2 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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Policy Archive

Archives for June 2026

Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
Australia doubles down on social media ban fines.

The maximum penalty for social media providers that fail to keep under-16’s off their platforms is now 99 million AUD (about $68.2 million), double the original. It follows a study suggesting more than 80 percent of under-16s are still using social media in Australia. In a statement, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said:

“It’s clear big tech are not doing enough to comply with the law – there are still too many children on social media.”

The Guardian’s Kai Wright refuses to buy a new phone

But he’s quite happy gardening and listening to John Coltrane.

Terrence O'Brien
Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Pete Buttigieg: “You’ve probably heard of ‘swatting’... Now imagine the same concept, but with Child Protective Services instead of a SWAT team.”

This is a long and distressing post from Buttigieg about an experience with CPS over an accusation that he says “was absurdly and obviously false, and was promptly rejected by law enforcement.”

As part of the process, however, Buttigieg could not be alone with his kids, and he could not be present while CPS interviewed them.

A Terrible Thing Happened to My Family

[Pete Buttigieg’s Substack]

Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
ICE agents confronted a Syracuse woman to try to get her to delete an Instagram post.

Agents walked into a polling place on primary Election Day to demand that one of the workers, Paigelynne Gonyea, delete her post, claiming she “may be in violation of federal law.” The post contains the name of Jonathan Ross, the agent who shot and killed Renee Good in Minneapolis, who has been named by a number of media outlets, including The Verge.

On Friday, US Representative John Mannion wrote to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin requesting the agency “promptly review this incident and put a stop to any ICE activities that target protected speech under the First Amendment.”

"ICE wanted my autograph. I declined."

[@turndapaigeofficial - Instagram]

The World Cup puts the US’s nightmarish immigration policies front and center

Despite promises of smooth travel for the tournament, fans’ and even players’ visa chaos further illustrates the Trump administration’s goals.

Gaby Del Valle
Anthropic’s Mythos mess is only getting worse

The White House standoff could have dire implications for the US AI industry.

Hayden Field
Andrew J. Hawkins
Andrew J. Hawkins
Brake pedals may no longer be required in autonomous vehicles.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration kicked off a new rulemaking aimed at eliminating the requirement for brake pedals as long as the vehicle is fully automated. If it passes, it would be a gift to companies like Zoox that make purpose-built AVs without traditional controls. Safety advocates have expressed concerns about these moves, arguing that its premature to eliminate the requirement for manual controls and could pose a safety risk.

Emma Roth
Emma Roth
Nearly 400 local newspapers are suing OpenAI and Microsoft.

The coalition of publishers alleges OpenAI and Microsoft “scraped, copied, and ingested” their work without permission or compensation to train their AI models. This latest legal battle adds to the string of copyright lawsuits OpenAI is facing from publishers like The New York Times, Ziff Davis, Merriam-Webster, and Encyclopedia Britannica.