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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Meta to ask EU users' consent to share data for targeted ads

Social media giant Meta on Tuesday said it intends to ask EU-based users to give their consent before allowing targeted advertising on its networks including Facebook, bowing to pressure from European regulators.

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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 challenger Threads struggles for traction

After a wildly successful first few days, Threads popularity has waned in the weeks since Meta launched its challenge to Twitter, which lives on despite its problems.

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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.