After judge freezes assets of billionaire’s internet service provider, company flip-flops to block social media platform

Elon Musk ’s satellite-based internet service provider Starlink backtracked late on Tuesday and said it would accept and enforce a Brazilian supreme court justice’s order to block the billionaire’s social media platform, X, formerly Twitter.

Previously, Starlink informally told the telecommunications regulator Anatel that it would not comply until Justice Alexandre de Moraes reversed course. Now, Starlink has said in a statement posted on X that it will heed de Moraes’s order despite him having frozen the company’s assets.

Meta rules that blanket ban on pro-Palestine slogan would hinder free speech

Meta’s content moderation board has backed the company’s decision to allow Facebook posts containing the phrase “From the River to the Sea” after ruling that a blanket ban on the pro-Palestine slogan would hinder free speech.

The Oversight Board reviewed three cases involving Facebook posts that featured “From the River to the Sea” and found they did not break Meta’s rules involving restrictions on hate speech and incitement, while an outright ban on the phrase would interfere with political speech in “unacceptable ways”.

Big brands already know far too much about us. But Cox Media Group’s ‘Active Listening’ software adds a whole new layer of creepiness

Conspiracy theorists of the world, rip off that tinfoil hat and take a bow: you were (kinda) right. Despite the fact pretty much everyone has a story involving chatting about something only to see an ad for that something pop up on a device, the idea that your phone actively listens to you has long been dismissed as silly. After all, brands don’t need to eavesdrop like that – they already have access to millions of data points that build up a detailed picture of your habits and predicted purchases.

But just because brands don’t need to listen to your conversations, it doesn’t mean that there aren’t companies figuring out creepy new ways to mine your data. 404 Media, a tech-focused news site, recently got hold of a pitch deck from Cox Media Group (CMG), touting its “Active Listening” software , which targets adverts based on what people say near their device microphones. The presentation doesn’t specify whether this voice data comes from smart TVs, smart speakers, or smartphones but the slide where it extols “the power of voice (and our devices’ microphones)” has a picture of people looking at their phones.

Brazilian president made comments after supreme court voted to uphold ban on X over refusal to obey court orders

The Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has said he hopes the crisis surrounding the social network X in Brazil might teach the world that “it isn’t obliged to put up with [Elon] Musk’s far-right free-for-all just because he is rich”.

Lula’s comments to the network CNN Brasil came after the supreme court voted unanimously on Monday to uphold the ban on X, which is now largely inaccessible in one of its biggest global markets.

Some 63 studies from 1994 to 2022 have been analysed by Australian researchers commissioned by the World Health Organization

Mobile phones are not linked to brain and head cancers, a comprehensive reviewof the highest quality evidence available commissioned by the World Health Organization has found.

Led by the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (Arpansa), the systematic review examined more than 5,000 studies from which the most scientifically rigorous were identified and weak studies were excluded.

For my final email, I open the TechScape mailbag for throwbacks, highlights and predictions on the issues that are preoccupying you now

After three years and more than 100 issues, as well as two bouts of paternity leave, two AI summits and an entire cryptocurrency boom-bust cycle, this is my last newsletter. It’s also the end of my 11 years at the Guardian, almost to the week: my first day was the release of the iPhone 5S, and on 9 September we’ll see the launch of the iPhone 16. It’s been a ride.

For the last two weeks I’ve been asking readers for questions and have been bombarded. I apologise if I didn’t get round to yours, but thank you so much to everyone who wrote in.

We can now endlessly outsource our small tasks, from shopping to DIY. But I really would rather do them myself

A few months ago I saw an excellent fight at my local jeweller. The owners, as well as much of the clientele, are big characters. Spats often break out. This time a customer demanded a written statement that the necklace she had brought in would be stored in a safe. The jeweller told her they don’t provide this, and so the customer grew irate. “You don’t trust me, is that it?” said the jeweller. The woman protested: she did! The jeweller had been highly recommended. “So you know who you’re dealing with then,” said the jeweller, proudly. The woman handed over her necklace.

It was a brilliant spectacle. I wanted to cheer. Instead I asked to see the gold chains (I like the ceremony of seeing them displayed on a velvet cushion). I actually don’t buy jewellery very often, but I stop in fairly regularly for minor repairs, to have links taken out or clasps fixed – and for scenes such as this.

Rachel Connolly is a writer and author of the novel Lazy City

Autumn and winter are the best time for gamers, and if your set-up is looking a little stale, here are the key ingredients for a serious seasonal upgrade

With summer gone and the skies already greying over in preparation for six months of uncontested rain, you may well be thinking more seriously about video games. September and October tend to see the biggest releases of the year, so you can expect many evenings spent hiding from the world while playing Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 or Mario Party Jamboree. If your gaming set-up is looking a little tired and you want to treat yourself to a serious seasonal upgrade, here are some suggestions.

Rachel Reeves should reform vehicle taxes to fill £5bn ‘black hole’, says Campaign for Better Transport

Campaigners have called on the chancellor to introduce a controversial pay-per-mile road charging scheme on electric cars, warning of a £5bn “black hole” in tax revenues from motoring.

In a letter to Rachel Reeves, the Campaign for Better Transport (CBT) urged her to reform vehicle taxes, with fuel duty poised to dwindle in the coming decade as petrol and diesel cars are phased out.