Social Media Regulation: Meta agreed to a landmark $17.1B settlement over addictive design aimed at harming teens, forcing daily time limits and overnight blocks on Facebook/Instagram for under-18s. AI vs. Journalism: The Seattle Times and Newsday sued OpenAI and Microsoft, seeking orders to destroy training datasets/models they say were built from copyrighted reporting; the fight echoes broader fears that AI search and summaries are starving publishers. Press Freedom Under Pressure: Hong Kong’s HKU replaced its “Democracy Wall” with digital displays, while Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council ordered action against sectarian incitement in media and on social platforms. Local Newsroom Survival: Sudan’s print industry collapsed as war halted paper newspapers for the first time in 120+ years, pushing staff toward fragile digital work amid outages. Media & Democracy: Australia’s push to strengthen its under-16 social media ban faces criticism over weak age checks, while Arkansas data-center secrecy clashes with First Amendment protections as Entergy Arkansas sought to block local reporting. Industry Watch: UK ad spend rose 9.3% YoY to £11.7B in Q1 2026, with growth across digital out of home, online radio and social. Culture & Coverage: Venice spotlighted Gaza journalism in “Citizen Osama,” and India’s IFFJK launched with an international jury and global film lineup.