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A mother and baby in Malaysia sharing a mobile phone — a scene highlighting the ubiquity of digital devices among all ages, now at the centre of new social media age bans and rising privacy concerns.

The hidden cost of digital guardianship

June 2 2026June 2 2026

In the rush to shield the young from the seductions and snares of social media, governments risk exposing everyone else to greater perils. Indonesia began barring under-16s from major platforms in late March, with Malaysia enforcing similar rules from June 1st. These Southeast Asian measures follow Australia’s pioneering ban in December 2025. What began as a well-intentioned effort to protect developing minds now threatens to erode the privacy of millions of adults in an era of rampant data breaches and expanding surveillance. The impulse is understandable. Decades of near-universal teenage smartphone adoption have coincided with documented rises in anxiety, depression, cyberbullying, and distorted self-image, particularly among girls. Longitudinal studies and official reports link excessive use—often several hours daily—to disrupted sleep, addiction-like behaviours, and exposure to harmful content. Policymakers in Canberra,…

Map of the Maurya Empire under Emperor Ashoka (c. 260 BCE), showing the vast ancient Indian empire that extended into parts of present-day Nepal.

A Himalayan Balancing Act

June 1 2026

In the rugged Himalayas, where borders are as much a matter of history and perception as of maps and rivers, Nepal’s new prime minister has offered an unusually candid assessment of his country’s long-running territorial quarrel with India. Speaking in parliament on May 31st, Balendra Shah—better known as Balen Shah, the former mayor of Kathmandu who swept to power earlier this year—acknowledged that encroachments have gone both ways. “It is not only India that has encroached on Nepalese territories,” he said, “but Nepal has also encroached on India’s territories in many places.” Both neighbours, he , should sit down as friends, consult historians, surveyors and experts, and sort it out. Nepal and India share an open border of some 1,850 kilometres, porous enough for people, goods and grievances to flow…