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At the risk of giving the game an inflated Christly significance, it's impossible to think back on a time when Metal Gear Solid didn't exist. There is the now and the time Before Snake – and no in between. But that's the interesting thing, for most of the gaming world Metal Gear Solid was kind of a sudden divine bolt of lightning from out of nowhere. The Western world hadn't really seen much of Hideo Kojima up until that point, what with a lot of his projects – however significant they are – sidelined onto doomed consoles or stuck without a localised version for years. Even the earlier Metal Gear games kind of just passed much of the world by without too much attention, and then, one day in 1997, everything changed. While footage of Metal Gear Solid had already been shown at Tokyo Game Show back in 1996 and earlier, it wasn't until E3 the following year that gamers really got a glimpse of what would go on to be one of the PlayStation's defining games. And from that point on, the hype was tangible. "One thing you have to remember is that the first time the world saw this trailer, it was not just on some little TVs at the Konami booth," says Richard Ham, who was the design lead on the PlayStation's Syphon Filter. "This was on a gigantic jumbotron screen that towered over everything, I think it was the first time anything like that had ever happened at E3. And as I recall, every hour they would play that trailer, and for the entire convention this would become like appointment viewing – there'd be a huge crowd and so everyone would come and sit and watch. One thing I remember is being surrounded by a bunch of grizzled hardcore veterans screaming and whooping and hollering [as they] couldn't believe what they were seeing." The massive excitement surrounding that trailer even took Hideo Kojima by surprise, and naturally led Konami to push particularly hard on marketing MGS by the time it was released in 1998. Over 12 million demo discs made it to players around the world, so there was a great deal of anticipation around what might well have felt like a debut game from Kojima, however inaccurate that was. "This is it. This is the surprise hit of 1998," read a standfirst within CVG's February 1998 issue. "You can have your Tekken and Resident Evil sequels, but if you're after original software, watch this!" Metal Gear Solid was featured in an article looking at the "Hot Games Of '98!" and given a detailed rundown of what the game was all about, focussing on its stealth-heavy gameplay, the high-tech espionage story and its fully 3D environment. Curiously, the article also drew close attention to its cinematic qualities. "When playing the game you could be mistaken that you're watching a movie," it read. "That's because the project's director, Hideo Kojima, actually wanted to be a movie director before he got interested in games. This is evident when you see the movement of all the characters and how enemies react." Even before the game was released, the thing that stood out for most people wasn't just the 'thinking man's shooter' gameplay nor the top-tier 3D graphics, but instead it was the presentation of the game and its narrative. "It was so next-level, so many interesting camera angles for everything," says Richard. "It felt so cinematic. Cinematic gameplay is something I was trying very, very hard to achieve with Syphon Filter, with camera locks and being a fan of John Woo and action cinema." Syphon Filter, in the end, offered a "radically different kind of experience" than Metal Gear Solid, but that trailer for all its clever presentation and pseudo-real E3 glamour was a concerning moment for Richard and the team at Bend Studios. "I was despairing," he says. "It looked like they were doing everything that we were trying to do, better." Sneaking mission No one could deny that Kojima's love of movies had an important impact on the way he directed his games, but to overlook the pacing of the game would be discrediting the famed creator – who these days gets some unfair treatment from gamers for his almost bookish attention to replicating a film-like experience in his modern games. But back on the original PlayStation, a game that was like a movie was something to strive for and that was something that Metal Gear Solid provided in a way no other game had before. "In 1998, many people in the industry were talking about the convergence between movie and videogames," says Francois Coulon, who was the creative director of Splinter Cell. "Probably because at that time, videogames were somehow jealous of the movie industry, feeling unfair not to be seen and perceived as an art as the movie industry could be. For a creative person trying to get videogames out of its cultural niche, seeing a sci-fi or heroic fantasy character in a two-minute-long, high-res cinematic before playing him as a ten-pixel high character for hours sounded totally wrong." When Final Fantasy VII released on the PlayStation the year earlier, many had claimed that this was the best that videogames could look, but then the FMVs would end and you'd go right back to characters with cubic hands and three-pronged spikes for hair. Metal Gear Solid didn't have that separation: everything that was shown in a cutscene was then playable in the next gameplay moment, and while the game might not have aged particularly well in the visuals department, it helped to build that immersion – that cinematic experience – by never separating those two distinct parts of the game. "When you started MGS, you were launching a consistent visual experience," says Francois, "with the opening cinematic played from the engine, with the same resolution as the game, in an almost realistic setting." Francois adds that it wasn't just about being consistent with the graphics, however, because MGS transitioned from cutscene to gameplay without loading screens, visual swaps or cues to let the player know that the gameplay was coming. The player was always playing. "Going further into the game, it provided a fully action movie-like experience. "Think of the sequence with the jeep in the tunnel, for example. This was going much further than all previous action games. And that was totally inspiring." Nowadays videogames are all agog about that 'fully immersive' experience, and never taking the player 'out of the game.' For some, exposition and narrative is one of the biggest ways of doing that. Ironically, Kojima's approach to cutscenes grew to become outdated as developers learnt how to tell stories without ever wresting control from the player, but transitioning from quieter moments of character dialogue to full-blown gunfights with minimal separation between storytime and gameplay was arguably one of Metal Gear Solid's biggest innovations. Even the long, highly wrought explanations that accompanied each cutscene felt novel at the time and it drew everyone in, gamers and developers alike. Giving games a voice Naturally all of these attempts to ape cinema would be for naught if there wasn't a story worth telling, and in that sense Metal Gear Solid really stood out among the crowd. The industry was still trying to figure out strong narratives for a videogame, and while the PlayStation had already had some flashes of brilliance in this regard, MGS was on a whole new level. "I think the story itself is a very simple one," says Jeremy Blaustein, who had worked on the original MGS as a translator at Konami. "Save the girl and save the day. It's a classic spy story or an adventure story." And he's not wrong, the tale itself is not so complicated: a hardened war veteran is sent behind enemy lines without any sanctions to single-handedly stop a nuclear launch, it's the plot of practically every Eighties action movie. But it was the multiple layers to the story that made it enthralling, the unravelling of secrets and the way the distinct characters interacted with one another. "I think that the characters are very interesting and that is one of the most compelling aspects of it," adds Jeremy. "I tried to give each character a unique voice and point of view after seeing how much Mr Kojima had worked to do the same thing in Japanese." Even as the series rolled on, memories of those more iconic conversations – the Master Miller reveal, for example – are tied to the overall experience of playing Metal Gear Solid, in part because it was a first time meeting these unique personalities, in part because of the piecemeal answering of hidden agendas and mysteries, but also very much because of their quippy dialogue and professional voice acting. In fact, voice-over was just not a common practice at that point in time, less so to the standard that Konami put into the game. David Hayter became iconic as the voice of Solid Snake, and from there one of the PlayStation's most recognisable characters. "I always viewed Solid Snake as an antihero," says Jeremy. "That's why in my mind the choice to make him sound like Clint Eastwood was obvious. I wanted him raspy and tired of war, and someone burned out. In my mind, the Clint Eastwood character fit the bill exactly." For all this talk of battle-weariness and nuclear war, however, let's not forget that this was very much a game with a sense of humour. If there was a dramatic DARPA Chief death, it was very shortly countered by an equally tongue-in-cheek retort (and accommodating camera focus) about Meryl's behind. "The characters are very cartoonish in a fun way," says Jeremy, "but the setting is very realistic. It was my feeling that a realistic setting was necessary in order to maintain the feeling of authenticity that would allow for such cartoonish characters to be accepted without being laughed at." Genetically modified soldiers, nanomachines, cloaking devices, cybernetic ninjas and of course a stomping nuclear mech were just some of the far-flung pseudo sci-fi that Metal Gear Solid touched on, and that's nothing considering the route that the series took in the long term. But all of it tied into fairly level-headed metaphors, and Kojima definitely had things to say about war, its impact on society and even its effects at an individual human level. "Do you think love can bloom even on the battlefield?" Dr Hal Emmeric, better known as Otacon, once posed to Snake in the game. It's a memetic line and one that drew attention for its cheesiness, but it's a good example of the varied threads that Kojima wanted to pull on with this cast of characters. Cardboard box technology It all added a richness to the story, and that's even before discussing its more supernatural elements: a wolf-mother sniper, a shamanistic raven-father toting a gatling gun, a telepathetic lunatic with a gas mask, all of it rounded out by a fistfight to the death between two cloned super soldiers. Read a string of words like that and you'd be forgiven for snorting at MGS, but its presentation, its cinematic narrative and the deftness with which the game handled its brevity directly alongside its more poignant topics made it one of the most compelling games on the PlayStation. "Another thing that I really do think is incredibly important about Metal Gear is its absolutely odd, quirky sense of humour," says Richard. "It's the thing that they kept doubling down on that pretty much nobody else does. It's just fundamentally weird that a cardboard box is your most powerful weapon in the game, that's just strange, but they don't care. They lean into it, they find the funny, and it's just an oddball mix of stuff." How many games can say they have universally changed the appreciation of the humble cardboard box? It might be ridiculous to think of the world's most famous infiltrator hiding in a cardboard box, but it perhaps highlights Metal Gear at its best, just as Richard suggests. It's all very silly, at the heart of it, portrayed through an oh-so-sincere lens, so the idea of a cardboard box being the greatest asset for a sneaking mission just makes sense. The box became so iconic that it evolved just as much as the series did, while countless memes surfaced around it and the team at Konami found fun ways to include knowing in-jokes as the series grew over the years. But the gameplay wasn't all military-grade packing solutions. "Most people would say the story or setpieces [are the most inspiring parts of MGS], which I also love, but it is the refinement of the stealth gameplay that really sticks with me," says Antonio Freyre, an indie developer whose most recent game is inspired by the Metal Gear series. "No other game has been able to get to that quality and elegant simplicity that the MGS games can do." Certainly as far as stealth gameplay goes, Metal Gear Solid is not overly complicated: watch the minimap, avoid those cones of vision and if you get spotted go and hide under a truck until everyone completely forgets you were there. It's a permissive game, actually, Game Over ("SNAAAAAKKKE!") simply drops you right back at the start of the room where you entered, there's no traipsing back from your last save point or having to repeat a half hour of gameplay. But there are layers to it: footprints in the snow or the sounds of your steps on grated floors could give you away, smoking can help you spot infrared tripwires and there's usually plenty of things to crawl under and hide. At the time players were astounded by the ability to rap on walls to intentionally draw a guard's attention, luring them from their patrol routes to allow Snake to knock them out – or simply bypass them from a different perspective. "The first time I saw Metal Gear Solid was at a Blockbuster," adds Antonio. "They had the demo to play in the store. I didn't understand English back then so I had no clue what to do. I was stuck and couldn't get past the [starting] Cavern area. Every time we went to Blockbuster, I'd try it again. I was captivated by this strange game where I had to hide." For the first time, players were asked to not fire a weapon – if they could help it – and instead use their wits to make it through a level. It was a completely new experience for many, not least since the earlier Metal Gear games had passed most by. "MGS showed us how stealth mechanics should be done," says Francois, who especially points to the "clear rules" that are provided to the player to know exactly what is happening in the game and how to react to it. "It is a complete and consistent set of rules that set the way for any stealth game," he adds. "Remove one of its elements and the experience will be dull, frustrating or ridiculous. MGS was perfectly executed in that regard. No frustration – you know when you lose and don't blame the game for it." You like to play Metal Gear Solid? That's not to say there weren't moments of action, too. In fact, the pacing of Metal Gear Solid is something that gets overlooked, but with all those drawn-out Codec calls and quiet monitoring of patrol patterns, there was sense to add in moments of mandatory combat or set-piece battles. By 1998 the idea of a boss fight was already a long-worn concept, but even here Metal Gear Solid made sure to find new ways to keep these things fresh. The most obvious is the fight with Psycho Mantis, where players could swap the controller to the second port to avoid the mind-controlling capabilities of the creepy psychowarrior, but practically all of Metal Gear Solid's boss battles are memorable for one reason or another. Learning that bullets won't win the day against Cyborg Ninja, a first-person sniper battle in a snowstorm with Sniper Wolf or even going mano a mano with a flipping Metal Gear REX are just some of those stellar boss battles that Metal Gear Solid conjured up, and they only ramped up with inventiveness and impact with each new release. Ultimately, Metal Gear Solid was the game that put Kojima on the map for a generation of players, catapulting him to auteur status in a way that practically no other game director has been. Even now it feels very much like a game with a personality, with a very strict vision on what it is, what it wants to do and how it wants to do it. And while Kojima has since stepped away from the series, for more than two decades it defined his creative endeavours. "If the series has been so iconic for so long, it is simply because all the games were brilliant!" says Francois. "How many game series have been able to succeed over the years without slowly decreasing and repeating itself?" Francois points to Kojima's purity in game design, his high-level vision and a team able to execute it all to perfection as the reasons for the series' long-lasting adoration. "It is hard for me to measure the impact of Mr Kojima alone vs Kojima and his team but, to be honest, it is not important. A creative lead in this industry is someone who can convey his vision to other team members so that they can also bring something to the creative table. I don't know how Mr Kojima is managing his teams but the result speaks for itself!" While there's a deeper story behind the details of how Konami would later go on to handle Kojima, his team and the Metal Gear franchise as a whole, the fact is only a handful of games have had the immediate cultural impact that Metal Gear Solid was able to generate. It became one of the PlayStation's most important releases, it snuck Tactical Espionage Action into a trigger-happy industry and it justified the relevance of gaming as a pastime to game developers and players desperate for videogames to become accepted as more than just toys for kids. If there was doubt, Metal Gear Solid proved gaming could be about so much more than squishing goomba's and blasting cyberdemons and could, in fact, compete with movies. Want to jump into some tactical espionage action? We've got our best Metal Gear games list right here for you!This one Visa can make your next trip much cheaper and easier: Mumbai vlogger shares ultimate travel hackjilipark legit 。

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NEW YORK (AP) — Thousands of Microsoft 365 customers worldwide reported having issues with services like Outlook and Teams on Monday. In social media posts and comments on platforms like outage tracker Downdetector, some impacted said that they were having trouble seeing their emails, loading calendars or opening other Microsoft 365 applications such as Powerpoint. Microsoft acknowledged “an issue impacting users attempting to access Exchange Online or functionality within Microsoft Teams calendar” earlier in the day. In updates posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, the company’s status page said it identified a “recent change” that it believed to be behind the problem — and was working to revert it. Microsoft shared that it was deploying a fix — which, as of shortly before noon E.T., it said had reached about 98% of “affected environments.” Still, the company’s status page later added , targeted restarts were “progressing slower than anticipated for the majority of affected users.” As of midday Monday, Downdetector showed thousands of outage reports from users of Microsoft 365 , particularly Outlook .Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University (RGNAU) is currently accepting applications for faculty positions across various domains, including Aviation Science, Management, and Engineering. Eligible candidates can apply through the official website . The deadline for application submission is January 31, 2025. Professor Posts Available: Aviation Science: 2 posts Management/Business Administration: 2 posts Engineering and Technology: 2 posts Category-Wise Distribution: UR - 5, OBC (NCL) - 1 Pay Scale: Rs 1,44,200 - Rs 2,18,200 Associate Professor Posts Available: Aviation Science: 6 posts Management/Business Administration: 6 posts Engineering and Technology: 6 posts Category-Wise Distribution: UR - 10, SC - 2, ST - 1, OBC (NCL) - 4, EWS - 1 Pay Scale: Rs 1,31,100 - Rs 2,16,600 Assistant Professor Posts Available: Aviation Science: 12 posts Management/Business Administration: 12 posts Engineering and Technology: 12 posts Category-Wise Distribution: UR - 17, SC - 5, ST - 2, OBC (NCL) - 9, EWS - 3 Pay Scale: Rs 56,100 - Rs 1,77,500 The university reserves the right to modify or cancel the recruitment process without prior notice. Reservation and relaxation policies for SC/ST/OBC/PwD/EWS candidates will follow UGC and Government of India norms. Applicants must meet the eligibility criteria outlined in UGC Regulations, 2018, as amended. PhD holders from foreign universities must provide an equivalence certificate issued by the Association of Indian Universities, New Delhi. For further details and application submission, visit the official website of RGNAU Check the detailed notification here Track Education News , Exam updates , Campus , Study Abroad related news live on NDTV.com

At least 127 people, mostly civilians, were killed in Sudan on Monday and Tuesday by barrel bombs and shelling from the warring sides, rights activists said. The 20-month-old war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has been turning increasingly bloody as ceasefire efforts have stalled, and crises elsewhere have dominated world attention. The army has stepped up airstrikes in the half of the country that the RSF controls, while the RSF has staged raids on villages and intense artillery strikes. Both have targeted densely populated civilian areas. More than eight barrel bombs hit the market in the North Darfur town of Kabkabiya on Monday, the pro-democracy Al-Fashir Resistance Committee said. Emergency Lawyers, a human rights group, said more than 100 had been killed and hundreds wounded. The army has frequently targeted towns in North Darfur with airstrikes as it fights the RSF for control of the state capital, al-Fashir, its last foothold in the region. It denied responsibility for the attack on Kabkabiya, while insisting that it had the right to target any location used by the RSF for military purposes. The RSF did not immediately respond to a request for comment. An image shared by Emergency Lawyers showed shrouded bodies in a mass grave. Video verified by Reuters showed bloodied bodies strewn around the market. It also showed fires burning and people being carried from the wreckage of stores and fruit stalls. People can be heard crying and screaming in the footage, while others pray for those who were killed. One man is heard saying "People are dying wholesale". The video also shows armed men in the headwraps typically worn by RSF soldiers on motorcycles. An activist from Kabkabiya said that, while there were typically a few soldiers in the market and other parts of the town, the vast majority of those present were civilians. He said 87 bodies had been identified, but that some were too charred or mutilated to identify. On Tuesday, the RSF aimed heavy artillery fire at an army-controlled sector of Omdurman, part of Khartoum state, residents said. Emergency Lawyers said at least 20 people had been killed, including at least 14 who were riding on a bus that was hit. The state government, controlled by the army, said 65 people had been killed, and that other casualties had been transferred to nearby Al-Naw Hospital. Images circulating on social media not verified by Reuters showed shrouded bodies on the street amid vehicle wreckage. The United Nations has said more than 30 million people need aid, and some 12 million have fled their homes. Famine has been declared in Zamzam camp in North Darfur, where shelling on Tuesday killed seven people, according to Adam Rojal, spokesperson of the Coordinating Committee for Displaced People.Germany pledges security inquest into Christmas market attack

These cute canines are hoping for a “Yappy New Year” having been found abandoned on the streets of the UK. They, like thousands of other unwanted pets, are being cared for by hard-pressed animal shelters. Among them is Tootsie, who was found severely matted and underweight on the streets of Newcastle. She is available from dogandcatshelter.com . Some dogs having been living in shelters for months, even years, often abandoned by owners who find they can no longer care for them. The RSPCA revealed this week the level of animal neglect and abandonment in the UK is soaring, with the issue worsening around the festive period. Figures from the animal welfare charity reveal in the first nine months of 2024 alone, its emergency cruelty line recorded 48,814 incidents of neglect. This marks a nearly 25 per cent increase from the 38,977 cases reported during the same period in 2023. Kelp Social, a social media platform for animal lovers to raise awareness of smaller shelters caring for pets over the New year period when many dogs, bought as Christmas presents, are often abandoned. Mollie Kerr, founder of Kelp Social, said: “This is the season of goodwill, so let’s all spread the love this coming year by supporting our local rescue shelters. “It’s so important to give these dogs a happy life. Please consider supporting these brave dogs and other animals by donating or volunteering.” Among those looking for a new home is eight week old German Shepherd Brave. He was the only survivor in his litter of puppies. His litter mates were born with cleft palates, and Brave himself has a deformed nose. He is available through happyendingsrescue.org

( MENAFN - The Conversation) We are well and truly in cricket season. The Australian men's cricket team is taking centre stage against India in the Border Gavaskar Trophy series while the Big Bash League is underway, as is the Sheffield Shield. It is a packed summer schedule, with the Australian women's cricket team competing in an Ashes series against England that will culminate in a historic Test at the MCG on January 30: the first women's Test played at the venue since 1948–49. That match will also be the 90th anniversary of the first ever women's Ashes series, when England toured Australia in the summer of 1934–35. It's an exciting schedule for fans and one Cricket Australia will be looking to capitalise on. But is all this cricket driving participation? Like most sports, cricket faces a challenge to retain junior players in an oversaturated sports market. It is also competing with other entertainment offerings, increased screen time, financial pressures, and parent and guardian unavailability. Read more: No cash, no play? Have cost-of-living pressures impacted sports participation in Australia? Ahead of the 2024–25 summer, Cricket Australia released its annual report , which included 2023–24 participation numbers. On the whole, things are looking somewhat positive, with growth in junior cricket (ages 5-12) increasing 5%. For women and girls, the numbers are even more encouraging, with Cricket Australia reporting 18% growth for the 2023–24 season, attributed to a 44% rise in school competitions, 6% growth in social competitions and a record-breaking year of youth girls' participation (ages 5–12). But Cricket Australia highlighted challenges in that next phase – the teenage years, with the governing body reporting an overall 5% drop in teenage participation . There has been reflection recently about the decline of junior participation in some demographics and a changing cricketing landscape . A query that often arises in these conversations is whether the sport's traditional breeding ground, backyard cricket, is under threat. What is interesting is the nostalgia many cricket fans hold for the days of the iconic pastime and how it is central to a person's, and maybe even our national, identity. Backyard cricket has long been a staple for many Australian families (and those in cricketing countries). It has attracted a certain rose-coloured nostalgia that fills the memories of generations – the sounds of a ball bouncing off a wheelie bin, the shouts of“car!” in quiet suburban streets and maybe sometimes, of smashed glass and the cries of angry parents to not play near the windows. Cricket fans can connect to stories of backyard cricket, reflecting on simpler times, mates made in the streets and maybe even how they perfected their action in narrow driveways, to avoid trees or to not lose the ball over the neighbour's fence. Cricket lovers can not only recall their childhood and growing cricket fandom, but also imagine how their cricketing heroes were likely doing the exact same thing. In 2009, Steve Cannane wrote the book First Tests – Great Australian Cricketers and The Backyards That Made Them . The book is a testament to the romance of backyard cricket and how we can relate as fans to the icons of the game, who also experienced modest beginnings in similar streets. They were just like us. But recreation looks different to today's teens, with the rise of technology and other entertainment options, as well as changing social patterns where organic interactions are less likely or not encouraged . This can make it hard to find fielders for those long cover drives down the driveway. I recently discussed this on ABC Radio's The Conversation Hour . We discussed how children might be less likely to approach other children to play today , which might be a result of COVID restrictions or general concerns about children's safety. Australia's changing housing market is also affecting backyard cricket. Apartment living and smaller homes in urban areas with limited outdoor space make the activity not only very difficult but not visible to invite others in. Modern city planning appears focused on making cities more compact and experts note the loss of outdoor space could increase the risks of physical and mental health problems among city residents. It appears for many, the days of walking down a street, seeing kids playing a game and joining in until your parents called out“dinner” (or“tea” in the rural neighbourhood I grew up in) are long gone. Kerry Packer's 1977 World Series Cricket is what inspired CEO of Softball Australia Sarah Loh to pick up a cricket bat when her family migrated to Australia when she was six years old. She told ABC Radio Melbourne : While traditional cricket fans often bemoan new formats, flashy tournaments and increased commercialisation of cricket, for many, these innovations also offer entry points, drive interest and allow their fandom to grow. Cricket Australia's chief of cricket James Allsopp has spoken of the need for more social forms of cricket to keep kids interested in the game and prevent the drop-off in teen years. A balance must be achieved in our rapidly changing society – the challenge for cricket's administrators will now be to connect with kids, women, and diverse communities in ways that respond to their needs and bring them to the sport on their terms. They must also do this in a way that protects the history that has already brought so many people together every summer in front of televisions, in stadiums and in backyards across the country. MENAFN22122024000199003603ID1109021829 Legal Disclaimer: MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.None

( MENAFN - The Conversation) The Australian government recently passed legislation that bans social media for anyone under 16 . Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hailed the legislation for putting “the onus on social media platforms - not young people or their parents” - for protecting youth from online harms. Australia is the first country in the world to pass a nationwide ban of social media for teens, set to take effect in a year . But other measures have been enacted or considered here in Canada and elsewhere. In the United States, it will be illegal for children under 14 in Florida to have social media accounts starting Jan. 1, 2025. Beginning in 2024, Québec began banning cellphones in classrooms . This fall, with the start of the 2024–2025 academic year, Ontario also began banning cell phones in schools . This follows a lawsuit filed by four school boards in Ontario against social media companies for disrupting youth learning. Québec is reportedly considering a social media ban - following Australia's lead - that would limit social media use for teens under 16. Provincial governments recognize that social media and cellphones can be problematic for youth, and they're not waiting on the federal government to take action. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently announced that the proposed Online Harms Act (Bill C-63) , originally introduced in February 2024 , will be separated into two bills . The idea is to pass the part of the bill focused on child protection to address problems like sextortion , image-based sexual abuse, revenge porn and other forms of online sexual violence. Since the Online Harms Act is still being debated, MPs in Canada may look to other countries, like Australia, for guidance on protecting youth from these online harms. Some people in Canada approve of Australia's social media ban and see it as a potential solution , including some teens . This idea has received a lot of traction in public discourse too, including with the book The Anxious Generation that argues social media should be banned until age 16 . Many of us may recall the stories of Rehtaeh Parsons , Amanda Todd and more recently a boy in British Columbia who died by suicide after being cyberbullied and sextorted. Some studies have shown that social media use is related to anxiety and depression among adolescents . Bans or regulations raise important questions about how we, as a society, should respond to social media use among youth and deal with online harms. We are a team of researchers who study technology-facilitated sexual violence among youth aged 13–18 in Canada. We have conducted 26 focus groups with 149 youth from across the country, and launched a nationally representative survey of around 1,000 youth to learn about their experiences with online harms, what they know about the law and which resources work - and which ones don't. Our initial findings show that youth experience a range of harms as they use digital platforms and social media. We also found that algorithms are fueling harms. Youth have emphasized they want tailored supports and resources to help them have safe, healthy and enjoyable experiences with technology. A full ban of social media is not realistic, in part because social media companies have no idea how to implement it . Some ideas are to use facial recognition technology or check someone's age using credit cards . Another idea is to upload government IDs to third-party platforms for age verification. However a ban is implemented, it will almost certainly gather more user data, which raises questions about youth data privacy and security . These measures may also drive youth towards other platforms that are less regulated, such as on the dark web. This could actually make it harder to protect youth from online harms. Bans also don't actually solve the problem . For example, abstinence-based interventions don't work when it comes to sex education . It is unlikely that an abstinence-based approach would work with social media . Furthermore, technology is increasingly integrated into our daily lives, and youth need to be taught about healthy and responsible online interactions. Youth are learning how to become digital citizens . Kicking the problem down the road until they're 16 or older will postpone the consequences, not solve them. This could cause more harm than a ban intends to solve . A ban also frees social media companies, governments and parents from any accountability. Rather than meaningfully addressing the harmful content and their impacts, a ban removes any and all responsibility from the people and institutions whose job it is to protect youth. Technology companies need to develop their products with kids in mind , rather than prioritizing their profits and putting child safety and health second. Kids need guidance and support , and a ban does nothing to remove harmful content or resolve its negative impacts. Rather than bans, we suggest implementing holistic interventions that emphasize digital citizenship and youth rights and responsibilities so people of all ages learn how to have safe and healthy interactions with technology. This requires a consolidated effort across various sectors of society, including schools , community organizations and, importantly, both tech companies and government agencies. While there are resources available for educators, parents and youth about how to have safe and healthy online interactions , we need to act now. Rather than resorting to blanket bans, we should prioritize comprehensive societal changes that address the root causes of these harms. By doing so, we can promote youth safety and help our communities confront online harms. MENAFN22122024000199003603ID1109021834 Legal Disclaimer: MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.

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In a court filing in the US over the weekend, Google responded to the DOJ’s request and proposed its own remedy. The company said the proposed Chrome sale doesn’t fit the company’s conduct that the judge found illegal – which involved exclusive contracts with browsers, smartphone manufacturers and telecom carriers. “Extreme remedies are discouraged” by courts, the company said in its filing. The remedies for anticompetitive conduct “must be of the ‘same type or class’ as the violations,” Google said. The justice department and a group of states last month asked Judge Amit Mehta to order Google to sell its Chrome web browser along with a bevy of other changes to the company’s business to improve competition in the online search market. Google said any remedy should allow competing browsers like Apple’s Safari “to have the freedom to do deals with whatever search engine they think is best for their users”, Lee-Anne Mulholland, the company’s vice-president for regulatory affairs, wrote in a blog post. Judge Mehta found it was unlawful for Google to make payments to Apple and others to be the default browser provider. Ms Mulholland said Google’s proposal would still allow for the company to split revenue with competing browsers but would also allow for multiple defaults on different platforms. It would let device makers to preload multiple search engines and not require them to include Chrome and Google search if they want to include other Google apps. Kamyl Bazbaz, spokesman for search engine competitor DuckDuckGo, said the proposal attempts to maintain the status quo. “Once a court finds a violation of competition laws, the remedy must not only stop the illegal conduct and prevent its recurrence, but restore competition in the affected markets,” he said. Google’s filing is its first official response since Judge Mehta found earlier this year that it illegally monopolised online search and advertising markets. The company has said it plans to appeal, but can’t do so until after the case finishes. “If DOJ felt that Google investing in Chrome, or our development of AI, or the way we crawl the web, or develop our algorithms, were at all anticompetitive, it could have filed those cases. It did not,” Ms Mulholland wrote. The judge has scheduled a proceeding in April to decide how to fix the dearth of competition in the industries Google has dominated and promised to have a final decision by August 2025. A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment and referred to the agency’s earlier filings in the case. – Bloomberg / Reuters