Lately: A new child safety law, cancelled Starlink deal and AI setting plane ticket prices | #childsafety | #kids | #chldern | #parents | #schoolsafey

Welcome back to Lately, The Globe’s weekly tech newsletter. If you have feedback or just want to say hello to a real-life human, send me an e-mail.

In this week’s issue:

🔞 Britain’s child safety law faces backlash

🛰️ Ontario cancels Starlink deal

✈️ How airlines are using AI to set ticket prices

🎤 The Canadian behind a new Netflix smash hit

INTERNET LAW

A week into Britain’s new child safety law

Last Friday, the British government implemented new laws that require websites and social media platforms to implement age verification systems to prevent kids under 18 in Britain from seeing harmful content related to suicide, self-harm, eating disorders and pornography. Called the Online Safety Act, the law gives the government’s media regulator the power to issue massive fines up to £18-million ($33-million) or 10 per cent of a company’s worldwide revenue. It can also block non-compliant sites.

According to the government, around 6,600 porn websites have introduced age checks so far. Reddit, X and Bluesky have also added age verification for British users. Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said it already has age verification on its platforms. But the law has faced backlash from free internet and data privacy advocates who worry about the potential for data breaches of personal information, since in order to confirm a user’s age, websites require photos and other personal information. And some Brits are already finding ways to circumvent the law: VPN usage has been way up over the past week.

INFRASTRUCTURE

Ontario cancels Starlink deal

The Ontario government says it’s officially ended the $92-million contract with Starlink, the satellite internet provider owned by Elon Musk. Premier Doug Ford had vowed to rip up the contract in retaliation for U.S. tariffs during his winter re-election campaign. The province says it’s now aiming to find a Canadian company instead, but it did not reveal how much taxpayers will have to pay to get out of the deal. Starlink satellites already in service will not be affected by the cancellation. If Ontario is seeking a Canadian alternative to Starlink and Xplore, it could turn to Telesat, which is planning a low-earth-orbit constellation called Lightspeed. But that network is not expected to launch until 2026, and is designed for large enterprises and government, not individual consumers.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Social media is serving up big muscles and normalizing steroid use

As The Globe’s healthy living reporter who covers men’s health, Graham Isador’s social media feeds are bombarded by body transformations, superhero workout plans and dubious fitness advice. But around six months ago, he started to notice a new trend. Bodybuilders, coaches and influencers were openly talking about the steroids used to achieve their physiques. “By being forthcoming about steroids, influencers offer a realistic take on what achieving a perfect body actually entails beyond diet and exercise,” writes Isador. But, as he explains, this radical honesty “can take the societal pressures around body image and make it feel like they’re on … well, steroids.” Read Isador’s full story.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

How airlines are using AI to set ticket prices

If you’ve ever ticked “agree” on a terms-of-service notice without reading it or clicked “accept” when asked if you’d like to enable browser cookies, those decisions may soon mean paying hundreds of dollars more for flight tickets.

As The Globe’s personal affairs reporter Mariya Postelnyak writes, some airlines are now using that data, along with AI, to set personalized ticket prices. “When you browse while logged in to your frequent flyer account, the airline’s pricing engine can instantly tie the search to your full profile – travel history, average spend – giving it extra signals about how much you’re likely to pay,” says Ali Dehghantanha, a Canada Research Chair in Cybersecurity and Threat Intelligence at University of Guelph. He recommends not logging into your loyalty program until the moment of purchase. Read the full article here.

What else we’re reading this week:

The best dating apps aren’t even dating apps (TechCrunch)

Microsoft researchers reveal list of the 40 jobs that AI is likely to steal—and not even teachers are safe (Fortune)

Why you are reading Reddit a lot more now (New York Magazine)

Adult Money

BATTERY LIFE

TravelCard Plus portable battery charger, $76

I’ve had my iPhone 12 for around five years now. It’s holding up in every way, except for one critical area: battery life. By the time I get to my office after a 45-minute commute listening to music and checking my e-mail, I’ve lost 25 per cent. If I’m out for a full day, bringing a portable charger is necessary. I have a larger charger that’s great for travelling when I’m carrying a backpack, but when I’m just around town, I want something small to throw in my purse. This charger seems to check a lot of boxes: It’s lightweight, has a built-in Lightning cable and comes in a variety of colours.

Culture radar

STREAMING

The Canadian behind the Netflix hit film KPop Demon Hunters

One of the biggest movies on Netflix right now is KPop Demon Hunters, a music fantasy co-written and co-directed by Canadian Maggie Kang that follows a K-pop girl group that moonlights as demon slayers.

She says it’s been overwhelming to see how the film’s become a global smash, pulling in massive streaming numbers while its songs top Billboard charts. “I remember hiding my K-pop albums from my white friends because they thought it was weird and silly,” recalls Kang, who moved from Seoul to Ontario at age five and was raised in the North York area. “I feel very proud, just seeing Korean culture being in the spotlight. I never thought this would happen,” she says.