Ben Fenton

The bee-loud glade

Meta is defending itself against a monopoly case in the US by saying it is no longer a social media platform but has “evolved into a diverse global provider of entertaining and informative content”.

Call me thick, but that sounds suspiciously like the dictionary definition of a publisher.

Interesting and I think accurate analysis, Zoë, though I have to say my appreciation was diminished greatly by the next segment and the woman from BBC Studios who clearly did not get the memo about linking to content origination: "We are here to serve the fandom!" she blares. Give me strength!

Whisky Alpha Lima Kilo.

He's only hearing the first couple of syllables. So if he gets wise to that change to Alpha Lima Kilo etc etc

No wonder these spicy people have just escalated attacks on UK efforts to reduce harmful online content. None of their or US political action to undermine or destroy UK/EU sovereignty online is about principles such as "free speech".

It is all about one thing and one thing only: money.

xAI’s new Grok image and video generator has a ‘spicy’ mode Because of course it does.

xAI’s new Grok image and video generator has a ‘spicy’ mode

I hope they are treated gently. A light tap with a waffle iron ought to be sufficient penalty.

I don’t look like me any more but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t me. Unless the restaurant in question was in Cahersiveen. Also, I would have simply said: “Well, fortunately the editor of Weekend FT is sitting next to us and although she doesn’t recognise me, she’s a very close friend.”

On reflection, that is clearly the correct move. Cross posting is always right. But do you have a summer intern twiddling their thumbs who would like nothing better than to track down the restaurant owner and do a profile of them for Weekend FT?

Please tell me you intervened?

Just a good job it isn’t international.

Meta to pull political ads in EU in response to new disinformation rules Facebook and Instagram owner says new transparency regulations are ‘unworkable’ in latest attack on Brussels

Interesting that this very small FT story received a disproportionately large number of comments which were, almost without exception, praising the EU.
While the FT is often derided as liberal by those who see the word as an insult, the paper's commenters are to the right of them. Not on this.

What M&A has joined together, let no man put asunder (unless they have an enormous urge to waste billions in shareholders' money that could have gone into shoring up the US creative economy against the march of the tech barbarians.)

Warner Bros. Discovery will be Warner Bros. and Discovery after they break up Everything old is new again, it seems.

Warner Bros. Discovery will be Warner Bros. and Discovery after they break up

“Are you here for the 5-minute argument or did you pay for the full half-hour?”

You're right. I thought he had retired, but it was only from ODIs.

Four others on the list - Kohli, Karunaratne, Brathwaite and Angelo Mathews - retired from Tests this year.

Joe Root has just become the second highest run scorer in the history of Test cricket, with only the great Sachin Tendulkar (miles) ahead of him.

But Cricinfo says the only other active Test batsman in the Top 100 list of scorers is Ben Stokes, with barely half his runs. Is Root uncatchable?

Judging from the likes, she will have a coup force of 3,700 at her back. A small brigade, but if you rule out those too old, too drunk, too decrepit and too non-existent-Russian-bot, then probably slightly less than a platoon.

She'll be having Essex Police around again at that rate.

As the Republicans move towards destroying the rule of law to prevent Trump being humiliated over Epstein, it reminds me that I’m old enough to remember Operation Save Big Dog.

Spot on. The picture byline was the beginning of a slippery slope.

One of my 'heroes' was Ken Clarke, a war correspondent who was genuinely one of the last reporters out of Saigon and was in the Falklands before Argentina invaded! He wrote first-person pieces without the words 'I' or 'me'.

The billionaire and the tax evading gift shops Asif Aziz's Criterion Capital manages a row of high-profile shops at Piccadilly Circus. So why does his team keeping renting them to students who vanish without paying millions of pounds in taxes?

This may be the most important story yet by the best journalists reporting on London issues today.

www.londoncentric.media/p/asf-aziz-l...

Why can't anyone stop the fundraisers outside London stations? Inside Success and WeRBlighty have broken the law with their fundraising activities. So why are they are allowed to continue operating outside the capital's busiest railway stations?

Just one example of the astonishingly good, public-interest reporting that Jim Waterson’s London Centric team does every week. I’ve been a subscriber since it began and watched its work first-hand. This is some of the best journalism in the UK today.

www.londoncentric.media/p/inside-suc...

Well, no doubt something in there will give Trump’s lackeys a chance to point and say: “No, don’t look at the bad white guys, look at the bad black guy.”

Because after all, it doesn’t take much to do that in the US, does it?

WASHINGTON (AP) — Trump administration releases thousands of FBI records on Martin Luther King Jr., despite his family's opposition.

If and when Trump sues Larry the Cat for $10bn in libel damages, I will dust off my shorthand and join the queue for the press bench in Court 13.

Screenshot of a reply from Larry the Cat on Jul 21, 2025 Restore Britain : "There shouldn't be a single foreign rapist in Britain" Larry the Cat : "Will you be opposing Donald Trump's state visit?"

@number10cat.bsky.social on the other place...

Restore Britain : "There shouldn't be a single foreign rapist in Britain"

Larry the Cat : "Will you be opposing Donald Trump's state visit?"

This Ofcom review was expected by some to be quite defensive. Instead, it is a strong expression of support for public-service media.

It may slow down a rush to consolidate PSBs and may precipitate more friction with US-owned tech companies. THREAD ENDS

It's a punchy document, not a white flag.

Ofcom's final recommendation is a statement that it will undertake a root-and-branch review of how media is regulated and how that will affect the survival of PSBs in the future.

That, on the face of it, seems to be a manifesto for serious change - new laws, including tougher laws on online harm.

Ofcom says PSBs, digital giants and Govt all need to do more for "media literacy".

In a world where it is becoming increasingly difficult to decipher fact from fiction or spot fraudulent practices, we strongly recommend that public service broadcasters ...invest in this area."