Internet news

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Snapchat blocks 415,000 underage accounts in Australia

Snapchat has blocked 415,000 accounts under Australia's social media ban for under-16s, the company said Monday, but warned some youngsters may be bypassing age verification technology.

Internet

One Tech Tip: Escape the AI junk crowding your social media and music streams

AI slop seems to be everywhere. Low-quality digital content made with artificial intelligence has flooded our feeds, screens and speakers. Is there anything we can do about it?

Internet

Sweden plans to ban mobile phones in schools

Sweden plans to ban mobile phones from primary and middle schools in order to ensure that children can focus on learning in the classroom, the government said on Wednesday.

Internet

French lawmakers pass bill banning social media for under-15s

French lawmakers have passed a bill that would ban social media use by under-15s, a move championed by President Emmanuel Macron as a way to protect children from excessive screen time.

Internet

EU says WhatsApp to face stricter content rules

WhatsApp is set to face greater EU scrutiny after the European Commission on Monday added the platform to its list of digital firms big enough to face stricter content rules.

Internet

Making blockchain fast enough for IoT networks

The vision of a fully connected world is rapidly becoming a reality through the Internet of Things (IoT)—a growing network of physical devices that collect and share data over the Internet, including everything from small ...

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YouTube to match OpenAI with AI likeness feature

YouTube announced plans on Wednesday to allow its users this year to create AI versions of themselves for video sharing, matching a feature from Sora, the video-creation app from ChatGPT-maker OpenAI.

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Cyberattacks can trigger societal crises, scientists warn

Cyberattacks can wreak havoc on the systems they target, yet their impact often spreads far beyond technical failures, potentially triggering crises that engulf entire communities, a new study argues.

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UK, France mull social media bans for youth as debate rages

Countries including France and Britain are considering following Australia's lead by banning children and some teenagers from using social media, but experts are still locked in a debate over the effectiveness of the move.

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OpenAI introducing ads to ChatGPT

OpenAI announced Friday it will begin testing advertisements on ChatGPT in the coming weeks, as the wildly popular artificial intelligence chatbot seeks to increase revenue to cover its soaring costs.

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Proton using VPN sign-ups to spot attacks on democracy

Internet privacy company Proton announced Wednesday a new VPN Observatory, tracking demand for its services to detect attacks on free speech in countries like Russia and Iran before they hit the headlines.

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Uncertainty as internet reaches remote Amazon

Covered in tattoos resembling jaguar spots, an Indigenous man connects to TikTok for the very first time from a previously off-the-grid village deep in the Amazon.

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In age of AI, women battle rise of deepfake porn

Photo apps digitally undressing women, sexualized text-to-image prompts creating "AI girls" and manipulated images fueling "sextortion" rackets—a boom in deepfake porn is outpacing US and European efforts to regulate the ...

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Musk rebrands Twitter, replacing bird logo with X

Elon Musk killed off the Twitter logo on Monday, replacing the world-recognized blue bird with a white X as the tycoon accelerates his efforts to transform the floundering social media giant.

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TikTok rivals Twitter with new text format

TikTok, the social platform known for its addictive video content, announced Monday that it will offer text-only posts, becoming the latest tech giant to offer an alternative to embattled Twitter.

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Twitter to be renamed X, get new logo (Update)

Twitter's owner Elon Musk and its new CEO said Sunday that the social media network would ditch its bird logo, be rebranded with the name X and move quickly into payments, banking and commerce.

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Tech titans promise watermarks to expose AI creations

The White House said Friday that OpenAI and others in the artificial intelligence race have committed to making their technology safer with features such as watermarks on fabricated images.