Internet news

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Online age checks create a pointless privacy risk

New cybersecurity research indicates that one of the world's leading age verification providers collects and shares highly sensitive personal data—including facial photos and device fingerprints—with third parties. The research ...

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Google wants its search bar to act on your behalf in AI revamp

Google on Tuesday showed off new plans to turn its famous search bar into an AI assistant that can book restaurants, track news, and contact businesses—just by asking a question.

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Meta's new tools allow parents to better supervise their kids' social media accounts. Will they work?

Tech giant Meta recently announced a set of new features to give parents greater oversight of how their children use Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Horizon.

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Crackdown in Southeast Asia pushes scam networks to Sri Lanka

A surge in arrests of suspected foreign scammers in Sri Lanka has authorities concerned that the island is fast becoming a hub for online crime, following sweeping crackdowns in hotspots Cambodia and Myanmar.

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AI content moderation takes a lesson from economics

Spend enough time on the internet, and you'll likely encounter some pretty appalling content. Hate speech tends to flourish on social media and in online communities, particularly those with little to no moderation. Even ...

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YouTube offers deepfake detection to Hollywood

YouTube is offering Hollywood celebrities and entertainers a free detection tool to help combat their deepfakes, expanding the Google-owned video platform's efforts to guard against AI-driven impersonations.

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How AI bias can creep into online content moderation

A University of Queensland study has shown large language models (LLMs) used in AI content moderation may be prone to subtle biases that undermine their neutrality. A team led by data scientist Professor Gianluca Demartini ...

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Meta says testing subscription tier for Instagram

Instagram is testing a pay tier that offers features including letting subscribers discreetly view "Story" posts that normally vanish after 24 hours, Meta told AFP on Monday, confirming a report by news website TechCrunch.

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Undersea cables are the unseen backbone of the global internet

Have you ever wondered how an email sent from New York arrives in Sydney in mere seconds, or how you can video chat with someone on the other side of the globe with barely a hint of delay? Behind these everyday miracles lies ...

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OpenAI unveils voice-cloning tool

OpenAI on Friday revealed a voice-cloning tool it plans to keep tightly controlled until safeguards are in place to thwart audio fakes meant to dupe listeners.

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How AI discriminates and what that means for your Google habit

Safiya Umoja Noble swears she is not a Luddite. But she does think we could all learn a thing or two from the machine-bashing textile craftsmen in 19th-century Britain whose name is now synonymous with technological skepticism.

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One Tech Tip: How to spot AI-generated deepfake images

AI fakery is quickly becoming one of the biggest problems confronting us online. Deceptive pictures, videos and audio are proliferating as a result of the rise and misuse of generative artificial intelligence tools.

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Five things to know about Reddit

Wall Street will see one of the year's most highly anticipated IPOs this week, when the nearly two decade old social media platform Reddit goes public, set for Thursday.

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Monsters, asteroids, vampires: AI conspiracies flood TikTok

From vampires and wendigos to killer asteroids, TikTok users are pumping out outlandish end-of-the-world conspiracy theories, researchers say, in yet another misinformation trend on a platform whose fate in the United States ...