Internet news

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Microsoft announces service 'restored,' global outage over

Tech giant Microsoft said Saturday it has "restored service" to customers, effectively bringing an end to a massive outage that caused chaos and disrupted public services and business around the world.

Internet

Microsoft says services fully restored after hourslong global outage

Microsoft said Saturday that services were fully restored after a massive outage that lasted for hours.

Internet

Influencers, AI, addiction: EU looks to protect consumers online

The European Union on Wednesday put forward new rules to crack down on influencer marketing, ban online features that trick Europeans and force platforms to give users the right to turn off "addictive" features.

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New research highlights shortcomings in the protection of freedom of expression on social media

Who ensures that social media platforms do not restrict people's freedom of expression? The EU has introduced a system intended to strengthen users' rights when posts are removed or accounts are suspended. However, new research ...

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I don't want AI in my online search. What options do I have?

Last week, Google announced a new artificial intelligence (AI) policy for schools that use Google apps. It provides new settings for opting in or out of AI products on student accounts. Schools that reject AI in the classroom ...

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Tracing the online networks behind AI-generated nude images

As Domestic Violence Awareness Month comes to a close this week, one University of Florida researcher is examining the roots of nudification apps, online platforms that use AI to turn images of clothed people—easily and convincingly—into ...

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How to prepare your online life for your death

What happens to all of your online accounts—credit cards, merchants, news subscriptions, social media, streaming services—after you die? How will your heirs know how to access these accounts or understand what you want done ...

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AI giants promise publishers new way to block some scraping

OpenAI, Google, Microsoft and Anthropic pledged on Friday to give media outlets and other websites a single way to prevent their content from being scraped to train artificial intelligence (AI) models, amid growing criticisms ...

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Thousands of deceptive ads evade Google's safeguards

Thousands of deceptive advertisements have slipped through Google's advertising safeguards, exposing internet users to fake virus warnings, misleading software promises and potentially dangerous downloads, according to new ...

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UK probes Meta over 'exploitative' new terms for media

Britain's competition watchdog Friday opened an investigation into whether Meta was imposing "exploitative" new terms allowing it to use media content for its own products, including AI, without giving publishers adequate ...

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41,000 DHS names leaked in major hack, collective says

A nonprofit news leak group said Wednesday it has published data on more than 41,000 employees of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, including those working on President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement efforts.

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Google boosts news and link visibility in AI Mode

Google announced Thursday it will start displaying links to websites and articles more prominently and higher up in search results powered by artificial intelligence (AI), as brands and news publishers warn of a sharp decline ...

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Meta 'temporarily' closes Threads network in Turkey

Facebook owner Meta said Monday it would "temporarily" shut down its Threads short-messaging service in Turkey after an order from Ankara's competition watchdog over data-sharing.

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US House okays renewal of controversial surveillance program

The US House of Representatives voted Friday to reauthorize an electronic surveillance program targeting foreigners, a practice officials say is critical to national security but criticized by opponents over concerns for ...

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Google yanks California news sites over proposed law

Google on Friday said it is testing removing links to California news sites for some users in the western US state as legislators mull making the online search giant pay for connecting people to news.

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X gives free blue check to big follower accounts

Users with big followings will receive a free subscription to X, formerly Twitter—and the platform's famous blue check, the company said in another policy U-turn.

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Meta to start labeling AI-generated content in May

Facebook and Instagram giant Meta on Friday said it will begin labeling AI-generated media beginning in May, as it tries to reassure users and governments over the risks of deepfakes.

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Microsoft says China using AI to sow division in US

China is ramping up use of AI-generated content and fake social media accounts to inflame division in the United States and elsewhere, according to the latest report from Microsoft's threat center.