Australia threatens fines for social media giants enabling misinformation
Sydney, Australia Reuters Australia said it will fine internet platforms up to five per cent of their global revenue for failing to prevent the spread of misinformation online, joining a worldwide push to rein in borderless tech giants but angering free speech advocates. The government said it would make tech platforms set codes of conduct […]
Sight-Seeing: Immigrants, pets and the sin of slander in an age of social media
MATTHEW SOERENS, vice president of advocacy and policy for World Relief, says we should refrain from propagating any disparaging charge that we cannot confirm to be factual…
Australia plans social media minimum age limit, angering youth digital advocates
Updated: 5:30pm (AEST) Sydney, Australia Reuters Australia plans to set a minimum age limit for children to use social media citing concerns about mental and physical health, sparking a backlash from digital rights advocates who warn the measure could drive dangerous online activity underground. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his centre-left government would run an […]
South Korea to ask Telegram, other social media firms to help tackle digital sex crimes
Seoul, South Korea Reuters South Korean authorities called on Telegram and other social media platforms on Wednesday to work together with them in deleting and blocking sexually explicit deepfake content, seeking to appease public and political outrage over the problem. The steps follow reports by several domestic media outlets that sexually explicit deepfake images and […]
Sweden and Denmark to pressure tech platforms over gang crime ads
Stockholm, Sweden/Copenhagen, Denmark Reuters Sweden and Denmark will summon tech companies over ads on their platforms that are posted by gangs to recruit young Swedes to commit violent crimes in the Nordics, the justice ministers of the two countries said on Wednesday. Sweden has been having a decade-long problem with gang violence and youth crime […]
Anti-terror tech group worried Musk’s X membership threatens its credibility, The Sunday Times reports
Reuters A tech industry counter-terrorism organisation is concerned over content posted on Elon Musk’s X by Palestinian militant group Hamas and is worried about the social media platform’s membership on its board, The Sunday Times reported. Members of the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT) believe the group’s credibility is undermined by X’s membership […]
UK’s Starmer vows speedy punishment to quell violent disorder
London, UK Reuters British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said violent protesters who had targeted Muslim communities would swiftly face the “full force of the law” as he sought to quell days of anti-immigration rioting. The fatal stabbing of three young girls in the north-west English town of Southport last week has been seized on by […]
PM Starmer warns social media firms after Southport misinformation fuels UK riots
London, UK Reuters British Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned social media companies that they must uphold laws that prohibit the incitement of violence online after misinformation around a fatal mass stabbing earlier in the week sparked violent scenes. A 17-year-old boy appeared in an English court on Thursday charged with the murder of three young […]
Essay: AI and toxic politics
MAL FLETCHER says while democracy is based on transparency, AI systems are opaque and we don’t always know who is building them, or who is misusing them…
Helpdesk: Seven ways to avoid becoming a misinformation superspreader when the news is shocking
H COLLEEN SINCLAIR, associate research professor of social psychology at Louisiana State University, provides some tips on how to avoid becoming part of the problem in these fraught times…