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EU under 16 social media ban, Kagi browser and X not paying its bills

Plus: They put a SNES in a SHOE

Author

Cam Wilson
November 27, 2025

Edition 2459

The News

EU’s 16+ social media minimum age policy ain’t as extreme as Australia’s

European politicians support restricting access to social media platforms and AI chatbots for under 16s unless their parents OK it (POLITICO). The suggestion was part of a non-binding report passed by European Parliament which, as a fun twist, makes the tech company CEOs personally liable if their platforms don’t protect kids online. The push behind this is to harmonise the EU’s various national rules, and would set a firm minimum age of 13 — codifying existing industry standards. It would also ban addictive design features and gambling-like elements (Reuters).

The Sizzle: Even as other countries “follow” our example, Australia’s social media restrictions for young people remain the most extreme in the world. Other countries doing similar things are allowing younger kids to use social media if their parents consent and aren’t setting minimum ages as high as 16. Plus, the fact that the EU is going to ban those addictive design elements is good!

I’m so sorry to keep covering this so much but I think this is such an obvious case of bad lawmaking around technology (and if you’re over it, it’s pretty much over in like two weeks). My critique of Australia’s law isn’t because I think social media companies should do whatever they want, it’s because the law that we’ve ended up with is a missed opportunity to do something that would work much better.

Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.

Kagi launches its own version of a browser

Alternative search company Kagi’s browser Orion has officially launched for Mac. Much like Kagi, Orion’s selling points are that it is privacy-focused and free of a lot of the other bullshit that has infected competitors (9to5Mac). It is a WebKit browser, but looks like a pretty lean version of Safari and has tab/browser syncing but doesn’t transmit that data to Kagi. Plus it does a few other cool things around customising how web pages display with a ‘focus mode’ and ‘page tweak’ features. It’s free, but does have a paid version for early access to new features.

I know there’s quite a few Kagi-head Sizzlers out there so would be curious to hear if you’ve tried it out.

Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.

Elon Musk’s X is a deadbeat that didn’t pay its lobby group bills

Elon Musk’s X got turfed from an Australian tech lobby group because it didn’t pay its fees (Information Age). DIGI, which has members like Apple, Meta, Google, TikTok and plays a big role in drafting Australia’s online safety codes, suspended X earlier this year for failing to pay its fees. In response, X says that it has now coughed up and should be reinstated — but DIGI hasn’t confirmed that it will be reinstated.

People might remember a previous stoush between X and DIGI when it was sanctioned for failing to meet the group’s own rules on misinformation (Crikey, $). But now, every platform doesn’t give a shit about that so I guess it’s not a problem anymore.

Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.

Leftovers

Australia:

Rest of the world:

Discuss these links in the Sizzle Slack or forum.

Oh, Also

They put a SNES in a SHOE

This one is pretty much what it says on the box: a designer has crammed a playable “SNES” into a pair of Air Max 90s (Instagram).

just what we were all waiting for!

It’s not a real SNES, just a Raspberry Pi Zero W that’s inside the sneaker’s tongue. But it does have 30 minutes of battery life and an HDMI port so I guess it’ll do (Engadget).

Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.

Bargains

Electrical & Electronics

Computing

Mobile

The End

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The Sizzle is created on Gadigal land and acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia, recognising their continuing connection to land, water and community. I pay my respect to them and their cultures and to elders both past and present.

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