Meta hiding search results for Democrats, TikTok given 75 day deadline extension
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Meta says its working urgently to fix a problem with Instagram which results in a “results hidden” message when users search for the terms “Democrat” or “Democrats”. Some social media users have accused the company of political bias, pointing out the issue has been occurring after President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday, which was attended by Meta owner Mark Zuckerberg. Social media expert Matt Navarra said it was more likely to be a technical problem but told the BBC it was “embarrassing” for Instagram regardless. BBC
Donald Trump has given TikTok 75 days to convince US officials it doesn’t threaten national security – most likely by finding a new, US owner for its American operation. He signed the executive order within hours of entering the White House and told reporters: “I tell you what. Every rich person has called me about TikTok.” The wildly popular social media platform briefly went offline in the US on Sunday ahead of a ban, but hours later, it came back online with a message thanking the president. Sky News
President Donald Trump has said that tariffs on China could hinge on a deal over TikTok’s ownership, as he signed an executive order to keep the popular short-form video platform online in the US for 75 days. Within hours of his inauguration on Monday, Trump postponed a deadline requiring TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell its stake in the app or face a ban in the country. Trump said the US “should be entitled to get half of TikTok” if the app continued operating beyond that cut-off and that he could “certainly” put tariffs on China if it rejected a deal. FT.com
Electronic shelf labels, returns machines, robot bag packers and yet more self-service tills – just some of the many technologies that UK retailers are embracing as they try to solve the problem of rising labour costs. Investment in automation was a constant drumbeat amid the flurry of festive trading updates from big retailers in the past few weeks, as they face higher staffing bills from April after the rise in the national minimum wage and employers’ national insurance contributions (NICs). The Guardian
The new Smart #5 SUV is set to be sold with a plug-in hybrid drivetrain alongside previously revealed pure-electric variants in response to growing concerns around sales in some global markets. The move, confirmed by Chinese-based Smart officials after photos of test mules were posted on social media, represents a major step-change for the Geely- and Mercedes-Benz-owned company, which previously committed to exclusively selling new-generation Smart models with electric power. Autoexpress
Gen Z workers are considering quitting their job or refusing roles with prospective employers because they are not “ethical” enough, a survey has found. More than four in 10 workers aged between 18 and 27 have turned down a job or even decided not to apply at all because they have deemed an employer to be “unethical”, according to Co-operatives UK, which represents the UK’s 7,000 independent co-operative businesses. Telegraph
You can take the KONG out of the Country, but you can’t take the Country out of the Kong! (I love it – this is really funny! – Everything changes! – Change is good!) https://t.co/AWxh2mJr6W
— Kevin Bayliss (@Kev_Bayliss) January 20, 2025
Former Rare artist Kevin Bayliss has responded to Donkey Kong’s redesign seen in the Mario Kart segment of the Switch 2 announcement. As fans quickly spotted, the gorilla has received a bit of a redesign for the next karting game. He now looks closer to his film design and the retro design by Shigehisa Nakaue, with a cuter looking face. Bayliss, who redesigned Donkey Kong for the SNES game Donkey Kong Country, responded to a fan video spoofing the new look. Eurogamer