Here are SPIN's Top Tips to Keep You in The Know!
What is happening with Temu and the European Union?
Sometimes online shopping can be addictive, and bad for our bank accounts!
One platform you may use as a guilty pleasure is Temu...
Temu has been given until the end of August to submit a plan to the EU on how it will tackle the sale of illegal goods on its platform.
It's been fined 200 million euro for breaching the Digital Services Act.
The European Commission says the company did not properly assess how its service could amplify the ' dissemination risks' of illegal products.
The Advertising Rules Influencers Need to Follow!
Social media influencers must comply with strict advertising rules.
If they are getting paid for a post or a free gift to promote a brand, then they have to label the post accordingly so you know its an ad.
This is why you sometimes see "#ad" or "#gifted" on posts.
Meanwhile, the Advertising Standards Authority has upheld 23 complaints in full in its latest bulletin.
12 of those related to cosmetic treatment advertising and saw breaches of legislation preventing the marketing of prescription-only products.
One complaint upheld was about a video of a pregnant woman marketing products not suitable for use during pregnancy.
A Christmas video of a man drinking poitín was also shared by another page without a message included about responsible drinking.
The Advertising Standards Authority now shares information with the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.
It can share names, images and the usernames of creators who keep failing to comply with the rules.
Its also published guidelines for influencers on how to label their content.
Why You May Need to Pay for Snapchat Soon...
Snapchat will begin charging customers to save their photos and videos.
The company says it will be "worth the cost".
If you have more than 5GBworth of photos and videos in your memories, well you will be one of many forced to upgrade to their 100 gigabyte plan.
Snapchat introduced the feature 9 years ago, as a way of saving items taken on the app without having to take up space in your camera roll.
So, users who have been saving items for that long, will probably have to cough up the charge.
There's also a further charge if you want 5 terabytes of storage.
The move has understandably been met with anger online but Snap has said it is "never easy to transition from a free service to a paid one".
Users will have just a few months from now to make the changes.
What is Auto Enrolment?
Its a pension scheme for employees who are aged between 23 and 60..
'My Future Fund' which launched in January, contributes 3-and-a-half per cent of someone's salary to a retirement fund through a combination of employee, employer and Government payments.
If you earn more than €20,000 a year and do not have a pension scheme through work already, then you have already been 'auto-enrolled'.
For every €3 you put in, your employer puts in €3 and the Government tops it up by a euro.
If you want to leave the scheme, you’ll have to wait until at least 6 months after you’ve been in it, at which point, your contributions will be refunded if you do leave.
You can also pause contributions after the 6-month period, but you’ll have to wait at least a year before restarting them again.
But eight in ten workers, who are eligible for the new State-backed pensions scheme, don't think it'll provide enough money for retirement.
A survey by Ask Acorn, shows younger people are more likely to think the auto-enrollment scheme will provide enough income after they stop work.
The Manosphere
What is the manosphere?
Its a term for the male influencers online that aim to focus on masculinity and so called self improvement for men.
But most in the manosphere have branched more into promoting anti-feminist, misogynistic, and aggressive ideologies.
You might have seen Lous Theroux’s documentary on Netflix about it - if not, its highly worth watching.
The Oireachtas Higher Education Committee has heard third level institutes could be doing more to prevent sexual violence and harassment on and off campus.
Rape Crisis Ireland and the National Women's Council raised specific concerns around the rise in popularity of "manosphere" content amongst male students.
Its led to calls for colleges to have mandatory anti-misogyny and consent education for first year students.
Meanwhile, domestic violence charity Sonas says information spread through the “manosphere” is increasingly showing up in frontline domestic violence services.
Its given one example of a mother fleeing a domestic violence situation whose son is repeatedly calling her a “dish pig” and who throws objects at her when he doesn't like his dinner.
If you fear someone in your life is being radicalised by content online, have a chat with them.
Contact Women's Aid on Freephone 1800 341 900 or visit https://www.womensaid.ie/get-help/support-services/
Reporting Illegal Online Content
Computer-generated child sexual abuse material rose by 325% last year.
Hotline.ie is warning the content was increasingly shifting behind paywalled or closed-access platforms.
The body, which is Ireland's national service for reporting illegal content online, says there were a total of just over 61,000 reports processed - a 14.7% increase on 2024.
The organisation deals with reports of racism, xenophobia, child sexual abuse material and child exploitation material.
Should you need to make a report, you can head to Hotline.ie and if you have been affected by anything in this article, contact Samaritans on 116 123 or the Rape Crisis Helpline on 1800 77 88 88.
