The Brief – Tuesday 13th January

📱 Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said her party would ban under-16s from accessing social media platforms if it returns to government, promising to follow Australia’s lead, which became the first country to introduce such a ban last month.

Speaking to the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, Badenoch claimed the use of “addictive” social media apps correlates “quite strongly” with an increase in mental health issues among young people. (BBC)

🎁 ITV has teamed up with Global to launch The Birthday Draw, a new national weekly prize draw offering the chance to win £1m every week for a £1 entry fee.

Players create a unique entry ticket by choosing a memorable date, an initial, and a colour from a twelve-colour rainbow. Players can enter The Birthday Draw at www.thebirthdaydraw.com or by post. (ITV)

💂 British success at the Golden Globes on Sunday night included Ricky Gervais, who won Best stand-up comedy performance for his Netflix special Mortality and Stephen Graham, who won Best actor – limited series for Adolescence. In the film categories, One Battle After Another and Hamnet won the top awards.

A debut category for podcasts saw Amy Poehler of Good Hang with Amy Poehler collect the first-time accolade from Snoop Dogg. (BBC).

📰 Significant declines in online news site traffic are among the concerns for 2026, according to a recent Reuters Institute survey of 280 digital leaders from 51 countries. Publishers expect search engine traffic to decline by more than 40% over the next three years.

Data from analytics provider Chartbeat show that aggregate traffic to hundreds of news sites from Google search has already begun to dip, with publishers that rely on lifestyle content reporting they have been particularly affected by the rollout of Google’s AI overviews.

Subscriptions (76%), display (68%), native advertising (64%), online and in-person events (54%), and licensing content within chatbots (20%) are the key revenue priorities for publishers. (Reuters Institute).

🏈 U.S. sportscaster Bill Simmons went live on Netflix for the first time on Sunday night, following the conclusion of the NFL playoff game between the Los Angeles Chargers and the New England Patriots.

The episode marks the unofficial beginning of Netflix’s move into video podcasting. Over the next few months, the company will offer dozens of podcasts, including the hit shows Pardon My Take, My Favourite Murder and The Breakfast Club. (Bloomberg).