the more responsible development of digital technologies rather than approaches that overlook societal impact.
HBKU’s long-standing emphasis on ethical innovation formed the foundation for the new initiative. The launch event brought together experts from several disciplines to discuss behavioural change driven by AI, mobile computing and social media.
An expert panel considered how GenAI can improve daily life while also increasing dependency, encouraging users to shift towards a more intentional and balanced relationship with AI systems.
UNESCO underlined the importance of linking scientific research with practical policymaking to guide institutions and communities.
The Chair is expected to strengthen cooperation across sectors and support progress on global development goals by ensuring digital transformation remains aligned with human dignity, social cohesion and inclusive growth.
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SpaceX has acquired Elon Musk’s AI company xAI, bringing xAI’s Grok chatbot and the X social platform under the SpaceX umbrella in a deal that further consolidates Musk’s privately held businesses. Investor and media accounts of the transaction put the combined valuation around $1.25 trillion, reflecting SpaceX’s scale in launch services and Starlink, alongside xAI’s rapid growth in the AI market.
The tie-up is pitched as a way to integrate AI development with SpaceX’s communications infrastructure and space hardware, including ambitions to push computing beyond Earth. The companies argue that the power and cooling demands of AI, if met mainly through terrestrial data centres, will strain electricity supply and local environments, and that space-based systems could become part of a longer-term answer.
At the same time, Grok and X have faced mounting scrutiny over AI-generated harms, including non-consensual sexualised deepfakes, prompting investigations and renewed pressure on safeguards and enforcement. That backdrop adds regulatory and reputational risk to a structure that now ties AI tooling to a mass-distribution platform and to a company with major government and national-security-adjacent business lines.
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