*I took my kids to the playground without bringing my phone — and it was a revelation.*

*In the year since I quit [so-called] social media, my screen time has fallen, my mood is up — even my resting heart rate is lower.*

This is an additional reason to quit. The reason I refuse to use those systems is that they require nonfree software, which can be modified by others (though usually not by you), and much of it is malware.

Like Emma Brockes, I find children mostly boring. I avoided that problem for myself by not having any.

A study found that YouTube tends to recommend videos about guns and shooting to boys of age 9, and boys of age 14.

Many of these videos were not supposed to be allowed on YouTube, but it seems not to enforce those policies.

Former president Nicolas Sarkozy has been convicted of corruption and sentenced to a year's house arrest.

President Lasso of Ecuador had been impeached, and was in the process of being tried for removal from office, when he dissolved the whole Congress.

It seems to me that the Ecuadorian constitution has a grave flaw if the president can always prevent impeachment so easily.

A Chinese comedian made a joke that some extreme patriots interpreted as a slight on the Chinese army, though it apparently didn't say anything about the army. The government forced him to publish a confession of guilt, then silenced him on communication platforms.

The government also fined the company he works for around 1.5 million dollars.

I have a hunch he will be punished in other ways that were not officially announced. For instance, that he won't be allowed to work as a comedian any more.